What Walt Disney is to the West, Hayao Miyazaki is to the East. Miyazaki is the most famous Japanese animator in the history of the nation. His films have won Oscars and his animated movies have brought more people to the movies than "Titanic" did on this side of the world. Some of you might be familiar with previous movies like “Princess Mononoke," "Spirited Away" (which won an Oscar in 2003), or "Howl’s Moving Castle"; but if you aren’t Disney is planning to change that with Miyazaki’s latest film “Ponyo."

“Ponyo” tells the story of Ponyo, a little half-girl, half-goldfish that wishes to be human. Sound familiar? While there are hints of “The Little Mermaid” in this tale, there aren’t any singing crabs or musical numbers. “Ponyo” has similar elements to the classic tales but the similarities end when Miyazaki’s infusion of Japanese imagery comes into play. Water plays a huge part in Japanese imagery and mythology as it does in “Ponyo." There is an ocean wave sequence in the movie animators are raving about and there is a sea witch by the name of Lady Eboshi, but she is nothing like Ursula. The characters in Miyazaki’s world are never fully evil or fully good. Just like in real life there is plenty of grey area in this film that will have the older crowds thinking. Kids will love the adventure and story of true friendship, adults will love the deeper life themes that are always weaved into every Miyazaki story.

Everything is hand-drawn, so don’t expect any Pixar 3D animation here. Miyazaki has stated before that he plans to draw by hand as long as he can, and his animators will be doing the same. “Ponyo” also features the voice talents of Disney kids Noah Cyrus (Miley’s little sister), Frankie Jonas (the youngest Jonas brother) and star actors like Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett and Tina Fey. As for Ponyo’s presence at the Disney theme parks, we’ll have to wait and see. Disney is presenting this great movie to American audiences, but whether or not this adventurous little girl will be featured in the Disney theme parks or not is still unknown. OrlandoFunTickets.com is guessing we’ll see Ponyo merchandise at Epcot’s Living Seas or near Ariel’s Grotto. After all, Ponyo is now part of the undersea world in the Disney film family. “Ponyo” is playing in theatres across the US now, so make sure you check it out!