The Incredible Mr. Limpet (G, 1964)

In the 1964 live action/animation film THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIMPET, Don 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.

Studio: Warner Home Video
Director: Arthur Lubin
Cast: Carole Cook, Don Knotts, Jack Weston
Genre: Family and Kids
Run time: 99 minutes
Theatrical release: March 28, 1964
DVD release: October 1, 2002
MPAA Rating: G