There was a full year when my very young niece would hear the sound of HBO Max starting up, and no matter where she was in the house, she would stop what she was doing, turn to face whoever was around, and say “Ponyo?” offering an answer to a question that wasn’t even asked.

In the oeuvre of Hayao Miyazaki films, only Princess Mononoke stands out as one you may not want to show kids. Someone should have mentioned that to my parents, who rented it for us, probably expecting something closer to Kiki’s Delivery Service, and instead got a cursed warrior prince slicing up samurai. The rest of Miyazaki’s films can be, and maybe more importantly, should be, watched by children, including Ponyo.

Ponyo Is Firmly A Movie For Young Children, Mostly For The Better

Everyone Of All Ages Will Be Taken In By Ponyo, But Don’t Expect The Maturity Of Spirited Away

Every Miyazaki movie is for people of all ages, but Ponyo is undoubtedly the one most aimed at young children. It’s a storybook. Ponyo is an original tale, a script also written by Miyazaki, but there are strong influences from Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid and Richard Wagner’s Die Walküre. “Brünnhilde”, Ponyo’s (Noah Cyrus) real name, comes from that 19th-century opera.

Ponyo is a straightforward tale. The magical fish-like daughter of a sea-wizard sneaks off to dry land, where she meets the young boy Sōsuke (Frankie Jonas). After learning about humans, Ponyo decides she doesn’t want to be a sea creature anymore, much to her father Fujimoto’s (Liam Neeson) frustration. Her efforts to return to Sōsuke result in magical typhoons and flooding. Soon, it’s up to Sōsuke to restore the balance of the oceans and convince Fujimoto to let Ponyo remain a human.

It’s not just a children’s tale in its plot. Ponyo behaves like a story written from the point of view of a child, with their fears, experiences, and thoughts perfectly captured. There aren’t many dramatic moments, but the handful that exist are perfectly calibrated to childhood. The familiar dread of not taking care of a goldfish is represented by Ponyo floating in her bucket before mercifully snapping awake. The embarrᴀssment of a baby crying when it sees your face is mirrored by Ponyo delighting in her ability to calm a sick infant down.

The World Is Made More Wondrous By Its Unknowability

Hayao Miyazako Offers Few Explanations Which Helps Ponyo Sail

These moments of tension last seconds. It’s just enough time for a young viewer to start feeling the weight of the story, without causing them to run behind the couch in fear. There are stakes, but at their highest, they involve Ponyo being forced to live with her loving, though meddlesome, father. The magic and fantasy in Ponyo is surreal. There’s not much of an explanation as to why someone notices a whale-sized fish jumping through the water one moment, then seems to only see bubbling surf the next.

It’s not Miyazaki’s most rigorously thought-through system of magic, but that’s what makes it so wonderful. From Sōsuke’s point of view, the real world and the magical world are entwined. It’s a surprise when he finds a fish with a little girl’s face, but when she uses magic to transform his toy boat into a seafaring vessel, he’s more appreciative than amazed. The adults are similarly open to the magic of the world. They may be shocked to meet a wizard of the sea, but they’re more concerned about whether he’ll keep his promise to Ponyo and Sōsuke.

In Ponyo, as in the world of children, magic is something to be accommodated, not feared or discounted. Like many children’s stories, Ponyo is unconcerned with pace, the pages of the book turning until suddenly you’re at the end. It’s not so much a problem as it is a feature, but it’s a slightness that keeps it from reaching the elevated plain of Totoro, where the children’s story is presented like an epic myth rather than a fable.

Ponyo Is As Beautiful As Anything Miyazaki Has Illustrated & Animated

The Art In Ponyo Feels Simpler, Though Is No Less Stunning

The technical beauty of Miyazaki’s work is guaranteed, but it’s worth mentioning that Ponyo looks and feels different from any of his other films. The colors are softer and more blurred, the proportions of roads, houses, and cars are slightly off, and the details and linework of anything besides the characters are not as sharply drawn. It’s no less beautiful than anything Miyazaki’s done before, and these softer illustrations, like sketches that were never refined, offer a dreamy world.

Ponyo‘s score is unique as well. Longtime Miyazaki collaborator Joe Hisaishi has crafted a bombastic, orchestral sound that propels you through roaring waves, high-speed car rides, and zooming submarines. You may even hear a hint of Ride of the Valkyries shifted toward a playful chord. Ponyo is for children, but like a lot of fairy tales you’re supposed to outgrow, it sticks in the recesses of your mind and may have you suggesting “Ponyo?” to yourself whenever you can’t think of what to watch next.