Live off the stage is the story of Jonah, as is told by a father to his young daughter who has quite an imagination: Ninevites fighting over which hand's better, a huge fish not knowing if he belongs (when any fish should be grateful to be around him), crabs for choir, and Jonah's caught up in it all. Not quite what you would expect from the story of Jonah, is it?
Obviously, its target is kids, and as a kids' film, I don't think it's awful. Do I think it's great? Certainly not. It's harmless. Though at the same time it does teach a good lesson for kids. While it's not about obeying God (as Jonah usually would be), it's more about knowing God has a plan and a purpose for you. But at the same time there are some other good things to admire: the costumes are good for what they had the budget for, the music's nice, almost everyone's a good singer, the acting is decent (especially with the great fish), and the dance choreography is awesome.
However, while the idea of the fish's perspective is interesting, the writing is very bland and cheesy, bizarre, and occasionally cringeworthy, I might add. Because the fish is more fleshed out and more of the focus, Jonah (who should be the main character) is very bland. A really good singer (David Osmond, expected less?) but still very uninteresting. And the moral of Jonah is both to obey God and to love the same way He does. Here the moral is about "God has a plan for you". While an important moral to hold onto, it has little to nothing to do with Jonah. That moral would really do better with the story of Joseph.
I don't think it's terrible, but if you're looking for a down to earth straight story of Jonah, I don't really recommend this version of Jonah and the Great Fish as much as I would other versions of the story, unless you want to enjoy an awkward retelling of the story, nice costumes, good singers, and great dance moments.
