Netflix’s Sea Beast trailer introduces a tiny stowaway and some giant monsters

In the grand tradition of oceanic animation (The Little Mermaid, Atlantis, Sinbad, Moana, et cetera), Netflix has released the trailer for its new seafaring adventure, The Sea Beast.

Karl Urban stars as Jacob Holland, a legendary monster hunter who keeps the shores safe from fearsome sea beasts. Young Maisie Brumble (Zaris-Angel Hator) idolizes Holland and longs to follow in his footsteps, becoming a hero in her own right. So when he rejects her request to join his crew, she takes matters into her own hands and sneaks onto the ship.

It doesn’t take long for the pair to be stranded together on a monster-filled island, but (surprise, surprise) Maisie’s influence might be exactly what the disgruntled Jacob needs. “You can be a hero and still be wrong,” she wisely counsels him in the trailer.

Oscar-winning director Chris Williams—a Disney animation alum whose credits include Big Hero 6 and, yes, Moana—told SlashFilm he was inspired by old monster movies like King Kong to create great beasts with whom audiences could form an “emotional connection.” As for the setting on the deep blue sea, he said, “That idea of an adventure out at sea, feeling like you’re heading into almost the idea of mystery itself.”

The director continued, “There’s something mythic about it, and there’s just something that lends itself to stories about being on a ship, being out where humans don’t really belong, but we’ve created this little citadel where we can be safe. … I don’t know about everybody, but I think a lot of people have this feeling or this affinity or these sort of romantic notions about being out in the open sea.”

Jared Harris, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Dan Stevens and Kathy Burke round out the cast of this swashbuckling, family-friendly adventure. The Sea Beast premieres on Netflix on July 8, 2022.