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Turtles in Movies   Moonrise Kingdom (2012)   Spoiler Alert ! Some of these pictures and descriptions may give away plot details that you might not want to know before watching the film.   This is a quirky comedy from Wes Anderson that features Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) and Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward) two 12-year olds on an island off the coast of New England in the 1960s. She lives on the island, he is spending the summer there at a scout camp where he feels mistreated. There is a brief and curious scene with a turtle. Sam and Suzy run away together then hike and make camp. Sam gives Suzy a fishing pole and teaches her to fish on the shore of a pond. He makes a net with a long pole and sits by the water. He tells her "Watch out for turtles. They'll bite you if you put your fingers in their mouths." Then he catches a turtle in the net. When he takes it out of the net he sees that somebody wrote the name Albert on its underside in red ink. Then he throws it back into the pond. The turtle is a Pond Slider - Trachemys scripta. We don't see the head, which is needed to determine the subspecies, but the screenplay describes it like this: "It has red and yellow markings and a slightly damaged shell" which makes it a Red-eared Slider, which is native to the southeast United States, but is also a common pet turtle that has spread all over the country as their owners have gotten tired of them and released them into local waters. It's never explained why the name "Albert" was written on the shell or what it means, so I searched Google and got this AI response: "The name 'Albert' written in magic marker on the turtle's shell in Moonrise Kingdom is never explained in the movie, which has led film fans and critics to develop a few prominent theories: The Leftover Prop Theory: The most practical theory among fans is that the turtle was originally planned for a different Wes Anderson film- specifically The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Because Anderson frequently reuses props and concepts, it is believed 'Albert' may have been named for a deleted scene from that ocean-centric movie and was simply recycled for Moonrise Kingdom. The 'World-Building' Metaphor: Many critics view Albert as a classic example of Anderson’s dense, lived-in world-building. By showing that someone else on the isolated island of New Penzance caught this turtle years ago, wrote a name on it, and threw it back, the film subtly hints that Sam and Suzy are not the first kids to seek adventure or try to leave their mark on the island. The Absurdist Gag: From a stylistic standpoint, many viewers attribute the name to Anderson's signature dry, surreal humor. Sam pulls a turtle from the water, flips it over, deadpans, 'Somebody wrote on him,' and then immediately throws him right back. The complete lack of explanation is the joke."