‘Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea’, the latest film from Hayao Miyazaki / Studio Ghibli, opens in cinemas across the US today (14th August) having already been released in Japan last year.

Plot Synopsis (click this link to see the full plot synopsis from the source website,  which does contain spoilers!)

Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea is Miyazaki’s own unique take on Hans Christian Anderson’s tale, “The Little Mermaid”. It tells the story of a young girl fish who defies her father’s wishes and beliefs about the human world to live with the boy she loves. After covertly travelling to the surface by jellyfish, Ponyo becomes stranded near a house on a seaside cliff, where she is found and rescued by a human boy named Sosuke. Sosuke names her Ponyo, and takes her to his school in a bucket, and shows her to the little old ladies who live in the nursing home where his mother, Lisa, works. Imagine Sosuke’s surprise when Ponyo speaks, and tells him that she likes him!

I have to say, given my current love of Studio Ghibli / Miyazaki, I am very jealous that the US are getting this now, whereas we in the UK are going to have to wait until early 2010 to get to see this (potentially February)

That said, I am sure that six months will fly by, so it’s not *all* bad I guess… just slightly disappointing.

The vocal talents that are being used by Disney to dub it into English are an interesting selection… though when I saw that Betty White was on board to voice the character of ‘Noriko’, I have to admit that I did squeal a little bit (everyone loves a bit of Betty, right?)

It’ll be fab to get to see this on a cinema screen when it finally gets over here, so do expect a review in February 2010 (when I’ll be reviewing a two year old film that will have been reviewed zillions of times already! ;)… sorry, still bitter!! :P)