Romeo & Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss

Plot synopsis:
Warring Capulets (Michael Toland) and Montagues (Stephen Goldberg), portrayed as Steller and California sea lions respectively, have their feud watched sadly by Capulet's only daughter, Juliet (Patricia Trippett). A fight on the shore is ended when the Prince (Phil Nibbelink), a large and monstrous elephant seal, appears and warns the two groups that, should there be any more disturbance, the seal who caused it shall be exiled to Shark Island, a fin shaped rock where a shark lives. Romeo (Daniel Tripett), Montague's only son, is depressed, wishing to fall in love with someone. His humorous friend, Mercutio (Chip Albers), urges him and another of his friends, Benvolio (Sam Gold), to go to a Capulet party later that evening. They attend the party, covered in white sand to look like Capulets, and Romeo falls in love with Juliet at first sight. Juliet, however, was promised by her father to marry the Prince, who attends the party. Romeo and his friends manage to wreak havoc, and are revealed to be Montagues. Later that evening, the play's balcony scene is recreated on a cliff on the beach where a tree grows. Romeo promises Juliet that they shall marry the next morning, and she will not have to marry the Prince.
Romeo begs Friar Lawrence, a sea otter, to wed them. After some thought, the friar believes their marriage will end the feud between their families, and agrees. Romeo and Juliet are wed that morning and traverse the sea in their happiness. However, even the other sea and land animals strongly oppose their being together. A fish finds them a lovely couple, but warns them that they will be in big trouble if the Prince finds out. Back on the beach, Mercutio is telling many jokes, which leads to him making insulting jokes against the Capulets, and the Prince is headed in that direction. When he arrives, Mercutio mocks him as well. Romeo rushes to aid his friend, but after a struggle Mercutio falls off the cliff where Juliet met Romeo the previous evening, and everyone thinks that he is dead. The Prince, jealous of Juliet's affection for Romeo, exiles Romeo to Shark Island. In despair, Juliet seeks the Friar's help, and he gives her a potion to put her in a deathlike state. Mercutio is revealed to be alive and sees the whole thing, remarking, "What a tangled web we weave."
Lawrence shows the Capulet seals that Juliet is "dead", right as they were celebrating the marriage. But Benvolio sees her as well, and swims to Shark Island to tell Romeo. The Friar chases him to stop him, but is attacked by a shark. After receiving the terrible news from Benvolio, Romeo heads to the shore to see if Juliet is truly dead. Friar Lawrence arrives too late and tries to follow Romeo, only to have his tail maimed by the shark. After an undersea chase and some help from the fish Romeo and Juliet met earlier, Lawrence escapes and heads to the beach. A heartbroken Romeo walks past the mourning Capulets and tries to kiss Juliet, only to have some of the potion slip into his own mouth, putting him in a deathlike state as well. Both groups of seals begin to weep for their loss, and Lawrence, who has just arrived, teaches them a lesson about where hatred leads them. Suddenly, Romeo and Juliet awaken, and all is well. Mercutio returns, and the Prince finds a new mate, a large elephant seal like himself. The movie ends with the two families at peace, and Romeo and Juliet remaining together.

Tags: romantic

Review:
Seals do Shakespeare (but not for purists).
Sealed With a Kiss is a traditional fully-animated film, with seals doing Shakespeare.
I admit that like many others, I wasn't totally sold on the concept, but then when you get down to it The Lion King was basically Hamlet with lions, and few seemed to have a problem with that.
Turned out to be quite a fun little movie.
While the dialogue is modern, the film has a few of the characters quoting famous Shakespearian lines, but in a way that shouldn't alienate children.
The story gets going straight away, with rivalry between the 2 groups of seals.
Well maybe it is a little sappy, but it's sweet, and sincerely handled.
Two of the songs near the start were, I thought rather weak, but they at least progressed the story.
As the film gets going, there are fewer songs.Unlike the play, the film is light in tone and has many comedic elements.
There are a few laugh-out-loud moments but some of Mercutio's puns are groan inducing(even the characters in the film seem to think so).
As you would expect, liberties are taken (most notably the ending), and it isn't weighed down like some adaptations.
To be honest, I fully expected it to be Romeo & Juliet in name only, and sure enough a great many story elements have no relation whatsoever to what Shakespeare wrote, but I was surprised that the core of what is here is more or less true to what I remember of the original.I was particularly interested to see how the animation turned out, as it has emerged that this film is that rarest of things: a one man animated film.
Phil Nibbelink wrote, directed and animated every frame of the film over the course of 5 years.
Well drawn fluid cartoony animation.
It's not quite of the level of a top notch Disney animated film, but it comes very close, indeed far closer than I would have ever dreamed possible for a one-man effort.
A few shortcuts are taken, but there are a surprising number of scenes animated on ones (which takes twice as many drawings as is usually necessary).
This means the animation can be that extra bit more fluid.
Some shortcuts can be seen in some of the background characters and effects animation, but this is generally where it matters least.
The important stuff, the character animation, is top notch, what you would expect from a strong Disney animator (which is what Nibbelink spent a decade working as).
The backgrounds are soft-focus simple and uncluttered to frame the character animation.
In a few cases these are perhaps a little rushed, but all in all, they set the atmosphere and do the job.Even with the lighter tone, it still manages strong dramatic moments.
While the film aims at a young audience that may not yet be ready for this kind of romance, there should be enough action and comedy to keep them entertained..
No, it isn't Disney, and it isn't even quite Shakespeare (the almost too clever but crafty subtitle "Sealed With A Kiss" tells us that), but as a throwback to one and a light introduction to the other, this very little (77 minute) film deserves to find an appreciative audience.The one-man, single cell "flat" animation is smoothly done and handsome.
While the brown and yellow Romeo and Juliet seals (to distinguish between the Montague and Capulet herds) are closer to the look of Casper the Ghost and friends than the more detailed "flat" animation from the corporate giants at Disney, Pixar or Bluth, it is several steps ahead of the still popular (among the undemanding young) work associated with Rankin-Bass.
Even the Elephant Seal "Prince" who stands in for Shakespeare's Duke who threatens any who would disturb the streets of his Venice does not recall the visual sloppiness of the broad lines Ursula, the evil witch in Disney's LITTLE MERMAID was rendered in.The script might have tried a little harder (it omits more Shakespearian characters than it had to - where's the nurse?
- and while it feels free to drop in "famous" Shakespearian quotes from other plays at any convenient turn for the amusement of the adult audience, it could have used a few more in the actual plot without turning off the younger set), but it is coherent and even in "smoothing out" the rough edges of one of Shakespeare's most famous tragedies for overly sensitive parents, it preserves the essence of most of Shakespeare's lessons (at least as interpreted these 400 years later).Charm is the key word here - it is a charming film, and a very nicely done one, even if it were from a major studio.
From a one-man operation it's close to a miracle that any student of film or animation should put on their "must-discover" list.
or SHREK 1, 2 or 3, this ROMEO AND JULIET, Sealed With A Kiss would be a very good choice for a wise parent..
When people criticize this film, they probably forget that this is a children's film.
It is just a very sweet children's film based on "Romeo and Juliet" and the characters are seals (save Friar Lawrence, who is an otter).
Kids will not enjoy films where a great deal of characters die and they will not enjoy a live action film about lovers.
Even though I'm not a kid, however, I very much enjoyed this film - partly because I remembered that this was made for children.
I also enjoyed it because of the way it was made: the plot, the animation and the characters.
The way one man made this film pretty much all by himself is worth giving credit for.
You will probably know the story of Romeo and Juliet, there are two feuding families and a boy and a girl, both from the feuding families, fall in love with each other.
Well, this film is like that, only with seals.I recommend this to people who do not mind Shakespeare being very much adapted on and to every little kid who likes animated films and seals.
Enjoy "Romeo and Juliet: Sealed With a Kiss"!
:-)P.S "The Lion King II" is WAY more adapted from "Romeo and Juliet" and no-one criticizes that film because of it.P.P.S Last time I checked (which was when I watched it today), the whole of this film was available on Youtube, so you can watch it on there..
Before I went into watching this film I read a bit about it from other viewers and based on what they said I had pretty low expectations for it.
The animation is really well done and the story is filled with Shakespeare jokes that any thespian or theater buff will get a good chuckle out of.
The voice acting and singing can often range from good, mediocre, or just plain bad.
a fish called Kissy(you'll know her when you see her and you'll either love or hate her).If you're looking for a movie to entertain your kids or to just kill some time I'd recommend this to you but be forewarned, this is the kind of movie you'll either hate or like.I give Romeo & Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss a 6.5/10 leaning towards a 7..
Great animation, script and music not so great.
I love Shakespeare, and was intrigued at how "Romeo and Juliet:Sealed with a Kiss" would turn out.
I did hear from people it was a disgrace to Shakespeare, but I have been known to disagree with critics and the IMDb ratings, so I gave this a chance.
The best asset of the film is the animation.
The backgrounds are fluid and colourful and the characters with the exception of the Prince were well drawn.
Considering the animation was done by one man, Phil Nibbelink, it was quite impressive visually.
The story pretty much follows the storyline of the play, except it is about seals, plus some (I think) pointless scenes with Friar Lawrence and a shark, and the voice acting was on the whole decent.
I love good music in animated films, but here I found the songs forgettable and bland, and the incidental music felt misplaced.
I will say I liked one or two of the characters, Romeo and Juliet are appealing enough and the Kissing Fish is really cute.
However, Friar Lawrence is not the wise caring character I associate him with, and I do not know why the Nurse was omitted when she provides the most effective source of parental love in the play.
In my opinion, I didn't like the character of the Prince at all, I didn't like how he was drawn and his voice was too monotonic for my liking.
Worst of all was the script, constant misuse of the Shakespeare language and Mercutio's jokes went well overboard, and especially in his death scene they weren't even funny.
Overall, this movie was okay but I don't recommend it.
I thought this film by Phil Nibbelink (director of An American Tail: Fievel goes West) was very good from the moment I saw the trailer; also I do love seals.I always love the works of William Shakespeare ever since I studied him in my High School English classes.
Also I strongly agree with Laura Tiffany of "Home Media Magazine" and Rick Bentley of "Fresno Bee" : it's impressive and a sweet film that should delight the family.
Overall, I give this film a big A+ for great backgrounds, excellent color styling and very good music..
In my opinion, the worst film in the world.
what's the point on letting young children watch a film about two seals that fall in love and talk stuff, it is REALLY annoying, i just wish i forgot about this film forever, that and 'time bandits (1981)' there's also a fish that talks like a baby and a fat seal for an antagonist, why concern these things when nobody understands that awkward films aren't my number one!
i hated it, IT'S THE WORST FILM EVER EXISTING ON THIS TURNING PLANET OF Africa, ASIA, AND FREAKIN' America!!!!!!!!
as for the director, he doesn't care, all he cares is his arctic drama ideas that everyone hates, spread the word, kids: SEALS ARE BAD FILMMAKERS!!.
I remember accidentally stumbling on watching this movie with a family member one night back in later 2006 as a late teen, and I don't remember it being as bad as the 3.7/10 total user rating currently shown on the film's page.
Which isn't too surprising given that lots of people today are hypercritical of things or films that aren't "by the book", as I definitely remember this one being a little unique from the Shakespeare play this movie is based on.In terms of an animated movie altogether for all audiences and not just kids, it's not excellent or probably not very good either, as I remember some things were too childish to my taste.
But nevertheless, after looking at some clips of it again now, there were a few scenes that are interesting to say the least.
Particularly, the wedding scene between the young Romeo and Juliet seal couple with the otter Friar, as the way this entire part was done (including the organ music) is the one I had remembered the most from this film..
Romeo and Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss (DO YOU SEE WHAT THEY DID THERE?
IT'S ABOUT SEALS!) is possibly the laziest excuse for a film I've ever seen.
One of the characters, a talking fish, is played by the director's daughter, for instance.
She gets to sing a solo of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
This should give you some idea of the sheer skill and respect for the craft that went into this.First of all, an interpretation of Romeo and Juliet where no-one dies feels...
Doubly so if that happy ending involves Mercutio surfboarding in taking racist jokes with the punchlines replaced by the word "Capulet".Also, there is a dance scene on the Titanic.
I don't know why these awful children's films feel the need to use the deaths of thousands for cheap laughs, but it's a trend that is apparently spreading.And when it's all said and done, the Shakespeare content is pretty weak.
The family rivalry is replaced by lazy racism, characters are cut or merged to the point of nonsense (we want Tybalt!), the ending is changed, all the scenes describing their courtship are cut and replaced with badly sung musical numbers, and yet Mercutio feels the need to constantly quote other Shakespeare plays!
And use words like "thou" and "wherefore" wrongly, which isn't very educational at all.All in all: hilarious for adults who know Shakespeare and are drunk.
If I could describe Romeo & Juliet: Sealed With A Kiss in one word, it would be "OK." It's debatable whether OK is a word but that's beside the point.
I came into Sealed With A Kiss expecting it to be pretty bad, but was surprised to find that it was better than I thought it would be, not great or even particularly good but not horrible either.
Don't come in expecting Romeo And Juliet because this is more a light introduction for the 3-6 crowd.
that all the characters are seals (aside from Friar Lawrence, who is an otter for some unexplained reason), there's a somewhat happier ending and some characters are either combined or eliminated entirely.
Paris and the Prince are combined into the seal prince and Tybalt and the Nurse are nowhere to be found.
Anyway, not as bad I as was expecting but still something of a mixed bag.
One the one hand; the animation is quite nice (especially considering it was done by only one person), there were some good character designs, most of the characters were likable enough, and the Kissy Fish was cute, although I wasn't a fan of the voice.
As for the bad points; while most of the character designs were good but the Prince looked oddly phallic and while I like the Kissy Fish's design, her voice I found irritating.
Also, I would have Tybalt and the Nurse to be at least mentioned, but at least it's not missing nearly as many characters as The Black Cauldron.
Overall, I thought it was just OK; not all that good but not as bad as either people say or I was expecting it to be..
Worst Romeo and Juliet ever.
Given that we have had three awful animated Titanic movies, it only fits that sooner or later we'd have a bad movie based on Shakespeare.
The thing is, the animation isn't really terrible and neither is the movie.
This movie reenacts "Romeo And Juliet" only with cartoon seals for really no reason at all.
As you might have guessed, there's a bunch of dumb kid's songs in it.
Of course they wouldn't actually die at the end, it's a kid's movie!
If "The Lion King" could be "Hamlet" with cartoon animals, this could have been good too.The worst thing is probably how annoying the characters are.
Even the extras are obnoxious in this particularly with how they won't shut up about how Romeo and Juliet can't get together.
There's also this super annoying little fish that fights a shark by getting other fish to slap it or something stupid like that.
I guess Romeo and Juliet aren't that annoying, but everyone else is.
There's this elephant seal that supposed to have bad breath, but he looks more like he's farting out his mouth.
The pacing is terrible and don't expect any faithful scenes from the play.
If you're expecting me to bash this movie into oblivion then you will be very disappointed because I don't hate this movie.
Here's a full list: Underdeveloped romance, flat characters, nonsensical plot points, a rap number (yes really,) bringing characters back from the dead, and rewriting an overdone story.
With that in mind, I should hate this movie but I don't!
As a kid, I absolutely adored this movie.
So when I watch this movie I get a bit of nostalgia for some of those scenes in the movie that sucked me in as a kid.
Another reason is the absolutely gorgeous hand drawn animation.
Yeah the designs are a little off but I like it.
I guess I like young love and even though it's underdeveloped, seeing 2 cute little seals in love is just adorable to me.
The ending is also pretty satisfying.
Speaking of the book, this movie followed the book as close as it could without killing off our adorable main leads.
Overall, this movie does get a little childish at times (and I do skip those scenes) but it's overall cute and sweet..
This movie was bad on its own.
But the fact that they took Shakespeare play and turned it into mush is unacceptable.Everything was different from the original Shakespeare script.
For starters, NOBODY died in this movie.
Not Romeo, not Juliet, not Mercutio, not Tybalt(who was not even in the film).
And Juliet is to marry the prince instead of Paris(who again, is not in this film) I know that its for kids but you are doing Shakespeare so all his plays have tragedy.
None of his films have happy endings.
This film might have been a bit better if it was a brand new film, but if you say you are going to follow Shakespeare, at least do not change the whole plot and have the guts to pin it on him..
This movie is absolutely atrocious!
The animation is lazy and the characters are poorly crafted at best.
No one dies, the singing is awful, the prince is rather rape-y, and the animation is sub-par, especially for 2006!
Go watch Gnomeo and Juliet if you want a quality adaptation of Shakespeare's work.
The Mercutio character is in incredibly poor taste and the thinly veiled racist undertones are uncalled for and rude.