Jason KingPonyo ($13-)
August 16th 2009 04:44
:
FROM THE MAKERS OF SPIRITIED AWAY AND HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE
Category: No Category
Ponyo ($13-)
If you are yet to see Spirited Away or Howl's Moving Castle then you seriously need to add them to your must see list - I will include the trailers for these films at the end also.
From the Academy Award winning director and world renowned Japanese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki comes PONYO, a story inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Little Mermaid." Already a box-office success in Japan, the story of a young and overeager goldfish named Ponyo (voiced by NOAH CYRUS) and her quest to become human features an outstanding roster of voice talent, including CATE BLANCHETT, MATT DAMON, TINA FEY, CLORIS LEACHMAN, LIAM NEESON, LILY TOMLIN, BETTY WHITE and FRANKIE JONAS as Sosuke, a young boy who befriends Ponyo. Thanks Walt Disney Pictures.
Japanese Animated Director Hayao Miyazaki is a master of his field. HIs first two works of art Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle are worldwide cult classics and astounding works of vision. If you haven't seen them - like I said above - you need to change this. His films have been remade from Japanese with subtitles to English translations with some of the biggest names in Hollywood voicing the characters. He now brings us his new piece of poetic vision, Ponyo. I think my mistake with this film was watching the English version voiced by the above actors. The previous two I had only seen in Japanese with subtitles and I think the Japanese emotion behind the characters gives it a more otherworldy feeling - something lacking in this one for me.
The visuals in this one are just as amazing and push the boundaries of 2D animation. I want a resurgence in this in conjunction with the growth of 3D. There is one scene in this, the storm scene, which is mind blowing and a visual feast.
One of the things that I did not like about this film was that I found it too "made-for-kids" as opposed to his other films. But that being said it does tend to release an inner child within you at the beauty and romance of it all. Regardless of all the environmental elements covered in this film, at it's heart is a kid's love story about two children from different worlds falling in love. And it is so beautiful to watch this blossoming love that at times it comes across as too cute.
The actors are great voicing the film, given that they had to make a script based on pre-established and filmed lip movements while relaying the correct dialogue onscreen. This they do well but I feel we lose a bit of the film's heart in the translation and Disney would want to sugar coat it all. Liam Neeson was an odd choice to play the Nemo type character, young (non band member) Nick Jonas shows the Jonas Brothers don't have to sing and be cute to have talent is great as Sosuke, the young boy who falls in love with a gold fish. Noah Cyrus (Miley's little sister) is cute as Ponyo, although sometimes the voice was like fingernails on a chalkboard and frustrated me a bit. Lily Tomlin and Betty White are great as some seniors and Tina Fey is great as the mum. What was weird was casting Cate Blanchett as Giladriel, oops sorry, wrong film but same character, Gran Mamare, or queen of the ocean.
This is a film for children and adults of all ages. More childlike than his other films but worth a viewing. Taking close to $200MILLION at the worldwide box office so far is something to smile about and proves 2D traditional animation will never die - Disney just need some new ideas
Out now at selected independant art house cinemas. Worth $13-
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If you are yet to see Spirited Away or Howl's Moving Castle then you seriously need to add them to your must see list - I will include the trailers for these films at the end also.
From the Academy Award winning director and world renowned Japanese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki comes PONYO, a story inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Little Mermaid." Already a box-office success in Japan, the story of a young and overeager goldfish named Ponyo (voiced by NOAH CYRUS) and her quest to become human features an outstanding roster of voice talent, including CATE BLANCHETT, MATT DAMON, TINA FEY, CLORIS LEACHMAN, LIAM NEESON, LILY TOMLIN, BETTY WHITE and FRANKIE JONAS as Sosuke, a young boy who befriends Ponyo. Thanks Walt Disney Pictures.
Japanese Animated Director Hayao Miyazaki is a master of his field. HIs first two works of art Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle are worldwide cult classics and astounding works of vision. If you haven't seen them - like I said above - you need to change this. His films have been remade from Japanese with subtitles to English translations with some of the biggest names in Hollywood voicing the characters. He now brings us his new piece of poetic vision, Ponyo. I think my mistake with this film was watching the English version voiced by the above actors. The previous two I had only seen in Japanese with subtitles and I think the Japanese emotion behind the characters gives it a more otherworldy feeling - something lacking in this one for me.
The visuals in this one are just as amazing and push the boundaries of 2D animation. I want a resurgence in this in conjunction with the growth of 3D. There is one scene in this, the storm scene, which is mind blowing and a visual feast.
One of the things that I did not like about this film was that I found it too "made-for-kids" as opposed to his other films. But that being said it does tend to release an inner child within you at the beauty and romance of it all. Regardless of all the environmental elements covered in this film, at it's heart is a kid's love story about two children from different worlds falling in love. And it is so beautiful to watch this blossoming love that at times it comes across as too cute.
The actors are great voicing the film, given that they had to make a script based on pre-established and filmed lip movements while relaying the correct dialogue onscreen. This they do well but I feel we lose a bit of the film's heart in the translation and Disney would want to sugar coat it all. Liam Neeson was an odd choice to play the Nemo type character, young (non band member) Nick Jonas shows the Jonas Brothers don't have to sing and be cute to have talent is great as Sosuke, the young boy who falls in love with a gold fish. Noah Cyrus (Miley's little sister) is cute as Ponyo, although sometimes the voice was like fingernails on a chalkboard and frustrated me a bit. Lily Tomlin and Betty White are great as some seniors and Tina Fey is great as the mum. What was weird was casting Cate Blanchett as Giladriel, oops sorry, wrong film but same character, Gran Mamare, or queen of the ocean.
This is a film for children and adults of all ages. More childlike than his other films but worth a viewing. Taking close to $200MILLION at the worldwide box office so far is something to smile about and proves 2D traditional animation will never die - Disney just need some new ideas
Out now at selected independant art house cinemas. Worth $13-[HTML3456]
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Comment by Wilson Pon
Health 2 Know
Adventure Toes
boxing sound
Business Rope
Fun Places 2 Travel
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Comment by MIkey Carr
Technically i think his first film is Castle of Cagliostro and while it might not be so expertly animated, it's fucking awesome.
Seriously, Naussica Of The Valley Of Winds, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbout Totoro, Porco Rosso, all of them fucking awesome and all of them better than Ponyo or Howls Moving castle if you ask me
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Ooops - my bad. I should have said - his first two US adapted mainstream (US) commercial films.
I have seen Princess Mononoke and will be looking for the others now. I do love his work.
I found Spirited Away and Howl's better than Ponyo as I don't think they were as childlike.
Thanks for the correction and for dropping in to comment
Comment by Quin Goot
Bagman's Gazette
Cool bananas.
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Thanks so much for commenting and glad you enjoyed it