A Fish Tale

I will admit that this film lacks the qualities that make Disney, Pixar, Studio Ghibli and Dreamworks so memorable. I am nearly 17, and I think it is a very entertaining but flawed film, that is much better than people give credit for. Adults won't find much to go on, but children will love at least one aspect of the movie.

The animation is in general very good,considering it's a danish studio, very bright in the underwater sequences. However, some of the character animation was not as good as it could have been, and it was a little flat, especially in the first ten minutes or so.

The songs were adequate, but I personally think both children and adults won't remember any of them, except "Help I'm a little yellow fish", perhaps not always in a good way. I liked that song, and I liked "Intelligence", but the other songs are forgettable. The incidental music wasn't bad either, though some of it sounded very like the Lion King.

The story is a very nice idea indeed, about three children accidentally coming across a potion that turns them into fish, and encountering a villainous fish named Joe (admittedly an odd name for a villain), who is desperate for power. I personally thought the story was a nice idea, but there were some scenes where it dragged, and others where it felt rushed. I did think the script was nicely-written, again it may depend on the audience, as there is a lot of very confusing maths and science.

The voice talents were actually not that bad at all. Alan Rickman lent his gritty baritone to a cool and suave villain, and I must say he didn't do too bad a job. As a matter of fact, I was impressed with him more than anybody else. Had he had some better material,(not as bad as it could have been) his villain could have been more memorable than they made him. Terry Jones was an inspired choice for McKrill. His character is quite mad, and there were times when Jones was very funny, but other times when he quite badly overdid the character, most notably in his song. Fly, Stella and Chuck were well done, but the only voice actor I wasn't hugely keen on was the voice actor of the shark; he was very loud and got a bit annoying.

The special features on the DVD could have been of a bigger variety. There was an interesting featurette with interviews with Rickman and Jones, and some equally interesting filmographies. If anything, there could have had a bit more variety for kids, like games and trailers for other films.

All in all, I liked this film. Is it the best animation in the world? No it isn't, but it isn't too bad an attempt. 7/10 Bethany Cox