The poster for the original version of the film.
In 2013, the 2021 film SEAL Team was first announced as a pitch by Triggerfish Animation Studios, and would later be confirmed to be in production.
Plot[]
Famous for his daredevil stunts, Quinn has spent his life performing in a seal show in a Cape Town aquarium, co-starring the captured great white shark, Grimes. But now Quinn wants nothing more than to join the elite Seal Team: a crew of wild seals who battle to keep the citizens of Seal Island safe from marauding sharks. He grabs an opportunity to escape the aquarium and join his heroes. Only, life on the wild side is no cushy gig and when he learns that he unwittingly helped Grimes’ own escape from the aquarium and that Grimes is organizing the other sharks into a gang to besiege Seal Island, Quinn must foil Grimes’ plan to turn Seal Island into one big seal buffet. Along the way Quinn learns from the Seal Team that it’s not about what others think of you, it’s what you’re prepared to do for others that counts.
Development[]
In 2013, it was announced that Triggerfish, a animation studio based in Cape Town behind Khumba and Adventures in Zambezia have announced the production of an film about cape fur seals and great white sharks. In 2018, Triggerfish was said to produce Seal Team as their third feature film. The film was being financed by South Africa's Industrial Development Corporation, the Dept. of Trade and Industry (DTI), and Cinema Management Group (CMG), which leaded to them deciding that they originally scheduled the film for a theatrical December 2018 release but it was delayed.[1]
Dolph Lundgren, the very popular Swedish actor, and Matthew Rhys, voice actor for The Owl House, joined the voice cast in May 2021. Rhys once mentioned that why he wanted to voice the villain Grimes is because he has a 4-year-old son that is obsessed with sharks.
Why This Version Was Cancelled[]
- Following the release of Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse in 2018. The director, Greig Cameron, wanted to change the film animation and art style on order to make their company seem more diverse, as the film´s artstyle is clearly inspired by Spider-Verse. Besides that he also changed the plot to a more action-packed adventure in order to pay homage to 1980s action movies.
- The design for the sharks was possibly considered to be way too intimidating for young children, originally going to have far more realistic designs inspired by horror movies like Jaws.
Results[]
- The original version was permanently cancelled.
- Seal Team was released on December 31, 2021 on Netflix. It received mixed-to-positive reviews and was high-ranked at No. 10 on Netflix's Top 10 Today for some time.
Trivia[]
- It was said the the original version was more darker and had more intense death scenes, meanwhile still aimed at a PG rating.
- There are some notable changes prior to the original version;
- Quinn's former acrobatic self (mentioned in the plot) was later carried over to Geraldo; who was a former circus (or aquarium, at the least, for that matter) performer and a clumsy cape fur seal who is currently in love with Jing.
- All of the Seal Team had more military-like gear and tools inspired by David Boreanaz's character Jason Heyes. They had those military gear strapped around their back and stomach, indicating that the original version was going to be a little more mature.
- The Seal Team originally had more human-like items they could of used in harder shark-troop situations; such as scuba-gear, parachutes, floating boats, and even more barracuda-like mines. These were removed from the final film because they were deemed too "unrealistic".
Gallery[]
