Plot
In 1959, Sammy, a green sea turtle, hatches on a beach in Baja California and is attacked by a seagull. He manages to escape along with another hatchling sea turtle named Shelly, who was also attacked by another seagull. As Sammy is sleeping, the waves push the raft he is on into the water, carrying it away with him still on it.
The next morning, Sammy befriends a leatherback sea turtle named Ray, who also hatched the day before. Ten years later in 1969, the raft suddenly collapses, leaving Sammy and Ray without their home. Sammy, Ray, and hundreds of fish are caught in trawl nets and separated. Hours later, Sammy is thrown back into the sea unconscious but gets saved by a dolphin.
Sammy makes it to shore and, the next morning, finds himself in an enclosure, taken in by hippies led by a woman named Snow and a French cat named Fluffy. Eventually, Sammy shares the enclosure with a larger turtle named Vera and brings her into the enclosure, thinking that Sammy and Vera should mate. Some time later, Vera is released back into the sea and the unauthorized hippies are evicted from their beach by the police, leaving Sammy behind.
Sammy returns to the ocean, joined by Vera. On a food search, Sammy and Vera run into a female turtle who is being chased by a shark. Sammy and Vera rescue the female turtle, who turns out to be Shelly. Sammy asks Shelly to travel the world with him, stating that he has learned of a secret passage and wants to find it.
Smmy notices a ship nearby heading toward a place in the distance. Sammy and Shelly follow the ship and they made it to what they assume is the secret passage. When the pair is about to get through it, they are separated after trying to pass through a lock.
While searching for Shelly, Sammy travels to Antarctica, where he encounters a whale and asks her for some help. However, the whale accidentally draws attention to a Green Warrior ship full of whalers with one of them fires a harpoon at her, only for the whale to dodge and the harpoon hits the refrigerator Sammy is on instead. Sammy, who is freezing in the water, is rescued by Green Warrior workers.
As he is being rehabilitated, Sammy reunites with Shelly, who is also being treated for frostbite. Soon after Sammy is released back into the ocean, he reunites with Ray and rescues her from being trapped in a container. Sammy and Shelly get married and leave to journey around the world.
In 2009, Sammy and Ray watch Sammy's hatchlings scramble across the street from their nest to get to the water. Sammy intervenes to help his youngest hatchling, who is struggling to get out of the nest, and watches him get to the ocean.
Reception
Sammy's Adventures received mixed reviews from critics and audiences. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 44% of 18 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.5/10. [4]
Sandie Angulo Chen of Common Sense Media rate the film three stars out of five, stating that the film's "noticeable improvement to Stassen's other historical drama Fly Me to the Moon ." She also notes that the story is "more accessible to kids," the characters are "better developed," and the messages aren't as "preachy." She said about the film is too similar to Pixar's Finding Nemo , but, in conclusion, "it may not be Pixar, but it's a surprisingly educational pick for younger kids with a curiosity about the sea." [5] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian rated the film two stars out of five, writing that the film comparison of Finding Nemo, "of which its visuals and script are a feeble copy, it looks underpowered and the voice-work is often a bit laboured." He also wrote that the film's message is "laudable" for "something earnest, lifeless and school-projectish about the whole affair." [3] Beth Cook of The Mancunion wrote of the film that the animation is "unparalleled." She criticised that the film's "lack of direction almost ruins what otherwise could plausibly be described as an 'emotional rollercoaster'," initially rapid pace of the film, and "annoyingly rushed" ending. She also notes that the message of the film is "irritatingly moral undertone." [6]
