Ponyo Review

      Andy, Andy, blogger who lives nowhere near the sea!
      Well in actuality, I live over three hours from the nearest thing that could be called a sea, which is Baltimore, MD which is on Chesapeake Bay.  As for why I am not reviewing Howl’s Moving Castle or The Wind Rises, I have not seen either of those movies.  I chickened out of watching Howl’s Moving Castle after Doug Walker gave it a semi-harsh review (I also felt Miyazakied out since I had watched one of his movies every day for the last five days).  In the case of The Wind Rises, I want to save that movie for last because I have heard it is essentially a metaphor for the career of Hayao Miyazaki and what he thinks of his legacy which is a very fitting end to his career (that is, if this retirement sticks).  So I will not watch The Wind Rises until I have watched Castle in the Sky and Howl’s Moving Castle.
      Before we go into Ponyo, I need to state that this is supposed to be a loose adaptation of the Hans Christian Anderson book The Little Mermaid.  As such, we need to go back to the three elements that made Ariel fail as a role model.  I could pretty much just copy and paste them from my review of Kiki’s Delivery Service.  In fact, that is what I will do.

1. Her desire to leave behind everyone she knows for land and a man she barely knows (it would be much more realistic for her to find out that collecting human trinkets was just her way of being unique).
2. Trusting an obviously evil woman to help her achieve this goal.
3. At the end, she gets everything she wants and thus learns nothing.

      The premise goes as follows.  Ponyo is a small fish with a human face and one of the daughters of the Sea Gods (by the way, she is called Brunhilde by her parents).  At some point, she gets separated from her family and is rescued by a Kindergarten aged boy named Souske. Ponyo is put in a pail full of water to be healed.  This leads into Ponyo subverting the first point that made Ariel fail as a role model. While in the pail, she actually learns about the type of person Souske is and he even makes a vow to protect Ponyo.  Of course at this point, water with eyes comes along to return Ponyo to her family.  But Ponyo prefers to be with Souske and steals some magic that her father Fujimoto (voiced by Liam Neeson in the dub, an actor known for not showing emotion) established earlier would cause a burst of life not seen since the Cambrian Age and wipe out all of humanity.  I assume that he only planned to use that as a last resort if say the humans declared nuclear war.  Ponyo uses this magic and blood she licked off of a cut from Souske to turn fully human.  I should also mention that Souske’s mother Lisa drives like a maniac.  To me, she seems lovably crazy.  Ponyo herself is also lovably crazy, although more in the way Pinkie Pie is in that she is seriously hyperactive.  Also, she loves ham.  Meanwhile, Fujimoto’s wife Granmamare appears and we learn that the world might end because Ponyo’s actions have brought the moon closer to the earth.
      If this plot sounds nonsensical to you, it is because I think it was intended to not make sense.  Ponyo is a movie that is cute, fun, and whimsical.  As for the title character’s role model status, I do not think it matters.  Ariel is 16, an age that can be respected by young girls and she looks and feels like a grown up to them.  Ponyo is more like six years old and is probably meant to be more relatable. Ponyo herself is not meant to be a role model and I doubt most little girls would look at her that way.
      I would recommend this movie if you want to watch something cute.  I think my brother Kevin and his former girlfriend Kirsten would like this movie.  Finally, I would like to mention that this movie is the reason I no longer willingly watch trailers.  You see, as I mentioned before, I watched the trailer for Ponyo a lot back in 2009 hoping that I would see the movie itself.  However, I learned that the scene that is the most iconic in my mind was actually the very last scene in the movie.  When I found this out, I felt pissed off.  I will not say what part of the trailer it is to avoid spoiling the film but I am sure you will know what it is when you see the last part of the movie.
      And with that, I end Miyazaki week.  I hope I spread enough innocence, great writing, strong female characters, and peaceful scenes to offset the release of Fifty Shades of Grey the movie which is today.  Seriously, why pay for porn when you can easily find it online for free?