Classically Speaking

Some movies are equally as much fun to hear as they are to watch. 

Last weekend, I went to see Ponyo , an animated movie by director Hayao Miyazaki.  Here’s the trailer, but it doesn’t really do justice to this beautiful, dreamy film.

Miyazaki and the film’s composer Joe Hisaishi use references to the music of Debussy and Wagner to great effect in Ponyo.

A little fish who becomes a little girl is given the name of “Ponyo” by her new friend Sosuke. But what was she called at home? Brünnhilde. Brünnhilde – the Valkyrie who defied her father’s will for love. 

When Brünnhilde/Ponyo escapes her powerful father’s domain with assistance of her many sisters, the music that accompanies them as they traverse the waves sounds an awful lot like the Ride of the Valkyries.

So inside this Little Mermaid-esque tale, there’s just a little bit of the Ring Cycle. 

These Wagnerian moments contrast with music that calls to mind a composer who both admired and resisted Wagner’s music: French symbolist Claude Debussy.

Debussy wrote several water-inspired works, including the piano pieces “La Cathédrale Engloutie” [The Sunken Cathedral] and “Reflets dans l’eau” [Reflections in Water], and his orchestral depiction of the ocean La Mer [The Sea].

In writing La Mer, Debussy was inspired by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai’s woodcut painting of the ocean “The Great Wave Off Kanagawa.”  He was taken by the image of the waves and by Hokusai’s use of the Golden Ratio to structure his work.  Debussy also chose to use the image as the cover for the first published edition of La Mer.

In Ponyo, the references go beyond the music. Not only is the music reminiscent of Debussy’s La Mer, Miyazaki's images of waves evoke those from Hokusai’s woodcut. It's a beautiful pairing of images and music. If you go see Ponyo, go with a youthful heart and open ears.

For another perspective on Ponyo, read this essay by Andy Carvin on NPR's site.