Brunhilde is a fish with a girl’s face who lives under the sea with her father Fujimoto, a former human who hates humans, and hundreds of sisters. She escapes on a jellyfish, gets stuck in a jar, and is freed by Sosuke, a five-year-old on a cliff by the sea, who names her Ponyo. She licks blood from his cut finger and that is enough. Ponyo is The Little Mermaid for five-year-olds, hand-drawn without computers, and the wave scene is 1,700 drawings.
What Happens When Ponyo Chooses
Fujimoto takes her back. She breaks out, drinks his elixirs, and grows arms and legs. The sea rises. She runs on the backs of fish-waves to Sosuke’s house in a storm that floods the town, the moon drops closer, and the next morning the world is prehistoric fish swimming over the road. Sosuke’s mother Lisa has gone to the care home where she works. The two children set out in a toy boat to find her, and the Granmamare, Ponyo’s mother, who is the size of a ship, sets the test: does Sosuke love Ponyo whether she is fish or human.
Why It Is Different From The Others
Miyazaki said he wanted to make a film for his friend’s five-year-old, and he drew it in crayon colours with no straight lines. Lisa drives like a maniac. The old women in the care home are the film’s chorus. The theme song was number one in Japan. The Disney dub has Liam Neeson, Tina Fey and Noah Cyrus.
Watch Ponyo On GoMovies
101 minutes in HD, Japanese with subtitles. Press play above. Free, no sign-up.
