Last Whale Singer, The

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Last Whale Singer, The
• a review of Last Whale Singer, The completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 15 September 2026.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

Vincent (voice of Vincent Tong) is a young humpback whale who loves swimming the ocean with his mum and dad. One day, they arrive at the scene of a dying reef where Vincent’s dad sings his song, miraculously restoring the colour and life to the reef. Vincent wants to be just like his dad but he’s told he must find his own song. One night, Vincent leaves the safety of his parents to try and find his song. He is nearly wiped out by a fishing trawler when Vincent’s parents arrive just in time to save him but lose their own lives in the process.

Vincent grows up bearing the responsibility of causing his parents’ death and feels he is a failure. When a poisonous Leviathan is released from a block of melting ice, Vincent knows he must find a way to save the ocean and all its creatures. Vincent’s constant companion and nanny, a fish named Walter (Bruce Dinsmore), tries to prevent Vincent from doing anything reckless but Vincent is determined to travel through a deep trench to find the mythical Star Pool. There, he hopes to find his parents who will tell him what to do. On the way, he meets up with a feisty young and deaf Orca, named Darya (Jenner Wheeler-Hughes), who wants to help Vincent. The threesome is in constant danger from the unknown deep waters and the pursuit of the treacherous Leviathan. Between them, they have to help Vincent find his own voice to save the ocean and all of its creatures.

Conservation; Ecology; Loss of both parents; Grief; Afterlife; Animals in peril.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

• Vincent is slightly hit by a ship but his parents take the full hit, saving their son.
• A huge iceberg breaks off and falls into the ocean, causing a large disruption in the waters.
• The Leviathan’s tentacles trap Vincent, dragging him down into the ocean.
• Darya gets trapped in a fishing net.
• Walter hits Darya to wake her up.
• The Leviathan destroys the grotto and the statue of Vincent’s parents. He chases after Darya, who manages to knock the Leviathan out. He falls to the bottom and is trapped with a rock on top of him.
• Vincent is trapped in the tentacles of the Leviathan and is about to be eaten by him when he is saved by Abe, the white whale.

Material that may scare or disturb children

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

• Sudden noises.
• Scary underwater scenes, such as the dead coral reef.
• Scenes of rough seas, very high waves and thunder and lightning.
• The Leviathan is a scary creature with red eyes and squirts purple smoky ink.
• The walrus king is a scary and threatening creature. He bellows and shouts orders at his army of penguins.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

• Vincent’s parents are seen as ghostlike creatures, descending to the bottom of the ocean. Vincent cries.
• Walter tells a story to Vincent about a legend of a white whale who was shot by hunters (shown as imagery) and fell to the bottom of the ocean. He went to the Star Pool where he supposedly found his lost son and brought him back to life.
• The Leviathan is seen trapped inside an iceberg but this melts and he is set free to terrorise and poison the ocean. The purple smoky ink makes it difficult for Vincent to breathe.
• Vincent is seen stranded on a beach.
• The trio comes across an area in the ocean which contains mountains of rubbish everywhere.
• Vincent gets trapped in rocks. He is chased by the purple ink and red eyes. A tentacle tries to reach him and a red eye is seen in a crack in the rocks.
• Darya tells Vincent that her parents are also dead and that they were killed by an underwater explosion.
• Vincent and Darya swim too deep for whales and they both begin to tire, due to a lack of oxygen. Walter encourages them to keep moving towards a current, which saves them.
• A grotto contains a clairvoyant octopus who feels Vincent’s ‘insecurity, grief and shame’. There is also a statue of Vincent’s parents.
• The Star Pool is full of bones and seen in red and black.
• Vincent journeys on alone and cries out for his dad.
• Vincent finds the white whale, Abe, who thinks Vincent is his lost son and traps him in a cave. Vincent cries and thinks he will die.
• Vincent imagines swimming with his parents, who appear in ghostlike form.
• The clairvoyant octopus sees, in imagery, an atomic bomb going off. The Leviathan was transformed into a monster by the fallout.
• Abe and his son are seen in ghostlike form, swimming alongside Vincent’s parents.

• Nothing further noted.

Product placement

• None noted.

Sexual references

• None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

• None noted.

Use of substances

• None noted.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• Some name calling, such as:
  • Bully
  • Stupid.

In a nutshell

The Last Whale Singer is an animated fantasy film which depicts the dangers and threats to the oceans at large, such as melting ice, poisonous substances and the mounds of rubbish choking off the oxygen. The film has some good messages for children but it is also quite intense and emotive, making it unsuitable for young children and best suited to audiences aged 8 and over.

The main messages from this movie are to find your own voice, and to protect and to look after the oceans and the creatures in it.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

• Courage and bravery
• Overcoming self-doubt
• Friendship
• Care and compassion
• Looking after others
• Selflessness.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

• The Leviathan had been transformed into a monster by radiation fallout, before that he was a normal squid. Can you blame him for becoming an aggressive creature?
• Vincent knew his job was to protect all creatures in the ocean, which included the Leviathan. Parents could discuss the need to find out why some aggressive and anti-social behaviours occur and whether intervention is better than punishment.