Ponyo (Gake no ue no Ponyo) (Studio Ghibli Collection) (2008)

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General		Extras
Category	Animation	Main Menu Audio & Animation Reversible Cover Storyboards-Alternate Angle Theatrical Trailer-2
Rating
Year Of Production	2008
Running Time	98:13 (Case: 100)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (48:31)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Hayao Miyazaki
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Yuria Nara Hiroki Doi Jôji Tokoro Tomoko Yamaguchi Yûki Amami Kazushige Nagashima Akiko Yano Shinichi Hatori Tokie Hidari Eimi Hiraoka Rumi Hîragi Tomoko Naraoka Nozomi Ohashi
Case	Amaray-Opaque
RPI	?	Music	Joe Hisaishi

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

Gake no ue no Ponyo or literally Ponyo on the cliff (aka Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea or just Ponyo) is the latest animation masterpiece from renowned Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki and his Studio Ghibli animation studio. Personally, I came across Miyazaki’s work quite late only having been introduced via My Neighbour Totoro in the last couple of years.

His animated films are the antithesis of loud, all action children’s films like the recent G-Force relying on beautiful hand-drawn animation, cute characters, fantasy and adventure to excite and enthral their audience.

Ponyo is ‘inspired by’ the classic Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale of The Little Mermaid however takes it in a different direction with more fantastical elements and the beauty of its very artistic animation. The story is quite simple telling the tale of a young boy, Sosuke who lives near the sea with his mother and often absent sea captain father. One morning he finds a goldfish (who he names Ponyo) near his house with its head stuck in a jam jar. He helps her and they soon grow to love one another. She has magical powers as her father is a sorcerer who lives under the ocean and her mother is a sea spirit. She decides that she wants to become a little girl and begins to transform herself accordingly. Her father disapproves of this as he hates humans for their polluting of the sea and tries to stop her. Her transformation causes a large storm and huge waves, resulting in the countryside being flooded for miles around Sosuke’s house. Now they must work out how to return the world to normal.

This is a beautiful film, full of sweetness and magical animation combined with some exciting and possibly scary passages for young children during the storm. The opening couple of minutes are especially beautiful featuring wonderful underwater scenes and great sound design which really takes you into the underwater world. The plotting and character development is not as linear and obvious as western animated films but certainly the audience which I watched it with did not let it bother them. They quickly fell in love with the characters and the beauty of the story.

The film was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and the beautiful score was written by his regular collaborator Joe Hisaishi. The score is by turns poignant, beautiful and exciting adding significantly to the film’s atmosphere.

The film is presented here with either the original Japanese soundtrack or an English dub put together by John Lasseter from Pixar. The English dub features Cate Blanchett as Ponyo’s mother, Matt Damon as Sosuke’s father and Liam Neeson as the sorcerer, Fujimoto. Sosuke is played by Frankie Jonas and Ponyo by Noah Cyrus. Purists will obviously prefer the original Japanese however the English dub is quite good and is obviously easier for the film’s core audience. Having both options is great.

Highly recommended as an antidote to an overdose of G-Force or Alvin & the Chipmunks.

Video

    The feature is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced widescreen.

    The picture was very clear and sharp throughout.

    The colour was magnificent showing off the wonderful colours of Miyazaki’s underwater world.

    There were no noticeable artefacts.

    There are optional subtitles available in English. They are yellow and seem to follow the original Japanese dialogue rather than the dub.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    This DVD contains two audio options, a Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded at 448 Kb/s and an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded at 448 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand in the English version. I don’t understand much Japanese but the dialogue seemed fine on that version too.

    The music consists of a magnificent score by Joe Hisaishi plus some songs which are better on the Japanese version. In English, they sound just a little too cloying, although my 5 year old has been singing Ponyo, Ponyo, Ponyo since watching the film.

    The surround speakers are used constantly for ambient noise especially in the underwater scenes, music, waves, the storm and other effects.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Only a small selection of extras are included.

Menu

    The menu includes an introduction, music and minor animation. Scene selection is available.

Reversible Cover Slick

    You can choose to have the English cover slick or one in Japanese (without rating logo).

Alternative Angle Storyboards (98:13) 

    For animation devotees all the original storyboards for the entire film run-time are available as an alternative angle (a rarely used DVD feature). You can switch between the angles throughout the run time of the film whilst retaining the audio. Very nice extra.

Japanese Trailers (3:10)

    Two quite different Japanese trailers for the film.

    As normal with Miyazaki films there are many versions available around the globe. A Region 1 release is scheduled for Mar 2 2010. In addition to the features available locally this is advertised to include the following extras on a second disc.

• The World of Ghibli interactive experience
• Enter the Lands – Meet the characters, hear the story
• Behind the Studio – including interview with Hayao Miyazaki
• Meet Ponyo

    I cannot find confirmation that this edition will include the Japanese language version but I would guess it probably will.

    Additionally, there are two editions in Region 2 (Japan). There is a 9 disc box set (called the First Press Limited Edition) featuring

• Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea with English Subtitles (seemingly with DTS-ES 6.1 soundtrack)
• Bonus DVD: Storyboard, Previews
• Ponyo Was Produced Like This - Hayao Miyazaki's Thinking Process 5-DVD Making Documentary
• Joe Hisaishi in Budokan - Miyazaki Anime to Tomo ni Ayunda 25 Nenkan 2-DVD Concert
• Drawing Tutorial DVD (Suzuki Toshio)
• Ponyo Sticker Seal Book
• Gatefold Sleeve.

    If you want the English dub, our local version is currently the best available until the Region 1 version is released in March. If you don’t care about having the dub then the many Asian versions are available and it will depend on your budget whether you want to go for the $200 9 disc set or one of the other versions.

    There are no current plan to release a Blu-ray version of this movie locally, however, there are version available around the world should your player be compatible.

A beautiful, sweet and entertaining fantasy adventure animated film from Hayao Miyazaki.

The video quality is excellent

The audio quality is excellent

There is only one real extra which is quite worthwhile.

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Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall