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6.9/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.9/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Davy Jones' Locker remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Look, if you have a soft spot for old-school, slightly eerie black-and-white animation, you might find this charming. If you need a coherent story or pacing that makes sense, stay far away. This is basically just a string of gags tied together by a kid with a very active imagination.
Willie Whooper is the main guy here. He’s the kind of kid who definitely got in trouble for talking too much in class. He claims he went fishing and caught the King of the Sea. I mean, sure, why not?
Once they get under the waves, the whole thing turns into a total circus. King Neptune is grumpy, which is fair enough if you’ve just been dragged out of your home by a fishing pole. The animation gets pretty bouncy here. It’s got that jittery energy you see in a lot of stuff from that era, like Monkey Business, where everything is constantly moving for no real reason.
There is a sequence where the fish are just doing stuff. It’s not really building to anything. It’s just... there. It reminded me a bit of the chaotic energy in Somebody Lied, where you’re just waiting for the next random thing to pop onto the screen.
Honestly, the best parts are when the movie stops trying to be an adventure and just lets the background art do the talking. The way the bubbles look is neat. It’s weirdly hypnotic.
It’s not trying to change the world. It’s just a cartoon about a fishing trip. You can feel the age of the film in every frame, which I kinda like. It feels dusty and strange, like finding an old toy in an attic. Not a masterpiece, but it’s weirdly memorable for all the wrong reasons. 🌊