Product Info

Studio

Dreamworks Animation

Director

Kirk DeMicco, Faryn Pearl

Genre

Action, Animation, Comedy, Family

Rated

PG

Theatrical Release Date (NA)

Jun 30, 2023

Film Length

1hr 30min

Purchase From

The following movie contains minor spoilers.

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is Dreamworks’ latest animated film, and it revolves around the Gillmans, a kraken family disguised as humans while living among them. The movie makes use of the mythology of krakens and mermaids but with a twist. It’s a charming story but one with some voids that are sadly left empty.

Meet the Krakens

The film centers around the life of one Ruby Gillman, voiced by Lana Condor (X-Men: Apocalypse, Alita: Battle Angel), a teenage kraken who already fits in among a small group of human teenagers at high school but still feels anxiety about hiding her true self. Her mother, Agatha Gillman, voiced by Toni Collette (The Sixth Sense, About a Boy), works as a realtor and is overly protective of Ruby. She denies Ruby from going to the high school prom and, after the sudden appearance of Agatha’s brother, Uncle Brill, voiced by Sam Richardson (Ted Lasso, Veep), keeps the truth of Ruby’s heritage from her.  Not only does Ruby find out that she has an uncle, she also learns she has a grandmother, Grandmamah, voiced by Jane Fonda (Book Club: The Next Chapter, 80 for Brady).

Teenage Kraken is the first Dreamworks film to have a solo female lead. The male characters have a supportive role while the women take front and center, including the film’s antagonists, the mermaids. It’s also noted in the film that the female krakens in the royal family are much larger than the males in their true forms. Yep, Ruby Gillman is a princess. The male krakens and non-royal female krakens actually look more like sea monkeys. While the movie  only shows three female krakens, it would be more interesting to see other female krakens, even if just for a brief moment.

A Bland Sea

After internal struggles with her family and other sudden events, Ruby ignores her mother’s advice and seeks out Grandmamah in the middle of the night. The journey to see her, with her uncle helping, is fairly quick, and the film tries to showcase the beauty of being under the sea. However, since the adventure is in the middle of the night, viewers don’t get the full view of the watery environment. Instead, there are many areas where it feels bare with just black fades to the bottom. It’s definitely not the festive party that Sebastian the crab sang about in Disney’s The Little Mermaid. That said, the underwater world becomes more decorative once Ruby and Uncle Brill arrive at the kraken’s palace. Even so, it does still feel somewhat empty, but the neon glows do stand out.

Compared to animated films like Disney’s 1989 The Little Mermaid or Pixar’s Luca or Elemental, the sea settings in Teenage Kraken aren’t especially impressive, but they are still visually better than some of Dreamworks’ older titles such as Shark Tale. It doesn’t matter too much, though, since most of the action takes place on land. The port where the Gillmans live has much more visual appeal anyway, from the streets to the insides of the homes. It’s simply more inviting.

A Mixture of Films

As mentioned earlier, Ruby Gillman is going through changes as a teenager, but she isn’t the only heroine in a 2020s animated movie dealing with puberty and other teenage anxieties. You may remember that Pixar’s Turning Red also delves into similar issues. Both movies tackle communication issues with mothers, a love interest, and of course drastic body changes. Teenage Kraken has Ruby change into a large-scale monster by jumping into sea water, and Turning Red has Mei turning into a red panda as a result of her strong emotions. Both characters have to deal with and accept who they are. To date, there still aren’t many animated films with female leads that address these issues, so it’s good to see more of these stories being made.

Of course, you can’t get away from comparing Teenage Kraken to Disney’s original animated version of The Little Mermaid. Chelsea Van Der Zee, voiced by Annie Murphy (Schitt’s Creek, Black Mirror), closely resembles Ariel. Both characters are mermaids and have red hair and a similar skin color. Chelsea comes off like a typical teenage high schooler and appears to be popular, too, quickly attaching herself to Ruby as her best friend due to their shared secrets as creatures of the sea. However, given the troubled history between their races (this film cleverly casts krakens as a more friendly species and mermaids as more vicious), things don’t appear to be for the greater good for either race.

Unlike The Little Mermaid, which is heavily based on a love between two different races, Teenage Kraken avoids falling into that cliche. Ruby does have an interest in a human boy that she helps tutor and does think of him sometimes, but the main focus is on Ruby dealing with her life-changing events and finding people who accept her, even if they’re a mermaid.

On the other hand, the audience will foresee from miles ahead where the narrative leads, even though it does flip the characterization of krakens and mermaids on its head. Even so, it’s a decently entertaining tale.

A Void Feeling

The movie starts off slowly, introducing Ruby, her family, and her current lifestyle in town. The audience will quickly wonder how the townsfolk do not say anything about their appearances. When someone finally asks, the Gillman family simply responds that they are from Canada. It’s a comical moment, but few in the audience will wonder how Canadian citizens feel about it. Moreover, would anyone outside the United States get the reference?

The story doesn’t have any flashbacks detailing how the Gillman family came to live among humans or what their experiences blending in were like. Instead, the film already has the family established in the town and the schools. It would be interesting to see some of these events. How difficult was it to blend in? Even a ten-second flashback would suffice.

One of the promotional posters used for Teenage Kraken showcases a set of krakens versus mermaids. Unfortunately, the film is lacking in the mermaids department. If you were expecting a large-scale battle between the two, don’t get your hopes up. Instead, the film focuses on teamwork in a family against a vicious antagonist looking to claim power once again.

The Sound of the Sea

Like many Dreamworks films, Teenage Kraken uses many pop culture artists. One track, “This Moment” performed by Mimi Webb is lighthearted and catchy. However, compared to Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Teenage Kraken is lacking in the original music department. It isn’t a whimsical, musical movie like Dreamworks’ previous film, Trolls, with a similarly vibrant and fun soundtrack. Instead, the music here only does a generic, good-enough job to fill the void.

The Final Moment

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is lukewarm, but this tale of humans, krakens, and mermaids does enough to make it enjoyable. If you like Turning Red and The Little Mermaid, get “kraken” to see this movie. 

An early screening provided for this review. Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken hits theaters on June 30, 2023. Visit the film’s official website for tickets.