The Sea Beast

The robust family adventure “The Sea Beast,” appearing today on Netflix, is one of the biggest movie surprises of the year so far. Fun, smart, and sneakily ...

I wanted to tighten it up in a few places, and I do wish the world-building was a little stronger. “The Sea Beast” takes place in the middle of a great war between monsters and men, the latter funded by a King ( Jim Carter) and Queen (Doon Mackichan) who clearly don’t mind putting people in harm’s way but would never risk their own safety. Chris Williams (who co-directed “ Big Hero 6” and “Moana”) makes his confident solo debut with a script he co-wrote with Nell Benjamin that subverts classic seafaring adventure mythology.

Netflix's animated movie The Sea Beast draws equally from Disney designs and How to Train Your Dragon storytelling. Moana and Big Hero 6 co-director Chris ...

Captain Crow is an issue for the film: He isn’t interesting to look at, he isn’t much fun to be around, and he’s too human to function as a genuinely deranged villain. None of this is bad material for a children’s animated feature, and The Sea Beast offers several breaks from tedious recent trends in animation. Like The Prince of Egypt or Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas before it, The Sea Beast ditches talking animals and funny sidekicks, but it can’t fully shake off its Disney influences. After Maisie is introduced in her first brief scene, for example, she disappears from the movie for a stretch, slowing the film’s momentum. Jacob Holland (Karl Urban), the strapping sailor who becomes Maisie’s reluctant guardian when she stows away on his monster-hunting ship, isn’t a caricature of swashbuckling masculinity or a clever visual variation on a familiar theme. The most distinctive by default is Maisie Brumble (Zaris-Angel Hator), a young orphan who reads of heroic beast-hunters and dreams of joining them on the high seas.

This article discusses the ending of the Netflix film The Sea Beast (2022), which will contain spoilers. Netflix's latest animated family film, The Sea.

So to be able to meet her hero, understand her past, and break some barriers is all part of her growing up to live a great life. After going on this journey Maisie now understands who the king and queen truly are, and she plans to put a stop to monster hunting. Young Maisie came from a long line of hunters who died at the hands of the king and queen.

When Chris Williams pitched the concept for The Sea Beast to Netflix Animation, the streaming giant was sold on his creative vision.

“I would say it was really scary—and really exciting—in equal measure.” “You can look at that, and you know that makes sense,” Williams says. “I think I had a little George Miller on my shoulder saying ‘more, more, more!’” Jacob and the rest of the crew are tracking a giant, red sea monster, and there’s no time for babysitting. “I had a great experience there, I have great friends there, and I left on good terms. In the case of Jacob Holland and Maisie Brumble, the lead characters in the animated epic The Sea Beast, that means sailing into uncharted waters and facing unknown dangers.

Watch Deadline's video review of 'The Sea Beast,' Netflix's animated feature that is derivative but eye-catching fun for young audiences.

Crow, the stuff of legends who even has a book about him, is taken down to defeat, only to vow revenge and another chance, while Jacob is more the voice of reason. As the film opens, there is a massive battle between the crew of the ship The Inevitable, led by Captain Crow (Jared Harris) and his adopted son Jacob Holland (Karl Urban), who are tasked with a harrowing fight against the aforementioned beast. Director Chris Williams, who co-wrote the pic with Nell Benjamin, is right in his wheelhouse here, poached from his previous Disney hits Moana and Big Hero Six. This one combines elements from past successes — both live-action and animated — to become its own cinematic beast, as it were.

Chris Williams left Disney after 20 years to make a retro seafaring adventure that didn't have to lean on comedy.

For animation, we wanted to design a more stable, fast light measurement tool, and for the simulation team we wanted to better clarify the regions for them to take over.” “It had to be streamlined so that it made sense under water,” Williams added. This was called the Buoy System. “One of the first things we needed to figure out was how to float on the water without going back and forth with the effects team,” said Joshua Beveridge, head of animation. “Sony provided the believability and scale, and I told them not to be afraid of letting the effect take over the shot because that’s what makes it feel so big.” But I just wanted to disrupt myself and it was the idea that Netflix was a brand new [place] and could go in many directions.” “I wound up at Netflix because it was the antithesis of Disney,” Williams said.

Starring Karl Urban and Jared Harris, The Sea Beast feels like the beginning of a quality shift for Netflix Animation.

The Sea Beast might not become the gigantic animation success Netflix is hoping for, but it definitely looks like the tides are starting to change in their favor. As Maisie goes on this adventure with her heroes, she starts to see how the tales she’s read all these years might not be the whole truth, and that maybe these sea monsters aren’t actually monsters at all. Especially with Netflix canceling animation projects earlier this year, it seemed like the great Netflix animated original might never come to pass.

The scoop on 'Big Hero 6' director Chris Williams, his move to Netflix with 'The Sea Beast' and the animated film's timely messages.

These stories Maisie has pored over are “very powerful tools of propaganda” that present just one point of view about what has been happening out in the ocean. Partly inspired by old nautical maps that feature illustrations of sea monsters, “The Sea Beast” channels the spirit of the types of films that Willams loved most as a kid. In some ways, “The Sea Beast” was also an adventure into the unknown for Williams (beyond the fact that production took place during a pandemic). The Netflix film is the veteran filmmaker’s first feature outside of Walt Disney Animation, where he worked for 25 years. Williams describes Jacob as “the prototypical action hero” — he’s capable, courageous, respected by his fellow hunters and has a good heart. Maisie’s goal is to join the crew of a hunting ship in order to “live a great life” fighting these giant sea beasts, much like her parents did before they died. Maisie “is just a force of nature,” said “The Sea Beast” director Chris Williams during a recent phone call.

The Sea Beast urges audiences to always question received wisdom, counters the romanticised notion of death as an act of heroism, and reminds them that to ...

As most of the action is set in the high seas, Williams brings all his CG animation expertise to get the background details and textures to precision: be it how the water reacts in the presence of monsters, or how the ropes on a ship react to the wind. That giving the public an adversary overseas to villainize is a time-tested strategy to distract them from domestic failures. In a spectacular sequence of combat choreography, the Inevitable crew hang from the side of the ship to fire harpoons at a beast. For young Maisie Brumble (Hator), her hero is Crow’s right-hand and heir apparent Jacob Holland (Urban). There is one beast that still eludes the Inevitable: the Red Bluster, the White Whale to Crow’s vengeance-fueled Ahab. When Crow and crew embark on a fresh voyage to kill the sea beast, Maisie stows away on the ship. As befits a kid-friendly medium, the design for a lot of these beasts prize adorability over functionality. In an era dubbed the “Dark Times,” two ecosystems collide as beasts of all shapes and sizes are said to stalk the coast of a human kingdom.

The fight scene in The Sea Beast on Netflix is the best movie monster battle of the year.

When the crab escapes to the land, Red viscerally drags her giant horn through the side of a cliff. Sorry to Jurassic World: Dominion, but Netflix’s The Sea Beast—which began streaming yesterday—has the best monster battle scene of 2022. Directed by Chris Williams, The Sea Beast tells the tale of a legendary sea monster hunter named Jacob Holland (voiced by Karl Urban) who, much to his annoyance, ends up caring for a stowaway girl named Maisie (voiced by Zaris-Angel Hator). Maisie is an orphan of sea monster hunters, and she yearns for her own adventure.

The score to Netflix animated film The Sea Beast is now available to stream, as is the excellent film. You should give both a shot.

The Sea Beast is now streaming on Netflix and is a great family watch. Mancina had this to say about working on the film: "How grateful I am for the opportunity to have composed The Sea Beast's original score. Part of the film's charm is the score from composer Mark Mancina. He previously worked with the film's director, Chris Williams, on the Disney film Moana. Milan Records has put out the soundtrack as of this weekend, available on all streaming services.