Aussies Nina Oyama, Remi Hii, and Miranda Otto have joined international stars Nick Offerman, Amy Sedaris, and Jordin Sparks in the voice cast for Like A Photon Creative and MIMO Studios’ animated feature The Pout Pout Fish.
The adaptation of the best-selling picture book franchise tells the story of an unlikely duo: Mr. Fish (Offerman), a pouty recluse, and Pip (Oyama), a high-energy sea dragon.
When catastrophe strikes, they must embark on a daunting, undersea quest for a fabled mythical fish to grant their wish to save their homes. Racing against them is a precocious teenage cuttlefish called Benji (Hii), as these subaquatic misfits call upon all the strength, friendships, and wisdom they’ve gained on their journeys to try to save the places that mean most to them.
Cyma Zarghami and Madeira Ginley are producing for MIMO Studios, alongside Like a Photon Creative’s Kristen Souvlis and Nadine Bates. Ricard Cussó is directing with co-director Rio Harrington and Cosmic Dino Studios, known for Scarygirl, completing the animation.
Macmillan Publishers executive produced the film and provided finance with the assistance of Alceon Entertainment and Eclectik Vision and through Screen Queensland’s PDV incentive. Distributor Sola Media is handling sales for the film, which went into production at the start of this year and is expected to wrap in March.
Deborah Diesen’s The Pout-Pout Fish series, illustrated by Dan Hanna, spans over 40 titles and has sold over 10 million copies since its release in 2008. In addition to being a New York Times bestseller, The Pout-Pout Fish was named by TIME as one of the Ten Best Children’s Books of 2008 and received the Bank Street Award for Best Children’s Book of the Year.