Customer Reviews

The Incredible Mr. Limpet (Keepcase)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I hadn't seen this movie for years. One evening a couple of months ago my 6 year old daughter walked into my office and said "this movie is cracking me up!" Turns out my wife had rented it for her. My daughter wanted to know if we could buy it so we logged onto Amazon and made the purchase. I watched it with her a few days ago and fell in love with it all over again. It's a great movie!

Anyone who loves Don Knotts has to have this in there collection. I bought it as a gift and he loves it.

Certainly a Don Knotts classic, but where lurks "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken"? It has been a while since I have seen either film, but Mr. Chicken knocks the socks off of Mr. Limpet! And you don't have to watch seemingly endless stock footage of boats cruising through the Pacific. Just my opinions though.

Although this film may be "Stupid" to today's teens - that it doesn't have the emotional resonance of 'Monsters, Inc' nor the Shakespearean scope of 'Lion King', it is still Don Knott's 'CITIZEN KANE'.

The '64 movie might seem a bit creaky by today's standards; so much celluloid has passed under the bridge since then, but there's still something downright charming about the milquetoast bookkeeper who turns into a fish after falling off a Coney Island pier, then winds up becoming the Navy's secret weapon in the fight against German U-boats (which, if the movie is to be believed, were cruising the waters just off Long Island in 1941).

It's all a matter of perspective to compare. The movie seems so dated, so carefully cute. Still, there is much to love (or at least fondly admire) in these brisk 102 minutes. On this DVD, the colors are as bright as a load of laundry just run through a cycle of All-Tempa-Cheer. Even the live-action sequences in Henry's apartment at the Coney Island wharf on board the Navy ships have the vibrancy of a well-inked cartoon. The Incredible Mr. Limpet at times resembles a tankful of exotic tropical fish. The seams between animation and live-action aren't always perfect; it's less clunky than the Gene Kelly/Jerry Mouse dance duet in 'Anchors Aweigh' nineteen years earlier, and a far cry from Roger Rabbit's mind-boggling effects twenty-four years later, but the combination is believable enough for any kid's imagination circa 1969.

If Limpet IS Knott's Kane, where does that leave films like The 'Apple Dumpling Gang' or 'The Shakiest Gun in the West'?

-Of course it's all a matter of taste and discretion, but I'd say those are his Magnificent Ambersons and Touch of Evil.

I loved this movie growing up and I still to this day love it. It's great that it's on DVD now. I can't wait to get it. If you love Don Knotts this is a must have. There was talk about a remake a few years ago, but you can't improve on perfection.

I liked this movie, not because of it's plot,but because of Vladimir Tytla's artwork on it.

Frankly the movie [stinks], but the transfer and artwork are magnificent. I found Crusty to be the only character that was any fun. I can only recomend this disc for serious animation collectors only. If you want a fun movie, go somewhere else.

A cutesy film about a meek man (Don Knotts) who somehow "de-evolves" into a fish. The animation & live-action scenes work quite well. It may be enjoyable for kids and for those who remember it from the 60's and relish it for notaglia purposes.

Don Knotts plays a man who turns into a fish and then helps the U.S. navy in this goofy movie. Although it is unbelievable, it is clean and funny for the kids.

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Don Knotts plays a namby pamby, fish-loving, bookish bookkeeper in Brooklyn, married to a lively wife who doesn't relate to his habits. Unable to join the navy in anticipation of WWII, Knotts' character lands in the waters off Coney Island and turns into a fish, finally able to help the US war effort.

It's a cute blend of animation and film, carefully steered by a director who was involved in such efforts as "Mr. Ed" and the Francis (the mule!) movies. You'll recognize the blend of animation and film if you've been watching Disney movies with your kids (although this comes from the Warner Bros studios), and the media jump won't seem as silly as when Sponge Bob surfaces from Bikini Bottom.

The younger kids will like it, but it took a little cajoling to get some nine year olds to stick with it until the war scenes - - initially it was beneath them. But adventure developed, and the movie actually brings up themes regarding roles which they were familiar with from movies like The Little Mermaid (is Limpet a fish? a man? what's this mean for his old relationship with his wife, and new relationships with other sea creatures?) I hate to wax overly philosophical about this, but these are the parts which make it interesting for adults. As Limpet-the-fish says, "There's nothing like realizing your importance to the world to make a man out of you. Even if that man is a fish."

Yes, it has a bit of pathos, but it also has submarine battles, jokes, a crusty hermit crab, cute animation, and a great group of B-grade actors who are somehow able to keep a straight face through the whole exercise. (What may surprise you -- or disappoint you -- is that Knotts' character is never the frenetic, shrill Barney Fife. But he is very good nonetheless, and you shouldn't typecast him.)

This is almost 100% animated (except for beginning and ending wrappers of real film) but Barney's (ok, Mr. Limpet but you KNOW you think of him as Barney) voice and character comes through. The reason it doesn't deserve 4 stars, even from a die-hard Barney fan like me, is the animation but it's the only way this could have been done. It's enjoyable but the least of the post-Any Don Knotts movies.