This weekend for movie time we watched The Sea Beast on Netflix with the kiddos. Now, our family has a soft spot for pretty much anything ocean and/or mystical creature related (among other things). Naturally we were all pretty excited to watch this combination of two of our favorite themes.
Regardless of what kind of story you like, if you have even the slightest appreciation for animation, you must at least watch the opening. I have never seen an animated ocean look so real!! Previously the best ocean scenes I can think of came from Moana. So it was no surprise when I later learned that the art director of The Sea Beast was Chris Williams, who was also co-art director of Moana. I read up a little about how they worked on it and it is truly fascinating!
To the story. As usual, I will provide as few spoilers as possible - definitely nothing that you can’t learn from the trailer here. Surprise is important!! Straight out the gate we learn that the ocean is abundant in sea beasts many times larger than any ship and they seem to have it in for every ship they encounter. So, the crown commissioned hunters to sail the seas and bring the beasts down. The movie follows the path of one particular ship, The Inevitable, and it’s brave and honorable crew. But that isn’t the only story we follow. We also follow a young girl named Maisie. Orphaned by hunter parents, Maisie wants to live a great life and die a great death and at her young age is full of all the things everyone should be!
While the underlying tale is about The Sea Beasts and those that hunt them, there is a deeper story, frequently likened to the How to Train Your Dragon vibe. Or, to put it more eloquently, as the great Maya Angelou said, it is a reminder to “Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.” I think the message in this movie is very much needed at this time. It can be hard to admit you were wrong, especially when you’ve spent your whole life living, breathing, fighting, killing for a lie. But rather than insist upon the lie or, alternatively, beat yourself up over it, simply do better with the new information you have.
The best stories, in my opinion, are the ones that don’t just tell a story, but teach a story. Especially when it’s a story I’m sharing with my children!
What’s your favorite movie with a lesson? What do you like most about it? As always, thanks for reading and have an amazing day!