Ponyo/崖の上のポニョ (Gake no Ue no Ponyo) (2008) - Magical animation masterpiece from master Miyazaki

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+ 3rd Best Movie of the Year

+ Best Adventure Movie of the Year + Best Family Movie of the Year + Best Huge Hit Movie of the Year + Best Japanese Movie of the Year 

 

 

Disney's poster for the Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo does its best to recall the public's attraction to one of the biggest animation hits in the preceding years, Pixar's Finding Nemo (2003)

Goldfish Ponyo gradually becomes a girl with magical powers, when it tastes the blood of the boy Sosuke, The two become good friends, while a storm surge ravages the boy's native area.

 

Ponyo is written and directed by Japanese master filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki (Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro/Rupan sansei: Kariosutoro no shiro (1979)), whose 11th feature it is.

It is another wonderful, - and often truly strange! - film from Miyazaki. That Liam Neeson (Schindler's List (1993)) voices the womanly character from the sea in the English language version is just one of these peculiarities, and the classic H.C. Anderson mermaid fairytale also gets a dramatic altering here. 

The animation sucks your eyeballs to every single one of the amazing (entirely hand drawn) images, and especially the animation of the treacherous, dangerous ocean is stunning.

Ponyo is also a jolly and quite funny film, and a wise film that is enormously rewarding for all ages, - pure cinema magic. It is one of those rare works of mankind that is so good it could be worth presenting for other life forms (simians, aliens etc.)

 

Related posts:

Hayao Miyazaki: The Wind Rises/風立ちぬ [Kaze Tachinu] (2013) - Miyazaki's beautiful but languid last film 

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

Top 10: Best fantasy movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

Howl's Moving Castle/ハウルの動く城 [Hauru no Ugoku Shiro] (2004) - Miyazaki's hugely successful, gibberish fantasy
Spirited Away/千と千尋の神隠し [Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi] (2001) - Miyazaki's highly Japanese, enormously weird story of a girl 

Princess Mononoke/もののけ姫 (Mononoke-hime) (1997) - Miyazaki's grand, magical adventure masterpiece

1992 in films - according to Film Excess 

Porco Rosso/紅の豚 (Kurenai no Buta) (1992) - Childlike qualities help propel strange Miyazaki adventure 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 34 mil. $

Box office: 204.9 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 6.02 times its cost)

[Ponyo was released 19 July (Japan) and runs 101 minutes. 12 companies cooperated in the financing and production of the film. Production began in May 2006 in Japan, with Miyazaki's animation concept for the film building on traditional hand-drawn techniques rather than incorporating CGI as he had done in earlier films. The film opened #9 to a 3.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it fell on the chart from then on, grossing 15 mil. $ (7.3 % of the total gross). It was the film's 2nd biggest market. Japan was its biggest with 164.5 mil. $ (80.3 %), and South Korea was the 3rd biggest with 6.9 mil. $ (3.4 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Miyazaki returned with Mr. Dough and the Egg Princess/Pan-dane to Tamago-hime (2010, short) and theatrically with The Wind Rises/Kaze tachinu (2013). Ponyo is certified fresh at 91 % with a 7.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Ponyo?

Porco Rosso/紅の豚 (Kurenai no Buta) (1992) - Childlike qualities help propel strange Miyazaki adventure

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A smiling pilot pig in a red airplane against a sweltering sky makes up this upbeat poster for Hayao Miyazaki's Porco Rosso

Rosso is a master pilot, who hunts 'air pirates', and gets help from a 17 year-old girl to repair his plane, so that he can get back home to Milan, Italy. - Oh, and a curse has turned him into a pig.

 

Porco Rosso is written and directed by Japanese master filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki (Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro/Rupan sansei: Kariosutoro no shiro (1979)), whose 7th film it is. It is based on the three-part 1989 watercolor manga Hikōtei Jidai by Miyazaki. The English title is in Italian, because the character is Italian, and it means 'red pig', a literal translation of the film's original Japanese title.

Almost everything about Porco Rosso seems truly peculiar, but never absurd or grotesque, because Miyazaki's often beautiful compositions and exciting scenarios are accompanied by a warmth and a childlike matter of course. This makes the mostly strictly realistic (believe it or not), fantastic and deeply childish story very inviting and enjoyable. The strange norms and foreign values make the film even more worthwhile.

Something that's never quite cleared up bothers me though: Why exactly is the protagonist a pig?

 

Related posts:

Hayao Miyazaki: The Wind Rises/風立ちぬ [Kaze Tachinu] (2013) - Miyazaki's beautiful but languid last film 

Top 10: Best fantasy movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

Howl's Moving Castle/ハウルの動く城 [Hauru no Ugoku Shiro] (2004) - Miyazaki's hugely successful, gibberish fantasy
Spirited Away/千と千尋の神隠し [Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi] (2001) - Miyazaki's highly Japanese, enormously weird story of a girl 

Princess Mononoke/もののけ姫 (Mononoke-hime) (1997) - Miyazaki's grand, magical adventure masterpiece 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 9.2 mil. $

Box office: 45.3 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.84 times its cost)

[Porco Rosso was released 18 July (Japan) and runs 94 minutes. Japan Airlines was a major investor behind the film, which was to be a 30-45 minute long in-flight animation. But Miyazaki made the film longer and secured a theatrical release, although the airline reportedly showed it in-flight long before the premiere. Nevertheless the film was the highest-grossing on the Japanese market of 1992, making 43 mil. $ (94.9 % of the total gross). Disney created an English dub version for their home video release of the film in 2005. The film has been re-released on several occasions. Miyazaki returned with Nandarou (1992, TV short), Chage & Aska: On Your Mark (1995, music video) and theatrically with Princess Mononoke/Mononoke-hime (1997). Porco Rosso is fresh at 95 % with an 8.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Porco Rosso?

Princess Mononoke/もののけ姫 (Mononoke-hime) (1997) - Miyazaki's grand, magical adventure masterpiece

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The titular princess atop the giant wolf under a roof of dense foliage makes up this poster for Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke

A young prince in Japan hundreds of years ago gets a nasty scar from an unpleasant wild boar demon, whereupon he ventures out to find the god of the forest, who may be willing to help him. But a war between humans, the animals of the forest and the gods is underway, as our hero falls in love with the wolf princess Mononoke, who stands between the parties.

 

Princess Mononoke is written and directed by Japanese master filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki (Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro/Rupan sansei: Kariosutoro no shiro (1979)), whose 8th feature it is. Neil Gaiman (Doctor Who (2011-13)) wrote the English translation. Though popularly understood as a name in the West, 'Mononoke' is reportedly "a Japanese word for supernatural, shape-shifting beings that possess people and cause suffering, disease, or death."

A knock-out film visually, it is also a complex narrative that's difficult to recount but wholly engrossing throughout. It is an aesthetic enjoyment and a grand film in every way. The sound and music side (score by Joe Hisaishi (Shinka no toki (2019))) is absolutely phenomenal, and the animation is equally resplendent.

Big and important metaphysical elements are juggled in this singular film that's wild, psychedelic and enjoyable.

 

Related posts:

Hayao Miyazaki: The Wind Rises/風立ちぬ [Kaze Tachinu] (2013) - Miyazaki's beautiful but languid last film 

Top 10: Best fantasy movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

Howl's Moving Castle/ハウルの動く城 [Hauru no Ugoku Shiro] (2004) - Miyazaki's hugely successful, gibberish fantasy
Spirited Away/千と千尋の神隠し [Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi] (2001) - Miyazaki's highly Japanese, enormously weird story of a girl 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 23.5 mil. $

Box office: 194.3 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 8.26 times its cost)

[Princess Mononoke was released 12 July (Japan) and runs 133 minutes. Miyazaki had been developing the ideas in the film since the late 1970s. He reportedly created the Irontown in the film with inspiration from John Ford's westerns. Computer animation is reportedly used in approximately 10 % of the film, which is designed to blend in with the hand-painted animation. Miyazaki preferred the title The Legend of Ashitaka (the prince in the film) but accepted producer Toshio Suzuki's choice of Princess Mononoke. The film was an enormous hit in Japan, becoming first 1997's biggest hit and then for a while the highest-grossing film ever in Japanese cinemas, (beating E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)), - until Titanic (1997) took over the honor. For the North-American release, a Disney contract landed the film at Miramax's desk, where executive Harvey Weinstein threatened to cut it to 90 minutes. Determined rejection and a samurai sword sent directly to him from Miyazaki reportedly made sure that the film was released uncut with the English dub. It opened #33 to a 144k $ first weekend in 8 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #24 and in 129 theaters (different weeks), grossing 2.3 mil. $ in its first run there. The film has been re-released in several markets several times since its original release, continuing to woo new audiences. It has also made more than 268 mil. $ on the home video market in Japan and North America alone. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. IMDb's users have rated the film in as #80 on the site's Top 250 list, sitting between Avengers: Endgame (2019) and Good Will Hunting (1997). Princess Mononoke is certified fresh at 93 % with an 8.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Princess Mononoke? 

The Wind Rises/風立ちぬ [Kaze Tachinu] (2013) - Miyazaki's beautiful but languid last film

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The North-American poster for Hayao Miyazaki's The Wind Rises is very zealous in making us recall the directors past glories

Our hero Horikoshi has had a great interest in airplanes since childhood and grows up to become a plane designer as planned, while his country Japan enters the lunacy of World War II.

The Wind Rises is the swansong of Japanese animation master writer-director Hayao Miyazaki (Princess Mononoke/Mononoke-hime (1997)), who retired in its wake. As an innocent-looking animation, it is an odd bird; too adult for most children, and too conflict-averse and languid for most adults. It is clear that Miyazaki has sought to make an uplifting, beautiful film without the horrors of war or any darker, more complex nuances in the characters, - and the film is then set in relation to the two world wars. The plan thereby comes to seem like a feeble tripping around the real dilemmas.
The Wind Rises is still worth seeing, because it is a sweepingly beautiful animation with tremendously fine music (by Joe Hisaishi (Ponyo/Gake no ue no Ponyo (2008)) and sensory sound design (by Koji Kasamatsu (Ponyo). It is a farewell to a master who has simply grown too soft with age. It is based on Miyazaki's own same-titled 2009-10 manga and is a fictional biopic of Jiro Hirokoshi, the maker of two Mitsubishi airplanes used by Japan during WWII, inspired by Tatsuo Hori's same-titled 1937 short story.

Related reviews:

Hayao Miyazaki: Howl's Moving Castle/ハウルの動く城 [Hauru no Ugoku Shiro] (2004) - Miyazaki's hugely successful, gibberish fantasy
Spirited Away/千と千尋の神隠し [Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi] (2001) - Miyazaki's highly Japanese, enormously weird story of a girl

 

Watch an official trailer for the film in the English dub version here

 

Cost: 30 mil. $

 Box office: 136.4 mil. $

=  Big hit

[The Wind Rises was released July 20 (Japan) and runs 126 minutes. Miyazaki originally wanted to make a Ponyo sequel and thought his Wind Rises manga unfit for children, until a staff member said to him that "children should be allowed to be exposed to subjects they are unfamiliar with." The film opened #25 in 21 theaters to a 0.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it peaked in 496 theaters at #13 and grossed 5.2 mil. $ (3.8 % of the total gross.) The film's biggest market by far was its native Japan with 119.5 mil. $ (87.6 %). The 2nd largest was France with 5.4 mil. $ (4 %), and North America was the 3rd largest. The film was nominated for the Best Animation Oscar, which it lost to Frozen, and the corresponding Golden Globe, also lost. The Wind Rises is certified fresh at 88 % with a 7.9 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Wind Rises?