Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken: When Dreamworks Dunks on Disney

By John Kirk

Rating: B

“Hey Dad? Did you realize that the antagonist is a direct rip-off of The Little Mermaid?”

This is why you take your kids with you to see films in theaters, folks. Going out to an event generates conversation and it took a grand total of 15 minutes worth of dialogue to realize that my 12-year-old genius daughter was right. The level of parody between the two characters in question was unbelievably astute.

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken has the formulaic features you’d expect about a teenager trying to navigate her way through the pitfalls of high school with the added secret that Ruby Gillman is of the race of sea-creatures known as Krakens.

But the parody takes it to a new level of fun.

The Gillmans have been in hiding, disguising themselves as humans for 15 years, after the Great Kraken-Mermaid War. Ruby (Lana Condor) is a typical teenage girl who has a small core of friends, is great at math and just wants to go to her high school prom.

Of course, Ruby’s mother Agatha (Toni Collette) has banned her from ever going into the ocean, which will reveal her Kraken heritage. The fact that the prom is on a ship is a bit of a problem that sets daughter against mother.

The rebellious teen trope is a typical and predictable one. It’s easy for kids to understand, and let’s not forget who the primary audience is for this film.

There is an interesting parallel between Agatha and her own mother, the Kraken Queen (Jane Fonda) a.k.a. Grand-MaMa. Agatha also rebelled against her mother and the irony isn’t lost on her daughter.

So, with that in mind, of course Ruby defies her mother. She is forced to jump into the ocean to rescue the boy of her dreams from drowning. This reveals her own powers but then a mysterious and incredibly charismatic new girl, Chelsea Van Der Zee (Annie Murphy) arrives on the scene to not only take credit for said rescue but also signals to the audience who she really is.

It takes about five minutes to figure out who she is — again, not a complicated story to follow.

Still, the freedom of an uncomplicated story allows the audience to have fun with the film, to pick up on the humour. Clearly, the mermaid’s appearance — I mean, Chelsea’s appearance — is meant to elicit some informed yet short speculation.

When Chelsea Van Der Zee (“It’s Dutch!” she declares, batting her eyes to a swooning crowd of onlookers) appears to the swooning crowd, she’s a dead ringer for Princess Ariel. Her flaming red hair, round, soulful eyes, and every cute mannerism are all textbook Disney and point to the fact that not only is Chelsea overwhelmingly and completely adorbs, she’s the Little Mermaid from Hell.

But at this point, the audience is captivated by every move, moue, and motion and is taking careful note of her actions. She becomes the focus and instils curiosity about just how evil this little mermaid can be.

Watching the film from this perspective actually makes it more fun though. As the story progresses, we don’t really think of it as its own story any more. It’s more of watching Dreamworks having a multimillion-dollar joke at Disney’s expense. Even the rescue scene is painstakingly lifted from the film. When you watch the film, you’ll see what I mean.

Everyone falls in love with Chelsea and in comparison, Ruby is made to feel completely inadequate. The formula of the teen with poor self-esteem is in full play here, but when you think about it, who could compete with Princess Ariel? Even the joke seems to find ground with the story.

Given the proximity of the release of the live-action version of The Little Mermaid, the timing couldn’t be any better for this joke.

But the film’s own humour is fairly well-developed and sets the tone right for this obvious extended caricature to continue. Some jokes are a little on the cringeworthy side, but overall, they work. It’s a film that essentially hijacks the cuteness of The Little Mermaid and manages to successfully transfer it to a shy, math-loving awkward teenager who just happens to be able to transform herself into a 50-foot-tall sea-beast.

Whether the comparison between the two mermaids is intentional or not, it’s a fun dimension in which to enjoy the film. But even without that, it’s cute story with some jokes and a main character that’s easy to identify with. It’s worth taking your kids to see.

Oh – I’ve just been reminded to add that Ruby has laser-eyes. Kids…

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken. Directed by Kirk DeMicco. Starring Lana Condor, Toni Collette, Jaboukie Young-White, Annie Murphy, Sam Richarson, Will Forte, and Jane Fonda. In theatres June 30.