BUTTFISH

In this French import, a puffer fish—once the butt of every joke—learns to love himself.

A huge dimple indents the puffer fish’s face, creating an unmistakable resemblance to a derrière—much to the glee of his fellow undersea residents. In response, he clowns it up, making farting noises so that the other fish laugh with him, not at him. Finally, tired of amusing others while feeling different, he decides to relocate. The undersea depths are “dark and eerie” and populated by some unusual species. Steven, a fish resembling a chunk of Jarlsberg, invites him to a game of “cheeseball,” and Buttfish happily joins in while privately musing that his opponent is “quite strange—maybe even a bit ugly?” When Steven turns out to be a fun friend with hidden talents, our hero adjusts his opinion: “Steven is unique—and maybe even a bit handsome?” The pair become both popular and useful to other fish, and one day a spiny sea urchin’s positive comment (“Your head looks like a heart!”) upends Buttfish’s assumptions about himself. Matching their neon environment, the fish are wildly colorful; many are unusual shapes. Some are creative riffs on actual species, like lantern fish, sawfish, and catfish, but the wedge-shaped Steven (dubbed a "cheesefish"), while resembling a cow fish, is definitely made up. Buttfish’s journey of burgeoning self-acceptance may be goofy but it's rife with truths; Pinson’s well aware that even outsiders aren’t immune from judging others.

A whimsical and diverting tale of self-love.