THE PRINCE OF WHALES

by R.L. Fisher ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 29, 1985

Cartoon animal-fantasy with a hammerhead Message. Toby, a young whale in Arctic Bay, keeps waking up the whole pod with his nightly dream-songs. So, to give his talent a better outlet, Toby is sent to study voice with the maestro--who urges Toby to find his own voice and recalls the whales' musical golden age. (""That was before the humans invented the exploding harpoon. Before great Iron Beasts hunted and slaughtered us. Before mammoth tankers,"" etc.) And soon, after meeting magic whale Theophilous (who shows him more of mankind's horrors), Toby decides to go on a solo song quest--""to find my real voice,"" perhaps to bring ""the sound of Nature's song"" to misguided homo sapiens. Toby has a few run-ins with Diomeda, the Dream Eater. He is nearly led astray when glitzy show-biz types try to package his talent for Paradise Caverns, the Las Vegas of the sea-world. (The Style here becomes imitation Muppets: ""We're personal managers for some of the heaviest entertainers in the sea: the New Waves, Sting Ray. . ."") But, though briefly dubbed ""the Prince of Whales,"" Toby defies the Dream Eater, finds his real voice, sings an inspirational ditty (""Troubled seas, troubled land/One last chance to take a stand""), and leads a sea-chorus in music that even reaches the hearts of harpooning whalemen: ""It was like a dream come true, the clamor of jubilant sounds, the singing and laughter. . ."" Well-meaning blubber.

Pub Date: April 29, 1985

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Carroll & Graf

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1985

Categories: FICTION