Gake no ue no Ponyo (Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea)
Dir: Hayao Miyazaki
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (Jap 2008) is the latest animated feature by the revered director Hayao Miyazaki. As with the majority of his films, the auteur took the roles of screenwriter and lead animator, as well as director.
The film is essentially an exploration of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid, where a 5 year-old boy discovers a goldfish of royal descent who wants to be a human. But that’s where similarities with Anderson’s fable end: As with many of Miyazaki’s features, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea becomes a parable on modern Japan and the countries isolation from values and customs it upheld in the past. Beginning with Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), through to My Neighbour Totoro (1988) and on to Princess Mononoke (1997), the filmmaker has always explored Japan’s disregard for its environment.
Dir: Hayao Miyazaki
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (Jap 2008) is the latest animated feature by the revered director Hayao Miyazaki. As with the majority of his films, the auteur took the roles of screenwriter and lead animator, as well as director.
The film is essentially an exploration of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid, where a 5 year-old boy discovers a goldfish of royal descent who wants to be a human. But that’s where similarities with Anderson’s fable end: As with many of Miyazaki’s features, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea becomes a parable on modern Japan and the countries isolation from values and customs it upheld in the past. Beginning with Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), through to My Neighbour Totoro (1988) and on to Princess Mononoke (1997), the filmmaker has always explored Japan’s disregard for its environment.
Dispite his moral piety, Miyazaki is careful not to alienate his audience and he gives his characters and their surroundings remarkable depth; adding layer after layer of imaginative detail to every cell of animation. Miyazaki creates his films to be accessible to both children and adults and refuses to patronise either.
The soundtrack by the director’s longterm collaborator Joe Hisaishi is a sweeping orchestral piece that never distracts us from the images onscreen.
Although arguably lacking the originality or clear voice of his much cherished My Neighbour Totoro, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea is a welcome addition to Miyazaki’s sociological catalogue.
Since 2001, when Spirited Away took the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, the West has begun to take notice. Even John Lasseter; head of Pixar Studios and dedicated admirer of Miyazaki’s work is beginning to pay homage. One wonders if Wall E (2008) would have been conceived if it were not for Miyazaki.
The soundtrack by the director’s longterm collaborator Joe Hisaishi is a sweeping orchestral piece that never distracts us from the images onscreen.
Although arguably lacking the originality or clear voice of his much cherished My Neighbour Totoro, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea is a welcome addition to Miyazaki’s sociological catalogue.
Since 2001, when Spirited Away took the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, the West has begun to take notice. Even John Lasseter; head of Pixar Studios and dedicated admirer of Miyazaki’s work is beginning to pay homage. One wonders if Wall E (2008) would have been conceived if it were not for Miyazaki.
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