The Pout-Pout Fish Parent Guide

Mr. Fish (Nick Offerman) is blue. Literally. And he believes it’s his destiny to spread his “dreary-wearies” through the ocean. Each day he swims from his dilapidated home to the reef’s hardware store, where he purchases yet another zen rock so he can meditate on his fate as a gloomy pout-pout fish. Then Pip crosses his path.

Chipper and cheery, Pip (Nina Oyama) is a tiny sea dragon who is determined to expand her family’s home. Her parents are expecting 300 babies and Pip is rightly convinced that they need more space. But Pip’s efforts end in disaster and soon both she and Mr. Fish are homeless. In desperation, they decide to seek out Shimmer (Jordin Sparks), a beautiful pink fish with the power to grant wishes.

As the new partners begin their quest, they have no idea that Benji (Remy Hii), a cuttlefish, is also determined to find the shimmering wishing fish. His pod faces the imminent destruction of their habitat, thanks to kelp overgrowth that blocks sunlight from penetrating their deepwater abyss. With fish freezing in the newly chilled waters, the only hope for the pod is to escape to the reef – and take it over. Unless, that is, Benji can find Shimmer before Mr. Fish and Pip…

This animated production shares a title with Deborah Diesen’s popular rhyming book The Pout-Pout Fish, which gives very young children an upbeat tale about changing your attitude. However, parents should be aware that while the book is geared at the toddler crowd, the movie is not. I don’t know if the screenplay gathers plot elements from subsequent books in the series (which I have not read) but this tale is very, very different from the picture book. There are multiple moments of peril, including scenes where a fish is zapped with neurotoxins, homes are destroyed, fish are pursued by hungry predators, sea creatures are hypnotized and thrust from their homes, and a fish is abducted. The movie is perfectly fine for the six-and-up crowd but parents will want to think carefully about watching it with very little kids.

Parents should also consider the mixed bag that is the movie’s messaging. It delivers strong themes about friendship, compassion, empathy, kindness, forgiveness and karma. In fact, it’s subtitle could be “What goes around, comes around”. Unfortunately, the story also has a brutal message about refugees. The cuttlefish, in the movie script don’t simply escape to the reef and try to find new homes: they hypnotize the original inhabitants and force them out. Instead of encouraging understanding and compassion for newcomers or victims of ecological disaster, this movie shows them as violent and dangerous. Honestly, if we can’t escape culture wars in a kids’ movie, what’s the point of going to the theater?

Another thing for parents to contemplate is their willingness to pay for theater tickets for a movie that is unlikely to provide them with any other emotion than boredom. Although kids will enjoy the film, parents are less likely to be charmed by second rate animation and the script’s very slow first half. I spent the first half of the movie guiltily wishing for coral bleaching or a microplastic deluge – anything to end the mind-numbing tedium. Thankfully, the movie picks up speed and I managed to quell my maritime death wishes during the second half. That said, this isn’t a movie worth splurging on. It’s a movie to watch on the couch, napping or phone-surfing as your kids watch the undersea adventures. They can have their fun and you don’t have to suffer for it. 

About author

Kirsten Hawkes

Kirsten Hawkes has a BA in Political Science and English and has worked in international development and medical education and marketing. Kirsten enjoys reading, watching movies, and debating politics with her husband and sometimes unwilling children.