With the release of the newest Miyazaki animated feature film, Ponyo, Viz has released The Art of Ponyo book. Being a huge fan of the art and genius of Hayao Miyazaki it is very easy to pick this hefty book up. For those who are not familiar with his work and enjoy the insight provided through books, you will find this one a real delight.

Highlights

The Art of Ponyo is not a standard art book that is only concerned with the shinny glossy images that draw the casual reader and look good on a coffee table. The book starts out with two insightful interviews with part of the creative team. After the open description of the film and short introduction to the book, you will be treated with the first interview with the Supervising Animator, Katsuya Kondo. Katsuya discusses his relationship with Miyazaki and how he came to be involved with the project. He also gives great answers to the process that took place in the creative and development part of the project. The next and much more delightful interview is with Noboru Yoshida, the Art Director. Noboru provides us with more discussion into the reasoning for not utilizing CG and how he was directly involved in the production. These two interviews provide a window into a world that is rarely discussed and often reflected in a manor that is reminiscent to the factory production that we would see at Disney. For Studio Ghibli it is almost the anti Disney approach to the creative process. These interviews enhance the way we will look at the hundreds of images offered up in this book.

The majority of this 270 page book is dedicated to the production of the film. It is fascinating to see how the final product was created and developed from water color and oil pastel drawings. It also provides a true look at the genius of Miyazaki and his raw talent. For a more standard book of this type 90% of the images would be drawn from the images created for the film, but in the case of this book there is more of a 50/50 split between Miyazaki’s original work and the finished product. It is stunning to see the outstanding original works that are then polished (to a point) and produced into a film. I cannot say enough about the original art work of Hayao Miyazaki.

The kicker to the book is that the last section is the complete 45 page voice over script to the film. After spending my time reveling in the art I was blown away that they would include the voice over for the film.

Overall

I am sure it is very clear that I am a fan, but you should not let that concern you with my thoughts on this book. I found it to be a pleasure that I will return to time and time again. If you are interested in how a top notch animated film is created. I mean the way most used to be created, by the efforts of may talented artist, not a computer, this book is for you. I would go as far to say that if you are student of film, that this book is also for you. There is no way I can do justice to the satisfaction that come from experiencing this book, all I can say is that you should experience it yourself. From the covert to the last page there is something to learn and enjoy. The film may have been produced as a child’s film, but there is nothing childish about this book. Thank you Studio Ghibli and Viz for bringing this book for our education and enjoyment.

ComicOnline gives The Art of Ponyo, 5 out of 5 little girls in bubbles.