ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

The ULTIMATE Ponyo site Christmas 2016

Updated on October 6, 2016

Ponyo: That endearing little fish-baby on the cliff by the sea

Ponyo: The 2008 Japanese animated film by Studio Ghibli, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki.

Ponyo is the story of a "fish-baby" who wishes to see the world outside of her fish existence. Early in the story, she runs away from her father on the back of a jellyfish to explore. After a taste of this new world and befriending Sosuke, Ponyo decides she is more interested in being human than fish. However, her father, who loves her very much, wants her to stay with him as a fish. He doesn't understand her desires to be human or her relationship with Sosuke.

Realizing that Ponyo will only be truly happy as a human, her mother, Granmamare, tells Sosuke that Ponyo can remain a human if Sosuke can love her in either fish or human form. Sosuke replies that he "loves all Ponyos". Granmamare allows Ponyo to become human and the movie ends with Ponyo jumping out of the water and kissing Sosuke, turning into a human in midair.

This is a really beautiful film that entertains people of all ages. The music and scenery intertwine almost magically. But mostly, it was a nice contrast to the typical Disney films. I am a true lover of Disney films, however the morals are generally the same and the characters somewhat predictable and politically correct. In Ponyo, you will notice that the characters seem more real and "human". As an example, Sosuke's mother Lisa is shown being unreasonably angry at her husband when he is gone for long periods of time. Why would you want to teach your children this, you ask? It's not about teaching them to respond a certain way. It's exposing children to realistic human relationships that are not always merry, and sometimes the parents can be unreasonable. Sometimes, parents DO make mistakes and they are not perfect. No one is. I think this fits in well with Ponyo's father. Though he loves Ponyo very much, his overwhelming desire to have Ponyo remain a fish is misguided because of Ponyo's strong feelings of self identity. She identifies herself better as human than she does fish, and this makes her truly happy. The father, thinking only he knows what is best, tries to stop her. His mistake is in not recognizing his daughters happiness when she can be "free". But it still needs to be pointed out that he is doing it out of love for her. Human relationships are quite complex; they can't always be explained, they don't always meet expectations and people (even parents) sometimes make mistakes.

Where to find Ponyo Merchandise?

Oh where oh where is all of the Ponyo Merchandise?? I have found it quite difficult to locate. Some people on Etsy have handmade items. There are maybe a handful of items on Amazon. Look below for some of them.

Ponyo Book

Picture Book

Hardcover book. A little pricey.

"A wonderful book full of beautiful illustrations that any child who has fallen in love with the "Ponyo" film, its main characters and their stories will cherish. The page layouts are fun and easy to follow. The book design falls somewhere in between a young readers chapter book and a japanese manga. Both of my children, 2 and 5 years of age, repeatedly requests that we read them this book which has quickly become one of their favorite bedtime stories. A must-have book if you're a Ghibli Studios fan and if your child loves the "Ponyo" characters and their story." ~ines_rio

Ponyo's Playhouse

Ponyo's Playhouse

This is super cute. It's a tiny little playhouse of Ponyo's home. You put it together yourself. It's tiny so I highly doubt a child could do it on their own. But it's a great craft to do together. Yes, it's a little pricey at around $50 but really, with the limited items available, and the quality time with the kids putting it together, I think it's worth it.

Ponyo Lunchbox

Ponyo Lunch Box: Bento Box

Microwaveable Lunchbox

Difficult to find. Currently unavailable :-( UPDATE: Still unavailable as of 10/6/2016

Ponyo Movie

Ponyo Movie Clip

From the Academy Awardr-winning director and world-renowned Japanese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki comes PONYO, a story inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Little Mermaid.


How well do you know Ponyo?

view quiz statistics

Ponyo Opinion

Is Ponyo the best childrens film you have ever seen?

See results

Dysfunctional mother or only human? Crazed father or loving dad? What did you think the moral of the story was?

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)