In the town of Oceanside, Sixteen-year-old Ruby Gillman wakes up ready to ask her mom if she could attend her school prom–only for her mother to deny her permission. Ruby continues to convince her, but she won’t change her mind. The reason is because the prom will be held on a boat, and she doesn’t want Ruby near the water since the family are krakens in disguise.

At school, Ruby encounters her friends, Margot, Trevin, and Bliss. They convince her to ask her crush, Connor, to the prom. At first, she resists after what her mom said. But then she agrees to it.

She tries to but gets too nervous. She then ends up pushing him into the water by mistake. So, she dives down to save him. Something about her changes–she gets bigger and more kraken-like. But when she returns to the land after rescuing Connor, she doesn’t remember transforming.

Before she can tell everyone, this new girl, Chelsea, claims that she saved Connor. And everyone praises her.

But suddenly, Ruby doesn’t feel right. Her sight blurs and suction cups form on her. She runs away and hides inside a library. The librarian comes in and notices her–causing her to scream and run out.

Ruby’s mother finds out and tries to talk to her about her transformation. She also runs into her brother, Brill, which does not go well due to his stupidity.

Worried about being in trouble, Ruby flees and hides behind a lighthouse. Her mom finds her. Rather than give her a hard time, she calms her. Ruby learns the reason she turned into a giant kraken.

Her grandmother is queen of the waters near Oceanside. She was a giant kraken and her transformation powers passed down to her daughter and then Ruby.

Ruby relaxes and shrinks back to her normal size. Yet, she is annoyed that her mother hid this fact from her. This prompts her to meet her grandma and discuss this. She even sneaks out to see her with the help of her uncle, Brill.

Her grandmother, who wants to be called, “Grandmamah,” reveals to her that she is actually a princess. She also adds how there was once a battle between the krakens and the mermaids. The krakens view mermaids as threats.

A powerful mermaid, Narissa, once found a trident, especially the Trident of Oceanus, to rule the ocean. Grandmamah managed to trap the mermaids permanently.

Ruby is relieved to find out more about her power, although she does not want to take the throne. 

On her way home, however, she gets attacked by an old sailor, Gordon Lighthouse. Chelsea saves her. She turns out to be a mermaid and offers to help Ruby get the trident. This is to help krakens and mermaids become allies.

After struggling to retrieve the trident, Ruby decides on something that she didn’t want to do–that is to ask her mom for advice. Not surprisingly, her mother gives her a hard time about going in the ocean and seeing her grandma, and especially befriending a mermaid. This leaves Ruby annoyed. She returns to the water to resume her quest.

Meanwhile, her mom meets Grandmamah and puts her down for letting Ruby get involved with her. She also tells her about how she disapproves of Ruby becoming friends with a mermaid.

Ruby and Chelsea continue to look for the trident. Will they access it and bring peace to both the merfolk and krakens?

This movie kept my interest all the way through. The characters were fun and relatable, especially Ruby. All she wants to do is live a normal life like a typical teenage girl.

A major element is how the story is similar to that of Disney Pixar’s Turning Red. A girl who seems ordinary at first discovers that she has the power to transform into something extreme and is humiliated by it. Then her mother tells her that the skill was passed down to females time after time. But she hid it from her daughter.

Another aspect that stands out to me was how Chelsea looked a lot like Ariel from The Little Mermaid with her long red hair, pretty face, and greenish tail (although hers is more aquamarine). I actually think she was one of the most beautiful characters in this film, aside from Ruby.

Which brings me to my next point. I am not fond of the designs of the other characters and extras. They have big noses, which makes them less attractive to me. I know this is a cartoon. But I feel like large noses are too stereotypical and give me the impression that the creators were a bit lazy when it came to illustrating the characters and extras–although I’m sure they weren’t.

That being said, I did admire how Ruby’s dad looked like a lumberjack with a scaly beard and plump body. I find it fascinating since most movies and shows depict dads with short hair, clean shaven or with mustaches, and sometimes stereotypical, such as reading newspapers.

The film remains lighthearted, even through scenes with fighting. Of course, I won’t spoil anything, although don’t be surprised by some of the twists and turns that occur.

Unlike some other PG-rated movies in recent years, Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken contains no profanity, not even the mildest. So, I think it would be okay for young children. But I do think that teenagers will enjoy it more since they may relate a lot to the main character.

Nevertheless, I would recommend this movie to people of all ages. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.