Ponyo

Back to Hayao Miyazaki, and his 2008 film Ponyo, a charming if slight tale that has echoes of The Little Mermaid, Pinocchio, and Finding Nemo, with our heroine a goldfish that wants to be human.

The film starts with a magical prologue, as all the undersea creatures, from barracudas to jellyfish, are under the control of a human (or at least he used to be human) named Fujimoto. He can live both above and below water, and looks like an aged British rock star (in the English-language version, which I saw, he is voiced by Liam Neeson).

Brunhilde, a goldfish who disconcertingly has a human face, is curious about her world, and escapes from Fujimoto's watch. Later we will learn that he is her father, and her mother is sort of fairy queen of the sea, so it's best not to envision the mechanics of the little fish's conception.

Taking a ride on a jellyfish, the goldfish finds herself toward the surface, and then gets her head stuck in a jar. A little boy, Susuke, rescues her and makes her his pet, naming her Ponyo. They get a long great, but Fujimoto wants her back, railing against the humans and their destruction of the ocean.

What follows is that Ponyo, who has great powers, becomes a little girl through force of will. But this sets nature off-balance, and a great storm threatens the entire coast. Susuke's mother (Tina Fey) is quite game to accept a child that used to be a goldfish, and his father (Matt Damon) is on a fishing boat out to sea, struggling to stay afloat during huge waves.

Ponyo would probably best be enjoyed by children about 5-8, as its charms for adults are mostly in the visual area. Miyazaki himself makes the connection to The Little Mermaid, but I kind of noticed that it's Finding Nemo, except that Nemo doesn't want to go back to her dad.