''Back to the Sea'' () is an 2012 3D traditional animated

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

written and directed by Thom Lu. It was released on January 27, 2012, in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and November 16, 2012, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Plot

Kevin the flying fish and his family and friends live a happy and carefree life in the depths of the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. But Kevin has a cherished dream - to get to

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

, to the flying fish kingdom. His thirst for adventures leads him to the Rock of Fame, where a family treasure - a huge pearl, is hidden. Kevin gets captured by fishers and then finds himself in an aquarium of a popular Chinese restaurant. It seems that his fate is decided, but suddenly a small boy comes to the aid of Kevin.

Voice cast

Yuri Lowenthal Yuri Lowenthal (born March 5, 1971)Birthday references: * * * is an American voice actor, producer and screenwriter known chiefly for his work in cartoons, anime and video games. Some of his prominent roles in animations and anime include S ...

as Kevin, a blue and orange

flying fish The Exocoetidae are a family of marine fish in the order Beloniformes class Actinopterygii, known colloquially as flying fish or flying cod. About 64 species are grouped in seven to nine genera. While they cannot fly in the same way a bird do ...

, the main protagonist *

Kath Soucie Kath or KATH may refer to: * Kath (city), the historical capital of Khwarezm * Kath (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * KATH-TV, the NBC TV station in Juneau, Alaska * KATH (AM) KATH (910 kHz) is an ...

as Shaobao, a young

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...

boy who wants to free Kevin from the aquarium *

Tom Kenny Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for voicing the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media. Kenny has voiced many other characters, including Heffer Wolfe in ''R ...

as Ben, a green

surgeonfish Acanthuridae are the family of surgeonfishes, tangs, and unicornfishes. The family includes about 86 extant species of marine fish living in tropical seas, usually around coral reefs. Many of the species are brightly colored and popular in ...

Mark Hamill Mark Richard Hamill (; born September 25, 1951) is an American actor and writer. He is known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the ''Star Wars'' film series, beginning with the original 1977 film and subsequently winning three Saturn Awards f ...

as Bunker an

octopus An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...

sushiman *

Matthew Yang King Matthew Yang King is an American television, film, stage and voice actor. He is known for recurring role appearances on '' Riverdale'', '' Powers'', '' 24'', ''Strong Medicine'', and ''Numbers''. He created the webseries ''World of Steam'' and has ...

as Dabao, Shaobao's father *

Tim Curry Timothy James Curry (born 19 April 1946) is an English actor and singer. He rose to prominence for his portrayal of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the film ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975), reprising the role he had originated in the 1973 London ...

as Eric, a flying fish who are Kevin's father *

Christian Slater Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut with a leading role in ''The Legend of Billie Jean'' (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakthrough role as Jason "J.D." D ...

as Jack, a villanious

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

who is responsible for transporting stolen goods *

Tara Strong Tara Lyn Strong (née Charendoff; born February 12, 1973) is a Canadian-American actress. She is known for her voice work in animation, websites, and video games. Strong's voice roles include animated series such as ''The New Batman Adventures ...

as Sammy, a female yellow and black canary rockfish *

James Sie James Sie is an American actor and author. He was the voice of an animated Jackie Chan and several other characters in ''Jackie Chan Adventures'', Master Monkey in '' Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness'', taking over for Chan, and Eddy Raja ...

as Cook Liu, a man who works as a

Chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

in the Chinese restaurant *

Sam Riegel Samuel Brent Oscar Riegel, sometimes credited as Jack Lingo, is an American voice actor, director, and writer. He is a regular cast member of the web series ''Critical Role'', in which he and other fellow voice actors play ''Dungeons & Dragons' ...

as Short

Seagull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, m ...

Fred Tatasciore Fred Tatasciore (; ) is an American voice actor who has provided voices in animated and live-action films, television shows, and video games. He is known for voicing the Hulk and Beast (comics), Beast in various Marvel media and Solomon Grundy ( ...

as Fat Seagull *

Ali Hillis Ali Hillis (born December 29, 1978) is an American actress who has appeared in television and film, and voices a number of characters in video games. She may be best known for her video game work as Dr. Liara T'Soni in the ''Mass Effect'' trilogy ...

as Teaching Fish, an orange, yellow and black angelfish who acts as a teacher in the aquarium *

Chris Edgerly Chris Edgerly (born August 6, 1969) is an American voice actor, comedian and singer. Life and career Edgerly provided the voice of Peter Potamus on the Adult Swim animated series, ''Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'', in addition to several g ...

as Clean Fish, a French-accented

remora The remora (), sometimes called suckerfish, is any of a family (Echeneidae) of ray-finned fish in the order Carangiformes. Depending on species, they grow to long. Their distinctive first dorsal fins take the form of a modified oval, sucker-li ...

John DiMaggio John William DiMaggio (; born September 4, 1968) is an American actor. His various voice roles include Bender on ''Futurama'', Jake the Dog on ''Adventure Time'', Marcus Fenix in the '' Gears of War'' series, Dr. Drakken on '' Kim Possible'', ...

as Boss *

Annie Mumolo Anne Marie Mumolo (born July 10, 1973) is an American actress, screenwriter, comedian, and producer, best known for co-writing the 2011 film ''Bridesmaids'' with Kristen Wiig, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award and a BAFTA for Bes ...

as Danny *

Nolan North Nolan North (born October 31, 1970) is an American actor best known for his voice acting roles. After his breakthrough role as Dr. Chris Ramsey on the ABC soap opera ''Port Charles'' in 1997, North moved into voice acting when the show ended i ...

as Farley, a flying fish *

Kate Higgins Catherine Davis Higgins is an American voice actress, singer and jazz piano, jazz pianist. Career Music career Higgins earned a degree in music from Auburn University in 1991. She is a trained pianist who studied with the jazz artist Bob Richard ...

as Little Fish *

Ogie Banks Ogie Banks (born June 13, 1973) is an American voice actor. He is best known for his roles as Clawd Wolf in '' Monster High'', and Luke Cage and Miles Morales in ''Ultimate Spider-Man''. He also voices Dylan in the ''Bratz'' franchise and Omoi i ...

as Richard, a teal-colored

mackerel Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment. ...

Gwendoline Yeo Gwendoline See-Hian Yeo (; born 10 July 1977) is a Singaporean actress, musician and writer best known for her roles as Dr. Kelly Lee on '' General Hospital'', Xiao-Mei on '' Desperate Housewives'' and Sun Fu in ''Broken Trail''. She is also kno ...

as Waitress *

Hynden Walch Hynden Walch is an American actress. She is best known for voicing Starfire in the ''Teen Titans'' franchise and Princess Bubblegum in ''Adventure Time''. She also voiced Penny Sanchez in '' ChalkZone'', Amore and Lockette in the Nickelodeon ve ...

as Tiny Fish *Justin Cowden as Marvin a

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

* Andrew Dolan as Pat Down Cop

Release

This film was released in theaters in Canada in 3D and regular "2D" formats on January 27, 2012. It got a limited release in the United States on November 16, 2012, distributed by Viva Pictures and then in China by Yinrun Pictures on December 30, 2012.

Reception

The film received negative reviews. Barbara Shulgasser-Parker from

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

rated two stars out of five, saying "Bland fish tale is a Finding Nemo wannabe."

Music

The film's score is composed by Gordon McGhie. This film features the popular song ''

What a Wonderful World "What a Wonderful World" is a song written by Bob Thiele (as "George Douglas") and George David Weiss. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong and released in 1967 as a single. It topped the pop chart in the United Kingdom, but performed poor ...

'' from

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

References

External links

* *{{IMDb title, 2190193
Back to the Sea
on Behind the Voice Actors 2012 films Chinese-language films 2010s American animated films 2012 animated films Animated adventure films Animated buddy films American animated comedy films Animated films about fish 2010s children's adventure films 2010s children's animated films 2010s children's comedy films Chinese children's films Fictional fish Films about animal rights Animated films set in New York City 2012 comedy films 2010s English-language films Chinese animated comedy films