zsofikam If I could describe Romeo & Juliet: Sealed With A Kiss in one word, it would be "OK." It's debatable whether OK is a word but that's beside the point. I came into Sealed With A Kiss expecting it to be pretty bad, but was surprised to find that it was better than I thought it would be, not great or even particularly good but not horrible either. Don't come in expecting Romeo And Juliet because this is more a light introduction for the 3-6 crowd. Besides the fact that all the characters are seals (aside from Friar Lawrence, who is an otter for some unexplained reason), there's a somewhat happier ending and some characters are either combined or eliminated entirely. Paris and the Prince are combined into the seal prince and Tybalt and the Nurse are nowhere to be found. Anyway, not as bad I as was expecting but still something of a mixed bag. One the one hand; the animation is quite nice (especially considering it was done by only one person), there were some good character designs, most of the characters were likable enough, and the Kissy Fish was cute, although I wasn't a fan of the voice. As for the bad points; while most of the character designs were good but the Prince looked oddly phallic and while I like the Kissy Fish's design, her voice I found irritating. I also wasn't too keen on the songs and honestly thought that this could have just as easily been without them. Also, I would have Tybalt and the Nurse to be at least mentioned, but at least it's not missing nearly as many characters as The Black Cauldron. Overall, I thought it was just OK; not all that good but not as bad as either people say or I was expecting it to be.

brassduke seriously, the singing and voices are really annoying! what's the point on letting young children watch a film about two seals that fall in love and talk stuff, it is REALLY annoying, i just wish i forgot about this film forever, that and 'time bandits (1981)' there's also a fish that talks like a baby and a fat seal for an antagonist, why concern these things when nobody understands that awkward films aren't my number one! i hated it, IT'S THE WORST FILM EVER EXISTING ON THIS TURNING PLANET OF Africa, ASIA, AND FREAKIN' America!!!!!!!! as for the director, he doesn't care, all he cares is his arctic drama ideas that everyone hates, spread the word, kids: SEALS ARE BAD FILMMAKERS!!

schrodingers_duck Romeo and Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss (DO YOU SEE WHAT THEY DID THERE? IT'S ABOUT SEALS!) is possibly the laziest excuse for a film I've ever seen. There are maybe 5 surnames in the credits to this film - clearly the backers of this film called in every family favour they could. One of the characters, a talking fish, is played by the director's daughter, for instance. She sounds about 8. She gets to sing a solo of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. This should give you some idea of the sheer skill and respect for the craft that went into this.First of all, an interpretation of Romeo and Juliet where no-one dies feels... well, redundant. You can't really take one of the great tragedies and tack on a happy ending. Doubly so if that happy ending involves Mercutio surfboarding in taking racist jokes with the punchlines replaced by the word "Capulet".Also, there is a dance scene on the Titanic. I don't know why these awful children's films feel the need to use the deaths of thousands for cheap laughs, but it's a trend that is apparently spreading.And when it's all said and done, the Shakespeare content is pretty weak. The family rivalry is replaced by lazy racism, characters are cut or merged to the point of nonsense (we want Tybalt!), the ending is changed, all the scenes describing their courtship are cut and replaced with badly sung musical numbers, and yet Mercutio feels the need to constantly quote other Shakespeare plays! And use words like "thou" and "wherefore" wrongly, which isn't very educational at all.All in all: hilarious for adults who know Shakespeare and are drunk. Weak otherwise.

John Esche No, it isn't Disney, and it isn't even quite Shakespeare (the almost too clever but crafty subtitle "Sealed With A Kiss" tells us that), but as a throwback to one and a light introduction to the other, this very little (77 minute) film deserves to find an appreciative audience.The one-man, single cell "flat" animation is smoothly done and handsome. While the brown and yellow Romeo and Juliet seals (to distinguish between the Montague and Capulet herds) are closer to the look of Casper the Ghost and friends than the more detailed "flat" animation from the corporate giants at Disney, Pixar or Bluth, it is several steps ahead of the still popular (among the undemanding young) work associated with Rankin-Bass. The standard Nibbelink maintains is consistent and impressive. Even the Elephant Seal "Prince" who stands in for Shakespeare's Duke who threatens any who would disturb the streets of his Venice does not recall the visual sloppiness of the broad lines Ursula, the evil witch in Disney's LITTLE MERMAID was rendered in.The script might have tried a little harder (it omits more Shakespearian characters than it had to - where's the nurse? - and while it feels free to drop in "famous" Shakespearian quotes from other plays at any convenient turn for the amusement of the adult audience, it could have used a few more in the actual plot without turning off the younger set), but it is coherent and even in "smoothing out" the rough edges of one of Shakespeare's most famous tragedies for overly sensitive parents, it preserves the essence of most of Shakespeare's lessons (at least as interpreted these 400 years later).Charm is the key word here - it is a charming film, and a very nicely done one, even if it were from a major studio. From a one-man operation it's close to a miracle that any student of film or animation should put on their "must-discover" list. Even before the kids are ready for MONSTERS INC. or SHREK 1, 2 or 3, this ROMEO AND JULIET, Sealed With A Kiss would be a very good choice for a wise parent.