The real villain seemed to be the Italian secret police, who are still after Porco Rosso for deserting the Italian air force, but they are only a mentioned threat. I enjoyed that in this movie, the villain is an American, but he was more a big, comical jerk, than a scary evil monster. You think that maybe in the end something will occur that turns him back into a human, but that is not the case. There is no real character arc for him in the story. Porco’s not overly charming, nor overly curmudgeonly, he’s likable, but he doesn’t spark. Unlike most Studio Ghibli films, the characters in Porco Rosso felt a bit bland. Perhaps Marco’s guilt over all of the blood he spilled during the war moved him to choose the form of a pig, because if you did decide to turn into an animal, I would think you’d pick something more badass like a cheetah. After experiencing the horrors of battle, Marco no longer wanted to be a human, because humans are capable of terrible things. One school of thought is that Marco elected to turn into a pig. It is stated several times in the film that his pigness is a curse. He ascends into the clouds, and emerges a pig.
During an intense battle, Marco sees all of his friends and fellow fighters on both sides of the battle die. Originally a human named Marco, he was a fighter pilot in World War I. The origin of why Porco Rosso is a pig is a bit fuzzy. He’s even popular with the ladies, despite being a swine. All of the humans in the world seem to accept this fact without a lot of questioning. He’s just that guy who turned into a pig. He spends a lot of time in Italy, and I wondered if there were any awkward encounters in restaurants involving Prosciutto. He wears human clothing, he even has a mustache. He seeks out his friend/mechanic Piccolo, and with help from Piccolo’s spunky, engineering genius granddaughter, Fio, Porco Rosso’s plane is ready just in time for a plane duel with Curtis. Porco escapes harm, but his plane is not so lucky. As the arrogant American, Curtis wants to prove his superiority, and shoots down the famous pilot Porco Rosso. He meets his match however, when a brassy Texan, Donald Curtis, comes to town. When his services are needed, he sets off to thwart air pirates, using a combination of fighting skills and wit. He lives in a tent on a beach, where he spends his days smoking, drinking wine, and tinkering with his airplane. Porco Rosso (Crimson Pig) is a former Italian army flying ace who now works as a gun for hire. This is most likely why I’ve put off seeing Studio Ghibli’s Porco Rosso, until now. Maybe I was scarred by my first introduction to talking animals, Charlotte’s Web, but I tend to be resistant to any film that involves animals speaking, especially when they are anthropomorphic. I’ve never been a fan of talking animal stories, not even as a kid. It might seem too strange, if it wasn’t a Studio Ghibli film. He enjoys fighting sky pirates and ugly Americans. A military deserter becomes a bounty hunter.