A shy teenager learns that she is descended from a legendary royal family of legendary krakens, and that her destiny lies in the depths of the waters beyond anything she could have ever imagined.
Animated by Ruby Gillman, the teenage kraken also features the octopuses’ point of view in the great battle with the mermaids for the affection of little girls everywhere; from now on, we think octopi will be loved too, and little girls will want costumes with tentacles, not just mermaid tails, because the animation has an attached heroine. For example, my 3-year-old daughter – with whom I watched the movie at the cinema – already calls me “mama octopus”, and about her she says that she is “little octopus” (appellations alternate with “flaming mother”, because we saw together and the Elemental animation).

Ruby Gillman, the teenage kraken, a DreamWorks Animation production, is a film worth ticking off this holiday: it gives voice to previously voiceless characters, plus it offers images of the ocean like we’ve never seen before in an animation: mesmerizing, making the stretch of water attractive and scary at the same time. Also, Ruby’s locks manage to be – upon exiting the water – translucent, a feat of the special effects department.

The animation also offers a heart-warming look at the mother-daughter-grandmother relationship, while presenting it with all its problems and beauty.

With a – yet – predictable script, the story is about Ruby Gillman, a shy teenager, who is looking for her place in high school in a small fishing town. She wants to invite the boy she’s studying math to the ball, but she doesn’t have the courage. When a contest of circumstances puts the high schooler’s life in danger, Ruby will learn – saving him – that she comes from a legendary royal family of krakens and that her destiny lies in the depths of the waters, which is above all could ever have imagined. Ruby manages to rehabilitate the image of an entire species by becoming the heroine who saves the ocean and the city.

The Romanian dubbing is well done, with suitable voices for the characters, and the poster chosen for our territory seems to me much better chosen than the one for the American territory, made as if to scare children, not to attract them.