Rejoice, otaku, for we have solid confirmation of a new Ghibli movie, from the good folks at Japan Probe; it's Gake no Ue no Ponyo (Ponyo on the Cliff), and it seems to be a modern take on "The Little Mermaid," i.e. the one where she died at the end instead of marrying and spawning a crappy sequel--well, it probably will lack the grimness of its source material, because unlike the last Miyazaki film - Earthsea, which was directed by his son and apparently so bad as to win a Japanese Razzie - Hayao is back in charge here. Rejoice! Then rejoice some more!

Inspiration for this one came from a trip to the sea back in 2004, at which Miyazaki was so charmed that he later went back alone for two months to sketch, look around, and ultimately produce another movie to show to your parens to prove anime doesn't suck. (Millennium Actress and Cowboy Bebop never hurt, either.) Ponyo is a fish who wants to live with a human boy, Sousuke, Here's a look at a neat making-of and some bonus speculations, 'cause it's late and linking YouTube on here is a pain in the arse. Enjoy!