Meanwhile, Ponyo uses the magical powers she has gained from her father to gradually turn herself into a human girl including eventually growing human arms and legs. Fujimoto strongly disapproves of this as he, despite being actually human in form, has abandoned his race on land and settled underwater to raise his children as fish due to the way humans have polluted and mistreated the oceans. This, of course, allows Miyazaki to cycle back to some of his past themes about humans’ responsibility with nature and the imbalance and discord that can result without it.
Despite those familiar themes and the presence of other characters such as Sosuke’s mother, Lisa (Tomoko Yamaguchi), and absentee fisherman father who introduce the themes of fear of parental loss and death, the story is simpler and aimed more squarely at little children than any of Miyazaki’s previous films. The dialogue is also less elliptical, as the film’s focus is on just building the adorable bond between Ponyo and Sosuke, who, as all little children, cutely say exactly what they mean and want (or sometimes spit out water in the case of Ponyo). And the movie has plenty of endearing moments as when Ponyo is trying to figure out how to eat noodles for dinner at Sosuke’s house or when she uses her magical powers to transform Sosuke’s toy boat to float on the flooded island. There is also a quietly memorable scene in which Ponyo calms down a crying baby, which creates one of the story’s crucial turning points.
Miyazaki is a name in the forefront of anyone intimately familiar with the world of animation and it is interesting to wonder why he decided to lend his own unique touch this time to the basic premise of The Little Mermaid. I think it is probably for two fundamental reasons. One is because he perhaps wanted to leave the romantic infatuation out of it while leaving the curious idealism more intact and purer. As babies, we are born starving for love and affection from any person around us but, of course, we eventually want to share the basic human affection we receive. Thus, when the five-year-old Sosuke saves Ponyo, he feels she is the first being that he is personally responsible for and can really share his own human affection for.
Article comments
1 - Dave J
A really self - explanatory review