Ponyo On a Cliff

The excellent Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli resource Nausicaa.net has reported that the master animator’s next film will be “Gake no ue no Ponyo” (Ponyo On A Cliff). The project, scheduled to appear in Japanese theaters in summer 2008 tracks the story of the Princess goldfish Ponyo who wants to become human and 5 years old boy named Sosuke. Key words of the film are “father”, “mother”, and “a cliff”.

Old images of Hayao Miyazaki’s son, Tales of Earthsea director Goro Miyazaki, were used as the model for the Sosuke character.

Watercolor and pastel-like freehand drawing will be used to capture the look of the sea and waves, which according to Studio Ghibli President Toshio Suzuki composes “70 or 80%” of the film’s stage.