Blu-Ray Review: Ponyo

Ponyo
Based on "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen
Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki
Featuring the voices of: Cate Blanchett, Noah Cyrus, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Frankie Jonas, Cloris Leachman, Liam Neeson, Lily Tomlin and Betty White

Special Features: The World of Ghibli - Visit Ponyo in the extraordinary interactive experience:  Enter the Lands - Meet the characters and hear the story of the movie; Behind The Studio - Discover the film's inspiration through documentaries, including all-new interactive interviews with Hayao Miyazaki; Meet Ponyo disc introduction with the producers, Storyboard Presentation of the Movie, and a DVD version of the film.

From the box:

Welcome to a world where anything is possible! Academy Award-winning director Hayao Miyazaki (2002, Best Animated Feature, Spirited Away) and legendary filmmaker John Lasseter together with Disney bring to life a heatwarning and imaginative telling of Hans Christian Andersen's tale The Little Mermaid. And now it's even more thrilling through the magic of Blu-ray with never-before-seen bonus features that take you on a journey deep into the film's enchanted world!


A young boy named Sosuke rescues a goldfish named Ponyo, and they embark on a fantastic journey of friendship and discovery before Ponyo's father, a powerful sorcerer, forces her to return to her home in the sea. In her quest to become human and reunite with Sosuke, Ponyo stumbles upon and releases her father's magical Water of Life and triggers a massive storm. Now balance must be restored to the world they all cherish.


Ponyo will delight your family with its timeless story, and on Blu-ray it will dazzle your senses with its enhanced high definition picture and sound.

We reviewed Ponyo back when the film released a while ago so we won't need to cover the film so much as the aspects contained on the blu-ray.  You can read our original review HERE. 

In terms of picture and sound, Ponyo is gorgeous.  It only makes me want to see the other Miyazaki films released on Blu-ray, which if rumor proves right is coming right around the corner. The colors are beautifully vibrant and just come to life on Blu-ray.

The voice acting is great with each character sounding natural and not celebed out.  I think I prefer the Japanese versions better just because that's the way it was originally done and meant to be. Despite how good the voices sound, I still found myself thinking, "Oh there's Tina Fey and Cate Blanchett." It's nothing against them, I just can easily recognize their voices.  I know a young child isn't going to want to read the dialogue so I can't hold it against anyone for doing a redub. The Japanese audio is available on the disc if you prefer it.

Special features wise the disc is adequate.  There's nothing really to flip out over.  They're interesting but I would have liked to see more.

Overall, it's a nice package feature a rather good little film.  It's not the best film of Miyazaki's I've seen (that would be Spirited Away) but I certainly enjoyed watching it.

Ponyo is available now!