Ponyo

Although Ponyo may not be the most powerful film Miyazaki has done, I still felt that he made a very nice film. Of all of Miyazaki’s works so far, Ponyo has got to be the simplest, in terms of themes and art style. However, there is more to this film than people take for granted.

As we may already know, the story of Ponyo is inspired by the classic Hans Christian Andersen story “The Little Mermaid.” In his version of the story, Andersen stresses the impossibility of love between mermaid and prince as well as the unity between land and sea. Miyazaki takes this theme and expands on it by showing audiences that things are possible. Miyazaki expresses this idea by creating multiple dualities. For example, rather than just parallels between land and sea or boy and girl, there is also child and elder as well as human and goddess.

Another interesting thing to take notice about this film is the way he includes references from his other films. One example is in the very beginning of the film when Ponyo tucks herself under a jellyfish. It looks very much like when Nausicaa is looking through the Ohmu eye. Another example we see is when Lisa drives to the nursing home. Her way of driving looks very much like Lupin III driving in The Castle of Cagliostro.

Throughout the film we are shown a world where people are separated or distant from one another, however, it isn’t until Sosuke’s encounter with Ponyo that barriers are broken down and people are brought together. Miyazaki reminds us of the kind of life we use to live such as being together as a complete family.