This review is about the remarkable Studio Ghibli anime, Ponyo. This movie is directed by Hayao Miyazaki, and has some beautiful music by Joe Hisaishi. This is a sweet and amazing movie, and now let me tell you more about it!

Deep under the sea, there lives a little fish who lives with all her siblings in a big coral reef house. In that house, there also lives a scientist/magician, called Fujimoto. All her life, she has lived there, quite happily with her brothers and sisters, with Fujimoto taking care of her. However, part of her wants to go out, and explore.

She takes her chance to do just that, when Fujimoto is busy experimenting with potions in the ocean (hey, that rhymes!) and escapes by hitching a ride on top of a passing jellyfish, into the unknown……

Meanwhile, on a cliff by the sea, there lives a little boy, Sosuke, with his mother, Lisa. His father works in the navy, and is currently at sea. On that very day, he went to play in the sea before school, with his toy boat. When he got there, he saw…

That very fish, who was now stuck in a glass bottle (after an encounter with an ocean clean-up machine). He rescues it, and takes it home. He gets a cut from the glass, but the fish licks it, and…. it gets healed! He’s delighted, and he takes the fish home and puts it in a green bucket, and takes it home. Lisa goes to work (she works in an old people’s home) and he goes to school, taking the fish with him. He loves the fish a lot, and gives it a name: Ponyo. Meanwhile, Fujimoto is getting increasingly frantic. He needs to get Ponyo back, before humans discover that …….. Ponyo has magic powers! Sosuke and Ponyo are sitting in a small cove next to the sea, when Fujimoto spots them. He manages to rescue Ponyo, except……..Ponyo doesn’t want to be rescued. Both of them are really sad on being parted. She and Sosuke love each other, and now, Ponyo wants to become human, like Sosuke, and go back to him. Fujimoto is aghast. He tries to convince her that humans are horrible creatures, but she’s not so sure. Sosuke and his mother, at least, were very kind. She uses her magic to become human, and she somehow manages it, with the help of her siblings. What she doesn’t know, is that Fujimoto has a sealed room, with a well inside. The water is slowly rising in that well, and once the well is full, the sea will rise, and submerge the earth. The Era of Water. While trying to escape, she opens the door by mistake, and…….  the ocean water rushes in and now, the well is overflowing. The sea starts to rise…

She and Sosuke are reunited, but at a price. The sea is rising, and humanity is in chaos. And, on top of it all, Lisa goes missing while trying to help the folks in the old people’s home. Sosuke and Ponyo set of to rescue Lisa. Can they rescue Sosuke’s mother, stop the sea from rising even more, and can Ponyo remain in her human form, without Fujimoto trying to turn her back into a fish?

A magical story, it will keep you engrossed till the end. This is one of my favourite Studio Ghibli movies, and I hope you like it too!                                                                                                             

Very detailed, vibrant and colourful, this is a really sweet and interesting movie. The plot line is really intricate and I loved it from beginning to end. My favourite characters were Lisa, because she was so kind and funny, and the people in the old folk’s home, because they were really nice. (Who are yours?) A really imaginative movie it has an originality of its own. Studio Ghibli is definitely one of the best movie studios ever. I really hope that you try it. It is definitely worth it. This movie has the perfect balance of humour, sadness, love and action. There is a rich variety of characters, and that makes it all the more interesting. This engrossing movie will help you escape reality, and dive into the magical world of Ponyo.

This movie is a must for those who love amazing, sweet and happy stories. “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea” will deliver all that and more. I recommend this movie for ages 8+.