“Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea” to hit North American theatres this summer

by Chris MaGee

Here’s some great news for fans of Hayao Miyazaki: the anime master’s latest film “Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea” will get a North American theatrical release this summer! And I am especially happy to report that Pixar head John Lasseter will be sharing the production duties with the already announced über-producers Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy. Don’t get me wrong, “E.T.” and “Jurassic Park” are nothing to sneeze at, but I loved the job that Lasseter did with the DVD releases of “Spirited Away”, “Castle in the Sky” and “Kiki’s Delivery Service” as well as the theatrical run of “Howl’s Moving Castle” (well, everything except Billy Crystal as the voice of Calcifer). He obviously has a deep love for Miyazaki’s work and it’s that kind of love that you need when you’re translating and dubbing such rich films… that and it’s always nice to play the “Let’s listen for John Ratzenberger Game” while watching the films. Unfortunately Ratzenberger hasn’t been confirmed as being one of the English voice cast yet, so I guess we’ll just have to settle for Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Cate Blanchett and Liam Neeson.

Thanks to Anime News Network for the heads up on this.