Before I tell you about Hayao Miyazaki’s latest, I feel I should tell you that I don’t really like anime and I find anime dorks as strange and repellant as people who listen to techno when they’re not in a club and on ecstasy. That said, Miyazaki’s other films, Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, are pretty mindblowing.  And now his latest, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (trailer below) is set for an August 14th release.

The film was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “The Littler Mermaid” and is described as an animated adventure centered on a 5-year-old boy (Frankie Jonas) and his relationship with a goldfish princess named Ponyo (Noah Cyrus) who longs to become human.  Making up the English language voice cast are Noah Cyrus, Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Cloris Leachman, Liam Neeson, Lily Tomlin, Betty White and Frankie Jonas. [RopeofSilicon]

And yes, that cast inludes the unfamous siblings of both Miley Cyrus and the Jonas brothers.  No, that’s great, let’s make them big stars.  Ooh, and make sure they have to do as little work for it as possible.  That’s just what the world needs, another Jim Belushi or a Kevin Farley.