What typically comes to mind when you hear the word “Kraken”? Odds are, if you’re at least somewhat familiar with the sea beast of legend, some pretty scary visuals come to mind. Examples from movies in particular that ring to mind include the time Zeus (Laurence Olivier) ordered the monster’s release onto the Greek world in Clash of the Titans (1981), not to mention the time that Davy Jones used the tentacled creature to drag his enemies to the ocean depths in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006). With such a rich history in folklore and mythology, it’s no wonder that the Kraken has become an iconic antagonist in various stories. There certainly aren’t that many friendly Kraken in movies and television, and there are even fewer that end up as main characters, but it appears that is set to change thanks to an animation studio well-known for flipping classic tropes on their head. That studio, of course, is Dreamworks, and they’re set to deliver a different take on the Kraken with their next feature film, Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023).
