Fly! Peek the Whale

Shimajiro and his friends discover an injured whale and Gaogao helps it out, they later go underwater to find the whale mother and the fish in the ocean and encounters a giant crab.

A short film only screened at the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. This animated short film is based on a story piece included in a longtime classic and awards-winning children's book "Iya Iya En" by Rieko Nakagawa. Shigeru is a little boy who goes to the Tulip Nursery School. One morning at school, Shigeru sees the boys a year older building a ship with blocks. He wants to join in too. The completed ship is named the Elephant and Lion. Soon, the children realize the surroundings have transformed into a sea, and even fishes are swimming. The boys load fishing rods and ropes onto the Elephant and Lion, and set out on a whale hunt.

What a sensation Tottoi felt when he discovered the small creature in the mysterious cave! The beauty and pride of wild animals capture the hearts of innocent people who have not lost their passion for nature. Sardinia is abundant in beautiful beaches and mysterious caves which are known as the habitat of a peculiar kind of seal on the verge of extinction. After moving to this island, Tottoi, fascinated by nature, visits different beaches and caves everyday. When he finds a seal cub and its mother in an isolated cave, he is surprised by the humorous movements and innocence of the cub and the dignity of its mother. Tottoi soon becomes attached to the seals, but his secret is revealed to heartless adults. In the name of preservation, a plan is developed to capture them for an aquarium. Now the dignity and pride of the wild seal are in danger. No matter how painful for Tottoi to be separated from his small friends, he must fight for the welfare of the wild mammals and let them go free into the sea.

The boxfish has no confidence in himself, he always spends his time alone on the rocks watching the other fish, feeling envious. "Everyone else is so lucky. All I do is float back and forth in the same place on these rocks every day..." Then one day, he meets a lost sea horse who seems to have come from the Minamata ocean, he then decides to embark on his first ever adventure to return the fish to the Minamata's sea...