Ponyo

This has to be the most effortlessly delightful film of the year. It's beautiful to look at and seriously cute but never sentimental. Most of all, it's a triumph for the glories of hand-drawn animation. The pre-credits sequence of a teeming, vivid, colourful undersea world sets the standard and it never drops. It looks deceptively simple but the portrayal of both the natural and manmade worlds is actually breathtaking (the variety of underwater life, Sosuke's house perched on top of the cliff, the junior school and the old people's home) and for once, a sea goddess does feel exactly like the most beautiful and magical creature on the planet. Then there's Ponyo herself. In her goldfish form she is wonderfully cute (and given to shooting waterspouts at the humans around her) Curious and playful, she swims away from home and ends up stuck in a jar before being rescued by young Sosuke. A bond is formed and she magically transforms into a little girl. This is actually where Miyazaki shows his genius. They might be animated, but Sosuke and Ponyo also act just like children. The scene where Ponyo first enters the house on the cliff is a gem of observation. Everything from the fluffy towel she uses to dry herself to the green mug and the honey put in her drink are new experiences for Ponyo and her facial expression captures that perfectly. She charges around the house, gripping these new wonders, and goes head first into the glass door (I have seen a small child do *exactly* the same thing). Undeterred she continues her route, bouncing along the sofa, before eventually falling asleep where she lays. The film is full of such light touches. Miyazaki's characteristic concern with the environment is present and correct too, but it's integrated into the plot rather than being heavyhanded - human detritus litters the seabed and traps fish-Ponyo, her powers threaten the balance of nature and cause a tsunami that floods the town. But this is a children's film so the danger is subsumed beneath the wonder. Ancient giant fishes swim along the roads formerly driven along (badly) by Sosuke's mother; the glowing sea goddess revives a stalled ship merely by her presence. In a way, words can't begin to describe the beauty of the animation. The colours are frequently luminous, the objects unfussily drawn and the viewer wants to curl up into a ball of happiness.