Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (Sony version)

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is a 2021 American animated teen action comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation, animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It was directed by Rich Moore, co-directed by Phil Johnston and Faryn Pearl (in her directorial debut), and written by Moore, Johnston, and Pamela Ribon. The film stars the voices of Anya Taylor-Joy, Jayma Mays, Annie Murphy (in her major motion picture debut), James Caan and Taraji P. Henson. The film follows a shy 15-year-old kraken girl named Ruby Gillman (Taylor-Joy) who is desperate to fit in at Oceanside High. When she breaks her mother's (Mays) rule by going into the ocean with any would-be friends, she discovers that she is a direct descendant of battle-hardened krakens who have protected the sea from evil mermaids for generations, and is also destined to inherit the throne from her grandmother (Henson).
The film was first pitched to Sony Pictures Animation in 2014. In April 2017, Michelle Murdocca came on board as producer for the film.[citation needed] It was announced in June 2019 as its original title Meet the Gillmans, with casting taking place to play the role and an expected release year of 2020. Moore came on board to direct, with Ribon signing on to write with Moore, Johnston, and production was expected to start in 2019. The majority of the voice cast members were announced in March 2021, alongside the film's current title. The film draws inspiration from Easy A (2010), Lady Bird (2017), and Booksmart (2019), as well as several John Hughes films. Henry Jackman composed the film's musical score, while British singer-songwriters Mimi Webb and Freya Ridings each performed an original song for the film.
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken had its world premiere at the 2021 Toronto Film International Film Festival on September 10, 2021, and was released by Sony Pictures Releasing in the United States on November 24. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the voice acting, animation and characters. The film was nominated for three awards at the 94th Academy Awards, winning Best Animated Feature, and received numerous other accolades, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature & the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film. Is the second time that Sony Pictures Animation won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature after Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018).
== Plot ==
In the seaside town of Oceanside, 16-year-old Ruby Gillman lives with her family, trying to fit in with humans despite being krakens. Her mother Agatha forbids her from going to prom because of its location being on a ship in the ocean. At Oceanside High School, Ruby initially refuses, but her friends Margot, Trevin, and Bliss convince her to ask out her crush Connor. Before she can ask, she accidentally knocks Connor into the water. Ruby jumps in and saves him, but Connor believes he was saved by the new girl Chelsea Van Der Zee who tries to befriend Ruby. Ruby notices bioluminescent suction cups on her fingers and hides in the library. She attempts to call Agatha, but decides against it. To her confusion and horror, she transforms into a giant kraken and accidentally destroys the library after being startled by the librarian.
Ruby panics after being spotted by Chelsea and runs to the lighthouse to hide. Agatha notices and chases her, reuniting with her brother Brill along the way, who had been sent to retrieve Ruby by her grandmother after she sensed the Pulse emitted by Ruby’s transformation. Finally catching up with her, Agatha calms the distressed Ruby down and she shrinks down to her normal size. At the house, Arthur, Ruby's father, and Sam, Ruby's little brother, discover Ruby's transformation. Agatha explains how Ruby’s earlier mishap triggered the transformation and that she also turns into a giant kraken.
Angered that Agatha withheld the truth from her, Ruby sneaks out to meet her grandmother, the Warrior Queen of the Seven Seas, with a reluctant Brill's help. Grandmamah reveals to Ruby that she is a princess and next in line to take the throne, to her shock. She also explains that outside the leviathans and the Umibōzu, the mermaids are actually the most malevolent creatures in the seas and how Nerissa found a powerful trident called The Trident of Oceanus to rule the ocean. Agatha, the greatest Kraken warrior, trapped them for all eternity. Ruby declines the throne, but is thankful to have finally learned the truth. On her way home, she is attacked and almost killed by an elderly sailor and Oceanside tour guide, Gordon Lighthouse. Chelsea, who reveals she is a mermaid, saves and helps Ruby escape, much to Gordon's disappointment.
Ruby tries to return to her normal life, but footage of her in her Kraken form becomes viral. She has a "Super Sea Girl Ditch Day" with Chelsea, who tells her that her mother, the mermaid Queen Nerissa, was supposedly killed trying to retrieve the Trident. She asks Ruby to get it to help unite the Krakens and Mermaids, so Ruby trains with Grandmamah to be powerful enough to get it.
On prom night, Ruby tells her mother about Chelsea, but Agatha, disappointed and outraged that Ruby made friends with a mermaid, forbids her from seeing her grandmother, leading to a frustrated Ruby running back to the ocean to grab the Trident for Chelsea while Agatha confronts Grandmamah, with the latter stating Nerissa never had a daughter and the former realizing Chelsea is not who she says she is. Ruby succeeds in retrieving it but is betrayed by Chelsea, who reveals that she is Nerissa and uses Ruby to help her reclaim the trident to exact her revenge on the Krakens. Nerissa sheds her disguise and traps Ruby before going to destroy Oceanside. Agatha and Grandmamah try to fight her off while Brill finds a demoralized and wounded Ruby. After he encourages her, she goes to the surface to stop Nerissa. Nerissa overpowers Grandmamah and Agatha but is confronted by Ruby, who engages her in a duel over the trident, revealing her secret to her friends and Connor.
Nerissa gains the upper hand, but Ruby disarms her, realizing that the Trident can be destroyed with enough power. Ruby attempts to reason with Nerissa to no avail, so she, Agatha and Grandmamah combine their laser eyes to destroy the trident, defeating Nerissa and shrinking her to her normal size, where Gordon cages her. Ruby reconciles with her mother, reunites with her friends, and asks Connor out to prom, which he accepts, while Agatha and Grandmamah also reconcile.
Sometime later, everyone returns to their normal lives. The Gillmans become more popular and successful than before. Ruby and Connor become a couple and she becomes the protector of Oceanside. Ruby then enters the sea upon being informed by Uncle Brill that a Devil Whale is heading towards the Kraken Kingdom.
== Production ==
=== Development ===
In 2014, producer Michelle Murdocca pitched at Sony Pictures Animation, after Wreck-It Ralph, for the story of a family of sea monsters living on land in plain sight
On April 8, 2019, Rich Moore revealed that he had left Walt Disney Animation Studios to join Sony Animation, where he would direct and produce original animated films for the studio, and ultimately produced the film Vivo. Titled Meet the Gillmans, the script drew from their shared memories of growing up in Oviedo, Florida as well as Moore’s personal experiences as a first generation Cuban American, The Gillman family are loosely based on Murdocca’s real life family, with Murdocca came on board to produce the film.
With Phil Johnston, who previously worked with Moore in Hotel Transylvania (2012), The Smurfs (2016), and Hotel Transylvania: Escape 2 Internet (2018), came on board as co-director and co-writer along with Farlyn Pearl being promoted as co-director. With assembled the crew, Scott Wills as production designer, editor Kent Beyda and Ally Garrett as editor and Micheal Ford as visual effects supervisor. First time art director Frederic William Stewart gave the film a unique look. Tom Bruno Jr. as Head of Layout, who had worked on this position on Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) and The Smurfs: A New Generation (2020).
Additional material for the film's screenplay was done by Baby Mama writer/director Michael McCullers, Meghan Malloy, and Neighbors from Hell creator Pam Brady, with Selena Gomez came on board to executive producer the film, who previously worked with Moore in Hotel Transylvania franchise as Mavis.
=== Characters ===
Character designers Timothy Lamb & Guillermo "Willie" Real designed hundreds of different design iterations of Ruby and her family, eventually leading to the final look modeled by Charles Ellison, with additional tweaks by modeler Hannah Kang, supervisor Megan Lea Walker, and surface artists, Andy Harbeck and Rachael Yang.
Additional characters were designed by Craig Kellman, Taylor Krahenbahl, Julien Le Rolland and many others.
=== Animation ===
Sony Pictures Imageworks animated the film, and Skywalker Sound was responsible for sound mixing and editing. One of the biggest challenges for the animation team was creating the massive Kraken character and simulating the water effects and destruction caused by the massive creature and the design of the hair for the film's villain Nerissa. The VFX department headed by Lawrence Lee created a Fluid Implicit Particle (FLIP) simulation which was used to simulate the character's interaction with the surrounding ocean. With an additional level set fillet generation technique was used to blend the ocean mesh with the water hair geometry. Two mixed-media sequences for the film were designed and animated by Richard Ramazinski like using an animation style called Katie-Vision in The Mitchells vs. The Machines.
A total of 892 people including 412 artists were involved in the production of the film.
=== Casting ===
In November 2020, Sony announced that Anya Taylor-Joy will play as Ruby Gillman.