Ponyo or Totoro? You be the judge.

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/1556799.jpghttp://blog.lovefromtokyo.com/public/Totoro.gif
Its been discussed over and over again. It’s a question many struggle to answer, even myself. It’s a question all Joe Hisaishi fans will have to face someday. There’s no hiding from it.

Which main theme song to the two cutest Studio Ghibli movies is the better one?!?!?! Is it "Ponyo", the cute cuddly goldfish princess that wants to be human? or "Totoro", the furry and adorable catlike animal that’s visible only to children?

You be the judge.

Ponyo theme song:
Listen (http://www.imeem.com/groups/YRpq7Ear/music/RbBYvk3p/nozomi_ohashi_and_fujimaki_fujioka_ponyo_on_the_cl iff_by_the/)

Totoro theme song:
Listen (http://www.imeem.com/groups/YRpq7Ear/music/TqIsFzbY/joe_hisaishi_my_neighbor_totoro_ft_azumi_inoue/)

Does there really have to be ANY comparison between anything? It seems to be a complete waste of time IMO, especially since both are by a talented composer who has written nothing but excellent scores for Miyazaki. It’s just like trying to compare the first score of Laputa to the rescored one for the dub; there’s no point contrasting/comparing the two of them–each are beautiful works in their own ways, and I find both equally captivating.

-Jon T.

well if yer not gonna vote than don’t come here at all, but it seems like no1 is even interested in looking at this thread anyways, other than, well…you. so you are wasting your time here.
anyways, regarding the scores of Laputa, they both are amazing cuz they’re from an amazing composer, but lets face it, the 2nd one has more material and the music is more mature and it definitely changed the way i watched the film. so yeah, i have to say you CAN compare them and 2nd one is better.

Ok I voted Totoro as everybody knows it is the cutest music ever composed.

<a href="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=KdftF6mVXFA&feature=related">Ponyo Ponyo Ponyo sakana no ko
Aoi umi kara yatte kita
Ponyo Ponyo Ponyo fukurannda
Manmaru onaka no onna no ko
Peta-peta pyon-pyon
Asitte iina kakechao
Migi-migi-bun-bun
Otetewa iina tunaijao

Anoko to haneru to kokoro mo odoruyo
Paku-paku chu-gyu, paku-paku chu-gyu
Anoko ga daisuki

Makkakka no Ponyo Ponyo Ponyo sakana no ko
Aoi umi kara yatte kita
Ponyo Ponyo Ponyo fukurannda
Manmaru onaka no onna no ko</a>

Here’s another vote for Totoro. I love both films dearly, but I’m afraid Ponyo feels to me – both in the film and in the score – like it was made very much with replicating Totoro’s success in mind. It feels like Totoro 2008, except with a goldfish instead of a Totoro, and Sosuke instead of Mei / Satsuki. Of course it’s not as simple as that, but that’s a general feeling.

Ponyo’s song is in the same key as Totoro’s, it shares a similar rythym, and even begins with the same three notes. It’s a painful attempt to achieve Totoro’s greatness once again, which was completely possible – unfortunately in their attempt, they have ended up with a vague re-imagination of Totoro and nothing original.

That said, Hisaishi has matured a great deal since Totoro, so it must have been a great strain to bring himself back to somewhere near that style of composition.

I truly do not think that twenty years from now, we’ll all be singing Ponyo and writing stories about how it changed our lives. Totoro is a masterpiece, and a product of its time. It was made at exactly the right time in Hisaishi’s career, Miyazaki’s career, and at the right time for the audiences.

Ponyo, in comparison – whilst still an utterly gorgeous film – feels a little forced. 🙁

Totoro. It just brings back memories.

well if yer not gonna vote than don’t come here at all, but it seems like no1 is even interested in looking at this thread anyways, other than, well…you. so you are wasting your time here.
anyways, regarding the scores of Laputa, they both are amazing cuz they’re from an amazing composer, but lets face it, the 2nd one has more material and the music is more mature and it definitely changed the way i watched the film. so yeah, i have to say you CAN compare them and 2nd one is better.

Purists of the original will probably say just the opposite, but I agree with you about that; as much as I loved the original score, I have to say that the newer one adds to the movie in a way that the first does not. To this day I still find it baffling that the rescore never gets the acclaim it deserves–if anything, it’s the highlight of the dub (the others being Dola and Muska).

Wasn’t Ponyo just recently made? If so, I think it’s kind of unfair to compare to pieces of work that were not created at the same time.

I vote Totoro just because I’ve seen it and it brings back memories. But as you can see, my vote is pretty much biased.

Since I saw Totoro as a little kid, it has a spot in my heart. Ponyo’s theme song is really catchy, but it’s not that special.

After just receiving the soundtrack and listening to it the whole way through, I can safely say that I prefer Totoro’s theme song. Not that Ponyo’s is bad; it’s cute, catchy and charming… but there’s something about it that doesn’t quite match up to Totoro’s. I don’t know if it’s because I am more familiar with Totoro, but I definitely say that it has the better theme song.

Don’t get me wrong, though, they’re both equally cute and catchy in their own way.

The whole score for Ponyo is fantastic, though, just like any of Hisaishi’s works for Miyazaki.

-Jon T.