Ponyo is about a little fish who becomes human after befriending a young boy.
**SPOILERS AHEAD**
There is a wizard who lives in the ocean. He has tons of little fish babies like Brunehilda (Ponyo). One day Ponyo sneaks out and falls asleep on the back of a jellyfish. She wakes up and is stuck in some floating trash, only to be rescued by a little boy of about 5 years old.
The boy cuts his finger and Ponyo licks it, healing the boy with magic.
Because of the blood she starts to morph into a human.
The wizard calls Ponyo back home and she pitches a fit, claiming she wants to be human to be with her best friend. She uses magic and with the help of her sisters she returns to land. The imbalance of magic causes a tsunami and major flooding on the island.
Ponyo gets to stay with her friend. The wizard asks his wife for help, she appears to be some sort of goddess of the sea. They give the boy a test and say that if he can accept Ponyo as a magic-less girl then she can remain with him. If he rejects her she’ll be reduced to sea foam.
The boy says he loves Ponyo and wants her to be his friend with or without magic and Ponyo remains human.
This is a very pg version of the little mermaid. The children in the story are 4 and 5 years old, so it’s all very innocent.
It was a cute story. It wasn’t too scary, so I would say it’s safe for kids. There are some funny moments. The little boy’s mom is voiced by Tina Fey. At one point she gets mad at her husband for taking another shift out at sea. He goes by signaling the family in morse code. The mom sends him back some messages that are less than friendly. He continues to tell her sweet things in morse code as the ship heads out to sea.
The wizard is voiced by Liam Neeson, and he has some funny moments as well. His repeated line is, “Respect your father!”
There are messages about the environment and the lack of care shown by those who live near the ocean. There are a few moments where Ponyo is a tad obnoxious, but she’s 4 years old.
Overall it was a cute movie.
3/5 stars.
Redheaded Jill 
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