Mon Mon the Water Spider
水グモもんもん
Detailed parental analysis
Monmon the Water Spider is a contemplative and poetic short film, entirely silent, which follows a male water spider falling in love with a skating spider living on the surface of a pond. The atmosphere is gentle, luminous and filled with wonder at the aquatic world and its small creatures. The film is primarily aimed at young children, but its visual and emotional sensitivity also touches adults. Produced by Studio Ghibli, it is only shown within the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka and has never been subject to commercial distribution.
Violence
One scene shows the skating spider attacked by a predatory fish, with credible and brief predation threat. The tension is real but short, and the resolution is positive. This sequence is part of an honest representation of natural survival dynamics, without gratuitousness or gore. For a very young sensitive child, the moment may come as a surprise, but it is immediately defused and offers a fine opportunity to discuss nature as it truly is.
Underlying Values
The film celebrates curiosity, gentleness and the impulse towards connection as drivers of existence. The protagonist acts out of genuine desire for connection, not out of performance or competition. Nature is represented as a space of wonder to be observed with respect, and small creatures have full and complete narrative dignity. These values are conveyed without didacticism, which makes them all the more effective.
Social Themes
Without ever stating it explicitly, the film conveys a profound ecological sensitivity by rendering a ordinary aquatic ecosystem fascinating and precious. The attention paid to each insect, to each reflection of light on the water, invites one to look at living things differently. This is a natural angle for discussion with a child: what do we usually notice in a pond, and what do we not see?
Strengths
The film achieves something rare: telling a touching and complete love story in fifteen minutes, without a single word, relying solely on movement, light and music. The animation restores with precision and poetry the actual behaviour of the water spider, which builds an air bell underwater to breathe, giving the film a discreet yet genuine documentary dimension. The ability to move adult viewers whilst remaining accessible to very young children testifies to solid narrative and emotional mastery. It is a rare object in the landscape of animated cinema: short, silent, contemplative, and yet fully inhabited.
Age recommendation and discussion points
The film is suitable from age 4 or 5 onwards, without major reservation beyond the brief predation scene. After viewing, two angles of discussion present themselves naturally: ask the child what they understood of the story without words, to explore how we communicate in ways other than through speech, and ask them what lives in a pond near their home, to extend the sense of wonder towards the real world.
Synopsis
The short film's main character is a diving bell spider who seems to have fallen in love with a water strider. Although she is scared of him at first, the water strider soon gets used to the presence of the spider.
About this title
- Format
- Short film
- Year
- 2006
- Runtime
- 15m
- Countries
- Japan
- Original language
- JA
- Directed by
- Hayao Miyazaki
- Main cast
- Akiko Yano
- Studios
- Studio Ghibli
Content barometer
- Violence1/5Mild
- Fear1/5Mild
- Sexuality0/5None
- Language0/5None
- Narrative complexity0/5Simple
- Adult themes0/5None
Watch-outs
Values conveyed
- Courage
- Friendship
- Acceptance of difference
- Perseverance
- Compassion
- curiosity
- tenderness
- acceptance