The Pout-Pout Fish, based on the books by Deborah Diesen, has some mystical moments, light peril and a couple of rude bathroom noises. But this story—about a grumpy-faced fish who helps a cute and frilly sea dragon find a new home—encourages viewers to help others and always keep a positive attitude.
The reef is home to many fish, mollusks, crustaceans and other aquatic beasts. Mr. Fish has lived there ever since he was a small fry. But he’s never really felt like he was welcome.
You see, Mr. Fish is a pout-pout fish with a glum, gloomy, ever-present pout. Each day, his neighbors beg him to cheer up. “Smile, you’ll live longer,” they’ll say. Or, “It takes more muscles to frown, you know.” Or sometimes, “Go on, give us a grin.”
But it’s not Mr. Fish’s fault. He’s a pout-pout fish with a pout-pout face, so he’s doomed to “spread the dreary wearies all over the place.”
Until one day, a little sea dragon named Pip shows up at Mr. Fish’s door, begging for help. Pip has about 300 baby brothers and sisters on the way, and she’s trying to expand her family home to make room. And she would just so appreciate any help Mr. Fish could offer.
Frankly, Mr. Fish just doesn’t feel like it’s his problem. But after he causes an accident that sends his derelict ship home tumbling onto Pip’s portable one, he doesn’t have much choice.
Simply rebuilding the houses won’t do; it would take too much time. Luckily, Pip thinks she knows of a solution.
“Shimmer,” she whispers.
They say Shimmer is a magical, beautiful fish who can create anything you wish for. If Mr. Fish and Pip can track her down, then Shimmer might be able to help them restore their homes.
But sightings of Shimmer are rare. Few have ever seen her. And Mr. Fish and Pip aren’t the only ones looking for her.
Located just below the reef is an abyss that a pod of cuttlefish call home. But an infestation of kelp has been slowly growing over the abyss, cutting off heat from the sun. Within the next 24 hours, the kelp will completely block out all light, and the cuttlefish will be forced to relocate or freeze to death.
But Benji, the son of the pod’s leader, doesn’t want to leave the abyss. So like Mr. Fish and Pip, he’s seeking Shimmer, hoping she’ll restore his home.
Unfortunately, Shimmer only has enough power to grant one wish every few years. So it’s a race to see who will find her and see their dreams come true first.
Pip is persistently optimistic. She believes everyone she meets is a potential friend, and she always looks for light in the darkness. She also has a strong sense of doing what’s right, no matter the cost. In fact, she risks her own life a couple times to help those in need.
That cheery attitude transforms Mr. Fish. He realizes that he’s been avoiding other fish—and potential friendships—not because they aren’t trustworthy but because he was afraid to trust. He resolves to change his obstinate manner.
Benji isn’t a bad guy: He’s just trying to save his pod and his home. However, he goes about it the wrong way. When his mom finds out, she’s understandably disappointed. (Though to be fair, her solution is flawed, too.) Pip and Mr. Fish decide to help Benji out, even though he tried to sabotage them. And Benji eventually makes his mom proud by owning up to his mistakes and standing up for what he believes is right.
Initially, Pip is terrified that her parents will forget about her once her siblings are born. She’s also worried that they’ll be so angry about the house getting destroyed that they’ll send her away. Mr. Fish reassures her that her parents could never forget about her. And when she reunites with them (sans house), they’re indeed ecstatic to see her, telling her how much they missed her and reassuring her of their love.
Some characters prove willing to sacrifice themselves to help those in need. One community rallies to help another. Characters apologize for their mistakes.
Cuttlefish hypnotize other fish, telling them to leave the reef forever. (Although it’s more mystical in this film, it’s based on the ability of real cuttlefish to seemingly hypnotize their prey with their color-changing skin.)
Someone says that the power to make wishes come true lies inside of you. And someone else says that if you believe in miracles hard enough, they might come true. (This line of thinking contradicts biblical teaching.)
Mr. Fish stacks Zen rocks in a circle and listens to a meditation tape as he poses and oohms to himself. Someone mentions a psychic. Elsewhere, a female character says she has the beauty of a goddess.
[Spoiler warning] Shimmer, we learn, doesn’t actually have any magical abilities. Fish have simply assumed she did because of her beautiful, shining scales.
When Pip first explains that she has hundreds of siblings on the way, she’s quick to defend that that’s just how many babies sea dragons have at once. We see a statue of a fish with a clamshell bra.
Three dolphins chase Mr. Fish and Pip, hoping to eat them. Their razor-sharp teeth cut through kelp, and there are a few jump scares along the way (though nobody gets eaten).
Mr. Fish’s house is a derelict ship hanging on the precipice of a cliff. It’s held in place by carefully balanced objects inside the home. When Mr. Fish tells Pip she can take a few items to expand her mobile home (which she’s been toting around while her parents are on a trip), she starts zipping around, moving said objects. A panicked Mr. Fish yells at her to stop, but in his frustration, he winds up knocking stuff over and sending his house tumbling off the cliff—right on top of Pip’s house, utterly destroying it.
Several sea creatures get lost in a dark trench, and it’s suggested that they’ll die if they don’t find their way out. (They eventually receive help.) While trying to rescue some trapped jellyfish, Pip almost gets shocked by one of their tentacles. Mr. Fish saves her, informing her that they would be deadly for a creature her size. He helps the jellyfish himself and indeed gets stung—and for a brief moment, he appears to have died. However, he recovers shortly after.
One fish lightly smacks her friend for being tactless. Benji accidentally knocks out a kid with a ball. Some characters bump into walls and other objects when they can’t see.
Some dolphins help Mr. Fish and Pip get to their destination faster by smacking them with their tails. As the pair zip across the ocean, Mr. Fish gets swatted with kelp and bounces off sea turtle shells. A crustacean scolds her child for starting to cross a street without holding her hand. As she’s explaining the danger, Mr. Fish and Pip zoom by, and the child immediately grabs his mother’s claw in fear.
There’s no profanity, but a few substitutes for harsher words slip in, including “bull shock,” “what the flip” and “for the love of blub, blub, blub.” (Though the “blub, blub, blub”—which is repeated elsewhere—seems to be a direct reference to the book series this film is based on, where it’s simply a silly expression.) A cuttlefish says he’s been a real “inkstain” to someone.
God’s name is misused once or twice. Someone exclaims, “Sacre bleu,” which is considered a substitute for blaspheming God’s name in French.
Mr. Fish gets stung by jellyfish tentacles full of neurotoxins. As he recovers, the neurotoxins make him loopy and glassy-eyed.
Mr. Fish and Pip meet three vain dolphins who act very mean. The dolphins say they’re dieting, and they note that they can’t think clearly because of their hunger—and parents should be cautious of this portrayal of disordered eating behaviors.
A flashback shows that Mr. Fish’s caution regarding other fish stems from his childhood. His dad was fearful of other sea creatures, so he wouldn’t let Mr. Fish play with other children (although he was always willing to play with his son himself). Then, one day he got separated from his dad in a kelp forest. Shimmer found him and guided him back to his dad, but the young Mr. Fish promised his father to stay away from fish he didn’t know from now on.
A crustacean radio host’s name is “Beautiful Mike,” and he assures his listeners that he’s “very attractive.”
When Pip first meets Mr. Fish, she actually robs him—though she didn’t realize she was doing so at the time. She thought Mr. Fish’s house was part of a junkyard and that everything inside was free for the taking. One character gets fishnapped, though she’s later freed by her captor.
Some characters can be sarcastic and rude. Characters lie (even after insisting they won’t). Children disobey their parents. Some starfish try to manipulate the Shimmer situation to their advantage. There’s some subterfuge and attempted sabotage. Benji traps two jellyfish under a rock to press them for information about Shimmer. Even though they give up her location, he leaves them there.
We hear some rude bathroom sounds. Mr. Fish gives Pip a pufferfish to use like a paper bag when she hyperventilates. Later, when she’s on the verge of another attack, that same pufferfish stealthily slinks out of sight.
There are pop culture references to more adult-oriented things, such as Nicki Minaj, Cosmopolitan magazine and Mean Girls.
The Pout-Pout Fish is based on the children’s book of the same name by Deborah Diesen. And though there’s some differences here, there’s not a ton for parents to worry about.
We get some adult-oriented pop culture references, some mystical elements and the occasional rude bathroom noise. Mr. Fish and Pip also face some peril during their adventure, which could be frightening for more sensitive little viewers.
But on balance, this film shares several positive messages, encouraging us all to look for light in the darkest of places and to lend a hand to those in need—even when it might cost us something in return.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
