If there is any hint to be found within the name her father (Fujimoto) gave her, internet searches for “Brünnhilde” brings up a valkyrie.

From my viewing, I interpreted Ponyo as a “life-form”, as general and non-explanatory as that may sound.

She seems to have the potential to be anything she wishes and strives to be. Much like the very first single-cell organisms Ponyo herself consumed at the beginning of the film. She goes through her transitional leaps into her human form via proposed evolutional visual landmarks; from aquatic, to bird/lizard and then mammal/human.

In that sense, I’ll simply call her a life-form. I wouldn’t rule out jellyfish though. Hahahah.

Also, thanks for coming by the blog!

I took great care to not divulge any plot points… I know it supposedly takes away credibility from a review for me to not discuss plot points and provide proof of why it’s so damned good but that’s an indication of a well-crafted movie all throughout for me. I’d feel bad about telling anyone anything about it. I just want others to experience this film! I’m glad you guys appreciated that.

This was an amazing experience for me and I was tearing up when I realized I might have just seen one of my favorite movies, introduced by one of my favorite filmmakers/artists of all time.

On Hakujaden, I have been dying to watch that but have never been able to find it anywhere. As for more posts on Miyazaki’s crafts, it’ll come. Thank you for visiting and sharing your insight! Thanks for the Ghibli blog too!

I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on Ponyo. I’m glad that you didn’t rehash the plot or get into specifics, but shared your own thoughts and impressions, of what you brought to the conversation.

It would have been great for me to be able to ask questions and spark some discussions with Miyazaki and John Lasseter and everyone else in the hall. The questions certainly would have been far deeper and probing. I think I’d either want to talk about the Toei animation films, like 1958′s Hakujaden, which inspired 17-year-old Miyazaki to become an animator (he joined Toei in ’63 after college). Or perhaps I’d like to hear his version of the famous story behind Gulliver’s Space Travels. I’d definitely want to probe into everything related to Horus, Prince of the Sun (why is anime’s Sgt. Pepper still MIA in America?). I’d definitely have to ask about the endless “riffs.”

Here’s the ultimate Miyazaki question to ask John Lasseter – Heidi, Marco, Anne. Which one was the best, and why?

I’m looking forward to seeing Ponyo in the theater in a couple weeks. I’m sure this was a wonderful experience for you, and I do hope you write more about Miyazaki and Ghibli on your blog. We need more Ghibli Freaks on the blogosphere!

@Andy: It’s funny you mentioned the Ohmu-Miyazaki comparison but if I had to make a comparison between him and his omnipotent characters, I’ve always associated the deer god, The Forest Spirit from Princess Mononoke with his persona.

As for his decision to include females in the leading roles of his films, I don’t question it as much as these women are whether there are feminist motivations or such. I do admit that Ashitaka and Howl are among my favorite characters from him. They’re both very interesting archetypes everyone else have attempted but only he and a few others have pulled off. The same can be said of his other characters though.

The Ghibli animators are mostly women; that’s an interesting but appropriate fact, somehow.

a few good questions though.

On Chinese and Korean Animation, if they will be competition in the future

Miyazaki says, the difference between the one giving money and the one receiving is a superior and inferior position, Chinese and Korean animation cannot be a peer to Japanese if they only do grunt work.

Miyazaki also says that Totoro was designed with the idea that
“make his eyes look like you can’t tell what he’s looking at”
“He is either thinking very deep or not thinking at all, you cannot tell if he’s stupid or smart”
Nature is not understandable by humans, that’s the idea he wanted.

The Ohmu also have that view.

Man you know what, Miyazaki really feels like an Ohmu. Something giant and ancient, and maybe he’d feel good rampaging over some cities.

Also, out of the two dozen new Ghibli animators, only one is a man. Miyazaki mentions that with so many strong women around now, he might have to make a movie with a boy in the lead.