Granmammare is the mother to Ponyo and her sisters and the wife to Fujimoto. She is a minor character of the film Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli.
Plot
Granmamare greets Fujimoto in his vessel and later in the movie she passes Kōichi's sailors underneath their ship, illuminating the sea and causing their engine to come back to life.
She narrated part of the movie that talked about Ponyo becoming human forever, and she meets Lisa under the water for a long time, along with the retirement home underneath a protective air bubble. Her presence seems to revitalize the old women so they can run again.
Relationships
- Ponyo, her eldest daughter. She is very understanding of her, and allows her to give up her magical abilities to become human.
- Ponyo's Sisters, her younger daughters. She is very loving towards them, and is seen collecting and kissing them during the end of the movie.
- Fujimoto, her husband. Granmammare is patient and unwaveringly kind to him, even when he expects she will scold him for how he has raised Ponyo, or his control of the sea life.
Appearance
Granmammare is enormous, possibly as big, if not bigger than a Blue Whale. She is able to change shape and size, and also appears to glow with a warm, golden light. This light possibly may be magically produced, or created by luminescent plankton. She resembles a very beautiful woman with impossibly long red hair, brown eyes, and a kindly face. The cyan robe she wears seems to merge with the sea when she swims, and it is unknown if she has feet, or simply floats freely when she stands.
Power
In the film she is the most powerful creature in the world. She can use her power without messing up the environment. She is able to change shape and size of her body. She can also read the mind by touching someone. So she could read Fujimoto's mind in a short time by touching his head.
Deity
She is called Maria Kannon by sailors; as the guardian of the sea and the goddess of mercy. In Japanese her name is written as 観音 or 観世音 which means all-seeing and all-hearing. See also:
