Thoughts On Ponyo

On Unsaid Apologies

INTRODUCTION

I recently watched a documentary about Studio Ghibli founder Hayao Miyazaki entitled “10 Years With Hayao Miyazaki” because I was curious to see the creative process that goes into his work.

I came across Ponyo several times before but was never compelled to watch it because it felt like a movie “for kids” and it didn’t appeal to me.

However, when I watched the first episode of Miyazaki’s documentary, Ponyo Is Here, I was moved by the work that went into it.

While Ponyo is a lighthearted film, the process that went into creating it was arduous.

As shown in the documentary, even Miyazaki himself was tested, and because of that, I wanted to see the final output myself.

PLOT

A goldfish left home by floating on the back of a jellyfish.

After getting stuck in a jar, she drifts to the shore where she is freed by Sousuke, a five-year-old boy who lives in a house by the sea. Sousuke names her new goldfish friend, Ponyo.

Sousuke didn’t know Ponyo has a name and a family. Ponyo’s father Fujimoto then worries and searches frantically for his daughter. When Ponyo was soon found and captured, Ponyo rejects her birth name and declares she…