Complimenting our recent coverage of Watchmen comes Randall Cyrenne and his take on another addition to Warner Brothers’ superhero line up, the animated disc premiere Green Lantern: First Flight on Blu-ray Disc. The latest in the DC Universe series, First Flight finally brings one of DC’s most popular but often overlooked costumed heroes to the screen, ahead of a live-action feature in the works. Going with the much-loved Hal Jordan incarnation of the character, Rand approves of the result, announcing that “comic fans should be very happy to see Hal shine like he never has before in animation”, while the extras package also receive good words. “Movies like this show off what we comic fans always knew”, says Rand, “our superheroes can be as cool as anything when treated right”.

Also new today is the latest from Jeremie Noyer, just back from a whirlwind international vacation. With Disney striving to have Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo reach a larger audience than is usual for the Studio Ghibli films it distributes in the US, promotion has been more on par with a major release, even if the eventual numbers of theaters showing the movie could almost be counted on one hand. As such, we’re delighted to post this exclusive translation of an interview with Miyazaki himself, in which the director expresses his hopes and intentions for the film.

Ponyo promises a new angle on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, being about a fish named Ponyo who wants to become a little girl, with Miyazaki adding his natural touches, including a trademark environmental aspect, to the story. Ponyo is, as the image above says, now playing in theaters, and several of our Animated News & Views Forum members have already been lucky enough to catch the film. Why not jump in and join the discussion?

Stay tooned! — Ben.