Fishtales Family Movie Review and DVD Giveaway

The latest family movie from Lionsgate Home Entertainment is Fishtales. Released on Monday 11th July on Digital Download and from Monday 18th July on DVD. Main characters Ollie, Cleo and Puffer are animated against a backdrop of real underwater footage, and it's actually a lot better than that makes it sound. Think David Attenborough meets Bedknobs And Broomsticks and you get the idea.

When their best friend Ollie the octopus is chased by sharks, Cleo the angler fish and Puffer the pufferfish enlist the help of the fun-loving, worldly manta ray, Crash. Crash and Cleo especially know a lot about the undersea world, and explain everything they see as they go a journey of discovery and wonder exploring coral reefs, the open ocean and freshwater lakes in order to find their lost friend. The group encounter and learn about many fascinating creatures including jellyfish, moray eels and sea turtles.

My 7 year old has always loved natural history, and he really couldn't take his eyes away from the screen. He loved Fishtales for the information about all of the sea creatures and the underwater footage that's shown throughout. My 6 year old was more interested in the storyline of the fish attempting to find their friend.  I actually found it quite relaxing and fascinating to watch.

The animation is very obvious and doesn't attempt to blend in with the backdrop. A lot of the time we have close up shots of undersea creatures with no animation. The fish give a commentary in the same way as any natural history documentary fronted by a presenter, and it is really interesting. Pairing it with a 'buddy in trouble' story keeps a whole extra portion of the audience watching, and as such it's cleverly done.

A great video for calming down time and relaxing for everyone, although the storyline is a bit simplistic and won't challenge even younger viewers.

Fishtales is released on Digital Download on Monday 11th July and on DVD from Monday 18th July. Rated U and with a runtime of 95 minutes. Available from all good stockists in store or online priced around £9.99.

Lionsgate Home Entertainment have offered a copy of Fishtales for one of my readers. To enter the giveaway use the Gleam form below. If you are new to Gleam or want to see my other giveaways, please see my giveaways page. The giveaway will end at midnight Sunday 7th August, and is open to UK entrants only.

Fishtales Family Movie DVD Giveaway

We were sent our copy of Fishtales for review.