Ponyo on a Cliff Release Date
Hayao Miyazaki Film Comes to Japan in Mid-July, 2008
Jan 24, 2008 Dominic von Riedemann
According to Nausicaa.net, Ponyo on a Cliff (Gake no ue no Ponyo in Japan) has a Japanese release date.
Studio Ghibli has announced that the ninth film from Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle) with the studio will be released in Japan sometime in mid-July. Pundits speculate that the flick will be released on July 18th or 19th, since July 21st is a holiday Monday.
Jyunichi Nishioka, a member of Studio Ghibli's publicity department, said that a lot more information about Ponyo on a Cliff will be released after the Tokyo International Anime Fair, that happens March 27th to 30th.
"I read the completed storyboards until the end," claimed Nishioka during an interview on The Ghibli Channel, "and noticed that a terrible secret is hidden in the theme song."
Ponyo on a Cliff is an unusual film for the anime maestro. Firstly, Hayao Miyazaki took 20 months of production, the longest he has ever taken for a film. Secondly, the movie's look is heavily based on the countless watercolours Hayao painted in pre-production. This is the first Miyazaki film to be visually based on hand-painted watercolours, and only the second Ghibli film to have that look. Isaio Takahata's 1999 comedy My Neighbors the Yamadas was the first Ghibli film to be based on watercolours.
Not only that, Ponyo on a Cliff will not feature any CGI work. Hayao Miyazaki dabbled with the technique for the backgrounds of Howl's Moving Castle, but has abandoned it for this film.
Hayao Miyazaki's Rift With Son Goro Fueled Ponyo on a Cliff
Ponyo on a Cliff is about the titular Ponyo, a goldfish princess who wishes to become human. In the process, she befriends a 5-year-old boy named Sosuke. One of the major themes of the movie is the closeness between a parent and child.
Family relations are certainly on the 66-year-old Hayao's mind. A rift broke out between the director and his eldest son Goro, after the younger Miyazaki scored the directing gig on Tales from Earthsea (Gedo Senki in Japan). Hayao publicly said that Goro lacked the necessary experience to direct a feature-length anime and, according to Goro, tried to sabotage the film's production.
Despite less-than-stellar reviews, Gedo Senki smashed box office records in Japan and was well-received at the Venice International Film Festival. Studio Ghibli head Toshio Suzuki has announced that Goro Miyazaki will direct another, as yet undetermined, movie. Due to copyright issues, the film won't come to North American theatres until 2009.
But Hayao's behaviour towards his son during production won him few friends in the anime community.
"(Hayao) has the sense of crisis that he is being driven into retirement by the young generation," said Ghost in the Shell director Mamoru Oshii in an interview with CH4. "He tries to kick the other party to the bottom of a ravine, even in the case of his own son . . . Miya-san's motivation be full of . . ."
Goro's attitude wasn't much more complimentary, describing Hayao as “A goose egg as a father and 100% as a director."
It's believed that Hayao is using Ponyo on a Cliff as a means of restoring relations between himself and his eldest son. Studio Ghibli has admitted that Hayao, after serious reflection, used Goro as a model for the character of Sosuke.
Will Disney Bring Ponyo on a Cliff to North America?
It's certain that the Walt Disney Company, who has a North American distribution deal with Studio Ghibli, will be watching Ponyo on a Cliff's box office numbers very carefully. Both Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle were solid hits on this side of the Pacific, and Spirited Away netted Hayao Miyazaki a surprise Oscar win in 2001.
Should Ponyo's Japanese box office numbers fulfil its promise, then expect the Mouse House to bring Ponyo on a Cliff to North America either in late 2008 or early 2009.
Ponyo on a Cliff poster
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