Matt W Cook

var addthis_pub=”4a0af351783743a8″;I took Joseph out last night. We went to see Ponyo.

I was impressed. But not in the way I thought I would be.

Remember when Shrek first came out? And all the kids and adults loved it together. The kids loved it because it was a colourful, musical cartoon. The adults loved it because of its mature humor and deep content. Shrek was great – a film to bridge the gaps, you know?

Ponyo wasn’t like that at all. It think it’s thoroughly a children’s movie. There were no hidden jokes, nothing too deep under the surface. But I loved it.

It seems to me that children’s media has been turning toward the flippant and silly over the last few decades. Superfriends and Classic Disney is replaced either by shows that rest on mucas and bodily noises for their interest.

Joseph didn’t laugh much throughout Ponyo. But, boy, did he ever grin. He pointed and grinned when the hero first met Ponyo. He sighed and was sad when Ponyo was taken by the wave. He turned very serious when the hero lost his mother. He laughed and cheered when the movie ended and everything was made right. Ponyo gave him one of those ‘deep movie’ joys that you only get with a seriously well made movie. Joe doesn’t ever really get excited during Spongebob (he just kinda sits there with his mouth open). But he actually got joy from Ponyo. The same kinda of look he gets when he watches Superfriends (yes, we watch Superfriends – don’t knock it until you try it).

I wish there would be more films like Ponyo.