Ponyo Osakana no ko

Just forget everything you have read or seen about the Little Mermaid.
First, she did not need any extra help from a dark witch to become a human being : she was powerful enough to give proper legs to herself.
She was not the youngest, but the elder daughter in her family.
Then, she was not running after a weak and blind-hearted prince : the man who was waiting for her was totally conscious that she was the woman of her life.
Moreover, she did not stupidely sacrifice her voice to become human : on the opposite, her language skills strangely improved during her stay on the land...
And finally, more than "the daughter of the King of the seas", she was the daughter of the Sea Goddess herself.
As a result : Miyazaki's Ponyo is, for a change, an energic, joyful and life-enjoying little mermaid. Haaaaa....

So what did our beloved Miyazaki-sama keep from Andersen's tale ?

He kept the nice solidarity between the heroin and her sisters - but not only in the common spirit of self-sacrifice ; Ponyo's sisters are actively helping her to reach her goals. He kept the love story, but the naive innocence of the original mermaid has turned into the innocence of childhood - fresher and less desperate... He kept the female power of the sea, but instead of a witch, he imagined a beautiful incarnation of the mother-sea.


The most amazing scene is the "rebirth" of Ponyo ; the violence of the typhun, the roaring waves, the little girl running over the water, the mother trying to drive her car in the storm (not even afraid, as if the power of nature was something she had accepted a long time ago), the eyes of the little boy catching the details of the moving landscape - and every single image of the movie, drawn in the traditional way, without computers... a pure enjoyment.

The movie has been released in France on April 8th 2009. It is already a success, we lovooove Ghibli's animation !

So take a break to welcome properly Gake no ue no Ponyo...

The Little Mermaid that you have known all your life just made you depressed ; have a look at Ponyo to feel happier than ever !