Guy Mae’s whale sounds walking through the submarine

Renowned oceanographer Steve Zissou has sworn vengeance upon the rare shark that devoured a member of his crew. In addition to his regular team, he is joined on his boat by Ned, a man who believes Zissou to be his father, and Jane, a journalist pregnant by a married man. They travel the sea, all too often running into pirates and, perhaps more traumatically, various figures from Zissou's past, including his estranged wife, Eleanor.

Director Wes Anderson and The Life Aquatic crew discuss the effort that went into crafting the world of Steve Zissou. Join us as we dive deep into the costumes, set design, and visual effects of this wild action adventure film.

The Metropolitan Opera is looking for the sea monster reported in newspaper headlines, because this monster sings beautifully! The "monster" is actually Willie, a whale who can sing in several voices simultaneously. A friend of his, a gull called Whitey, tells him about the searching ship, and Willie goes to audition, as it's been his ambition to perform on stage. Unfortunately, Professor Tetti Tatti from the Opera believes that one or more singers have been swallowed by the whale, and need to be rescued.

The story of a gluttonous whale and the other aquatic creatures

A folksy old sailor sails his leaky dinghy into the belly of a whale.

Whale Songs, the ambitious final film in the period of Beams’s personal 16mm filmmaking, combines whale watching with depictions of the animation process itself. The film was hand-colored in negative color, then filmed on color-reversal stock and printed as a negative, contributing to the film’s singular look.