Japan: Ponyo [film review]
Ponyo, directed by Hayao Miyazaki in 2008, follows the story of a little girl goldfish who lives underwater with her Father. When she goes to dry land she meets a little boy called Sosuke, who names her Ponyo. Ponyo wishes she could be human, and slowly becomes more and more human-like as her friendship with Sosuke grows. Ponyo's father tries to bring her back underwater, but her love for Sosuke allows her to be able to escape back to him. However, in the process she puts Sosuke's village in danger, flooding the town. In the end, Ponyo is allowed to stay with Sosuke, in her human form, in return for giving up her magical powers so that the town is safe.
Ponyo has obvious similarities and is inspired by Disney's The Little Mermaid. In both films, the main characters are young, redheaded aquatic princesses who both wish to become human so that they can stay with their human who they love. However, Ariel and Eric in the The Little Mermaid are significantly older than Ponyo and Sosuke in Ponyo. Making Ponyo very young is a little odd, seeing as how many big decisions she makes in the film: "Miyazaki's ability to create strong independent characters out of fictional children has always been one of his strongest traits as a story teller, and making Ponyo so young and uninhibited makes the plotline easier to swallow." (Byrne, 2016). Ponyo is also able to control more things than Ariel, like being able to create her own human limbs, whereas Ariel has to seek this out. In The Little Mermaid Eric is a very generic, stereotypical prince character, whereas Sosuke is a courageous 5 year old boy who is sort of the hero of the story. In The Little Mermaid there is no mother figures, where as in Ponyo there is Sosuke's mother, who is protective of everyone and Ponyo's mother, who is the 'goddess of mercy'.
In Ponyo there are references that are relevant in Japanese culture, that a western audience wouldn't understand. For example, when Sosuke shows Ponyo to the old ladies in the nursing home they say 'a fish with a human face will bring a tsunami' and tells Sosuke to throw it back into the ocean. This relates to a fish-like creature in Japanese folklore called a 'Ningyo'. It is described that a Ningyo has a monkey's mouth with small teeth and a golden scales. It is said that catching a Ningyo will bring storms and misfortune and so fishermen had to throw them back into the sea if they were caught.
Ponyo was created using 2D hand drawn animation: "[Miyazaki] insisted he still uses a pencil to draw his animated characters and background: 'currently computer graphics are used a great deal,' he noted, 'but it can be excessive. I think [animation] needs the pencil, needs man's hands drawing." (Gritten, 2009)
Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation film studio based in Tokyo, and is the studio that animated and produced Ponyo. The director of Ponyo- Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese artist and filmmaker who is renoun for his characters and animations, and is a co-founder of Studio Ghibli.
The idea of there being a natural balance in the world, and that it has been upset by someones actions, is a common theme in Miyazaki's work. In the case of Ponyo, by Ponyo leaving the underwater realm and using her magic, it upsets the nature balance of the world which causes the storm, which puts the whole town underwater.
Illustration List
Figure 1. Ponyo Movie Poster (2008) [poster] At: http://jambo-congo.net/movie/12429 (Accessed 26 January 2019)
Figure 2. Hayao Miyazaki [image] At: https://www.oscars.org/collection-highlights/hayao-miyazaki (Accessed 26 January 2019)
Bibliography
Byrne, M (2016) Ponyo and the Princess Archetype [online] At: https://www.theodysseyonline.com/ponyo-princess-archetype (Accessed 26 January 2019)
Gritten, D (2009) Hayao Miyazaki: drawn to perfection [online] At: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/6911264/Hayao-Miyazaki-drawn-to-
perfection.html (Accessed 26 January 2019)
IMDb Hayao Miyazaki Biography [online] At: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0594503/bio (Accessed 26 January 2019)
Kai (2017) What Japanese myths/beliefs are referenced in Ponyo, and why was tasting blood relevant? [online] At: https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/161224/what-japanese-myths-beliefs-are-referenced-in-ponyo-and-why-was-tasting-blood-r?rq=1 (Accessed 26 January 2019)
Kat (2012) A fish with a [human] face will bring a tsunami. Is this an actual Japanese wives' tale? [online] At: https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/5336/a-fish-with-a-human-face-will-bring-a-tsunami-is-this-an-actual-japanese-wive (Accessed 26 January 2019)
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| Figure 1: Ponyo movie poster |
Ponyo has obvious similarities and is inspired by Disney's The Little Mermaid. In both films, the main characters are young, redheaded aquatic princesses who both wish to become human so that they can stay with their human who they love. However, Ariel and Eric in the The Little Mermaid are significantly older than Ponyo and Sosuke in Ponyo. Making Ponyo very young is a little odd, seeing as how many big decisions she makes in the film: "Miyazaki's ability to create strong independent characters out of fictional children has always been one of his strongest traits as a story teller, and making Ponyo so young and uninhibited makes the plotline easier to swallow." (Byrne, 2016). Ponyo is also able to control more things than Ariel, like being able to create her own human limbs, whereas Ariel has to seek this out. In The Little Mermaid Eric is a very generic, stereotypical prince character, whereas Sosuke is a courageous 5 year old boy who is sort of the hero of the story. In The Little Mermaid there is no mother figures, where as in Ponyo there is Sosuke's mother, who is protective of everyone and Ponyo's mother, who is the 'goddess of mercy'.
In Ponyo there are references that are relevant in Japanese culture, that a western audience wouldn't understand. For example, when Sosuke shows Ponyo to the old ladies in the nursing home they say 'a fish with a human face will bring a tsunami' and tells Sosuke to throw it back into the ocean. This relates to a fish-like creature in Japanese folklore called a 'Ningyo'. It is described that a Ningyo has a monkey's mouth with small teeth and a golden scales. It is said that catching a Ningyo will bring storms and misfortune and so fishermen had to throw them back into the sea if they were caught.
Ponyo was created using 2D hand drawn animation: "[Miyazaki] insisted he still uses a pencil to draw his animated characters and background: 'currently computer graphics are used a great deal,' he noted, 'but it can be excessive. I think [animation] needs the pencil, needs man's hands drawing." (Gritten, 2009)
Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation film studio based in Tokyo, and is the studio that animated and produced Ponyo. The director of Ponyo- Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese artist and filmmaker who is renoun for his characters and animations, and is a co-founder of Studio Ghibli.
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| Figure 2: Hayao Miyazaki |
The idea of there being a natural balance in the world, and that it has been upset by someones actions, is a common theme in Miyazaki's work. In the case of Ponyo, by Ponyo leaving the underwater realm and using her magic, it upsets the nature balance of the world which causes the storm, which puts the whole town underwater.
Illustration List
Figure 1. Ponyo Movie Poster (2008) [poster] At: http://jambo-congo.net/movie/12429 (Accessed 26 January 2019)
Figure 2. Hayao Miyazaki [image] At: https://www.oscars.org/collection-highlights/hayao-miyazaki (Accessed 26 January 2019)
Byrne, M (2016) Ponyo and the Princess Archetype [online] At: https://www.theodysseyonline.com/ponyo-princess-archetype (Accessed 26 January 2019)
Gritten, D (2009) Hayao Miyazaki: drawn to perfection [online] At: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/6911264/Hayao-Miyazaki-drawn-to-
perfection.html (Accessed 26 January 2019)
IMDb Hayao Miyazaki Biography [online] At: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0594503/bio (Accessed 26 January 2019)
Kai (2017) What Japanese myths/beliefs are referenced in Ponyo, and why was tasting blood relevant? [online] At: https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/161224/what-japanese-myths-beliefs-are-referenced-in-ponyo-and-why-was-tasting-blood-r?rq=1 (Accessed 26 January 2019)
Kat (2012) A fish with a [human] face will bring a tsunami. Is this an actual Japanese wives' tale? [online] At: https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/5336/a-fish-with-a-human-face-will-bring-a-tsunami-is-this-an-actual-japanese-wive (Accessed 26 January 2019)
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