“Big Fish & Begonia” 大鱼海棠

Question

I just saw the movie, and I can’t understand why it has this title.

First of all, A whale is not a fish! Is the word translated as “fish” used for all swimming animals? Even if that’s the case, any idea why the movie producers would use a patently incorrect translation?

And a begonia is a small herbaceous plant, that in no way resembles a big tree. I think the big flowering tree is what the title is supposed to refer to, as one of the items on the Blu-Ray (a supplemental feature or a song; I don’t recall) gave it as Big Fish and Chinese Blooming Crabapple. I’ve tentatively identified it as Malus spectabilis. So, what’s all the talk about begonias?

Answer 1

lost in translation lah :(

according to wiki: the main actress is a fairy in charge of begonia (掌管海棠花)

the main actor, he change into "鯤" a legendary big marine creature, its body is more than several thousand chinese miles long (鯤之大・不知其幾千里也).

"big fish" is a good enough name for such marine creature.

anyway, it's an anime for children, need to have a simple, easy to comprehend name, for both the local & foreign kids.

have fun :)