Rescued by a human boy, an inquisitive goldfish grows human features and becomes a young girl herself in this fantasy film from Hayao Miyazaki. On the surface, 'Ponyo' might sound like a simple fairy- tale, but with such youthful and altruistic protagonists, the film soon becomes less of a love story and a more a fantasy indulgence movie in which a boy's greatest dream of being able to play with his new pet like a best friend comes true. The goldfish's father, who comes to the surface to bring her home, is an unexpectedly fascinating character too; he is the ultimate overprotective parent, ruing "if you can only remain pure and innocent forever", with the film as much a tale about parents letting go and letting their kids be themselves as is it a film about pet relationships. Not everything about the film totally adds up; the boy's mother, for instance, does not even stop to question who this little girl is who claims that she used to be her son's pet fish. The film makes up for any narrative gaps though with some great ecological messages as per Miyazaki norm (human ocean pollution in this case) and the animation is simply exquisite, with blue fish and ocean waves magically blurring together at certain key points.

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It's been way too long since I've seen a Miyazaki film. It's a shame that his films don't do near the box office reception of something like that awful Yu-Gi-Oh movie. Of course, this is still the highest grossing of his films. I truly believe this is close to "Spirited Away" as one of his best works. I guess it's because the animation is just so wonderful. I mean, it really seems like every moment of this film there is movement involved. There's a slight change in the outlines of all the characters.I had no idea this was inspired by "The Little Mermaid". It certainly seems nothing like the Disney movie. I personally don't find that one of my favorite Disney films and I find this much better. The voice work is fantastic. I'm generally not into celebrity voice actors but they make it work so well here. This film might be his most adorable. I guess it's just great to see Ponyo's miniature sisters swimming around everywhere.The plot is that there's this fish that escapes from her underwater home and meets a boy named Sosuke (yep, that reminds me of Sasuke from Naruto), making her want to become human. Every character is just teeming with cuteness. I especially love how realistic all the underwater creatures are. I think my favorite part might just be the first six minutes without dialogue as we see how well detailed they are. This really is one of the best movies I've ever seen. Not only is the pacing wonderful, but it's great to see a lot of the more mundane scenes like Sosuke's mother getting through her day. It shows that as strange as any animated film may be, it does in fact work hard to be realistic.This is only my third Miyazaki film, but already you can call me a fan. It even seemed like he was trying to imitate western animation more here. Ponyo as a fish and her sisters look a lot less like his normal style. It's always great to experiment with something new, especially for someone as great as him. Even every bit of the credits is adorable.I wish this guy would work for Pokemon! Hey, it's my first IMDb review! This is easily a 10/10!

A goldfish(Nara) is found by a human boy(Doi). The Wizard(Neeson) is found to be the father of the goldfish. The human boy calls it Ponyo hence the name of the film. Ponyo is captured by the Wizard. Ponyo's friends help get her back with the human boy. Sôsuke's mom(Fey) is gone and has been taken by The Wizard. The Wizard and the Ponya's Mom changes Ponyo back to a fish. However a clever old lady realises that Ponyo is actually in danger along with the mom and the Residents of a nearby Nursing home. So the Sea Goddess has a change of heart and turns Ponyo into human. IN order for this to happen Sosuke and the goldfish must "be on land and jump in the air". So overall, not bad a film. My first time ever seeing the film. Yet I never heard of it or even saw it in cinemas. hahahah. I only saw it on my TV Guide and decided to check it out.