A cute and kind-hearted fish movie even with its hooks.
Think about how the animated film version of the children’s book “The Pout-Pout Fish” is basically going for that “Shrek” meets “Finding Nemo” splice. The disgruntled hero who internally wants acceptance and is annoyed by his new loyal sidekick. And the fact that most of the sea creatures here are Australian. The movie is produced through both American and Australian production companies, and directed by two Australian natives Ricard Cusso and Rio Harrington, so I guess that would make sense.
Looking at this cute and harmless animated feature, I feel it should appease to younger kids, and we should have some optimism, especially with the Iran War going on. As a young adult, I feel it needed the kind of crossover appeal that “Hoppers” or “Zootopia 2” or even the Oscar winning “KPop Demon Hunters” had. But you do get a lot of cute and lovable characters with positive messages for kids, and it’s enough to make it children’s entertainment.
Nick Offerman is one of the few American actors in the film to voice the title blue fish, who lives under his father’s impression that he’s not supposed to make friends. I’m surprised his old man didn’t meet Marlin and arrange a playdate with him and Nemo. But at this moment, he lives in a broken, sunken ship with a lot of trinkets and rocks, and tries to avoid his friendly neighbors. And his new neighbor and soon-to-be sidekick is a leafy sea dragon named Pip (voiced by Nina Oyama), who is about to have hundreds of more siblings.
When both their homes get obliterated, they decide to find a magical fish named Shimmer (voiced by Jordin Sparks), whom they say can grant one wish every long period or so. I think we can agree she’s going to give them the “You have to make your own wishes come true” deal, although I can guess that her shimmer can give her some kind of youth formula, since she meet the young Pout-Pout fish and later the older version, and still look and sound so young.
Another sea creature after Shimmer is a cuttlefish named Benji (voiced by Remy Hii), whose home is being chilled by the growing algae which is blocking their sunlight, and his leader mother Marin’s (voiced by Miranda Otto) only recourse is for their species to hypnotize all the fish away from their homes, so they could occupy theirs.
One of the positive messages the film tries to give kids and the title fish to regards helping others. He and Pip both prevent some pink dolphins (all voiced by Amy Sedaris, almost doing her “Strangers With Candy” voice in different variations) from eating them, by running through kelp which helps them find a new diet. So, I guess that’s helpful in a way.
It’s no “Shrek” or “Finding Nemo,” but “The Pout-Pout Fish” has its heart in the right place and the voice actors (especially Offerman, Oyama, and Sparks) are fun. Not every animated feature can be those animated gems, but they can, at least, possess the charms of those 2000s films. I’m not seeing much commercial appeal for this film, especially since “Hoppers” and “GOAT” have both proven that people still care about original films at the box office. But if you do hear of “The Pout-Pout Fish,” it’s not something I would recommend to adults on their own, especially when the sense of humor seems desperate to try to appease both crowds, but it’s something I think kids would enjoy. And it’s harmless fun.
