Hayao Miyazaki's 'Ponyo' gives 'The Little Mermaid' a Green Twist by Movie Reviewers on Creators.com

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Hayao Miyazaki's 'Ponyo' gives 'The Little Mermaid' a Green Twist

"Ponyo," the latest visual treasure from Hayao Miyazaki, is a super-cute movie about super-serious issues.

The animated adventure, which has grossed $160 million in its native Japan, explores themes of pollution, global warming, personal responsibility and the balance of nature.

But let's meet Ponyo before getting into all that.

Ponyo is a goldfish girl with big brown eyes, voiced not-at-all annoyingly by Noah Cyrus (yes, Miley Cyrus' little sister).

She wants to be human, so Ponyo sneaks out of the ocean on the back of a jellyfish and surfaces outside a little boy's house. Even though they're only 5 years old, Sosuke and Ponyo have an immediate bond.

Sosuke, voiced by Frankie Jonas (yes, another Jonas brother), saves Ponyo after she gets stuck in a glass bottle at the bottom of the ocean. She magically heals Sosuke's finger when he cuts it on that same glass.

That's it. Those two are best friends forever. And they share lots of giggling and running and joy.

Obviously, Ponyo's ocean wizard father, Fujimoto, is none too thrilled about his goldfish daughter living with "filthy humans." He tries to get her back to the ocean, where she belongs.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? That's because "Ponyo" is based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, "The Little Mermaid."

But aside from both Ponyo and Ariel having red hair, Miyazaki's version of the "The Little Mermaid" is definitely not the one American audiences are used to seeing.

The most obvious difference is that there are no bad guys in "Ponyo." (No bad guys! Safe for sensitive preschoolers!)

Sure, Fujimoto uses menacing dark fish to chase after his daughter.

And the gigantic waves that follow Sosuke and his mother, Lisa (voiced by Tina Fey), make the ones in "The Perfect Storm" look mild.

But the characters in this tale are more complex than Ariel and Prince Eric.

The old ladies at the senior center where Lisa works may be cranky, but they're also wise. And thanks to Liam Neeson's stern-yet-tender voice-over, Fujimoto comes off not as a villain, but as a worried dad and a responsible ocean wizard.

As Ponyo transforms into a human, thanks to a tiny taste of blood and lots of ham, the Japanese town where Sosuke and Lisa live also changes.

Ponyo's living in the human world causes an environmental imbalance. The moon is closer to the Earth. The ocean rises. There are terrible storms. The boats, including the one Sosuke's dad is on, can't navigate.

In one of the film's most beautiful scenes, Sosuke and Ponyo find the ocean has reached their doorstep. They stick their heads under the water to find all sorts of whales and fish swimming where the road once was.

Because Miyazaki did most of the drawing himself, there's an artistic flair you don't get in computer-generated animation. Fish morph into waves with eyes, and it all looks more like a painting than a children's movie.

Of course, with a resume that includes "My Neighbor Totoro" and the Oscar-winning "Spirited Away," Miyazaki's environmentalist messages make for much more than children's tales.

But when those lessons are wrapped in a package as cute as "Ponyo," they're much easier to swallow.

"Ponyo." Rated: G. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes. 3.5 stars.

To find out more about Nina Garin and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.