It's a movie for anyone who, like Miyazaki himself, can still happily commune with his inner five-year-old.
Ponyo(崖の上のポニョ)
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Japan · 2008
Rated G · 1h 40m
Director Hayao Miyazaki
Starring Yuria Nara, Hiroki Doi, George Tokoro, Tomoko Yamaguchi
Genre Animation, Family
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
A goldfish washes up on shore and is found by a 5-year-old boy named Sosuke, who names her Ponyo. When her wizard father summons her back, Ponyo uses magic to become human and return to the land. The magic causes an imbalance in nature, and Sosuke and Ponyo must set things right.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
St. Louis Post-Dispatch by Calvin Wilson
Traditional in the best sense.
New York Magazine (Vulture) by David Edelstein
Liam Neeson has gravely splendid pipes as Ponyo’s father, a once-human wizard who lives underwater and despises humankind for polluting the planet.
Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum
Don't tell Walt Disney, but Hayao Miyazaki really holds the keys to the magic kingdom.
Baltimore Sun by Michael Sragow
Best of all, Ponyo never ceases to be a genuine odyssey in short pants.
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
There is a word to describe Ponyo, and that word is magical. This poetic, visually breathtaking work by the greatest of all animators has such deep charm that adults and children will both be touched.
Though targeted at tots, Ponyo may appeal most to jaded adults thirsty for wondrous beauty and unpackaged innocence
The A.V. Club by Tasha Robinson
It’s essentially a stroll through a fantastically detailed pastel world, in which the plot is little more than an excuse for Miyazaki to dive into a world teeming with colorful (and sometimes prehistoric) life.
Users who liked this film also liked
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
(風の谷のナウシカ)
A young girl's love called forth miracles.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan, United States • 1984
- Director Hayao Miyazaki
- Cast Sumi Shimamoto, Ichirō Nagai, Gorō Naya, Yōji Matsuda, Yoshiko Sakakibara, Iemasa Kayumi
- Genre Adventure, Animation, Fantasy
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Princess Mononoke
(もののけ姫)
The fate of the world rests on the courage of one warrior.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1997
- Director Hayao Miyazaki
- Cast Yōji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yūko Tanaka, Kaoru Kobayashi, Masahiko Nishimura, Tsunehiko Kamijô
- Genre Adventure, Animation, Fantasy
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Spirited Away
(千と千尋の神隠し)
A ten-year-old girl must save her parents from hostile spirits.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2001
- Director Hayao Miyazaki
- Cast Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino, Mari Natsuki, Bunta Sugawara, Yumi Tamai, Ryunosuke Kamiki
- Genre Animation, Family, Fantasy
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Paris, Texas
A place for dreams. A place for heartbreak. A place to pick up the pieces.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- West Germany, France, United Kingdom • 1984
- Director Wim Wenders
- Cast Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, Dean Stockwell, Hunter Carson, Aurore Clément, Bernhard Wicki
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video
Howl's Moving Castle
(ハウルの動く城)
A young woman cursed with old age seeks the help of an insecure magician and his companions, who live in a moving castle.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2004
- Director Hayao Miyazaki
- Cast Chieko Baisho, Takuya Kimura, Akihiro Miwa, Tatsuya Gashūin, Ryunosuke Kamiki
- Genre Fantasy, Animation, Adventure
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
My Neighbor Totoro
(となりのトトロ)
Sisters and spirits come together in this magical tale.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1988
- Director Hayao Miyazaki
- Cast Noriko Hidaka, Hitoshi Takagi, Chika Sakamoto, Shigesato Itoi, Sumi Shimamoto, Tanie Kitabayashi
- Genre Animation, Family, Fantasy
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Castle in the Sky
(天空の城ラピュタ)
Two kids race to find a lost civilization and keep a magic crystal out of the wrong hands.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1986
- Director Hayao Miyazaki
- Cast Keiko Yokozawa, Mayumi Tanaka, Minori Terada, Kotoe Hatsui, Fujio Tokita, Ichirō Nagai
- Genre Adventure, Fantasy, Animation, Action, Family, Romance
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Porco Rosso
(紅の豚)
When pigs fly...
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1992
- Director Hayao Miyazaki
- Cast Shûichirô Moriyama, Tokiko Katô, Sanshi Katsura, Tsunehiko Kamijô, Akemi Okamura, Akio Otsuka
- Genre Comedy, Animation, Adventure
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Only Yesterday
(おもひでぽろぽろ)
Is the life you have now really everything you imagined it to be?
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1991
- Director Isao Takahata
- Cast Miki Imai, Toshirō Yanagiba, Yoko Honna, Mayumi Iizuka, Masahiro Itou, Chie Kitagawa
- Genre Animation, Drama, Romance
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Pom Poko
(平成狸合戦ぽんぽこ)
A community of magical racoon dogs fight back against urban development — with hilarious results.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1994
- Director Isao Takahata
- Cast Shinchou Kokontei, Makoto Nonomura, Nijiko Kiyokawa, Shigeru Izumiya, Kosan Yanagiya, Norihei Miki
- Genre Adventure, Animation, Fantasy
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
The Cat Returns
(猫の恩返し)
After Haru, a bored schoolgirl, saves the life of an unusual cat, her world is transformed beyond anything she ever imagined.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2002
- Director Hiroyuki Morita
- Cast Chizuru Ikewaki, Yoshihiko Hakamada, Aki Maeda, Takayuki Yamada, Hitomi Satô, Kenta Satoi
- Genre Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Fantasy
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Kiki's Delivery Service
(魔女の宅急便)
A young witch goes on fantastic adventures as she runs her own delivery service.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1989
- Director Hayao Miyazaki
- Cast Minami Takayama, Rei Sakuma, Kappei Yamaguchi, Keiko Toda, Mieko Nobusawa, Kôichi Miura
- Genre Animation, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Family
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store
Summer Wars
(サマーウォーズ)
A timid teen math genius must stop a sadistic artificial intelligence he has accidentally set loose.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2009
- Director Mamoru Hosoda
- Cast Ryunosuke Kamiki, Nanami Sakuraba, Mitsuki Tanimura, Takahiro Yokokawa, Mieko Nobusawa, Mutsumi Sasaki
- Genre Animation
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Whisperer of the Heart
(耳をすませば)
Shizuki lives a simple life, dominated by her love of stories and writing, until one day she meets her “Prince of Books.”
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1995
- Director Yoshifumi Kondou
- Cast Yoko Honna, Issey Takahashi, Takashi Tachibana, Shigeru Muroi, Shigeru Tsuyuguchi, Keiju Kobayashi
- Genre Animation, Drama, Family
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Tales from Earthsea
(ゲド戦記)
A powerful wizard and his prince companion must find the cause of the troubles facing their world.
- ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2006
- Director Goro Miyazaki
- Cast Junichi Okada, Aoi Teshima, Bunta Sugawara, Yūko Tanaka, Teruyuki Kagawa, Jun Fubuki
- Genre Adventure, Fantasy, Animation, Science Fiction
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
The Secret World of Arrietty
(借りぐらしのアリエッティ)
Do not be seen by humans. That's been the law of children of the underfloor.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2010
- Director Hiromasa Yonebayashi
- Cast Mirai Shida, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Tomokazu Miura, Keiko Takeshita, Kirin Kiki, Shinobu Ōtake
- Genre Fantasy, Animation, Family
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
From Up on Poppy Hill
(コクリコ坂から)
A group of Yokohama students fight to save their school's clubhouse from the wrecking ball during preparations for the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2011
- Director Gorô Miyazaki
- Cast Masami Nagasawa, Junichi Okada, Keiko Takeshita, Yuriko Ishida, Rumi Hiiragi, Jun Fubuki
- Genre Animation, Drama
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
The Wind Rises
(風立ちぬ)
We must live.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2013
- Director Hayao Miyazaki
- Cast Hideaki Anno, Miori Takimoto, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Masahiko Nishimura, Stephen Alpert, Morio Kazama
- Genre Animation
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
(かぐや姫の物語)
A princess's crime and punishment
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2013
- Director Isao Takahata
- Cast Aki Asakura, Kengo Kora, Nobuko Miyamoto, Atsuko Takahata
- Genre Animation, Drama, Fantasy
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
When Marnie Was There
(思い出のマーニー)
Upon being sent to live with relatives in the countryside due to an illness, an emotionally distant adolescent girl becomes obsessed with an abandoned mansion and infatuated with a girl who lives there - a girl who may or may not be real.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 2014
- Director Hiromasa Yonebayashi
- Cast Sara Takatsuki, Kasumi Arimura, Nanako Matsushima, Susumu Terajima, Toshie Negishi, Ryôko Moriyama
- Genre Animation, Drama
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube