There is a strong belief that Walt Disney and Hayao Miyazaki are masters of the same genre but born at different times. We have seen some beautiful animated films from the hands of Miyazaki like Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. Ponyo, however, is a major disappointment. There are a lot of loopholes in the plot and other deficiencies too which make this movie look really bad. Ponyo is actually an anime which might bore the young teens after a few minutes. It will be enjoyed by the kids only.

The film is inspired by Hans Christain Anderson’s “The Little Mermaid”. The plot of the film is thus: a goldfish falls in love with a human boy and she hopes to become a girl so that she can live with the boy happily ever after. It is a simple love story that has been poorly told.

This beautiful story could have been directed better but Mr. Miyazaki really disappoints. His other films such as “Spirited Away” and “Howl’s Moving Castle” were all masterpieces. But Ponyo is nowhere these films. The animation is not all compelling and the audiences might find the film a little bit weird after the initial half hour.

The script of the film, Ponyo should have been well-written. The film lacks punch because of a weak script. Ponyo is one such glaring example. But there are some scenes which show signs of brilliance. There is a scene in which we see Ponyo taking a human form and running along a huge wave that resembles a giant fish. This one should be liked a by all. But a disappointment still lingers – he was definitely capable of making a better film than what Ponyo really is.

Ponyo (Noah Cyrus), a juvenile fish leaves her father (Laim Neeson) behind to explore the wider world. Her father is a magical sea guardian. In her expedition she gets caught in some sort of human trash and is swept ashore to the loving hands of Sosuke (Frankie Jonas), a five year old boy. The two of them develops a liking for each other. One fine day she tastes a drop of Sosuke’s blood which changes her into a little girl. Her father makes a valiant effort to stop the changes but fails to do so. Ponyo, on the other hand, does not listen to anybody and breaks free from the fishy world and head towards the surface.

There are a lot of questions that follow – why are the tides rising? Why is the moon drawing close? You need to watch the movie to find the answers to these. The underlying condition is that their love needs to blossom for world order to stabilize. I will not recommend watching this movie at a theater. You can watch Ponyo online free without any hassles.

The children will surely love this flick though I suggest that the adults stay away from it. There is nothing in thie movie that will excite them. A disappointing product from a great animation director. Hard to digest, really.

Now you can Watch Ponyo over at Free Movie and enjoy wonderful movies and more.