| Mee-Shee: The Water Giant | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | John Henderson |
| Written by | Barry Authors |
| Produced by | Barry Authors Rainer Mockert Gary Hannam Ken Tuohy |
| Starring | Bruce Greenwood Daniel Magder Tom Jackson Joel Tobeck Rena Owen Jacinta Wawatai |
| Cinematography | John Ignatius |
| Edited by | Bill Jones David Yardley |
| Music by | Pol Brennan |
| Distributed by | Screen Media Ventures (Canada) Universal Pictures (United Kingdom) ContentFilm (Germany) |
Release date |
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Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom Germany Canada |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $40,000,000 |
Mee-Shee: The Water Giant (also known simply as Mee-Shee) is a British-German[1] family film shot in New Zealand in 2002 and released in 2005. It stars Bruce Greenwood, Rena Owen, Tom Jackson and Daniel Magder.
The film is based on the Canadian folklore water monster, known as the Ogopogo. This folklore started with Aboriginal peoples in Canada, and while the film was in production complaints from one Aboriginal chief about cultural appropriation caused the film and its title monster to be renamed "Mee-Shee". These complaints and the renaming drew media attention and generated controversy.
The film itself received some good reviews. Some critics praised the performances, although evaluations of the special effects were mixed. In Canada, Mee-Shee was only released on DVD and never played in theatres.