Adapting the much beloved and best-selling picture book series The Pout-Pout Fish is no easy feat.

Staying core to the source material, the new Australian animated movie follows surly Mr Fish (Nick Offerman) as he goes on a journey with youthful and bombastic leafy sea dragon Pip (Nina Oyama) to have a wish granted by the mysterious Shimmer (Jordan Sparks).

The film is one of emotional self-discovery. It uses a classic narrative structure that introduces obstacles, a wide variety of side characters, and moments of doubt before arriving at an optimistic outcome for the whole reef.

Expanding this slim narrative into a feature-length animated film is an ambitious undertaking that reveals both the strengths and limitations of the film’s approach to storytelling, design and emotional landscape.

This production marks a significant outcome for Australian animation, with a theatrical release to over 2,000 cinemas in the United States.

The film is produced by woman-run Like a Photon Creative, the studio behind The Lost Tiger (2025), The Sloth Lane (2024) and

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