Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea

[lee-chan]

Hayao Miyazaki's filmJapan's Miyazaki returns to pencil in new anime film

Oscar-winning Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki releases his first full-length film in four years this weekend, dropping computer graphics for his pencil to tell the story of a fish-girl and the sea.

"Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea," which the reclusive 67-year-old both wrote and directed, will hit screens at cinemas across Japan on Saturday after weeks of intense media interest.

Inspired by the 19th-century fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, the story centres around a tiny fish-girl, Ponyo, who rides a jellyfish to escape her home in the sea.

She meets a five-year-old human boy, Sosuke, who vows to protect her, but Ponyo is taken back to the sea. Desperate to be a human and live with Sosuke, Ponyo heads to land again with help from her sisters.

Miyazaki is one of Japan's biggest cultural exports. His last film, "Howl's Moving Castle," broke opening box office records at home in 2004 before winning a cult following in Western and Asian nations.

Miyazaki, who had used computer graphics since "Princess Mononoke" in 1997, decided to shun hi-tech effects in his latest film.

"Our experience told us that what you can do electronically doesn't impress people much. We decided to go fully with pencils... That's our strength," he said in a recent interview with Japanese public broadcaster NHK.

The film used 170,000 hand-drawn pictures to animate characters and objects, a record number for a Miyazaki production.

It took one and a half years for 70 staff to draw the pictures, according to Studio Ghibli, which has released his works.

The film also uses numerous other manually drawn pictures as the background -- with the succession of screens creating a slightly jittery atmosphere to the film.

"All things in the world are moving. I became an animator in order to move everything in the world. It's not only human characters that move," Miyazaki said.

"Not only grass vacillates; the ground can move, too. I think delicate fluctuations give life to our production," he said.

"The world is a living thing. Small children know it," he said.

But Miyazaki, saying he wanted to create a visual world for children, regretted that children lost their way of seeing the Earth as they grew older.

The director said he has been working to "create a world that five-year-olds understand."

"Five-year-old kids do not think with reason but rather they understand the true nature of the world instinctively," he said.

In a message posted on the Ghibli website, Miyazaki said the upcoming film "animates the sea not as background but as a main character."

The film marks a firm return to the film world by Miyazaki, who has said repeatedly in the past that he wants to retire.

The 2004 release of "Howl's Moving Castle" was met by speculation that it would be Miyazaki's last film, raising concerns in Japan for the future of the lucrative animation industry.

Miyazaki's second to last film, "Spirited Away," won the Academy Award in 2003 for best animated feature, Japan's first Oscar for a full-length work in nearly half a century.

He received a Golden Lion award from the Venice international film festival in 2005 for lifetime achievement in cinema.

credits from MSN News

I hope this film will be as good as the others. I'm excited to see this. Its been awhile since I saw Hayao's film  

[Guest Misao]

YEAHH!! i love hayao miyazaki's films! <33 i can't wait for his next movie. =) i watched the movie that his son made.. the one with the dragon, but it didnt have that enchanted feeling.. like hayao's films.. and wow i didnt know howl's moving castle was his last film. T_T that was such a great movie..

[Guest NO NAME?]

I want to see this movie. I've been waiting for this ever since the dubbed version of Howl's Moving Castle was released. Hayao Miyazaki's films are the best!

Trailer: http://youtube.com/watch?v=zpQ2NCSMHWY

[Guest retarded_sponge]

Goddd this looks so ridiculously cute/adorable/endearing/etc.

Oh Miyazaki, you can never do wrong<3

[Guest <3goesDOKIDOKI]

wow the art is cutesier than i expected

i wonder if the whole film is like that? well miyazaki can do no wrong. im definitely interested in watching this

the story reminds me a bit of the little mermaid hehe

[matchacake]

Awwwww, so cute! I'm definitely looking forward to this one..Studio Ghibli makes the best children's films and I've already got the Ponyo song stuck in my head.

[Guest disgruntled_ricecooker]

The general premise of the story is meh to me and the character designs look kind of generic to me. I hope Miyazaki still has that personal touch that makes his movies enjoyable.

[Guest s3imaDen]

i've just watched this, this is really a cuuuteeeee anime~~~

although it has no climax (to me), but i like the whole result

talks about family love etc... heheeehe

its a sweet anime

[Guest Misao]

^ =0 how did you watch this? is it out online yet? or you watch it in japan.. haha

[Guest NO NAME?]

Ghibli's Ponyo Dated for August 14 in U.S. Theaters

posted on 2009-03-24 13:45 EDT

Latest film from Oscar-winning director Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Totoro)

Walt Disney Pictures has announced that Ponyo, the latest film from Academy Award-winning director Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, My Neighbor Totoro), will open in American theaters on August 14. The story follows an ordinary boy named Sosuke (Frankie Jonas) and his friendship with Ponyo (Noah Cyrus), a goldfish who wishes to be human. The other castmembers include Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Cloris Leachman, Liam Neeson, Lily Tomlin, and Betty White.

Ponyo is the English release name for Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, which Studio Ghibli and TOHO released in Japan on July 19 of last year. It became Japan's highest grossing film of 2009. Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, and Steve Alpert are producing the English-language dub, while Miyazaki himself and John Lasseter (Pixar's Toy Story, Cars) are executive producers.

Source: AWN via AnimeVice, ANN

[summerdamsel]

Watched this already

Its a signature Miyazaki film

Pretty cute but I guess its geared more towards kids

I was a bit disappointed cause I loved Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away a lot

There seems to be something lacking with its ending

Its too abrupt for me

[Guest daulism]

YAY XD I love these movies !

[Guest polaris]

I love Miyazaki films. This one looks so cute! Kind of looks more toward the genre of "My neighbor Totoro"

I cant wait to watch this.

[Guest fantasian]

i watched this the other day. and definately signature miyazaki - there's no real bad guy.

the characters were endearing as always, but the story didnt draw me in that much.

[lilcrash]

I watched it awhile ago, didn't really like it much although it was cute.

My favourite ones are still Spirited Away, My neighbor Totoro & Whisper of the heart~

[Guest NO NAME?]

Walt Disney Pictures has released the movie trailer for the American redub of Ponyo.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/ponyo/

[Guest 1SwtDeception]

Interesting cast of voice actors.

It's definitely a cute movie.

[Guest xxrainbowsun]

Watched this already

Its a signature Miyazaki film

Pretty cute but I guess its geared more towards kids

I was a bit disappointed cause I loved Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away a lot

There seems to be something lacking with its ending

Its too abrupt for me

I watched this movie too, I agree that it's geared more towards kids and the ending.

I have yet to watch this movie dubbed. haha

It was extremely simple as far as the storyline goes, but it was cute none the less.

If kids were like how we were back then, then they would love this movie.. but since most shows are now animated with computers and look more 3D, I doubt that lots of kids would like this movie unless they are interested in the enviornment, etc.

[Guest xPURIN]

watched it~~

i like spirited away better.. .

but it was very sweet~~!

[Guest kuwon]

i want to watch it, but i rather not see the dubbed one.

honestly i dont think disney should have taken over teh project.

not offend anyone, but im not a big fan of the jonas brothers or miley cyrus,

but for this movie, the little siblings of both of them will be the main characters...

will have to see the result of this.