The story of Ponyo tells a story of a little magical goldfish that falls in love with a human boy named Sosuke and in turn makes her want to leave the safety of her underwater home with her half human wizard father and transform into a human.
Ponyo as a character is very stubborn and headstrong, this was shown all throughout the film as well as the beginning where she sneaks away from her father to take a ride atop a jellyfish. She is a typical 4 year old girl who enjoys to test the boundaries her father puts in place as well as constantly exploring her curious nature, interested in new things and places, for example the humans that live in Tomonoura.
Ponyo is a magical half fish half human. She is represented as a goldfish which are stereotypically orange and has big bulging eyes that remind me of both a goldfish and a frog. She is designed to be cute and endearing however she comes across quite creepy, she is able to transform from goldfish to human just by licking a drop of blood from Sosuke’s thumb. When she transforms from a fish to a human, she grows weird legs and arms that are a cross between a frog and a chicken, in this form Ponyo also has a reasonably human head and torso and is still able to use her magic for example where she runs on the giant waves and enlarges a toy boat.
By now I have probably watched the film Ponyo a couple hundred times in order to analyse the characters, animation style and themes. The film shows us how we humans have neglected the earth with our litter and pollution and how we should take more responsibility and action to alter the way we live otherwise the natural balance of nature will be disturbed. Ponyo represents the force of nature, how it is relentless and unforgiving like the tsunami she brings upon the land. However, she is cute and filled with so much happiness that she doesn’t know how her own force of nature affects those around her swallowing the whole town underwater.
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