Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea | Hayao Miyazaki, 2008

Hayao Miyazaki’s tenth film in his lengthy, Ghiblian reign over the world of animated cinema, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, is a disappointment. It pains me to utter such words, or even to type them out in front of me, for it is a return to the screen that I have anticipated for three long years now and one that has been made all the more difficult by the film’s sluggish journey across the world from Asia to Europe. Perhaps this is the problem. Miyazaki’s consistence as a director and slow, methodical mastering of a genre that he has regularly redefined means that any new material of his is now treated as an event rather than a mere release. His conquering of western audiences with the outstanding back-to-back features Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away at the beginning of the decade means that Miyazaki is now almost a household name outside Japan, and that the level of worldwide anticipation for his work is now as high as it has ever been in the man’s 40-year career – but can such hype ever really be lived up to? Ponyo, which centers around a young boy named Sosuke (based on Miyazaki’s son Goro at five years old) and his blossoming friendship with  a goldfish that later becomes a girl, suits its international distributor, Disney, down to the ground and even borrows a few narrative traits from The Little Mermaid – one of Disney’s most successful titles. The film, with its clear message of environmentalism and the importance of nature, is clearly aimed at a younger audience and this, coupled with an all-star Disneyfied dub should mean that Ponyo (note the shortened title) does fairly well when it is released stateside this August.

Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea sees an entirely new approach to animation by Ghibli, who do away with the crisp, almost cel-shaded look that Howl’s Moving Castle boasted and instead move onto something decidedly more natural. Considering the content that Ponyo purveys, this natural look – used to give the whimsical feeling of watercolours or pastels – is much better suited to the film. Miyazaki himself was intimately involved with much of this side of production, and it is certainly the film’s most redeeming quality – the sequences featuring the sea itself are positively breathtaking, and manage to capture the nature of the ocean in a way that Finding Nemo, with all its  research and precision and attention to detail, could never manage. Many critics have underlined Miyazaki’s younger target audience here as if it were some deep-seated flaw in the film but this is entirely beside the point. It’s a film for children, and if this isn’t obvious enough from the outset it’s almost spelled out by Miyazaki himself through a handful of oddly-placed references to his own My Neighbour Totoro. No, the flaws here exist instead in the lazy yet often downright contrived narrative that – just as with Ghibli’s Whisper of the Heart – crudely meshes real life with some fantastical dreamland and expects that to suffice. Then there is the heavy-handed approach to environmentalism which, while an honest and always prevailing feature in Miyazaki’s work, is as tactless as can be here. Still, the premise itself is an effective one, and if we can take this lesser Miyazaki at face value – that is, an old-fashioned adventure story designed to snare the imagination of today’s youth  – then it works, despite its shallow nature.

Our Rating:

In this week’s first “normal” edition of The McNuttCast, we can’t entirely get away from talking Battlestar Galactica – while I had the privilege of collaborating with Devindra Hardawar and Meredith Woerner on the epic /Filmcast Series Finale discussion [LINK], the Elder McNutt didn’t get the same chance, so there’s a few minutes of BSG spoilers in here that are clearly marked.

The rest of the show, meanwhile, diversifies beyond television to the world of film, music and video games, as my readers get to see whether I actually know anything about these subjects. We discuss the genius of the Where the Wild Things Are trailer, delve into the latest release from local Canadian artist Joel Plaskett, and discuss the dominance and continued evolution of Nintendo’s current position in the video game market. And, of course, I still find time to discuss the state of NBC bubble shows, the Parks and Recreation testing “controversy” and the ratings for Dollhouse’s “Man on the Street.”

In our feature discussion, coincidentally only a day after 30 Rock made a joke about the Canadian Grammys, we discuss the biggest music-based awards show in Canada, the Juno Awards. Don’t worry, our international listeners: we contextualize our anger, and try to make sure that you don’t view the winners and nominees as representative of the best Canada has to offer.

We’re still working on getting onto iTunes (it’s our weekend project), but in the meantime you can listen and download below – full show notes are after the fold! If you have any comments or questions or suggestions of what you might want us to cover, send us an email: you can reach us through either of our sites, or by emailing us (for me, cultural.learnings @ gmail.com).

The McNuttCast: Episode Two – The Juno Awards

Download the MP3 [41m10s - 19mb]

Contents

Introduction

Music

(00:47) – Jimmy Chamberlain leaves the Smashing Pumpkins [MTV.com]

(03:07) – Neil Young Archives Collection gets Release Schedule [EW.com]

(05:46) – Review: Joel Plaskett’s “Three” [iTunes]

TV

(08:54) – NBC Bubble Shows: Friday Night Lights [Huffington Post], Chuck

(11:46) – Parks and Recreation Test Screening Controversy [Nikki Finke]

(13:59) – BSG Finale [SPOILER WARNING] [My Life's Work]

(16:11) – Dollhouse “Man on the Street” [My Review]

Gaming

(17:24) – Wii @ GDC: Storage Solution [1up.com], New Zelda for DS [1up.com]

(19:49) – February NPD [Game Sales] Results [GamaSutra]

(22:37) – Impressions: Legends of Wrestlemania [IGN Review]

Movies

(24:49) – Where the Wild Things Are Trailer [YouTube]

(27:01) – Let the Right One In Subtitles Controversy [/Film]

(29:15) – Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo on a Cliff gets North American release [/Film]

Feature Discussion

(31:05) – The Juno Awards [Nominees]

Despite the fact that my top 20 list from last year turned out to be a bit of a disaster (5 of the films got pushed to 2009, and 8 other films ended up ranging from bad to mediocre), I’m going to give it another shot. 

20.)  Whatever Works

- The new Woody Allen comedy starring Larry David as the “Woody Allen character.” 

19.)  Watchmen

-It’s much farther back on my list than most, mainly because I’m not a huge fan of Zack Snyder or 300.  He’s great visually, but he can’t direct dialogue or drama very well, and considering neither trailer for Watchmen has had more than one line of dialogue, I remain skeptical.  But if it lives up to the graphic novel at all, then it’ll be amazing.

18.)  Terminator Salvation

-Christian Bale really is the go-to-guy for big summer action movies now.  The trailer looked good, and I trust Bale, so I’m excited.

17.)  The Limits of Control

-Jim Jarmusch always makes great, quirky movies, and this looks no different.

16.)  Bruno

- Hopefully it’ll earn enough money to pay off all the inevitable lawsuits and still make a profit.

15.)  Public Enemies

-Bale vs. Depp.  Should be pretty amazing (assuming Michael Mann’s still got it).

14.)  Dodgy Dealings by the Dozens

- A new comedy by the director of Amelie.

13.)  The Lovely Bones

- Peter Jackson’s new movie.  The only thing that keeps me from being really excited is that Ryan Gosling was replaced by Mark Wahlberg for the lead role, but other than that, this looks to be pretty incredible.

12.)  Nine

- It’s by the director of Chicago (which I didn’t care for), but it stars Daniel Day-Lewis, which means I’ll be at the theater opening day.

11.)  Avatar

- James Cameron’s follow-up to Titanic.  Rumored to have groundbreaking special effects.  If nothing else, it’ll be amazing to see it just for the spectacle.

10.)  The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

-  Heath Ledger’s final role.

9.)  Biutiful

- By the director of Amores Perros and Babel. 

8.)  Coraline

-Based on the Neil Gaiman graphic novel, and by the director of A Nightmare Before Christmas.

7.)  Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

- My favorite book in the series.

6.)  Lost Embraces

- The new Pedro Almodovar film.  He’s one of the best writers/directors around, and he’s been on a role lately.

5.)  Shutter Island

- The new Martin Scorsese-Leonardo DiCaprio collaboration.  Considering how good of an actor Leo’s become (I thought he was the best part of Revolutionary Road), I think this could be their best yet.

4.)  Inglorious Basterds

- Finally! After a decade of rumors, it’s finally being made.

3.)  The Road

- John Hillcoat (The Proposition) directing a Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men) novel starring Viggo Mortensen (Lord of the Rings; Eastern Promises).  Should be out of this world good.

2.)  Ponyo On A Cliff

- Miyazaki’s anime was released last year in Japan and received amazing reviews.  It’ll be out in the states soon with an English dub voiced by Cate Blanchett, Liam Neeson, Tina Fey, and Lily Tomlin.  Spirited Away is one of my all time favorites, so I can’t wait for this.

1.)  The Tree of Life

- The new Terrence Malick (Days of Heaven) film with Sean Penn and Brad Pitt.  I think he’s one of the best living directors, and he’s been wanting to make this for over 30 years.  I think this has the potential to be, well, one of the best films ever made.  I know, I’m probably setting myself up for disappointment, but Malick can do no wrong.

Barely missing the list were The Wolfman (starring Benicio Del Toro), Where the Wild Things Are (directed by Spike Jonze), Mammoth (Michelle Williams and Gael Garcia Bernal), and Year One (Michael Cera and Jack Black).

How have I been able to miss that??? The trailer is released since the 17th of July (the movie’s national release in Japan) and it totally passed under my nose.

Anyway, here’s the trailer. This is Miyazaki’s work and every fan will recognise it, there’s a lot of My Neighbour Totoro as the main character is a kid, but there’s also some Howl’s moving Castle, Nausicaa and Porco Rosso. I can’t wait for the movie to be released in France.

Ponyo on the Cliff is an animated film by the Japanese anime studio Studio Ghibli, to be written and directed by famed anime filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. It will be Miyazaki’s eighth film to be made under Ghibli. The plot centers on a goldfish named Ponyo who desperately wants to be a human. In pursuing her goal, she befriends a five-year-old human boy, Sōsuke.

Ponyo on the Cliff is inspired by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid as well as by the traditional Japanese folktale Urashima Taro. The seaside village where the story takes place is inspired by a real town in Setonaikai National Park in Japan, where Miyazaki stayed in 2004.The character of Sōsuke is based on Miyazaki’s son Gorō Miyazaki when he was five. Sōsuke’s name is taken from the hero in the famous novel The Gate.

Gake no ue no Ponyo Trailer

Great news from Studio Ghibli, Japan: Ponyo ga kuru! Or for those how don’t speak Japanese: Ponyo is coming! The release date of Miyazaki Hayao’s new film Gake no ue no Ponyo (崖の上のポニョ, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea) was officially announced by Suzuki Toshio, executive producer and former president of Studio Ghibli. Suzuki showed the trailer of Ponyo at a preview room in Tokyo and announced that it will be released on July 19th.

In the 85 seconds trailer (which will be released on April 19 in theatres all over Japan), Ponyo is swimming freely to the theme song in the sea. In the movie, 80% of it consists out of sea scenes.

(publicado originalmente no dia 10/02/08, no antigo lar do Lapúcia)

O “Cronenberg da animação” – comparação que li na internet há algum tempo e adoto aqui -, depois de anunciar inúmeras vezes sua aposentadoria, lança novo filme. A nova animação do aclamado diretor nipônico Hayao Miyazaki, Gake no Ue no Ponyo,  tem lançamento marcado, de acordo o o site http://www.nausicaa.net/, para meados deste ano. Poucas informações foram divulgadas sobre o filme. O animador, conhecido por sucessos tanto de crítica quanto de público, tais como Princesa Mononoke, A Viagem de Chihiro e Nausica do Vale dos Ventos, foi o vencedor do Urso de Ouro de Melhor Filme em 2002 e do Oscar de Melhor Animação no mesmo ano.

Vale lembrar que mais uma vez a trilha sonora ficou a cargo do excelente Joe Hisaishi (praticamente um parceiro do Miyazaki), que  também já compôs trilhas para vários filmes do Kitano.

At the moment, 2008 looks like it could possibly top the incredible year we had for movies in 2007. There are about 20 films I already can’t wait to see. To keep this post more on the short side, I’ll refrain from writing too much about each entry, but I will post links to each film’s IMDB page, in case you want to know more. This is one of those lists that will change weekly as the year progresses, but here it is as of January 31st…

20) The Argentine/Guerrilla

A Che Guevara biopic from Steven Soderbergh (Traffic). Guevara will be played by Benicio Del Toro, who is always fantastic.

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19) Be Kind Rewind

Michael Gondry is directing, and his films have all been unique and moving. This looks just plain fun.

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18 ) Where the Wild Things Are

Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation) has always been wonderful, and this is a great story. Plus, this is Paul Dano’s first starring role. Hopefully this actually comes out this year.

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17) Bruno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in a Mesh T-Shirt

As much as I loved Borat when it first came out, I’m a little sick of it now. However, that doesn’t make me any less excited for Bruno. This should be completely over-the-top.

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16) The International

From the director of Run, Lola, Run. It’s got Clive Owen and Naomi Watts in the lead roles. That’s all I know, but I can’t wait to see it.

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15) The Wrestler

The only reason this made it on the list is because Darren Aronofsky, who made The Fountain and Requiem for a Dream, is the director. I love his past work, and so while I’m looking forward to this, I honestly don’t think it looks all that great. Hopefully I’ll be wrong.

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14) Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay

It was either this or Seth Rogen’s Pinapple Express. Only one stoner comedy could make the list. This, in my opinion, had a much funnier trailer, so here it is.

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13) Body of Lies

This is a new Ridley Scott crime thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe. All the big names give me hope.

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12) Revolutionary Road

Stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, and is directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty). This has oscar written all over it, which means it’ll probably crash and burn, but we’ll see.

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11) Synecdoche, New York

Anything involving Charlie Kaufman is at least worth a look. He’s the mind behind films like Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Human Nature, and Being John Malkovich. This is his first time directing, and he’s got Philip Seymour Hoffman in the lead role. It’ll be good.

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10) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Based on the book by F. Scott Fitgerald. Directed by David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club). Stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. Mhmm.

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9) Quantum of Solace

Casino Royale’s follow up. They’ve got a great director for this one (Marc Forster), and Daniel Craig is back as bond. I’m excited.

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8 ) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Even if this turns out to be awful I’ll be there opening day. It’s a guaranteed fun time.

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7) The Lovely Bones

It’ll be great to see Peter Jackson directing again. This will probably be more in the vein of Heavenly Creatures, smaller budget and all. Saoirse Ronan, the incredible child actor from Atonement, is the star. Can’t wait.

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6) Wall-E

The new Pixar film. I’ve enjoyed everything they’ve put out so far (maybe not Cars, though), and I think this looks as good, if not better, than all of them, even Ratatouille and Finding Nemo.

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5) Australia

This is Baz Luhrmann’s follow-up to Moulin Rouge. It should be epic, beautiful, and daring, just like everything he’s done in the past.

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4) Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince

Director David Yates is back. Considering how well he did with Order of the Phoenix, despite it being my least favorite book, I can’t wait to see what he can do with Half-Blood Prince, which just happens to be my favorite of the 7 books. I actually expect this to be the best Harry Potter yet.

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3) Burn After Reading

This is high on the list for no other reason than it’s the new Coen brothers film, and last year’s No Country for Old Men was pretty amazing.

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2) Ponyo on a Cliff

Legendary anime director Hayao Miyazaki’s (Spirited Away) swan song. This, unlike most animated films, will be done with water-colors. No CGI, completely hand-drawn. It’ll be beautiful. Plus, Miyazaki’s managed to never make a bad movie.

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1) The Dark Knight

My most anticipated for mostly obvious reasons. Batman Begins was pretty incredible, and all signs are pointing to the sequel being even better.

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Full article is here on GhibliWorld.com. There was some extra good “sweating on Ghibli” yesterday. Like every Sunday it was time for another Radio Ghibli at Tokyo FM. This week’s Ghibli Asemamire didn’t take place at Suzuki’s Renga-ya, but at Miyazaki’s office Butaya. Suzuki hid an IC recorder in his pocket, recorded it and added comments in a whispering off-stage voice. Of course a podcast version (music excluded) is available for download in Japanese and GhibliWorld.com is providing an English summary.

Lets flashback to Studio Ghibli’s original way of transferring us to their Ponyo press conference…

We hear the sound of the train running… The narrator announces that the train will take us to the interview stage… While almost arriving at our end station, we hear the conductor over the speakers “Thank you for riding this train, you’ll arrive at Studio Ghibli soon! If you transfer to Neko-bus (My Neighbor Totoro’s Catbus), please change here. Exit doors will be at the right side.” The doors open and we hear the ocean waves and seagulls crying…

With a large amount of TV cameras present, Miyazaki Hayao appeared wearing his regular apron which showed that he escaped during the middle of his job. He was joined by composer Hisaishi Joe, Fujioka Fujimaki and Nozomi Ohashi who sat in centre. At first, the host asked Miyazaki to make a statement. Suzuki whispers “It’s different from the plan that was arranged earlier. Miya-san is angry…”

Miyazaki “I’m glad to get such a good song. I would like to reach a good happy ending to go with it, but I haven’t completed the storyboard, so I think I’ll have to hurry.” Hisaishi “Fortunately, when I was showed the A-part and B-part of the e-conte (storyboard), I immediately got the theme melody: “Ponyo, Ponyo, Ponyo…”. It was so simple that I wondered to be laughed at and left it like that for 2 or 3 months. Afterwards I still liked the melody and played it to Miyazaki and Suzuki. They both liked it and said its simplicity is needed for the movie.” Fujimaki “Sorry… this is my first time being interviewed like this… so I’m very nervous…(he was too nervous to answer). Fujioka “Maybe all of you are wondering why 2 of these unknown middle aged men are here. The two of us have formed a band for 2 years now, just in order to prepare to enjoy our post-retirement years. So we are also amazed at this situation…” Nozomi mentioned “I sang as well as I could!” and was followed by a big applause. Suzuki whispered “I’m jealous! Small kid’s statements are always welcomed as they’re so simple!

The host asked Miyazaki “What did you ask Hisaishi for composing the song?” Miyazaki “I handed him a memo paper, but I can’t remember what I asked him. Please ask Hisaishi. Maybe he remembers.” Hisaishi “I got a long note like a love letter. Of course its love isn’t for me, but love for the movie. It was over 10 pages long. I guess in the beginning creators haven’t got a complete image of what they want and just have some core images. I felt images like Ponyo coming or the mother of the sea…” Suzuki whispers “Miya-san always makes memos when he “asks” for music. It’s something Takahata once advised him and Miyazaki he has done it like this for over 20 years.”

A Q&A session started. Pia “Can you tell me about the story, if you can?” Miyazaki replies “Later, the producer will tell something except the story. Anyway, till so far we have used computers to make our movies, but I came to think that having paddles and raising the sails is better. So this time we decided to throw off any 3D CG and must make it with pencils only. As it needs so many hand drawn pictures, I can’t guess how much pictures we must draw… maybe it will be unprecedented. I think hand drawing on paper is the fundamental of animation.” Suzuki whispered “Miya-san is cool-headed today. He fended the question well. He didn’t say anything about the contents of the movie.”

A question followed if the theme song is meant to be used for the opening or ending of the film. Miyazaki replied “If it’s played at the opening, many of the audiences might go out for picnic. So it would be better to be set it at the end. Then I must fit the ending to this song without any gap. A good ending suitable for this song will carry out my responsibility to Hisaishi and Nozomi.

Tokyo FM also asked a question “We heard the storyboard is delayed. Can you make it in time?” to which Miyazaki answered “I don’t think it’s so much delayed… Anyway, we must draw so many by hand… so we are struggling now…” Daily Sport was present as well “I think the song has a father’s theme. This is your first film after your son Goro directed Gedo Senki last year. Are you conscious of it?” Miyazaki “We can’t make a movie if we have such evil in mind.” (applause)

A live performance of the Ponyo theme song followed.

“Why did you decide to use Nozomi?” Miyazaki noted that “While the lyrics and music was left unclear, we asked her to sing a demo. When we listened to it we were stunned by its innocence. We ojisans (aged men) were beaten. That’s all. I hope Fuji-Fuji not to spoil Nozomi’s innocence.” “Nozomi, what did Miyazaki say to you?” Nozomi “He told me… good job…” (laughing)

This week’s Ghibli Asemamire ended with Fuji-Fuji’s “Fujimoto’s theme” as ending music. Its lyrics were written by Fujioka and the music was done by Hisaishi Joe. In case of the Ponyo theme song, its lyrics were written by animation director Kondo Katsuya and corrected by Miyazaki Hayao.

Be sure to read it all as there’s a lot of interesting info on Gake no ue no Ponyo!

Theme song on Youtube is here!

Today’s Radio Ghibli guest is Fujimaki Fujioka. A logical decision, as last week the theme song of Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film Gake no ue no Ponyo (崖の上のポニョ, Ponyo on a Cliff) was announced and it will be sung by this duo, together with the 8 year old Nozomi Ohashi. For those who haven’t heard of Fujioka Fujimaki, they are a music duo that first started making music in 2005. It’s actually somewhat of a side project, as Takaaki Fujiaoka is a music director at SONY music entertainment and Naoya Fujimaki works at the well known advertising agency Hakuhodo, where he takes charge of everything concerning Studio Ghibli. However, these things might change, as they will be singing Ponyo’s theme song together with the 8 year old Nozomi Ohashi and Ghibli theme songs are often hits…

As a highlight of this week’s Radio Ghibli listeners were given a preview of the theme song of Hayao Miyazaki’s new film Gake no ue no Ponyo (崖の上のポニョ, Ponyo on a Cliff). It was a very uplifting song, best to be compared with the theme song of Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro). Miyazaki imagined that father and daughter are singing it together in bath. A little girl who can’t speak fluently yet is singing a song and beside her, her father sings along.

The trigger of Fujimaki being recruited as one of the singers of the Ponyo theme song was Miyazaki’s inspiration. Last year, Fujimaki’s daughter, who is in 2nd grade of high school, had some summer vacation homework. As an assignment she had to research what she would like to become or had interest in. To help her out Fujimaki asked Miyazaki to talk with his daughter. Miyazaki promised him to give her 30 minutes, but he eagerly spoke to the girl for 2 hours. When Fujimaki and his daughter left Miyazaki’s room Fujumaki stood up straight and told his daughter “One’s efforts surely bear fruit”. As those were most unsuitable words for him Suzuki and Miyazaki were both very surprised by Fujimaki’s reaction, but it gave Miyazaki a good impression of Fujimaki being a good father. That brought Miyazaki back at Fujimaki when they were making the demo of the Ponyo theme song. In order to make the demo, they asked Ohasi to sing. In an instant Miyazaki and Hisaishi liked it. Miyazaki enlarged his image and proposed an idea “I want a father’s voice singing along with — for example. How about Fujimaki?” And that’s where it started…

Gake no ue no Ponyo Theme Song – Hiragana Lyrics
ポニョ、ポニョ、ポニョ、さかなのこ
あおい　うみから　やってきた
ポニョ、ポニョ、ポニョ、ふくらんだ
まんまる　おなかの　おんなのこ

ペタペタ、ピョンピョン、
あしって　いいな　かけちゃお
みぎみぎ、ぶんぶん、
おてては　いいな、つないじゃお

あのこと　はねると　こころも　おどるよ
ぱくぱく、ちゅぎゅ、ぱくぱく、ちゅぎゅ、
あのこが　だいすき

まっかっかの　ポニョ、ポニョ、ポニョ、さかなのこ
あおい　うみから　やってきた
ポニョ、ポニョ、ポニョ、ふくらんだ
まんまる　おなかの　おんなのこ

Gake no ue no Ponyo Theme Song – Romaji Lyrics
Ponyo Ponyo Ponyo sakana no ko
Aoi umi kara yatte kita
Ponyo Ponyo Ponyo fukurannda
Manmaru onaka no onna no ko
Peta-peta pyon-pyon
Asitte iina kakechao
Migi-migi-bun-bun
Otetewa iina tunaijao

Anoko to haneru to kokoro mo odoruyo
Paku-paku chu-gyu, paku-paku chu-gyu
Anoko ga daisuki

Makkakka no Ponyo Ponyo Ponyo sakana no ko
Aoi umi kara yatte kita
Ponyo Ponyo Ponyo fukurannda
Manmaru onaka no onna no ko

Gake no ue no Ponyo Theme Song – English Lyrics (first draft)
Ponyo Ponyo Ponyo, it’s a fish kid
It came from the blue ocean
Ponyo Ponyo Ponyo,
She is a round bellied girl
Peta-peta pyon-pyon
How nice to have feet! I’ll try to run!
Migi-migi-bun-bun
How nice to have hands! I’ll try to hold hands with!

When I jump with her, my heart dances along
Paku-paku chu-gyu, paku-paku chu-gyu
I love her so much!

Ponyo Ponyo Ponyo, it’s a fish kid in red
It came from the blue ocean
Ponyo Ponyo Ponyo,
She is a round bellied girl

Finalmente mi sono visto in dvd l’ultima opera di Hayao Miyazaki (Studio Ghibli).

Non voglio dilungarmi in una sterile recensione, di quelle ne potete trovare a migliaia in internet, mi limiterò a due semplici parole…..

PURA POESIA.

E ora vi snocciolo qualche bel link e informazioni varie.

Hayao Miyazaki  : Alla solita e indispensabile pagina di Wikipedia, si possono trovare tutte le informazioni sul regista e sceneggiatore Giapponese (comprese tutte le sue opere).

P.S. Per il 2008 è previsto un nuovo film d’animazione, intitolato Ponyo On A Cliff.

Film : A questo link, è presente il sito ufficiale (Italiano) del film.

Per concludere, due chicche

1° : Forse non tutti sanno che, Il castello errante di Howl è tratta dal romanzo omonimo di Diana Wynne Jones e che in Italia è stato pubblicato da Kappa edizioni (Devo trovarlo!!!!!)

2° : Le bellissime musiche sono di Joe Hisaishi.

Ponyo on a Cliff (崖の上のポニョ, Gake no ue no Ponyo)

is an animated film by the Japanese anime studio Studio Ghibli, to be written and directed by famed anime filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. The plot centers on a goldfish princess named “Ponyo” who desperately wants to be a human. In pursuing her goal, she befriends a five-year-old human boy, Sousuke. Work began on the film in 2006. Ghibli currently expects the film to be released in summer 2008. The film will have an original animation style heavily based on watercolors, a first for Miyazaki’s films.
There will be no computer-generated imagery (CGI) at all, in contrast to Miyazaki’s recent animated films Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle, both in which CGI was used extensively. This movie will also would mark a return to actual cel animation, which is very rare these days where digital ink-and-paint has more or less totally replaced the use of traditional animation cels.

However, as of January, 2007 it has been said that the name of Miyazaki’s next film, purportedly his last would be I Lost my Little Boy. It was officially announced in March 2007 that Miyazaki’s next film would be Gake no ue no Ponyo. It is not known if I Lost my Little Boy is still being considered for any future film.