Ponyo (Special Edition DVD) review

Ponyo is to Hayao Miyazaki as Little Mermaid is to Disney. Growing up it’s always been a childhood dream of mine to become Ariel from The Little Mermaid — red hair, sea shell bra and all. There wasn’t a pool in sight that I didn’t reenact Ariel emerging from the water to do the famous, fierce Ariel hair-toss-out-of-the-water move. Having just seen Ponyo, I feel like I ought to take back all those embarrassing childhood memories. There’s nothing cool about an awkward fat girl in a pool, tossing her hair back pretending like she’s a mermaid, anyways.

Inspired by Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Ponyo is about a five-year old boy named Sosuke (voiced by Frankie Jonas) who finds a beautiful goldfish trapped in a bottle. He releases the tiny creature and, sure that she is no ordinary fish, names his new friend Ponyo (Noah Lindsey Cyrus). As Ponyo and Sosuke grow closer, she reveals to him that she is the daughter of a powerful wizard (Liam Neeson) and a sea goddess (Cate Blanchett), and magically transforms herself into a real human girl. But by crossing from her watery world onto land, Ponyo has created a dangerous imbalance in nature. As the moon begins to draw closer to the earth, sea levels rise and a giant tsunami threatens to destroy Sosuke’s home. Ponyo’s father marshals all his might to find his missing daughter, as the two children embark on an adventure of a lifetime to try and save the world.

Did The Little Mermaid save the world? No. Was she even concerned about the balance of nature? Not the last time I checked. Ponyo, where have you been my whole life? Not only does she make for a better child role model, Ponyo in general, was a whimsical movie that very much appeals to the imagination with it’s lack of limits between the magical world and the world we know. Also, Ponyo is freakin’ cute. Had Ponyo been around when I was growing up, I would’ve been saved some awkward childhood moments. Instead, I probably would’ve been rockin’ a red dress playing with bubbles.

Overall: Two thumbs up!

Bonus Features
The World of Ghibli- Allows fans to immerse themselves in the amazing worlds from each film created by
legendary filmmaker, Hayao Miyazaki in this multi-layered interactive experience.
Lands to explore include:
• PONYO’S Land
• KIKI’S Land
• CASTLE’S Land
• TOTORO’S Land

Behind the Studio- Unprecedented access to all the background, inspiration and process behind he making of Ponyo and the inner workings of Studio Ghibli through a series of documentaries. They include all new interviews with Hayao Miyazaki, and composer Joe Hisaishi.
Also included in this feature are:
• Creating Ponyo
• Ponyo & Fujimoto
• The Nursery
• Behind the Microphone: The Voice of Ponyo
• Producers Perspective: Telling the Story
• Scoring Miyazaki
• The Scenery in Ghibli
• Original Japanese Trailer

Ponyo is priced at $39.99 for Blu-ray Hi-Def and $29.99 for 2-Disc DVD.

For more information or to purchase Ponyo, click here.