The Studio Ponoc Movies Ranked
It’s inevitable that Studio Ponoc’s movies would be compared to Studio Ghibli’s. The lineage is literal; the former was founded by Ghibli producing alum Yoshiaki Nishimura in 2015 and has since attracted many who once worked for that anime film giant, especially when it appeared Ghibli’s output was going to be in indefinite hiatus. But there’s certainly a stylistic and tonal similarity, and in Ponoc’s case, many have described it as paling by comparison. While this newer studio has yet to rival the quality and renown of that which spawned it, Ponoc has been able to make gorgeous if slightly narratively underwhelming movies; four (three features and one short) in the over six years from 2017 to 2023.
#4 — TOMORROW’S LEAVES (2021)
D: Yoshiyuke Momose
Studio Ponoc’s eight-minute short was commissioned to commemorate the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which of course was ultimately pushed to 2021 due to COVID. TOMORROW’S LEAVES itself also represented the ending of the biggest gap between any releases from Ponoc at one month shy of three years. It is not only a celebration of the sports on display during the events, in one sliver of action, but more so a hopeful look to a future where humans take care of the environment. It’s a bit simplistic, but then it’s eight minutes long. Furthermore, a sight of our ruined world beneath this exquisitely detailed fantasy world does not leave the whole short in the realm of the saccharine. TOMORROW’S LEAVES is slight, but its wordless communication through outlandish and beautiful creatures, environments, and human movement is affecting.
#3 — THE IMAGINARY (2023)
D: Yoshiyuke Momose
THE IMAGINARY is Ponoc’s latest film at the time of this writing and the impetus for this piece, bringing the studio back to releasing a feature after more than five years (I’m just now writing about it because it wasn’t released officially in America until over six months later). Unfortunately, it is the weakest in that feature department, although that is certainly a relative statement for a studio that has yet to release anything less than charmingly good. Directed by Yoshiyuke Momose, a former Ghibli key animator and a driving force behind the art design of the Ni No Kuni video games, THE IMAGINARY takes place in an England and a world where imaginary friends live in a sort of reality of their own, sustained by the beliefs of their human friends. The concept of faith in otherworldly beings giving them life has been explored many times and certain aspects of this film’s story are certainly familiar. But THE IMAGINARY also carves out a little slice for itself in the realm of “imaginary friend movies” rules. Unfortunately, the explanation of such and attention paid to the dissipation of certain characters bog down the proceedings, which are also interrupted by the same poorly paced moments of danger from the main villain multiple times. This story structure serves to illustrate Ponoc’s difficulty in landing quite the same emotional resonance as its Ghibli connections might imply, but the film doesn’t lack from visual brilliance. THE IMAGINARY is full of beautiful backgrounds, fluid movement, and cute and grotesque character designs, making it a fairly charming, thrilling, and moving watch.
#2 — MODEST HEROES (2018)
D: Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Yoshiyuke Momose, Akihiko Yamashita
At 53 minutes long, MODEST HEROES is just barely feature length by anyone’s estimation. This anthology film is made up of three shorts each respectively directed by the people listed above and is ostensibly the first volume of such releases (as far as I can tell, no word has been shared about a follow up yet). And yet, it hits harder than even the more “cohesive” THE IMAGINARY. Anthology films can have a marked unevenness in quality of the segments or a preference for a certain story can make the whole viewing experience disjointed or longer than it should feel. MODEST HEROES does not really have that problem, running as it does for under an hour and presenting three very strong stories based on the concept of underestimated protagonists. Whether following humanoid crab kids in a fantastical freshwater stream, a boy in “our” world with a deadly egg allergy, or an invisible man trying to connect in an otherwise straightforward approximation of reality, MODEST HEROES succinctly and effectively fosters sympathy and care for its titular leads. Each of the segments are also defined by a variation in art style while remaining always visually spectacular. Where MODEST HEROES slips is in that unavoidable disconnect when evaluating it as a whole (as compared to our more usual tastes for feature filmmaking structures), but that’s a relative assessment for a project that beautifully sums up bravery in a small package.
#1 — MARY AND THE WITCH’S FLOWER (2017)
D: Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Based on an English children’s book like Ponoc’s other traditional feature, THE IMAGINARY, MARY AND THE WITCH’S FLOWER was the studio’s first release. Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, who also directed ARRIETTY (2010) and WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE (2014) for Ghibli, MARY AND THE WITCH’S FLOWER contains specific cues to that studio’s history. With its “young and strong female lead,” fantasy imagery revolving around witches (and their broomsticks), spectacular transformations, and floating buildings, the movie feels a bit like a greatest hits of Ghibli iconography and tropes. It does indeed prove the point that comparisons between Ponoc and Ghibli go beyond their production figures and histories. But if there’s a significant deviation, it’s in MARY AND THE WITCH’S FLOWER’s inability to really drive home the wonder, majesty, and emotion, as previously mentioned in reference to its subsequent films…or at least, to do so with an intensity to rival one of the greatest producers of films, animated or otherwise, in cinematic history. There is an unfairness inherent to these comparisons, so let’s also take MARY AND THE WITCH’S FLOWER at face value: it’s really good. Mary is indeed a likable character and the fantastical creatures and figures she faces are collectively funny, macabre, and dangerous. The story’s “magical school” premise is familiar but imbued with a compelling sense of mystery and threatening presence. And the whole movie is beautifully illustrated and animated, starting the trend of such quality consistent with the studio so far. MARY AND THE WITCH’S FLOWER still stands as Ponoc’s most complete and by extension best film, wilting slightly by comparison to the similar works that came before it but otherwise soaring (if I may mix metaphors) with creative imagery and sympathetic as well as imposing characters.
