VIZ Media
WRITER: Hayao Miyazaki
ARTIST: Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Takami Nieda
ISBN: 978-1-4215-3064-2; soft cover
272pp, Color, $34.99 US, $39.99 CAN, £25.00 UK
Ponyo is a 2008 animated film written and directed by famed Japanese film director, Hayao Miyazaki, and made by the company he co-founded, Studio Ghibli. Walt Disney Pictures released the fantasy film in North America in 2009. Pixar, the American computer animation company, supervised the production of Ponyo’s English dub.
According to Miyazaki, Ponyo is a reworking of Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Little Mermaid,” placed in a contemporary Japanese setting. Readers can learn facts like that and also get a wide open, behind-the-scenes look at the creative process of Ponyo in VIZ Media’s English-language publication of The Art of Ponyo. It’s a treat for people who love “Art of…” books that focus on animated featured films.
The Art of Ponyo features a generous selection of concept sketches, concept art, backgrounds, character sketches and designs, and film stills (of scenes from Ponyo). Readers shouldn’t think for a minute that they won’t get to see any drawings done by Miyazaki. According to the book, he drew all the concept sketches, and the book is littered with wonderful Miyazaki drawings which give us a small peek into this revered director’s creative process. One page even features a storyboard Miyazaki drew himself.
The book includes numerous examples of both Ponyo concept art, which was produced by the staff of Studio Ghibli, and character sketches and designs produced by Katsuya Kondo, the supervising animator of Ponyo. Also included are the complete voice-over script for the English-language release of the film and interviews with four of the guiding hands behind the film, including Kondo and Art Director Noboru Yoshida.
The list of people who will want The Art of Ponyo is long: animation aficionados, fans of Miyazaki, libraries, and people who’ve bought previous Miyazaki-related art books. People who remember the “Art of” books that Hyperion published in the 1990s for Walt Disney animated films (such as The Lion King) will also want The Art of Ponyo, a superbly produced book full of wonderful movie art. Chances are the movie will also be wonderful.
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