20 Best Studio Ghibli Characters

5. Ponyo (Ponyo)

Ponyo is a stand-out example in Ghibli€™s canon due to the fact that she is one of the few characters that simultaneously displays the traits of a strong central protagonist and those of a cute incidental figure. Ponyo is a baby goldfish who falls in love with a child (Sosuke) and morphs into a young girl in order to be with him. The film is a beautifully rendered love story, told through the eyes of children and animals and generating an innocent outlook on the oft-repeated tale of The Little Mermaid. The other goldfish are wonderfully animated, with their anthropomorphic faces and dress-like bodies standing out as some of the most breathtaking characters in Ghibli€™s filmography. There is no doubt that Ponyo is €œcute€ in the traditional sense of the word, but she is also incredibly strong as a protagonist. She rejects the stern approach of her father in order to follow her heart, and she is ultimately rewarded - making decisions that are far more sensible than those of many adults in Miyazaki€™s films. It would be easy to treat such young characters as infantile and careless, but Miyazaki instead captures the wonder of childhood and suggests there is real intelligence in a child€™s innocent worldview.
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