More on Hayao Miyazaki’s latest, “Ponyo On A Cliff”

Hayao Miyazaki is one of the few directors working today that I would, without any doubt whatsoever, describe as a living legend. Over the last thirty years or so, Miyazaki has created some of the most enchanting and magical movies of all time, and even his weaker efforts, such as Howl’s Moving Castle and Porco Rosso, contain many moments of artistic brilliance.

Miyazaki’s latest film is entitled Ponyo On A Cliff, and it follows a young goldfish princess who wishes to be human, and a five-year-old boy who befriends her. Unlike the vast majority of animated films these days, Ponyo On A Cliff will eschew computer animation; the entire film will be animated by hand and in a style that evokes watercolors.

You can get a sense of that in this glimpse of the trailer (which, unfortunately, is marred by some incessant newscaster commentary):

And if that doesn’t quite satisfy you, there’s this slideshow of artwork from the film:

And what the heck… here’s an ultra-kawaii music video for the movie’s theme song:

Some folks are saying that film represents a return to the simpler storytelling of such films as My Neighbor Totoro, in constrast to the big epics that Miyazaki has become known for as of late (e.g., Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle). Obviously, since the film hasn’t even opened in Japan yet, it’s too early to tell. But I’m do have a feeling that the animation style will probably be one of the most divisive elements of the film. But let’s face it, if anyone can pull off such a thing, it’s Hayao Miyazaki.

2 Comments

  1. Gravatar for The Visitor
    Commenter
    The Visitor
    Posted
    June 30, 2008

    wow, Howl’s Moving Castle and Porco Rosso are great. i don’t think they’re his weaker works. i think probably Castle In The Sky is his weakest, and the one i enjoyed the least.

  2. Gravatar for Jason
    Commenter
    Jason
    Posted
    June 30, 2008

    I can understand how some folks might find “Castle In The Sky” a little weak: it does feel a little overlong. But I find the film’s world to be one of the most fascinating of Miyazaki’s; it feels so eerily familiar, like something that might’ve happened in the real world had the Victorian age gone slightly askew.

    I’d be willing to give “Howl’s…” another chance. I’ve only seen the dubbed version, and Billy Crystal did throw me off. But even so, the plot just felt so uneven to me, as if Miyazaki had a couple of ideas for the characters that he just ran out of time for.

    And “Porco Rosso” contains ones of my fave scenes in the entire Miyazaki canon, when Porco tells of his dream about all of the dead pilot’s flying through the night sky. But there was just something about the story that didn’t grab me when I watched.

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