Blu-Ray Review:
Ponyo
By Jason Gillard
*Screenshots are not from the Blu-Ray source.
Movie
Current Rottentomatoes.com score 92% Fresh: 124 Rotten: 11
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. --© Walt Disney Pictures
Let me start out by saying Ponyo is a fantastic movie! I sat there with my jaw open at the beautiful animation from beginning to end. Miyazaki is a master storyteller and animator and he weaves his magic throughout this whole film. The tale is simple enough, about a boy who finds a goldfish that wants to become human. In other Japanese films I have watched I found that some of things that happen in the movie were difficult to understand, but if you lived in Japan would make sense. For this movie though I found it very easy to follow. It's a very whimsical movie and I loved the way the ocean is portrayed. The movie has a little environmental message as well. But it's not shoved in your face like they did in the movie Happy Feet. Ponyo is so cute and her love for Sosuke is so pure. I have two daughters 2 and 5 and we all sat down with some popcorn to watch this movie. They loved it and we loved it and I don't think I could give it any higher praise!
9 out of 10
Video
Beautiful is the word that comes to mind when I think of the 1:85.1 transfer. This movie is all about colour and the transfer does this justice in so many ways. All the colours just explode off the screen. I watched the DVD and the Blu-ray is light years ahead in this regard. The ocean comes to life like we have never seen before with piercing blue's, raging red's and pretty much all colours of the rainbow. Black levels are amazing as well. One thing I would mention is you could pause this movie at any point and it would make beautiful art that you could frame its that pretty. The animation in this film is so detailed and the transfer does a great job bringing the detail to life. Everything is well defined. The backgrounds of the animation are hand painted and you can see every brush stroke and the artistry that went into it. Detail is also fantastic! There are no issues like banding, noise, aliasing etc. This is perfection at it's finest.
10 out of 10
Audio
For most people they are going to watch this movie with the English dub. That is what I am going to base the audio review on. I am happy to say it is as good as the video transfer! Disney has given us an amazing sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The dialogue is so crystal clear that it was easy to make out everything that was said. The rear speakers are so active recreating the sounds of the sea. I love the sound they used for the waves with eyes. It's a gurgling noise that sort of sounds kind of menacing. But it sounds great coming from all channels. The LFE has a strong presence adding weight to the voices and sound effects in the movie. It also does a great job adding to the music in the film. When the storm hits, the track does a great job with things like rustling trees and howling wind. Pans from speaker to speaker melt like butter! I also found that the actors voices they used really fit the characters and if I didn't know the track was originally Japanese I wouldn't have believed it. Disney has done a spectacular job again. I should mention that the original Japanese track is there but only in Dolby Digital 5.1.
9 out of 10
Extras
Here is what is available in the extras
Meet Ponyo
Storyboard Experience
The World of Ghibli - Behind the Studio
The World of Ghibli - Enter the Lands
Other Ghibli Worlds Previews
Sneak Peeks
Disney BD Live
There is a lot of good info here and it's entirely in HD which is great. Storyboard Experience is a feature length PIP track. You get to see the original Japanese storyboards most of which are in colour. It's a great way to see the artistry that went into this film. I also really liked The World of Ghibli - Behind the Studio. This piece is 41 minutes in length and it goes into great detail of how they made and developed the film. There are interviews with both Hayao Miyazaki and John Lasseter which is great. There is also a section that talks about scoring the film. We also get to see all the voice actors as well. It's a great feature that goes into all the details of the production. The World of Ghibli - Enter the Lands is mostly for the younger set. There is a point and click game and a personality quiz that helps you pick a character. I should also mention that Meet Ponyo has Executive producers Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy introducing the movie and describing what brought them to the film. It's a modest selection of extras but most of it is worthwhile.
8 out of 10
Overall
This is a fantastic film that I think everyone should see. Disney has given us a reference quality disc with outstanding video and audio and a small selection of extras. I suggest you pick this one up and watch it with your family.
9 out of 10