Ponyo, for the most part, is a beautiful, heartwarming piece that should bring a smile to anyone’s face, regardless of age.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | May 7, 2024

Miyazaki represents the last animator still wholly dedicated to an art form that is slowly dying. Relish animated films like this while you can.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Sep 4, 2023

Perhaps not the film for the adventurous young adult, Ponyo proves that remarkable visual inventiveness more-than makes up for candy-sweet morals and glass-fragile plot lines.

Full Review | Aug 1, 2023

It's not on the same level as Howl's Moving Castle or Spirited Away, but it is a very magical and charming film.

Full Review | May 17, 2023

Fun but more for the kiddies.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Sep 22, 2021

A moving animated film from Miyazaki, one that subtly illustrate the universe of childhood. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Feb 5, 2021

Remains very safely in the realm of whimsical childhood adventure, sadly abandoning the heavy adversity found in previous efforts.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Nov 29, 2020

With the exception of one or two arresting sequences, such as Ponyo dashing pell-mell on the crests of the storm's waves and the sight of prehistoric fish magically unleashed by the flood, the film just didn't enchant me.

Full Review | Nov 23, 2020

In a world in which innocence is so rarely portrayed with any conviction on the big screen, Miyazaki does so with incredible majesty and grace and awe-inspiring wonder.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.0/4.0 | Sep 20, 2020

I watched Ponyo for the first time this weekend, and I have one thing to report: Ponyo love Sasuke. Thank you for reading.

Full Review | Aug 4, 2020

Ponyo gets it. There are other, different worlds than this, but they don't have what we have.

Full Review | Jan 18, 2020

The environments on display are even richer than those shown in "Nausicaä", yet that movie has a much tighter structure. In the end it just doesn't matter.

Full Review | Jan 17, 2020

It is a stunning and joyful experience that I highly recommend for families to watch together.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Feb 6, 2019

The score by Joe Hisaishi perfectly captures the essence of what's going on throughout the entire film... It evokes emotion and helps add so much to the film to connect you to it.

Full Review | Aug 20, 2018

At its best, this is a master working in a minor key; at its worst, it feels like a project in search of structure and conviction.

Full Review | Dec 13, 2017

Inspired very loosely by Hans Christian Andersen's original The Little Mermaid, Ponyo is an exceedingly charming modern fairy tale.

Full Review | Dec 13, 2017

Not as profound as Miyazaki's other works, but the fact that an animated children's film actually has the brains to go for larger, resonant themes is worth congratulation.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Apr 21, 2014

Miyazaki's ode to motherhood; the sea is the greatest nurturer of all. The underwater sequences are some of Ghibli's most luminous, complex reflections of nature's teeming beauty.

Full Review | May 6, 2013

The fantasy elements are so seamlessly blended with real elements. There is very little disbelief by the characters, and you want to believe yourself by the end.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 22, 2012

Apart from the ecofriendly message, we have, as always, Miyazaki's magnificently inventive animation, which is almost enough to carry the day.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 17, 2012