Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken

***Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken*** (formerly known as *Meet the Gillmans*) is a 2023 American computer-animated coming-of-age fantasy comedy film directed by Kirk DeMicco, co-directed by Faryn Pearl, and written by Pam Brady. It is produced by DreamWorks Animation, being distributed by Universal Pictures. It stars Lana Condor as Ruby Gillman, a sixteen-year-old kraken who learns that she is in the next legendary line of sea krakens. The film also features an ensemble voice cast including Toni Collette, Annie Murphy, Sam Richardson, Liza Koshy, Will Forte, Colman Domingo, Jaboukie Young-White, Blue Chapman, Eduardo Franco, Ramona Young, Echo Kellum, Nicole Byer, and Jane Fonda.

*Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken* premiered at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 15, 2023, and was released theatrically in the United States on June 30 by Universal Pictures. The film has received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the visuals and voice acting but criticized the plot's unoriginality.

## Plot

The film starts with the voice of the Queen of Krakens saying that while humans have always tried to explore the mysteries of the underwater world, there are certain misconceptions that they have. For instance, krakens aren’t monstrous ship-destroyers, but mighty warriors.

In the town of Oceanside, Ruby Gillman is a young kraken living on the surface world with her parents Agatha and Arthur, plus little brother Sam and pet squid Nessie. Agatha is a real estate agent while Arthur runs an ASMR channel for people who like making ships in a bottle. Ruby’s best friends are Margot, Bliss and Trevin. They are all set to go to prom, which will be held on a boat, but because Agatha forbids Ruby from going near the water, she and her friends have missed out on many events. Ruby fails to convince Agatha to let her go to prom but still decides to take a chance to ask out her crush, Connor, whom she is tutoring in math. Ruby’s friends give her a confetti cannon to use as a promposal for Connor, but before she can use it, he says people should simply ask one another. He then sees the confetti cannon and takes it from Ruby, only to blast himself in the face with confetti that makes him slip on his skateboard over a railing and into the water. Ruby hesitantly attempts to jump in and save Connor, and when she jumps into the water, she begins glowing purple, and a pulse goes across the ocean. After some struggle, Ruby manages to pull Connor to the surface.

A crowd of onlookers surround Connor as they believe someone else saved him. The new girl in town, Chelsea Van Der Zee, starts to take credit for saving Connor. Just as Ruby tries to talk to him, her left hand starts glowing. Ruby runs to the library to try to call her mom, but she grows to a colossal size and destroys the library before running to hide. From a distance, Agatha sees her daughter’s gigantic form and rushes to help her. She runs into her brother Brill, who was sent by their mom, who happens to be the Queen, to find Ruby since they felt the pulse underwater. Agatha and Brill find Ruby hiding behind a lighthouse. Agatha explains to Ruby that this is normal for them and that she shouldn’t feel like a monster. Ruby shrinks back to her normal size before going back home, where Agatha tells Arthur what happened. Before Brill leaves, Ruby overhears him arguing with Agatha over keeping this a secret from Ruby.

Ruby follows Brill to the water, where he spills the beans on her grandmother. She follows him underwater and grows massive again before Brill takes her to the kraken kingdom to meet the Queen, who insists Ruby call her “Grandmamah”. She explains to Ruby the history of the krakens and how the mermaids are their archenemies due to a war from long ago. The mermaid Queen Narissa attempted to rule the ocean using the Trident of Oceanus, but Agatha fought back and banished the mermaids. However, instead of succeeding Grandmamah for the throne, Agatha chose to live on the surface world. When Grandmamah presents Ruby to the rest of the krakens as her successor, she panics and flees. As Ruby leaves, she falls into a trap laid out by crusty sailor Gordon Lighthouse, who is obsessed with catching a kraken after Ruby was spotted by onlookers earlier. Just before he attempts to blow her up, Chelsea frees Ruby, revealing herself as a mermaid. While Chelsea tries to befriend Ruby, she ends up fleeing back home.

At school, everybody is talking about the kraken sighting. Ruby finds Chelsea and tries to get help with blending in with others. They go back underwater together where Chelsea shows Ruby a series of currents where the Trident is being kept. Chelsea says she wants to help the mermaids, suggesting she is Narissa’s daughter and that she wants to make things right. She convinces Ruby that they can end the war between krakens and mermaids if they get the Trident back. Ruby tries to swim through the currents but keeps getting thrown back. She goes back to Grandmamah to learn how to utilize her abilities, such as swimming better and using laser eyes. While Ruby and Chelsea start to hang out more, Ruby begins neglecting her friends. Meanwhile, Gordon goes on the hunt for the kraken and asks for volunteers, so Arthur, Brill, and Sam join him and use Nessie to trick him into thinking he’s caught a kraken baby.

During an open house party that Agatha is throwing, Ruby tries to convince her that she and Chelsea are friends and that they can end the kraken/mermaid feud, but Agatha says Chelsea is dangerous. Ruby gets angered and grows huge again, destroying the house before going back to the ocean. Agatha follows and goes back to her mother, saying that Narissa’s daughter is manipulating Ruby, until Grandmamah says Narissa never had a daughter. They realize Ruby is in trouble. Ruby manages to swim through the currents and retrieve the Trident. When she presents it to Chelsea, the mermaid reveals her true colors by saying she was always Narissa and can now take her revenge on the krakens. She grows to gigantic and begins to terrorize the waters as the prom boat is passing up above. She also leave Ruby buried under rocks until Brill comes by to free her.

Grandmamah and Agatha rise to confront Narissa, while everyone on the prom boat witnesses the fight. As Narissa causes a giant wave, Ruby rises up to save her friends, revealing herself to them at last, but Margot, Bliss and Trevin think she looks cool. Ruby briefly fights Narissa before joining her mom and grandma to team up and destroy the Trident. Together, they fire their laser eyes at once to blow up the Trident, depowering Narissa and letting her get captured by Gordon. Ruby shrinks and joins the prom, apologizing to her friends for not telling them the truth, but they forgive her and think she’s more awesome, as do the rest of her classmates. She and Connor then start to dance.

The Gillmans become more successful and popular now that the town knows what they really are. Connor has joined Ruby’s friend group now that they appear to be dating. When Ruby finds out there is more trouble underwater, she wastes no time in jumping in and going full kraken.

## Voice cast

* Ruby Gillman: A shy sixteen-year-old teenage kraken who is desperate to fit in at Oceanside High. (voiced by Lana Condor)
* Agatha Gillman: Ruby and Sam's overprotective mother and Arthur's wife who works as a real estate agent and does not want her daughter to go to the sea with her would-be friends. (voiced by Toni Collette)
* Chelsea Van Der Zee/Queen Narissa: A snobbish Canadian-accented mermaid-turned-human who is the popular new girl at Oceanside High as well as the evil Queen of the mermaids. (voiced by Annie Murphy)
* Brill: Ruby and Sam's enthusiastic uncle and Agatha's brother. (voiced by Sam Richardson)
* Arthur Gillman: Ruby and Sam's supportive father and Agatha's husband. (voiced by Colman Domingo)
* Captain Gordon Lighthouse: A crusty old sailor in Oceanside who works as a tour guide while also being obsessed with catching a kraken. (voiced by Will Forte)
* Connor: Ruby's skater-boy crush, who only seems to admire her for her fractals. (voiced by Jaboukie Young-White)
* Margot: A dramatic girl and Ruby's best friend. (voiced by Liza Koshy)
* Sam Gillman: A second-grade student, and Ruby's annoying younger brother. (voiced by Blue Chapman)
* Grandmamah: The Warrior Queen of the Seven Seas who is Ruby and Sam's grandmother and Agatha and Brill's mother and ascends Ruby to her throne. (voiced by Jane Fonda)
* Trevin: A gamer and one of Ruby's friends. (voiced by Eduardo Franco)
* Bliss: A goth girl and one of Ruby's friends. (voiced by Ramona Young)

Additionally, Echo Kellum and Nicole Byer respectively voice Doug and Janice. YouTubers Preston and Bri Arsement, and film critic Juju Green voice a tourist, a home-buyer, and a gym teacher respectively.

## Production

### Development

*Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken* was first pitched to the studio DreamWorks Animation about a family of sea monsters that were moved to the land and are hiding in plain sight. According to Kirk DeMicco, he cited John Hughes films, *Easy A* (2010), *Ladybird* (2017) and *Booksmart* (2019) as his inspirations. In June 2021, *TheGWW* reported that *Meet the Gillmans* was in production at DreamWorks Animation, with casting taking place and an expected release year of 2022. Paul Tibbitt, the director of *The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water* (2015), was announced as the director. Pam Brady was confirmed to write the film. Lana Condor, Laura Dern, and Michael Sheen, among others were circled for the roles of Ruby, her mother, and father, respectively, while Annie Murphy was attached to play the role of Clarica. Chris Kuser and Christi Soper will serve as executive producers. Production was also expected to start in 2022. In December 2022, the film's title was revealed as *Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken*.

On March 16, 2023, Kirk DeMicco replaced Paul Tibbitt as director, and Faryn Pearl, and Kelly Cooney Cilella were revealed as the co-director, and producer respectively.

### Casting

On March 16, 2023, the cast and crew were publicly announced. Along with Condor and Murphy's roles confirmed, new cast members of the film include Toni Collette, Sam Richardson, Liza Koshy, Will Forte, Colman Domingo, Jaboukie Young-White, Blue Chapman, Eduardo Franco, Ramona Young, Echo Kellum, Nicole Byer, and Jane Fonda.

### Music

On March 16, 2023, following the release of the official trailer, Stephanie Economou was confirmed to score *Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken*.

## Release

In December 2022, Deputy Manager Director of Universal Pictures International Italy Massimo Proietti revealed that the film would be released in the summer of 2023. On March 16, 2023, following the release of the official trailer, it was revealed that *Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken* would be released on June 30, 2023, taking the original release date of Illumination's *Migration* (2023).

It will be available to stream on Peacock 45 days afterwards and on Netflix in late 2023.

## Gallery

### Character portraits

Kraken Ruby Gillman (voiced by Lana Condor)"Human" Ruby Gillman (voiced by Lana Condor)"Human" Chelsea (voiced by Annie Murphy)

### Videos

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken - Mermaid PSARUBY GILLMAN, TEENAGE KRAKEN - New TrailerRUBY GILLMAN, TEENAGE KRAKEN - Official Trailer
## Trivia

* This will be the first original film from the studio since *Abominable*.
* This is the ninth DreamWorks Animation film to have a female protagonist, after *Chicken Run*, *Monsters vs. Aliens*, *The Croods*, *Trolls*, *Abominable*, *Trolls World Tour*, *The Croods: A New Age*, and *Spirit Untamed*.
* The twenty-second DreamWorks Animation film to be produced in 2.39:1 aspect ratio, after *Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron*, *Kung Fu Panda*, *Monsters vs. Aliens*, *How to Train Your Dragon*, *Shrek Forever After*, *Megamind*, *Kung Fu Panda 2*, *Puss in Boots*, *The Croods*, *Turbo*, *How to Train Your Dragon 2*, *Kung Fu Panda 3*, *Trolls*, *The Boss Baby*, *How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World*, *Trolls World Tour*, *The Croods: A New Age*, *Spirit Untamed*, *The Boss Baby: Family Business*, *The Bad Guys*, and *Puss in Boots: The Last Wish*.
* This is DreamWorks Animation's seventh film to be released in June, after *Chicken Run*, *Kung Fu Panda*, *Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted*, *How to Train Your Dragon 2*, *Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie*, and *Spirit Untamed*.
* This is the tenth DreamWorks Animation film not to be composed by Harry Gregson-Williams, Hans Zimmer, John Powell, Rupert Gregson-Williams, Henry Jackman, Lorne Balfe, Steve Mazzaro, or Theodore Shapiro; the first nine being 2005's *Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit* (which was composed by Julian Nott), 2012's *Rise of the Guardians* (which was composed by Alexandre Desplat), 2013's *The Croods* (which was composed by Alan Silvestri), and 2014's *Mr. Peabody & Sherman* (which was composed by Danny Elfman), 2016's *Trolls* (which was composed by Christophe Beck), 2020's *The Croods: A New Age* (which was composed by Mark Mothersbaugh), 2021's *Spirit Untamed* (which was composed by Amie Doherty), and both 2022's *The Bad Guys* (which was composed by Daniel Pemberton) and *Puss in Boots: The Last Wish* (which was composed by Heitor Pereira).

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Stephanie Economou Scoring DreamWorks Animation's *Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken*
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 New DreamWorks Film ‘Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken’ Casts Lana Condor, Toni Collette, Jane Fonda, Colman Domingo, Annie Murphy & More
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023) Cast and Crew - Cast Photos and Info
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Trailer Premiere: Director Kirk DeMicco and Producer Kelly Cooney Cilella Give Us the Scoop on DreamWorks' *Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken*
5. ↑ EXCLUSIVE: Dreamworks Animation Sets 'Meet The Gillmans' For 2022
6. ↑ DreamWorks Eyeing Laura Dern & Lana Condor For 'Meet The Gillmans'
7. ↑ Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken aka Meet the Gillmans - MovieStock | HSX.com
8. ↑ Massimo Proietti: «Disruptive ideas are needed»
9. ↑ NBCUniversal’s New Theatrical Window Scheme To Bring Films To Peacock After As Few As 45 Days Of Release