MOVIE NEWS – Family animated films based on traditional fairy tales are doing well, but another trend has been strong for quite some time. It happens to be the one that flips the “blonde prince in a white suit saves the princess” type stories and tells from a different perspective that good can prevail over the Operencia, even if it’s a green monster whose best friend is a pushy donkey .

The Shrek series, which twists the fairy tale tradition sarcastically-ironically, is followed by the upcoming big family animated film of the summer, Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken which places the eternal battle between good and evil in the context of high school teen comedies. Ruby joins the camp of troubled teens with a little bonus: it’s not enough that she struggles with the integration problems of 16-year-olds; she also has to process the fact that she secretly belongs to the ancient order of noble giant octopuses. As it turns out, contrary to the legends, the Kraken are not the terrors of the Seven Seas, who pull ships into the depths with their tentacles, but champions of honor and justice against their eternal enemies, the narcissistic psychopathic mermaids. To the detriment of Ruby, she also encounters a mermaid with a distorted spirit in high school: Chelsea is the leader of the exclusive club of cool girls, and of course, she immediately hooks up with the little outsider. Of course, it doesn’t take much, the little Kraken realizes its historical mission, and the war of sea mutants unfolds.

The tale of Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is, therefore, a very richly woven fabric: its threads were spun from classic upbringing stories, superhero legends and anti-fairy tales, with plenty of twists and with ruffles.

(Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken – domestic premiere: June 29, 2023.)