Mee - Shee : The Water Giant Mee - Shee : The Water Giant is an Anglo - German family film shot in New Zealand and released in 2005 . It stars Bruce Greenwood , Rena Owen , Tom Jackson and Daniel Magder . Jim Henson ' s Creature Shop supplied visual effects , including the title creature . The film is based on the Canadian myth of a water monster known as the Ogopogo . This folklore began with Aboriginal peoples in Canada , and while the film was in production , complaints from one Aboriginal chief about cultural appropriation caused the film and its titular monster to be renamed " " Mee - Shee " " . These complaints and the renaming drew media attention and generated controversy . In the United States and Canada , " Mee - Shee " was released directly to DVD and was never released theatrically . Plot . A United States oil company loses a drill , intended for work in the Arctic , while flying over a Canadian lake . Company employee Sean is contacted to go to Canada to find it . The catch is the he had to cancel plans to take his son to Walt Disney World . Disappointed , his son Mac , agrees to go with his father to Canada . Once in Canada , they meet a local Indian named Custer who helps Sean and another employee on their mission . Using an underwater submarine , they visit the lake , and after taking pictures of the bottom of the lake they discover incredibly deep giant rivets . The legend of Mee - Shee is that the rivets lead to the ocean . Sean and Mac rent the home of Mrs . Coogan , a kindly lady who Sean refers to as " Mary Poppins . " Mac , Sean and others see vague images of Mee - Shee that spark their curiosity . Upon meeting Custer ' s daughter Pawnee , Mac goes with her to a cave where local Indian woman " Crazy Norma " feeds Mee - Shee . This is where they first meet the unique creature . Mac runs back to the house to tell his dad , but Mrs . Coogan warns that Mee - Shee ' s life could be endangered if the outside world knew of it . Meanwhile , saboteurs Snead and Watkins , agents of a rival oil company who pose as Greenpeace representatives , destroy Sean ' s equipment and search for the drill themselves . Their first time under the water , they see Mee - Shee and shoot him with a harpoon . When Mac finds him again in the cave he removes the harpoon , and tells environmental ranger Laura about it . Events lead to a search for Mee - Shee and conflicts with the saboteurs . Production . Background . According to Canadian folklore , the Ogopogo is a creature that lives in Okanagan Lake in British Columbia . It has been compared to the Loch Ness Monster , another supposed water creature in Scotland , or with a plesiosaur . Aboriginal peoples have claimed that belief in the Ogopogo is a part of their culture , although they called it Niataka or N ' ha - aitk , and the name " Ogopogo " was invented by a board of trade in 1926 . The folklore has also been commercialized , inspired merchandise and drew tourism for the Okanagan . With this commercialization , one reporter found it natural that the Ogopogo would also inspire a film , saying that " Eventually movie makers were bound to sit up and take notice , and movie makers did . " Canadian scriptwriter Barry Authors wrote the screenplay for " Mee - Shee " after reading about the Ogopogo in a magazine . It was written in 1996 , and originally entitled " Loch " , a British word for " lake " . Authors resided in Britain at the time , but eventually opted for a more Canadian feel and renamed his work " Ogopogo . " Authors also wanted to portray his film as a " showcase for Canadian talent and storytelling " and " a cross between " Free Willy " and " E . T . " " Filming . The film version was directed by John Henderson , who had previously directed " Loch Ness " ( 1996 ) about the similar Scottish folklore . They first made plans to film the story on Okanagan Lake , the supposed domain of the Ogopogo , but had troubles with the scenery and relocated to Lake Winnipeg . Whoopi Goldberg was to play a Native Canadian , which would require make - up since Goldberg is African - American . However , due to concerns that Lake Manitoba might experience a winter , the project was moved to New Zealand . Goldberg was unwilling to travel there , and was replaced by New Zealand actress Rena Owen . Authors ' son Jeff Authors , who had worked on the " White Fang " television show , had suggested New Zealand , saying " New Zealand can double for Canada . Not only is it beautiful , but it looks just like Canada in all the remote spots you want , and you ' ll probably find a more remote lake there . " The creature itself was both CGI and a puppet made by Jim Henson ' s Creature Shop and modeled after the late US actor Walter Matthau . The film cost $ 40 million . The filming in New Zealand took place on Lake Wakatipu at Queenstown in 2002 . Authors remarked it was nice to work in New Zealand because " The crews were very , very keen to do anything that was required . . . New Zealand had just done " Lord of the Rings " , and they had a taste of major motion pictures " . Other filming was done in England with a water tank , and the CGI work was carried out in England in 2003 and 2004 . Naming controversy . According to Barry Authors , most Canadian Aboriginal leaders supported using the name " Ogopogo " in the film . However , one Aboriginal complained that the legend was too holy , so Authors renamed the creature " Mee - Shee . " The Aboriginal who did not want the name " Ogopogo " used was Stewart Phillip , a Penticton chief . Phillip asked that the names " Ogopogo " and " Okanagan " not be used because " It ' s an international concern among indigenous people about the exploitation of spiritual entities and being and whatnot for commercial purposes . This is not an isolated incident . " The Māori people , natives in New Zealand who owned the land on which the filming was taking place , supported Phillip . Phillip ' s requests attracted some media attention and generated debate . One newspaper writer accused Phillip of " xenophobia " threatening " free speech . " This writer suggested that Aboriginal cultures can be " respected " , but others can still appropriate the cultures because " Nobody owns a culture . " The famous Canadian writer W . P . Kinsella weighed in on the issue , criticizing the name change by saying , " Filmmakers can tell any story they want any time they want , and they don ' t need permission from these troublemakers . . . Make the movie . Fuck them all . " A Canadian scientist , Ed Bousfield , even objected to Aboriginal claims to the Ogopogo because he felt the Ogopogo was real . ( At the same time , Bousfield attacked non - believers , accusing his " ivory tower colleagues " of " the worst kind of scientific elitism . " ) Conversely , " The Vancouver Sun " suggested that " Obviously , we ' re best off when native people tell native stories . Witness " Atanarjuat : The Fast Runner " , the debut film of Inuit film " . Meanwhile , the Ogopogo " joins Santa Claus and Christ as cultural icons that have been so celebrated and abused it ' s hard to view them as any particular group ' s property " . Thus , this newspaper suggested that Barry Authors should be pleased that with this incident , he " raised awareness of the Ogopogo ' s cultural importance to native people " while the film itself would be " a trifling confection of no particular consequence . " Writer Randy Boswell connected this debate with similar controversies over appropriation that had been going on for over ten years , and also noted Aboriginals had been previously upset with a contest to catch or photograph the Ogopogo in 2001 . Release . " Mee - Shee " premiered in London on June 28 , 2005 . In the Czech Republic it was released on July 14 and in May 2006 it reached the Philippines and Russia . In New York City in 2006 , the film was played at the Tribeca Film Festival . While the film was released in some theatres around the world , in Canada it was only released on DVD in July 2006 . Authors wanted the film to run in theatres , but remarked that " We got caught up in an unfortunate series of events that ' s very upsetting " . He also said the German producers were responsible for the film not playing in theatres . Later , in October 2006 , the film ran in the Fantasy Worldwide Film Festival in Toronto , with one journalist calling it " a family - oriented feature about a giant whale . " Reception . In 2002 , " Maclean ' s " discussed the film and described the Ogopogo creature / legend as a success since it was " ready for a $ 32 - million movie close - up . " The blurb also read , " Move over , Nessie " , referring to the Loch Ness Monster . Ultimately , " Maclean ' s " critic Brian D . Johnson called " Mee - Shee " a " good yarn " and complimented the acting and setting . However , he claimed that some of the special effects looked " pretty cartoonish " . Johnson and a few other Canadian critics also pointed out the irony in the fact that British Columbia has been used in films to portray other places , but this time another place was portraying British Columbia .