I went to this movie with a friend of mine who is also a Studio Ghibli devotee, but I don’t think you need to be a fan of Miyazaki’s to appreciate this film on its own merit.
As one review that I read claimed, the storyline is loosely based on the Little Mermaid, but instead of a mermaid, we have a goldfish (although as my friend and I agreed, a goldfish with a face and a thicket of red, unruly hair would be a little unnerving in real life). The appeal of the film is not only in the fluidity and simplicity of the art, but also in the goodness of the characters and the story itself. The movie reminds you of yourself when you were still young and filled with awe and innocence before that was all traded in for the hard price of experience. It invites you to believe in better things for a little while, in a lighter world that makes your heart swell with glee and giggles.
I would have liked some elements of the story better developed, but just for my own curiousity, not really because it was necessary to the plot, such as who exactly was Ponyo’s father and how did he come to live in an air-filled castle under the sea? Some elements were probably lost in translation, but the voice actors chosen for the English speaking version were excellent choices and didn’t jar the senses like can sometimes happen when you hear Japanese characters speaking with American accents.