Fantastic. My children have loved one of Miyazaki's earliest films, My Neighbor Totoro, since they were 2. This was no different. The story was simple, sweet and about as positive as you could get. There were very few situations that were "tense" and put any of the characters in great danger, so if your kids are older and they thrive on having some major "bad guy" in a movie, this isn't for them. Personally it's a favorite movie for myself, and for my 4 year olds. They loved it and wanted to see it again. The pro-environment messages are good, I'm getting a bit tired of them, simply because they seem so forced, however they're a bit too subdued here and never really fleshed out to the point that little kids would GET what they were hinting at. And the ending... Let's say it's far from the best ending Miyazaki has given in any of his movies. But at the end, it doesn't ruin the rest of the film, which is fantastic. The worst part about all of this, really, is the lack of response. There's been so little interest here that it makes me fear for movies in this quality. The same thing happened with Spirited Away, which was a fantastic movie as well. If you get the chance, and have kids that love sweet, endearing and funny movies, this is it. It's "The Little Mermaid" with far more heart and less of a bratty main character.

Well, I say I loved it, but I did not really like the theme song, which was mutated from its cute catchy japanese theme by Noah cyrus and Frankie Jonas. Im getting a set of his movies, and this comes with it, thank god it like the others is in Japanese, so I will just use subtitles to enjoy this masterpiece like it was ment to be. Great life lessons, Mild suspense plot, Comedy, and overall innocence. 2 thumbs up and 5 stars.

In my opinion, this movie is not acceptable for age 6 and below. I would say it should be for older children only. There are several very scary scenes. Additionally, a 5 year old is show being left alone during a storm, entering the ocean by himself and lighting matches.While I realize this is fiction and a fantasy film, it was too much and did not deserve it's G rating. My 6 year old was terrified. I rely on this sight to help guide my movie choices and I feel let down regarding this film.

We love Miyazaki films in our family. This was a nice one, but behind Totoro and Kiki in my opinion. As usual for Miyazaki, the animation was magical. The story was nice but a little difficult to believe at times, even if you're prepared to believe that some fish can turn into humans sometimes. I don't think any of this distracted from my 7-year-old's enjoyment of the film, just from mine. What my son did have trouble with was the part near the end when it appears that the little boy Sosuke's mother might have been lost to the sea. At this point in the movie, he said it was too scary and wanted to go home. FYI, this part comes very near the end and is resolved pretty quickly, so if you can stick it out with a good cuddle for a few minutes like we did, you'll be over the tension and uncertainty.

My kids (ages 6 & 8) really enjoyed this movie. We discussed during the film that it was weird that his mom let him down by the water alone, and left a 5 yr old alone with a "fish girl" during a storm. My 8 yr old comment she was glad THAT was not a real life story because the mom let the kid alone too much. I thought the beer seemed odd, but kids do see their parents disagree, so the bug off scene didn't phase me much. I could not decide if the mom was passed out in that scene, but the way she bounced back just made me think she was sort of down. I thought it was cute, and I love the animation. If you like this one, check out My Neighbor Totoro -- my kids loved that one too.

Same old, same old for gender stereotypes. The women are thin and beautiful. Ponyo cannot, ultimately, decide her own fate since it depends on whether the little boy Sosuke loves her. Perhaps most troubling is the scene where Sosuke's mother leaves Sosuke during a very scary storm. This single scene was the most disturbing to my son. The fact that it came with some tired speech about how Sosuke has to become a man makes it even worse. The idea that a boy must be separated from his mother to achieve manhood is an all too familiar trope in kids's entertainment.It does a tremendous disservice to boys who learn from scenes like this one that vulnerability is not acceptable and that being too close to Mom is silly and immature. This film was a big disappointment.

This movie is an amazing masterpiece! My kids have memorized the theme song in Englisn AND Japanese, which gave them a great multicultural experience! It also taught them about true love! The only bad part, as fellow reviewer cabbe said, is the part with the mom, the baby, and the soup. Other than that, this was a beautiful touching movie! I cried 7 times!

Yes it's got the odd scarey moment and the parenting isn't Norman Rockwell but the imagery is amazing and my 8 year old son was absolutely captivated.

A few spots that have potential for issue with young kids, but overall, really good!