WITHOUT the works of Hayao Miya zaki, often de scribed as the world’s greatest animator, there would be no “Up.” Pixar and Disney have returned the favor by bringing his latest masterpiece, “Ponyo,” to American audiences.
Even though it’s been dubbed by an American cast from a script adapted by Melissa Matheson (“E.T.”), this environmentally themed, very loose version of Hans Christian Andersen’s “Little Mermaid” is never going to be mistaken for Disney’s musical of the same name.
This exquisite pastel-colored, eye-popping example of hand-drawn animation is still very Japanese, aimed most specifically at children around the world — but with a storytelling sophistication that adults will savor.
Noah Cyrus, Miley’s younger sister, provides the voice for the spirited Ponyo, a goldfish who hitches a ride on a jellyfish and escapes from the lair of her half-human, super-protective scientist father (Liam Neeson).
She’s caught by Sosuke (Frankie Jonas, sibling of the Jonas Brothers), a lonely 5-year-old who lives on a Japanese cliff by the sea with his mom (Tina Fey). He promises to protect Ponyo.
Mom works at a nursing home and seems overwhelmed by the frequent absences of Sosuke’s sea-captain father (Matt Damon).
A drop of blood from a cut on Sosuke’s thumb magically transforms Ponyo into a real girl who’s smitten with her protector.
But Ponyo’s father’s attempts to recapture her also bring changes in dozens of Ponyo’s goldfish sisters, triggering a tsunami and threatening a worldwide ecological disaster he tries to avert.
These are dazzling sequences, with a car trying to outrace leaping waves, glimpses of ship graveyards — and prehistoric fish swimming alongside their descendants.
Cate Blanchett briefly turns up to voice Ponyo’s mom, a sea goddess, and the Greek chorus at Sosuke’s mom’s senior center sounds an awful lot like Betty White, Cloris Leachman and Lily Tomlin.
Such star power has been deployed by Pixar and Disney on behalf of Miyazaki, whose films have been never as popular here as in the rest of the world — despite a Best Animated Feature nomination Oscar for “Spirited Away” and a nomination for “Howl’s Moving Castle.”
I have no idea whether they’ll be more successful with “Ponyo.” But if they aren’t, it’s America’s loss.
PONYO
Draws you in. Running time: 100 minutes. Rated G. At the Empire, the 72nd Street, the Sunshine, others.