“Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken,” which marks DreamWorks Animation’s first female-led feature, adds a new twist to the coming-of-age/monster transformation story (Pixar’s “Luca” and “Turning Red”). It turns the legendary sea monster into a clan of heroic female warriors that protect the Seven Seas as part of a mother-daughter conflict spanning three generations.
There’s the titular teen sea beast (Lana Condor), living as a human in the small town of Oceanside with her family, unaware that she’s secretly a giant kraken underwater; her overprotective mom (Toni Collette), who hides their secret identity; and her grandmamah (Jane Fonda), who proudly serves as the Warrior Queen of the Seven Seas.
Director Kirk DeMicco (“Vivo,” “The Croods”) joined the project when it was already in production. He was a fan of high school comedies (represented by Ruby awkwardly navigating her way through high school as a misfit) and was intrigued about animating kraken. “But the big thing really was that mother-daughter story and the three generations of women that really appealed to me,” he told IndieWire. “Focusing on Ruby and her mom, and her grandmother being a mentor trying to get her to embrace her powers.”
But there’s another dimension to this female-led story: Ruby’s friendship with Chelsea (Emmy winner Annie Murphy of “Schitt’s Creek”), the outgoing and popular new student who confides that she’s secretly a mermaid so they can explore their powers together.
“It’s really this girl caught between all of these strong women who have ideas how she should live her life,” DeMicco said. “I think that was the exciting part of this coming-of-age story about Ruby finding her own path. And it’s a very teenage moment, I think, when you feel alone in high school and you meet that [new BFF] and you just hope that it’s the right voice that’s leading you down the path.”
In terms of animation, the colorful kraken were inspired by a combination of octopi and the pioneering work of Max Fleischer (Betty Boop and Popeye). The bodies of the Gillmans were very elastic and specially rigged for fluid bend-and-stretch (overseen by head of animation Carlos Fernandez Puertolas). Ruby, as an awkward teen, stands out in her own twisty way, and then, as she practices being a giant kraken underwater, slowly develops confidence in the way she swims and asserts her superpowers with the help of her grandmother.
“It was fun to see sort of this rubber hose animation that could give you lots of opportunity,” said DeMicco. “It’s in the DNA of animation history, but it was organic to who they were as octopus characters and those kind of silhouettes, and the way we could shape them was really inspiring.
“And the one place I thought was really nice to watch is just how it tracks,” he continued. “Both in the opening sequence when you get to meet every single one of the characters just through their animation style, and then on the giant kraken side, where we’re watching them swim. In their element, they’re elegant and balletic, and the way their tentacles moved added some grace and beauty that we haven’t seen before.”
Production designer Pierre Olivier Vincent (the “How to Train Your Dragon” franchise) embraced a colorful, tubular, hand-crafted environment for the small town of Oceanside where the Gillmans live. “It was very much inspired by an octopus with this organic curviness,” DeMicco said. “It’s also a place where a girl that just happens to be blue might fit in. It’s a quirky, pushed world that feels relatable to us.”
The Gillman house has nostalgic reminders of their former underwater existence, with oceanic blues and other complementary colors, while Ruby’s bedroom is inside a tower shaped like a Martha’s Vineyard lighthouse.
Meanwhile, the opulent kraken castle of the family’s royal matriarch evokes a place of power. There are no straight lines, and it’s filled with glass and jade for refracting light. Both ancient and modern, it’s a home intended to be alluring to Ruby.
“We wanted to make that kingdom and the characters something that could be aspirational,” added DeMicco. “And also a world befitting of a royal queen like Jane Fonda’s grandmamah. Bringing that deep sea bioluminescence jellyfish sort of vibe to the krakens was a big win.”
