Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this movie discusses death and shows Henry falling into the ocean as a fun, comic thing that doesn't hurt him. The movie also acknowledges "spawning" so kids may ask for an explanation.
Families can talk about finding the right niche for you. Could Henry be as happy as a man as he was as a fish? Would it be fun to be a fish? What important equipment are humans missing?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Heather Boerner
Oh, Don Knotts, thank you for your many wacky characters. Long before the bawdy Three's Company episodes showed him as a foolish landlord, Knotts played the classic lovable loser in the 1964 live action/animation film THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIMPET.
Knotts plays Henry Limpet, a fervently patriotic but laughably unhealthy accountant whose bad eyesight and poor balance keep him from enlisting in the Navy. Since the film is set in 1941, that's a big deal. So instead, Limpet loses himself in the world of his fish and in his fantasies of one day becoming one of them (he carries around a book called The Theory of Reverse Evolution). But when he's lured into the water off Coney Island, a remarkable thing happens. He gets his wish, and suddenly he can serve his country in a way he never dreamed possible, helping foil U-boat attacks by the Nazis.
This has everything a good children's movie should: celebration of imagination, a lovable main character with which kids can identify, some silly and fun songs, and cartoons. Throw in some explosions and espionage, and you have a film kids will love and that adults may remember fondly from their own childhoods. And adults may get a kick out of the truly X-Files-ish moment when Stickel (Jack Weston) and Harlock (Andrew Duggan) pull out the file on Mr. Limpet 20 years later.
So what's not to love here? It's a small gripe, but worth mentioning: Ladyfish, Henry's underwater love interest, is a simpering idiot. Unlike Henry's caustic human wife (Carole Cook), who has her own likes and dislikes, Ladyfish (Elizabeth MacRae) purrs out her words, offers herself to him on their first meeting, and seems to have no desires of her own except to be with him -- something worth pointing out to girls watching with you.
People who enjoy this film may also like The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, Blackbeard's Ghost, and The Apple Dumpling Gang. And in the classic Disney movie The Sword in the Stone a young King Arthur also gets to try out being a fish.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentHenry kisses Bessy on the cheek. Ladyfish rubs up against Henry and wants to spawn with him. Ladyfish kisses Crusty. |
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ViolenceLots of comic violence, including Henry falling off the dock and being presumed dead, fish eating each other, a fish being caught on a hook. Lots of naval warfare, including torpedo fires and depth charges. |
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Social BehaviorLadyfish is the typical damsel in distress and seems to have no thoughts of her own except about Henry. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoStickel and Harlock smoke cigarettes. |
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