Ponyo on the cliff by the sea
this movie is so incredibly cute! I watched Ponyo (2008) dir. Miyazaki subbed because I cannot handle listening to celebrities voice act lmao. I’ve my live reaction to rewatching it on my twitter, here’s the [thread].
The first quote that I’ll be looking at is:
“Disgusting! Such Filth! Intolerable.” - Fujimoto (ponyo’s father)
When Fujimoto chases after Ponyo in his submarine ship thing he almost crashes into the boat passing over the road. In the frames before he goes underwater we see rubbish passing and hitting him over the head. The water still looks blue/green, and clear.
However, when he submerges the water is a darker, murky green and our attention is brought to the dirt and grime of the bottom of the water.
The paddles of his boat upturn the dirt and it sticks to him as he passes. Fujimoto holds a great disdain for the human race, and we can see why in this sequence of events. He’s now a magic scientist that lives in the ocean. He later warns Ponyo about the dark sides of humans. The ‘intolerable’ parts of humans is shown throughout the movie, where trash floats around in the water and washes up on the shores or sits at the bottom of the ocean floor.
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Here’s my next quote:
"But if his love isn't real, then Ponyo will turn into sea foam."
"True. That is where we all originated, my darling." - Fujimoto and Granmamare.
This is part of a conversation between Fujimoto and Granmamare (ponyo’s mother) about Ponyo’s powers and how to grant her wish. This is reminiscent of the fairytale, The Little Mermaid, the mermaid turns to sea foam when she is unable to have her love returned by the prince, and she cannot bring herself to kill him. Ponyo’s parents decide to test Sousuke’s love for Ponyo.
Ponyo takes inspiration from The Little Mermaid, the movie is based on the story, and follows the transformation aspect of the fairytale. Ponyo’s desire to be human mirrors the little mermaid’s desire. Although, Ponyo is able to turn herself into a human as she plays the part of the witch and the mermaid with her magic powers.
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The Consequences™ of your actions:
The water rises! The satellites fall!
And you know what... The moon is coming closer.
Ponyo’s powers are making the world all wacky. The only way to fix this is for Sousuke’s pure love. It’s the end of the world~~
Sousuke comes through though, the entire movie has set up how much Sousuke likes and loves Ponyo.
"Mm-hm. I love all the Ponyos. It's a big responsibility, but I really love her."
That’s time set day everyone! We’re replacing the water blocks with air blocks and everything is back to how it should be. The water recedes and Lisa and Sousuke reunite with Koichi, and Ponyo gives Sousuke a big kiss and finishes her transformation into a real human being! We, as the viewers, have been taken on a journey of these two kids and they wonderful love. Sousuke proves that he loves Ponyo so much, he accepts her as she is (ex-fish).
here’s my question to you! have you ever experienced a love so pure you would lose all your magic powers and become a human being to be with them?
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notes:
I took screenshots of the movie on the previously mentioned sketchy site so that’s where the still images are from. Huge thank u to the gif-ing community for literally doing all of the movie, except for the satellites raining around fujimoto that’s pretty cool.
the aesthetic of this movie is so fun and fresh i love it a lot :’)
thank u for coming to my tedtalk!
