Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea

This is the latest movie by Miyazaki Hayao (宮崎駿). It is about a fish girl who finds herself wanting to become a real girl, just like Pinocchio wanting to become a real boy.

Read about the plot here at Wikipedia.

I didn't quite like this movie, compared to the other animation films by Miyazaki Hayao. I think that a lot of things were not really explained well, like why Ponyo wants to be a real girl, how she really got the powers to become a real girl, and why is it that she sometimes revert to her fish form. Also, while Ponyo's father keeps saying that humans are bad, he never really explained why, and there was also no explanation as to why her father left the world of humans to live in the deep ocean.

But if you don't really care too much about the plot, I must say that this show is very well drawn, with good use of colours and simple expressions easily understood by children and adults alike. I am sure it will be a great hit with kids, who probably won't care too much about plots and backgrounds, and instead looking at the colours and cute characters.

The official site at Ghibli Studio