2023 animated film directed by Kirk DeMicco

***Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken*** is a 2023 American computer-animated action-comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. It was directed by Kirk DeMicco, co-directed by Faryn Pearl, and written by Pam Brady and the writing team of Brian C. Brown and Elliott DiGuiseppi. The film stars the voices of Lana Condor, Toni Collette, Annie Murphy, Colman Domingo, and Jane Fonda, with Sam Richardson, Liza Koshy, Will Forte, Jaboukie Young-White, Blue Chapman, Ramona Young, and Eduardo Franco being featured in the supporting roles. The film follows a shy but kind 15-year-old girl named Ruby Gillman (Condor) who is desperate to fit in at Oceanside High, but when she went into the ocean by breaking her mother's (Collette) rule with any would-be friends, she discovers that she is a direct descendant of battle-hardened krakens who have protected the land and sea from evil mermaids for generations, and is also destined to inherit the throne from her commanding grandmother, the Warrior Queen of the Seven Seas (Fonda).

The film was first pitched to DreamWorks Animation by Brown and DiGuiseppi, and had been in the works for several years. It was announced in June 2021 as its original title *Meet the Gillmans*, with casting taking place to play the role and an expected release year of 2022. Paul Tibbitt came on board to direct, with Brady signing on to write with Brown and DiGuiseppi, and production was expected to start in 2022. The majority of the voice cast members were announced in March 2023, along with DeMicco replacing Tibbitt as director, as well as the official title. The film draws inspiration from *Easy A* (2010), *Lady Bird* (2017), and *Booksmart* (2019), and the different John Hughes films. The musical score was composed by Stephanie Economou, in addition to two original songs performed by British singer-songwriters Mimi Webb and Freya Ridings.

*Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken* had its world premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 15, 2023, and was released in the United States on June 30, by Universal Pictures. The film has received mixed reviews from critics, with praise towards the acting and animation but criticism towards the film's story. It was a box-office bomb, grossing $42 million against its $70 million budget, becoming the lowest grossing DreamWorks film, with projections of as much as an $80 million loss for Universal.

Plot
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In the seaside town of Oceanside, fifteen-year-old Ruby Gillman lives with her family who are 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 originally decides not to go, but her friends Margot, Trevin, and Bliss convince her to ask out her crush, Connor. Before she can ask, Connor falls into the water because of a mishap. Ruby jumps in and saves him. Instead he believes he was saved by the new girl, Chelsea Van Der Zee, who tries to befriend Ruby. When Ruby goes to hide in the library after seeing suction cups on her fingers, she transforms into a monstrous giant kraken as a result of her touching sea water, accidentally destroying the library in the process of her transformation after being startled by the librarian. Chelsea stares in awe at Ruby's kraken form while Ruby runs to the lighthouse. Agatha finds out and chases her, reuniting with her brother Brill along the way. Agatha calms a distressed Ruby down and she shrinks down to her normal size. Back at the house, Arthur, Ruby's father, and Sam, Ruby’s little brother, find out about Ruby's transformation. Agatha tells Ruby that she also turns into a giant kraken. 

Angered that Agatha never told her about what she was capable of, Ruby runs away to meet Grandmamah, the Warrior Queen of the Seven Seas, along with Brill's help. Grandmamah tells Ruby that she is a princess and next in line to take the throne. She also tells Ruby that mermaids are actually the most evil creatures in the seas and that they found a powerful trident called The Trident of Oceanus to defeat some of the krakens, and how her mother trapped them for all eternity. Ruby declines the throne but is thankful to have finally met her grandmother. But on her way home, she is trapped by elderly sailor and Oceanside's tour guide Gordon Lighthouse, who almost kills her. However, Chelsea reveals herself to be a mermaid, saves Ruby, and helps her escape, much to Gordon’s disappointment.

The next day, Ruby tries to return to her normal life, but footage of her in her Kraken form becomes viral. She ditches school with Chelsea, who tells her that her mother, the malevolent mermaid Queen Nerissa, was supposedly killed trying to get the Trident back. She asks Ruby to get it to help unite the Kraken and Mermaids, so Ruby trains with her grandmother to be powerful enough to get it. On prom night, Ruby goes to tell her mother about Chelsea. However, disappointed and outraged that Ruby made friends with a mermaid, Agatha forbids her from seeing her grandmother, leading to a frustrated Ruby running back to the ocean to grab the trident for Chelsea while Agatha goes to have a word with Grandmamah. However, when Ruby succeeds in retrieving it, Chelsea reveals that she is actually Nerissa and that she escaped her imprisonment to manipulate a Kraken into helping her claim the trident in order to exact her revenge on the Kraken Kingdom. As she shapeshifts into her true form, she betrays and traps Ruby before going to destroy Oceanside. Agatha and Grandmamah try to fight her off while Brill finds a demoralised and wounded Ruby. After he gives her some words of encouragement, 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, realising that the trident can be destroyed with enough power. Ruby attempts to reason with Nerissa to no avail, so she, Agatha, and Grandmamah use their laser eyes to destroy the trident together, defeating Nerissa and shrinking her down to her normal size, where she is captured by Gordon. Ruby reconciles with her mother, reunites with her friends and asks Connor out to prom, to which he accepts. Some time later, everyone goes back to their normal lives, with Ruby and Connor becoming a couple as she becomes the protector of Oceanside.

Voice cast
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* Lana Condor as Ruby Gillman, a teenage kraken girl desperate to fit in during her freshman year at Oceanside High. She is described by the film's producer Kelly Cooney as "a really normal teenager".
* Toni Collette as Agatha Gillman, Ruby's overprotective real estate agent mother.
* Annie Murphy as Queen Nerissa, the evil queen of the mermaids with a vendetta against the Gillman family who poses as Chelsea Van Der Zee, the snobbish, popular new girl at Oceanside High.
* Colman Domingo as Arthur Gillman, Ruby's supportive father.
* Jane Fonda as Grandmamah, the Warrior Queen of the Seven Seas, Ruby's maternal grandmother.
* Sam Richardson as Brill, Ruby's enthusiastic maternal uncle.
* Will Forte as Captain Gordon Lighthouse, a crazy old sailor in Oceanside who works as a tour guide.
* Jaboukie Young-White as Connor, Ruby's skater-boy crush.
* Liza Koshy as Margot, a dramatic girl and Ruby's best friend.
* Blue Chapman as Sam Gillman, a second-grade student and Ruby's energetic and loyal younger brother.
* Eduardo Franco as Trevin, a gamer and one of Ruby's friends.
* Ramona Young as Bliss, a goth girl and one of Ruby's friends.

Additionally, Echo Kellum and Nicole Byer respectively voice Doug and Janice. YouTubers Preston and Bri Arsement portray a home buyer and a tourist respectively. Film commentator Juju Green voices a gym teacher. Sound designer Randy Thom voices Nessie and a confetti cannon. Atticus Shaindlin voices Topher. Suzanne Buirgy voices Carol.

Assorted students are voiced by Sydney Bell, Ricardo Hurtado, Qalil Ishmail, Merk Nguyen, Caleb Pierce, and Tiffany Wu.

Production
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In June 2021, *TheGWW* reported that a film originally titled *Meet the Gillmans* was in production at DreamWorks Animation, with casting taking place and an expected release year of 2022. Former *SpongeBob SquarePants* showrunner Paul Tibbitt was announced as the director, with Pam Brady confirmed to write the film. Lana Condor, Laura Dern, and Michael Sheen 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 were set to serve as executive producers. Production was also expected to start in 2022.

On March 14, 2023, the cast and crew were announced via Universal Pictures Ireland's website. Along with Condor and Murphy's roles confirmed, other 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, while Kirk DeMicco (replacing Tibbitt), Faryn Pearl, and Kelly Cooney Cilella were revealed as the director, co-director, and producer, respectively. DreamWorks Animation also announced its official title as *Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken*. The cast, crew, and official title were publicly announced two days later. Following the release of the film's second trailer in May 2023, longtime DreamWorks director Mike Mitchell was revealed to have served as executive producer.

According to *Animation Magazine*, Cilella stated that the film has been in the works for several years. It was first pitched to DreamWorks about a family of sea monsters that were moved to the land and are hiding in plain sight. She stated: "Our heroine is such a lovable character and I’m so excited for audiences to meet her and fall in love with her the way we have because she starts the movie as a quirky, slightly insecure but bighearted character, but she’s harboring a secret that she can't tell her friends. But ultimately the Kraken is awakened inside her and there’s no hiding this. She learns that her destiny is so much more than being an average high school teenager, and she’s destined to be the next big protector of the seas. Her journey is self-discovery and embracing that side of her that had been dormant for so long, and for her to become a fully actualized character was such an exciting story for me to tell on such a grand scale." DeMicco stated that he cited John Hughes films, *Easy A* (2010), *Lady Bird* (2017) and *Booksmart* (2019) as his inspirations. Pierre-Olivier Vincent serves as the production designer, taking inspiration for the main character from the body of an octopus and bringing the "curviness to all the design language of the film", from the cars to the underwater world.

The film was dedicated to Nick Levenduski, a crowds artist of the film who died before the film was released.

### Music

Xem thêm thông tin: Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (soundtrack)
Stephanie Economou was confirmed to score the film by the first trailer's release on March 16, 2023. British singer-songwriter Mimi Webb performed the original song "This Moment", released on June 23 as a single, a week before the film's release. The soundtrack album was released on June 30, 2023, the same day as the theatrical release, in addition to the original song "Rise" performed by Freya Ridings, which plays during the end credits.

Release
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### Theatrical

*Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken* debuted at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 15, 2023, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 30. The film was screened early on June 19, 2023, at various Regal Cinemas theaters as part of the chain's "Monday Mystery Movie" promotion.

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

### Home media

*Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken* was released on Digital HD on July 18, 2023, 18 days after its theatrical release. It is scheduled to be released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 26, 2023.

As part of their 18-month deal with Netflix, the film will stream on Peacock for the first four months of the pay-TV window, then will move to Netflix for the next ten, and then will return to Peacock for the remaining four.

Reception
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### Box office

*Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken* grossed $15.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $26.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide gross of $42.4 million. It was the lowest-grossing film from DreamWorks Animation following *Spirit Untamed* (2021), which grossed $42.7 million during its theatrical run and was also a box-office disappointment, with projections of an $80 million loss for Universal Pictures.

In the United States and Canada, *Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken* was released alongside *Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny*, and was projected to gross $4–8 million from 3,400 theatres in its opening weekend. The film made $2.3 million on its first day, including $725,000 from Thursday night previews. The film debuted with $5.5 million, becoming DreamWorks Animation's lowest-grossing opening weekend of any of their feature films to date.
The film's sixth place finish also made it the studio's lowest-ranking three-day opening weekend, tying *Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas* from 2003. Several publications, including *TheWrap*, */Film*, and *Variety*, attributed the reasons for its low opening to the film's limited three-month marketing, the trailers, and competition from *Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse* and *Elemental*.

### Critical response

Trên trang web tổng hợp đánh giá Rotten Tomatoes, 65% trong số 92 bài phê bình được xác định là tích cực, với điểm trung bình là 5.8/10.  Nhìn chung các nhà bình luận đều đồng thuận ở nội dung: "*Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken* is littered with too much flotsam and jetsam from better animated features to stand as a true original, but its inherent sweetness and lively style make for likable enough family entertainment." Bản mẫu:MC film Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported 68% of filmgoers gave it a positive score.

Peter Debruge of *Variety* gave the film a positive review, writing, "*South Park* veteran Pam Brady, who shares screenwriting credit with Brian C. Brown and Elliott DiGuiseppi, brings all kinds of funny ideas to the film, which DeMicco does an admirable job of executing. But there's a simpler, more sincere movie underneath it all that seems to be taunting audiences, like a glowing shape from deep below. If you buy the notion that krakens shrink down to human scale — and that none-too-bright people might be daft enough not to spot them — then the high school scenes are charming. Ruby's a big nerd with a head for quadratic equations, and she's having trouble working up the nerve to ask her study buddy to prom (it's pretty clear he feels the same way about her). Not that overprotective Agatha would let her attend anyway."