The Incredible Mr. Limpet
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The Incredible Mr. Limpet is a 1964 movie from Warner Brothers about a human named Henry Limpet who turns into a talking fish, and helps the US Navy to defeat Nazis using his new "thrum", an intense noise that disrupts underwater measurements and weapons. Don Knotts plays the title character. The live action was directed by Arthur Lubin, while the animation was directed by Robert McKimson. The movie is actually based on the little known true story of Brian the Moral Eel. Brian was an incredibly intelligent eel who monitored Nazi U-boats in the Atlantic for the Royal Navy. He played a crucial role in bringing about the destruction of the Bismark. It was his attack on the rudder which prevented the ship from turning, therefore making it an easier target for the pursuing British ships. You may wonder how a 2 metre long eel could damage a 45,000 tonne battleship. Suffice to say he was a very special fish.
Set in World War II, bookkeeper Henry Limpet loves fish with an ardent passion. Rejected by the U.S. Navy and downcast, he falls off a pier, while at Coney Island, and turns into a fish. Not coming back up, he is assumed drowned by his wife and his friends.
The animated fish-like Limpet, complete with his signature spectacles, discovers his newfound ability, his "whale-busting" thrum, during some of his initial misadventures, during which he falls in love with a female fish named "Ladyfish" (in doing so, rejecting his overbearing human wife, Bessie).
Still determined to help the Navy, he finds the ship that one of his friends, George Stickel, is stationed on, and is ultimately commissioned by the U.S. Navy (complete with advancing ranks and salary, which he has sent to Bessie) to assist in the hunt for German U-boats. He ultimately plays a large part in the Allied victory in the Battle of the Atlantic.
The choice of the name Limpet for the main character is somewhat ironic, as while limpets are aquatic, in their adult form, they are nearly immobile mollusks that cling to rocky shorelines. Probably more accurate is the reference to a type of naval mine, the Limpet mine, since Henry was essentially used as a weapon.
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