As an audience of both the film and the musical version of “Big Fish,” I have loved both pieces, and though they’re very similar in various aspects, I’ve also realized the great difference between the two. Comparing the movie and the musical to one another, I feel that the musical has a greater emotional impact to the audience mainly because of using music and dance to narrate its tale, whereas the movie could only rely on words said to imply meaning and tell the story. For example, Edward’s death in the movie was indeed very emotional and teardrop-worthy for most, the scene depending on the actors’ facial expressions to portray sadness and grief. However, in the musical, the song “How It Ends” really helped the audience relate and express their feelings a bit more. Moreover, I think that the shortness of the movie scene was also a factor as to why it was less effective, that prolonging the picture in the musical through the song helped develop more of the audience’s emotions. Same goes for the happier or more romantic or more comical parts of the story, like the scene where Edward Bloom works for Amos Calloway in order to learn more about Sandra. In that scene, the circus enough gives off the whimsical vibe in both the film and the musical, but with the song “Closer to Her,” the musical surpasses the movie by adding to the wackiness and entertainment of the scene.
In the film, the scene that stood out to me the most was the part when Edward found the town of Spectre. This part of the movie really brought out the characteristics that we find in every Tim Burton film: the eeriness, the overwhelming fantasy, the too bright and too happy atmosphere, and that strange feeling you can never put a finger on. And I absolutely love every bit about it! Admittedly, I was very disappointed to discover that this particular part of the movie is not in the musical! On the other hand, in the particular musical version that I saw, the part that stood out to me above all the others was the Alabama Stomp! The dance was really done well by the Holy Trinity Diocesan High School, the steps were done by the students in almost a perfect sync, while the cast had loads of energy that made you want to join in on the dance! I hope that our school’s own production would be able to do just as well, if not better!
Although the movie and the musical are different in some aspects, they are also similar in many more, such as their moral lesson. I feel that because they narrate ultimately the same story, it just serves right that they would have the same message. As an audience, the moral lesson I took away after watching the movie and the musical was that you should never be afraid to live to the fullest and pursue your ambitions. Starting from his youth, Edward has shown his desire to outgrow his hometown Ashton by literally growing dramatically in size. He encounters an interesting fact about the goldfish, revealing that it grows more as its habitat increases in size. With that in mind, he decides to accomplish as much in life and dream as big as he could. Comes Karl the Giant, and Edward leaves Ashton to discover the world beyond his small town, diving into challenging and impossibly frightening adventures soon after. This showed me that I should never settle for something small and to pursue my dreams even if it seemed impossible at first, to not be afraid to take risks and take my own path, not following others, because the only thing that is stopping us from achieving high is ourselves. If we don’t limit ourselves to low ambitions, like a goldfish being confined to a smaller space, then it would give us more freedom and more courage to achieve higher.
With that said, the significance of the metaphor of “Big Fish” is Edward’s ambitions to be something bigger. He tells tall tales to his son Will because they represent the adventures and the dreams that Edward was not able to accomplish, but he wished he had done and he hoped Will would be able to do. Though his stories seemed impossible and illogical, they were merely a twisting of the truth. From the day he was born, he wanted his son to believe that he should not limit himself for he has the potential to be something big. Edward himself believed this, saying that on the day Will was born, he had caught a big fish; which really pertains to Edward being given the gift of a son, a son that would in the future achieve more than he had. He wanted Will to understand that Edward was merely a “big fish in a small pond,” a man with high ambitions in a small world, and through his tall tales, he leaves his legacy to his son.
I think that having a deeper level of understanding of the story really helped me appreciate not just my character, but all the characters of “Big Fish.” It gave me a connection to each of them that I would not have achieved with just one glance or one look at the movie or the musical. Particularly, portraying the mermaid, I have learned and understood that she opens Edward’s eyes to love by being his first kiss and ultimately leading him to his romantic tale. This helped me develop my character for learning more about my role gives me more to relate to. In this way, I would be able to consider or envision during each scene what the mermaid could be thinking in that particular moment and be able to give a more accurate representation of the role.
Having said that, I am very excited to finally start rehearsing the musical in order to further develop my appreciation of “Big Fish” and I hope to well portray my character as best as I can!
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