Review: The Last Whale Singer beautifully carries its tune

It seems like Viva Kids is in a very aquatic state of mind this year. Just a couple months after releasing odd-couple adventure The Pout-Pout Fish, the busy distributor now has The Last Whale Singer hitting the big screen. And while both movies star colorful casts of underwater creatures, they are thankfully very different movies, making this a coincidence rather than a redundancy.

I've had my eye on The Last Whale Singer for a while, as it's had quite a strong festival run over the past year or so, racking up awards and honors while gathering new fans at each stop. It won the Grand Jury Award for Best Animated Feature at the Blue Water Film Festival, took home the Club of Festivals Award which is chosen by an international jury of 36 children's festival directors, and the film's director Reza Memari took home Director of the Year at the Cartoon Tributes in Bordeaux. It'll also be playing at Annecy this year as part of the Annecy Presents selection, where it's eligible for the Audience Award. So yeah, this is one that's been very much on my radar.

I'm glad to say that the film was worth the wait. The Last Whale Singer has so much going for it: an impactful story, a wonderful cast of characters (including a few supporting players who all but steal the show), lots of great jokes, and some emotional and thematic heft to it. 

The film follows Vincent, a teenage humpback whale who finds himself in a difficult spot. His late father was a Whale Singer, meaning he had an ability to protect life in the ocean through song. We see this power illustrated early on, when the mystical tune manages to bring a dead and decaying coral reef back to vibrant, colorful life. With his parents gone, Vincent now carries the burden of that legacy. He wants to continue the tradition, but it isn't so simple as following in his father's wake: he has to find his own way, and his own song. Easier said than done.

And, unfortunately for Vincent, time is of the essence. The massive Leviathan, a squid-like creature with huge tentacles and toxic ink at its disposal, has awakened, and the ocean's best chance at survival is having a Whale Singer intervene. So, Vincent sets off with his remora nanny Walter and deaf karate-wielding orca Darya in the hopes of finding a solution, a journey that takes him to the deepest depths of the sea.

It's a great premise, and one that has a strong thematic backbone holding it all together. Vincent wishes he could do what his father did, but the pressure of living up to that legacy is almost unbearable. At one point, he lashes out at his friends for believing in him so much. It's a huge weight, one that he feels completely unable to shoulder. It's a relatable struggle, wanting to honor those who came before you while also struggling to navigate how to do so with your particular talents and abilities. 

The film does a great job of keeping this friction top-of-mind while also carving out a genuinely fun adventure. My favorite part of this movie is the supporting characters, who add so much color and laughter to the proceedings. Walter is hysterical, always quick to deploy a bon mot (often a rhyming one) to meet the situation before them, like "A frown is just a depressing smile." Beneath his frazzled comedy there is also a deep wisdom, and an unwavering loyalty to Vincent. Darya is also a hoot, and a great bit of deaf representation. She's clever, tough, and adventurous, and provides my favorite running gag in the movie. She understands the other characters via lip reading, and mistakenly reads "Leviathan" as "Leafy Ethan," the name she uses for their nemesis throughout the movie. I laughed every time!

(Also, quick shout-out to Izzy the sea cucumber, who poops a lot.)

I think any movie that's set in the ocean should probably have an environmental message baked in, and this one certainly does, while also managing now to feel didactic. Our heroes have to navigate a massive pile of human garbage in the middle of the ocean (ruled over by a walrus king, naturally), and even the iceberg that held the Leviathan captive for so many years melting and breaking open alludes to climate change. At the end of the credits, the filmmakers include a plea to help protect the oceans. Movies like this are great because, in the midst of all the entertainment, they teach young viewers that nature needs our help. 

If the film has a weakness, it's that its animation isn't particularly eye-catching. Most of the characters look borderline-realistic with just the right bit of cartoon-y flair to make them more expressive and fun to look at. I love how Walter's head fins are used like dog ears to emphasize his emotional state. There are some really lovely water and lighting effects, particularly when the characters break through the ocean's surface, but for the most part, this isn't a particularly visually striking movie.

But, it looks good enough, and when it's in service of such a resonant story with important themes at its core, that's easy enough to forgive. The way the film ties up its main conflict is really beautiful, and even brought a tear (or two) to my eye. As is the case in so many movies, perhaps the biggest takeaway here is that we're all in this together, and we ought to act like it. The world would be a better place if we did.