Professor Popinjay's Compendium of Perspicacity

A Non-Review by Professor Popinjay

The dates are all over the place for this film adaptation of Rowena Farre’s beloved book but I think it was first filmed as a miniseries in 1986. I was expecting something stupid just from the title but it was pretty sweet. With a name like Seal Morning I instantly assumed this is a story of a troubled girl forced to live with her aunt after being orphaned and while she has trouble adjusting to life in a small seaside village, eventually she makes an unlikely bond with an orphaned seal and things begin to look up. Well, that happens to be exactly what it’s about. I love it when I’m right.

Okay if we’re being honest, my first assumption was all this but I thought it was a script scribbled off by an underpaid writer in the mid 90’s for a small-time production company to make a quick buck riding on the coattails of Free Willy with another sea-faring mammal story. I only learned it was based on a “beloved book” while looking up the details on this film.

As charming a tale as this has been, it does seem kind of cookie cutter these days, doesn’t it? This plot line has become a bit cliché; to say nothing of this film’s execution which was just fine. It’s not this film’s fault the plot has been done over and over again since. Between this and its soulless cousins I’d take this any day. That’s the allure of this film. It doesn’t feel like a soulless cash grab. Someone made this film because they loved Rowena Farre’s book. And it shows.

My biggest complaint about these kinds of stories thankfully doesn’t really apply to Seal Morning. To demonstrate the gradual evolution of the young person’s character, they tend to start out generally unlikable at the beginning. Yeah, it’s nice to see the kid come around. They need some endearing factors right from the start or I feel like their snarky attitude taints them for the rest of the film. At the very least, make them funny. In Seal Morning, however, the young girl was in grief and you felt for her and her situation. Sure it wasn’t funny, but it was an easier pill to swallow than her being some punk. It was also nice to see people not instantly at odds with the main character. Of course conflict is necessary in a story but you could see who the compassionate people were going to be right from the start and you’re surprised by who comes around later. I’m probably writing more than I should about this one-off film but I just hate Free Willy so much!