WHY I DON’T HATE PONYO ANYMORE

TONY T. - Editor-In-Chief, 3rd Year, Economics and Data Science

The entire film is maybe a 5/10 or 6/10. That one scene is a 9/10.

One of my earlier memories of a disconnect between general consensus and my own personal views on a piece of media was the 2008 Studio Ghibli film, Ponyo. For the longest time, I really couldn’t understand the critical acclaim, something made all the more confusing when considering that upon the film’s release, I was very much within the target child demographic. Where people saw yet another groundbreaking film from Miyazaki Hayao akin to the likes of Castle in the Sky or Spirited Away, I found Ponyo’s narrative to be hackneyed and its setting to be uninspired. In fact, I distinctly remember my dislike of this film to have caused both a verbal and physical altercation with another classmate in elementary school when it was suggested we watch it in class, something which I harshly objected to. Regardless, I very much did not have any sort of desire to return to Ponyo after my first viewing in 2009.

And yet, throughout the subsequent decade, as I explored my taste in animation more and more alongside my understanding of proper terminology to better express my views towards media, I couldn’t stop thinking of a particular scene within Ponyo. Having found a select few films such as Metropolis, Akira, or the second Tenchi Muyo film which, whilst lacking narratively, I found so captivating in terms of visuals that I could overlook those other issues, I began to reconsider my view towards media as a whole. While I still contend that narratives, whether overt or subtle, are by far the most important aspect of any piece of media, I began to shift in terms of my strict adherence to needing that narrative to be fulfilled in direct dialogue. The aforementioned examples showed me that mise en scène alongside good direction can be just as impactful towards a film’s quality and can mask other shortcomings.

Which brings me back to Ponyo. By the time I had decided to watch the film for the second time a few months ago, it had been almost 15 years since the last time I had seen it. In spite of that, the scene wherein the protagonist wakes up after a storm and looks out to see his home, once atop a rather steep hill region, completely surrounded by water, is still one of the most magical and well constructed moments I have seen in any film. Not dissimilar to what I previously wrote about My Neighbor Totoro, Ponyo’s greatest strength is this ephemeral mystique conveyed via stellar audiovisual presentation.

I would argue that a lot of the rest of the film outside of that particular scene is less successful in capturing that magic, however. While I’m ignoring the strength of narrative in this discussion on Ponyo being buoyed by its production standards, it still should be said that the story was particularly boring for me both as a five year old and as a twenty year old. It’s not particularly ambitious in its structure to stand out to my current self as a perhaps overly critical adult, and it was not spastic enough to capture my attention as a hyperactive child. Where Totoro had a middling story, the world it built up was at least engaging enough to where I can concede that, while I did not enjoy it, I believe that it is a perfect family film. Ponyo, on the other hand, struggles to reach even that bar in its narrative.

Regardless of that hiccup, my view of Ponyo has still shifted towards the positive due to its unique aesthetics. I do not believe its mystical elements are nearly as captivating as their equivalents in Totoro; however, Ponyo’s strengths are in how it transforms its initially rather grounded world by flooding it. In some regard, both Totoro and Ponyo are fairly similar in terms of how they present the mundane as extraordinary with their supernatural aspects. The distinction in their presentations come with how the characters of Totoro leave civilization whereas in Ponyo, the world is itself morphed. I find that this aesthetic difference ultimately doesn’t present a strong enough argument for either film to be considered a better family film. Even though I consider Totoro to be stronger, the flooding in Ponyo is such a memorably presented scenario that they’re roughly even with each other. As a whole, I came out of my Ponyo rewatch with heavy Totoro comparisons, which I find as an indication of my improved opinion on the film. While I cannot consider Ponyo even close to Miyazaki Hayao’s best, it is far from atrocious, something which my younger self would have vehemently disagreed with. It is a film that has many merits given its display of Studio Ghibli’s near perfect production standards. Ultimately, in my particular case, it serves as yet another example of my need to continue questioning my tastes and opinions within this medium so as to be better informed as to what I actually enjoy from it.