Viva Pictures has been churning out the animated features under their Viva Kids brand including Night at the Zoopocalypse, Charlie the Wonderdog and Pets on a Train. Their latest The Pout Pout Fish based on the New York bestselling book of the same name from Deborah Diesen. The feature features a great voice cast including Nick Offerman, Nina Oyama, Miranda Otto, Remy Hii, Jordin Sparks, and Amy Sedaris from directors Ricard Cussó and Rio Harrington. Could this animated feature do justice to the source material, or will it get lost at sea?

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The Pout Pout Fish follows the hilarious and heartwarming story of an unlikely duo, Mr. Fish and Pip, who embark on an epic undersea quest to find a legendary fish that could save their homes.

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It’s always tricky trying to bring these kinds of children’s books to life. A lot of times the stories are not long enough to fully adapt into a feature film, but there are so many books featuring the character that it could easily bring numerous elements to flesh out the story. Since I haven’t read any of them, I don’t know if that is the case here, but I can say that the film does succeed in bringing forth a fun and heartfelt story to life.

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The film will no doubt remind a lot of those that don’t have knowledge of the source material of the Finding Nemo/Finding Dory films in their ideal, but it’s still all its own. The story is simple and offers plenty of life lessons that I am sure the book brings forth as well about acceptance, love, loss and friendship. The cast is good with Nick Offerman being the perfect choice for the grumpy lead. The opposite tone of Mr. Fish and Pip, voiced by Nina Oyama, is the heart of the film and the reason it works at all.

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The animation is bright and vibrant with some fun character designs. It’s not