"Ham!!!" - Ponyo
Our branch of the Wild family is currently addicted to Hayao Miyazaki's newest masterwork, Ponyo. Everything this guy makes is incredible. The state of the art in Japanese animation in general far surpasses anything done in the US right now, and Miyazaki is the master.
His movies are filled with the most amazing imagery and really intelligent themes that go far beyond the Disney formula of [Generic Princess] + [Mean Witch] + [Some Enchantment That Needs To Be Broken] + [Underdog Hero] into realms of fantasy that are truly innovative. And the animation is incredible, far, far more detailed than the Disney style, and often much darker in mood too. Miyazaki's movies can be downright scary, but they are always intelligent. Disney must see the promise of this new wave, as they have entered into an agreement with Studio Ghibli to distribute Miyazaki's movies in the US.
Ponyo is a little different than most Miyazaki movies, it's made for a younger audience and is more colorful and bright. It's a retelling of the Little Mermaid story, but unless you knew that gong in, you probably wouldn't make the connection, that's how different the style is.
We got the movie on Blu Ray the day it came out and we must have seen it a dozen times so far. It's mesmerized us all.
I can't wait for the other Miyazaki films to come out on Blu...films like Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle, and his masterpiece, the first anime film ever to win an academy award, Spirited Away.
More images from Ponyo:
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