Blu-ray Reviews - Ponyo & Stargate Universe: SG-U

Her father, a former mortal, is mortified. But when Ponyo tastes human blood and food, and chooses to become human herself, the balance is threatened in both the sea and on land.

Dumped into theatres in the middle of August, master animator Hayao Miyazaki's latest film took in a paltry $15 million here in the States - less than 1/10th of what it made in Japan (a country where $30 million domestic is a giant hit). Ponyo is a bit of a departure for Miyazaki. After years of creating films aimed at "Those who are, once were or will be 8 years old," Miyazaki returned here to the formula that made his earlier My Neighbor Totoro such a success. While Ponyo is definitely not on the level of that masterpiece, even a lesser Miyazaki film is exceptional when compared to other animated works. As Pixar's John Lasseter (who holds the work of Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli in the highest esteem) has acknowledged, the success of Pixar has been due - at least in part - to Lasseter's staff internalizing the same kinds of philosophies and values that have made Ghibli productions so beloved for the last 25 years.

Thankfully, Ponyo looks nigh-perfect on Blu-ray Disc (presented in 1080p in the original 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio), and I don't say that lightly. While the character animation is colored by computer, all of the backgrounds are hand-painted in watercolor. The subtle textures and detail of artist Kazuo Oga's backgrounds are captured perfectly here, falling just short of looking like something you'd hang on your wall. Colors are rich and saturated, with no signs of banding or artifacting even in the ocean depths. Too often even modern, hand-painted animated films like The Princess and the Frog mix in too many CG elements and feats of design that would be impossible to create by hand. Ponyo takes its hand-crafted art and lightly sprinkles CG elements over the top, creating a welcome "analog" visual warmth in the digital realm.

The audio on this Blu-ray is... well, complicated. Unfortunately, Disney has followed their standard BD production template here, which means the DTS-HD MA lossless track is devoted to the English-dubbed audio, with only a lossy Dolby Digital track given to the film's original Japanese mix. While this policy works fine for more casual American viewers, it COMPLETELY fails to take into account the desires of foreign film and anime enthusiasts - people who really care about hearing the original intended audio performances AND are the most likely to purchase the Blu-ray version over the DVD. Complicating a comparison between the two tracks is the fact that Disney has locked out "on the fly" audio switching during the film. But upon comparison, there is a major difference between the two. The opening chapter's Fantasia-esque undersea sequence simply sparkles in the English lossless mix - the strings and undertones of Joe Hisaishi's score come out perfectly, along with all the little snap-crackle-pop of plankton creation - audio details that get buried in the lossy tracks. But once characters start speaking, the Japanese mix is far superior. All of the dubbed voices sound like actors just standing in a studio (the voices of Liam Neeson and Matt Damon are particularly jarring), while the timbre of the Japanese track is far more organic and smoothly blended with the rest of the elements. So for the moment, if audio fidelity is the most important thing for you, then the English dub might be your preferred choice. But if director's intent, superior mixing and better voice performances are key to your enjoyment, you're just going to have to put up with a lossy mix. We STONGLY encourage Disney to revise their template for future foreign language film releases on Blu-ray, to order to include lossless audio for BOTH the original language and dubbed English tracks whenever possible.

[Note: If lossless original language audio is important to you, then by all means let Disney know by calling their customer service number (800-723-4763 U.S./888-877-2843 Canada), or better yet by writing them an e-mail or letter. PLEASE be polite when doing so, because the voices of dedicated, reasonable customers are ALWAYS heard the loudest and taken most seriously by the studios.]

The bonus features included for this film on Blu-ray are good and welcome. While there was a 9-hour special on the making of this film aired by NHK in Japan, it's unreasonable to expect all of that here. Still, parts of it ARE included in the Blu-ray's World of Ghibli: Behind the Studio section. Topics covered include discussion of the creation and development of the story and characters, the locations that inspired the film, Hisaishi's scoring process and the recording of the English dub. Conversely, the Worlds of Ghibli: Enter the Lands section contains a set of "mini-games" to introduce Miyazaki newbies to the other films in his studio's library. Strangely, the Mononoke and Spirited Away icons are disabled here. (Those titles may have been removed from Disney's Miyazaki re-promotion at the last minute, though I suspect they'll both be upgraded on DVD and Blu-ray in the next couple of years.) Rounding out the extras are promotional trailers for Miyazaki's Kiki's Delivery Service, Castle in the Sky and My Neighbor Totoro, which are now available on DVD from Disney in upgraded versions. (Again, I suspect they'll also be released on Blu-ray in the next couple of years, after the BD versions come out in Japan.) Finally, a DVD version of the film is also included. My only regret is that the Blu-ray doesn't have the beautiful lithographs that are packed inside the re-issue DVDs, though this is probably because they just wouldn't fit well in the BD case.

Miyazaki's Ponyo quite simply looks better than any other piece of hand-drawn animation currently available on Blu-ray... and that's saying something. The film is wonderful for viewing with the whole family, and the A/V quality and extras available on this disc (the lack of lossless Japanese audio aside) should satisfy most (if not quite all) fans.

Jeff Kleist
jeffkleist@thedigitalbits.com