It's no surprise that Disney is distributing Hayao Miyazaki's PONYO: it's the anime version of THE LITTLE MERMAID. PONYO is about a girl sea creature (Ponyo is a goldfish with a face) who defies her sorcerer father's wishes and finds herself in danger. Once swept away to the shore, a human boy saves her. What is a girl to do but fall in love and want to become human? Of course, before her parents give her the okay on becoming a human, the boy has to unknowingly pass a test of true love.

What's interesting about PONYO is that Ponyo and Sosuke, the boy she falls in love with, are 5 YEARS OLD. Ponyo's parents (her mother is a sea goddess much like King Triton) decide to put her to the test, even though if Sosuke fails (because he isn't truly in love with her at age 5), Ponyo becomes sea foam for eternity.

What's disturbing is that during a "micro-typhoon," Sosuke's mother Lisa (voiced brilliantly by Tina Fey) ignores the bridge workers order that she cannot drive over the canal and instead, guns it, barely missing an ocean swell. Sosuke is in the passenger seat next to her although Lisa does tell him to put his seatbelt on. Later, the bridge workers commend Lisa's daring.

MORE disturbing is that after getting Sosuke home and finding Ponyo, Lisa decides she needs to help others in the storm. She drives off in the middle of the typhoon, leaving the kids to fend for themselves. Again, the kids are FIVE YEARS OLD.

In the end, the movie is about the good choices of the 5-year old boy rather than the poor choices of the mother. The typhoon never feels scary to the viewer. The fantastical story, the anime style and the young lead characters make PONYO a good choice for younger children. For ages 3 and up.