The grandfather of Japanese anime, Hayao Miyazaki has thankfully come out of retirement and delivered another Studio Ghibli marvel, Ponyo, a charming story of friendship, ecology, and the power of persistence. Loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale The Little Mermaid, the film begins at the seaside where Ponyo, a goldfish princess, meets Sosuke, a lonely five-year-old human who lives on an isolated cliff with his mother and frequently absent father. When she tastes his blood, Ponyo becomes a mermaid, and spends the rest of the film trying to become fully human. Her father, the ruler of the sea, has other ideas, and desperately tries to bring Ponyo home while little Sosuke valiantly braves an approaching hurricane in order to reunite with his new friend.

Ponyo shares some of the same themes as Miyazaki’s other masterpiece Spirited Away, but, stylistically, Ponyo actually has a lot more in common with his earlier weird and wonderful film My Neighbour Totoro, which was clearly aimed at a younger audience. Thanks to the magic of digital technology, we will have the opportunity to screen both language versions of Ponyo. Screenings marked (VO) will be in Japanese with English subtitles; screenings marked (DUB) will be dubbed in English. Please consult the diary page for details. Whatever language you see it in, we dare you not to be singing ‘PON-yo, PON-yo, PON-yo!’ all the way home.

Screening languages for 19 - 25 February
English language:
Fri, Mon - Thu 1.00
Sat 3.45
Sun 11.00
Japanese with English subtitles:
Fri 3.45
Mon – Thu 3.15