Cut to the chase: It may not reinvent the cartoon wheel, but “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” offers a fun, colorful adventure that children of most ages will enjoy. (Extra points for showing Seattle kids one version of a Kraken!)
Turning purple
“Turning Red”, the Disney-Pixar animated film that was released last spring, was a beautiful allegory for growing up. It told the story of a Chinese-Canadian girl who experiences puberty in a much bigger way than her classmates: she grows into a humongous red panda whenever her emotions overwhelm her, a curse and a blessing that has plagued the women in her family for generations. The film is equal parts sweet, nostalgic and empathetic to young girls everywhere.
In “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken”, a similar allegory is playing out in a familiar way: Ruby (Lana Condor), an unwitting kraken living in the human world and struggling with the usual teenage dilemmas, accidentally falls into the ocean where her very presence beneath the sea initiates a biological reaction. She transforms into a giant, multi-story-tall purple kraken.
Like “Turning Red”, it’s a generational thing. Ruby, her mother (Toni Collette) and Grandmamah (Jane Fonda) complete the royal lineage of legendary Sea Krakens who rule the depths of the sea, protecting the waters from dangerous creatures, particularly vicious, conniving mermaids. But more than that, it speaks to the disconnect that often appears between mothers and daughters: one protecting the other who feels unnecessarily sheltered from the real world waiting for them. We’ve seen it before – and as recently as last year – but as a mother of two girls, this subject, in particular, has the propensity to strum right on the heartstrings every single time.
Argh, another high school story
Set in an idyllic seaside town, “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” follows, you guessed it, Ruby, a teenage girl who doesn’t feel like she fits in with her human classmates. Her mother Agatha is an ambitious real estate agent, and her father (Colman Domingo) is a talented artist. Ruby, lost in a sea of flesh-colored people, tries to blend in with the background in the hallways of her all-American high school. She pulls her hair over her gills and attempts to camouflage her blue skin with long-sleeved sweaters. Being a kraken is, for Ruby, totally uncool, but it is also dangerous in a fishing town where crazy Gordon Lighthouse (Will Forte) is on a mission to expose Big Foot of the sea to the disbelieving town.
Her quiet, unassuming persona works for her until a confetti cannon blasts her crush Connor (Jaboukie Young-White) over the side of the pier in a Promposal gone wrong. Without thinking, Ruby jumps in after him, breaking her parents’ number one rule of never going in the ocean. Her contact with the water sends a signal to her kraken family and alerts the entire underwater universe that the Queen’s granddaughter has returned to take her rightful place in line for the throne.
Ruby is instantly changed by her first contact with ocean water. Her fins light up, and she grows into a gargantuan purple kraken. Without anywhere to hide and with plenty of buildings on land to accidentally destroy, Ruby is grateful for the kindness of new student Chelsea (Annie Murphy), a “cool” girl with long, billowy red hair and buckets of confidence. She also happens to be a mermaid, misunderstood and eager to unite with the kraken for aquatic harmony. Behind her mother’s back, Ruby trains with Grandmamah to cultivate her inner powers, retrieve the long-hidden Trident and make a bold change in the world.
Release the Kraken
The film really finds its groove after slogging through the establishment of Ruby’s relationships, at home and at school. There are some adorable, adult-winking jokes and situational humor that reflect Ruby’s hormonal coming-of-age moment, like her friends’ dark, but funny evaluation of their adolescent lives and Ruby’s awkward Promposal gone awry. As she becomes the kraken she was meant to be, Ruby gains confidence… and the film finds momentum, moving through sequences with speed, and efficiency but also style.
There is no surprise or twist ending that most grown viewers won’t see coming from a knot away, though kids may be shocked by the backstabbing actions of one of Ruby’s so-called friends. It has the right balance of action, romance, comedy and emotional resonance to appease viewers of any age. “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” is a kaleidoscope of color, easy on the eyes with a story that neither amazes nor offends, but will mesmerize kids for its perfectly appropriate 90-minute runtime.
Good to know:
MPAA Rating: PG for some action, rude humor and thematic elements
Recommended Age: 4+
Runtime: 90 minutes
Nightmare Inducers: There are a few glimpses of truly scary creatures, like mermaids with sharp teeth and blazing red eyes, but otherwise, there is nothing to send even the youngest viewers home with nightmares. My 3-year-old sat through the entire film without flinching, even during the final battle that has the mermaid turn into a scaly red mer-giant wielding a sharp, three-pronged weapon. Chelsea’s defeat feels imminent and inevitable; she is hardly a villain worth comparing to the seas’ OG sea convict, Ursula.
Difficult Concepts or Emotions: The obvious one is, of course, accepting and loving yourself for who you are. Ruby, like most teenagers, is self-conscious about her body and the various quirks that make her unique, especially since she is an entirely different species in a high school full of humans. Over the course of the film, she steps into her strengths and comes to love her kraken identity. Romantic love also has a part in Ruby’s motivations to impress her crush; the high school scenes in general focus on dating and impressing love interests. The hardest concept, perhaps, is estrangement from the family. Agatha abandoned the kraken community, including her own mother, and Ruby was raised without knowing her own extended family, a trauma she addresses and eventually overcomes.
