Big Fish & Begonia
Seen it?2016 | 101 min | Animation, Adventure, Fantasy
Saturday SpecialWhy it’s a Saturday Special
It earned strong reviews (91% on Rotten Tomatoes) and it made about 19 times its budget, despite little lasting buzz. A strong pick for the weekend.
Based on critics, audiences, awards, box office and buzz. Details below.Is it for you?
- Who'll love it
- Made for fantasy fans, adventure fans and animation lovers. If you loved Perfume: The Story of a Murderer or Pleasantville, start here. Critics rate it higher than audiences do, so it rewards patience more than it chases thrills.
- The mood
- Feel-good.
- The pace
- Moves along nicely, at 1 hr 41 min.
- What might put you off
- Rated PG-13. Probably too much for younger kids.
- It's in Chinese, so expect subtitles (or a dub).
- Audiences were cooler on it than critics.
Beyond the human realm, there is a magical race of beings who control the tides and the changing of the seasons. One of these beings, a young girl named Chun, seeks something more—she wants to experience the human world! At sixteen, she finally gets her chance and transforms into a dolphin in order to explore the world that has her fascinated. But she soon discovers that it's a dangerous place and nearly gets killed in a vortex. Luckily, her life is spared when a young boy sacrifices himself to save her. Moved by his kindness and courage, she uses magic to bring him back to life only to learn that this power comes at a serious price. On a new adventure, she’ll have to make her own sacrifices in order to protect his soul until it is ready to return to the human world.
How it earned its rating
- CriticsStrong
91% on Rotten Tomatoes, 72 on Metacritic
- AudiencesSolid
7.3 out of 10
- AwardsWeak
1 win and 1 nomination from smaller awards and festivals
- Box office & staying powerStrong
$85 million worldwide on a $5 million budget
- Buzz & cultural impactBelow par
About 40K people sought it out in the past year
Trailer
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Cast & crew
Directed by Liang Xuan, Zhang Chun
- Ji GuanlinChun (voice)
- Pan ShulanOld Chun (voice)
- Su ShangqingQiu (voice)
- Timmy XuKun (voice)
- King Shih-chiehLing Po (voice)
- Jiu'erKun's Sister (voice)
- Xang YuanyuanFeng (voice)
- Xue LifangChun's Father (voice)
- AjieZi Chisong (voice)
- Yang TingRat Woman (voice)