''Splash and Bubbles'' (also known as ''Jim Henson's Splash and Bubbles'') is an American animated
children's television series
Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...
created by
John Tartaglia
John Nicholas Tartaglia (; born February 16, 1978) is an American puppeteer, actor, and singer.
Early life
Tartaglia was born in Maple Shade Township, New Jersey, and graduated from Upper Dublin High School in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, i ...
. The series debuted on
PBS Kids
PBS Kids (stylized as PBS KIDS) is the branding used for nationally distributed children's programming carried by the U.S. public television network PBS. The brand encompasses a daytime block of children's programming carried daily by most PBS ...
on November 23, 2016, after ''
Wild Kratts: Creatures of the Deep Sea''. It is produced using
motion capture
Motion capture (sometimes referred as mocap or mo-cap, for short) is the process of recording high-resolution motion (physics), movement of objects or people into a computer system. It is used in Military science, military, entertainment, sports ...
that blends with
animatronic
An animatronic is a puppet controlled electronically to move in a fluent way. Animatronics are the modern adaptation of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films, video games and in theme park attractions.
Anim ...
interfaces which enables the crew to make animation.
Premise
''Splash and Bubbles'' follows a
yellowback fusilier (though at times he and the narrator claim that he is a yellowtail fusilier), Splash, who settles in Reeftown after looking all over the ocean. He then befriends Bubbles, a
mandarin dragonet, and the duo, along with friends Dunk and Ripple, explore the reef to venture and make new friends. Each episode also includes a documentary segment, ''Get Your Feet Wet'',
which features kids asking questions that are occasionally followed up by a musical number.
Characters
Main
* Splash (voiced by
John Tartaglia
John Nicholas Tartaglia (; born February 16, 1978) is an American puppeteer, actor, and singer.
Early life
Tartaglia was born in Maple Shade Township, New Jersey, and graduated from Upper Dublin High School in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, i ...
), the protagonist of the series, is an adventurous
yellowback fusilier who settles in Reeftown after exploring the world for a new home.
* Bubbles (voiced by
Leslie Carrara-Rudolph), Splash's best friend who is a tomboyish
mandarin dragonet and likes being messy.
* Dunk (voiced by Raymond Carr) is an intellectual, but extremely nervous
dog-faced pufferfish who serves as the comic relief of the group. He is also an artist, and can make art out of sand.
* Ripple (voiced by Aymee Garcia) is a pink
Barbour's seahorse who lives with 499 brothers. She loves adventure and trying new things.
Recurring
* Lu (voiced by Donna Kimball) is a high-spirited
footballfish who resides in the ocean abyss, along with her husband Bob, who is embedded into her body. Her name is short for
bioluminescent
Bioluminescence is the emission of light during a chemiluminescence reaction by living organisms. Bioluminescence occurs in multifarious organisms ranging from marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms inc ...
.
* Bob (voiced by
Allan Trautman) is Lu's husband, a male
footballfish that lives on the left side of her body.
* Biggie (voiced by
Sarah Oh) is one of Lu's friends, a
spookfish who has big eyes.
* The
firefly squid are one of Lu's friends.
* Pearline is a clam with a pearl inside. She desires her experience in going to Reeftown with help from the Reeftown Rangers.
* The
clusterwink (voiced by Sarah Oh) is a species of small sea snail that Lu gave Dunk.
* Zee (voiced by Donna Kimball) is an adventurous
zebra bullhead shark who lives for danger.
* Mayor Sting (voiced by Raymond Carr), an overconfident
bluespotted ribbontail ray, who is the mayor of Reeftown.
* Wave (voiced by Dan Garza) is Reeftown's
day octopus traffic guard. He has an extensive knowledge of the ocean, and often assists the gang in their adventures.
* Tidy (voiced by
John Tartaglia
John Nicholas Tartaglia (; born February 16, 1978) is an American puppeteer, actor, and singer.
Early life
Tartaglia was born in Maple Shade Township, New Jersey, and graduated from Upper Dublin High School in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, i ...
) is an ablutomanic
garabaldi, who serves as a
kelp forest
Kelp forests are underwater areas with a high density of kelp, which covers a large part of the world's coastlines. Smaller areas of anchored kelp are called kelp beds. They are recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on E ...
ranger.
* Gush (voiced by
Allan Trautman) is an intelligent
painted frogfish
The painted frogfish (''Antennarius pictus''), or spotted frogfish, black angler or painted anglerfish is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Antennariidae, the frogfishes. This species is found in the Indo-Pacific regio ...
who is shown to have experience in dancing, helpful tips, and racing.
* Flo (voiced by
Leslie Carrara-Rudolph) is a
hawksbill sea turtle
The hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Eretmochelys''. The species has a global distribution that is largel ...
who acts as Reeftown's medical professional. She sings in the style of
Karen Carpenter
Karen Anne Carpenter (March 2, 1950 – February 4, 1983) was an American musician who was the lead vocalist and early drummer of the highly successful duo the Carpenters, formed with her older brother Richard Carpenter (musician), Richard. Wi ...
.
*Iris is a shy
bluelashed butterflyfish who tries to find fit into her new lifestyle at Reeftown.
* Chompy (voiced by Aymee Garcia) is a pastel-colored
parrotfish
Parrotfish (named for their mouths, which resemble a parrot's beak) are a clade of fish placed in the tribe Scarini of the wrasse family (Labridae). Traditionally treated as their own family (Scaridae), genetic studies have found them to be dee ...
who experiences eating what she sees.
* Polly and Bell (voiced by Alice Dinnean and Donna Kimball) are peach-colored
twin
Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...
white-spotted jellyfish. They live with their jellyfish siblings. These sisters like different things such as games, but according to their words, they come from the same polyp.
* Polly and Bell's siblings (voiced by Dorien Davies and Alice Dinnean) are the twin sisters of Polly and Bell. They both live in the Sunken Ship as their home with Polly and Bell. They are also called: peach-colored
twin
Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...
white-spotted jellyfish. Their voices are squeaky unlike Polly and Bell.
* Charlie (Nickname: Papa) (voiced by Dan Garza) is a brownish goldish Barbour's seahorse which lives with Ripple and her 499 brothers. He has a yellow body and he refers to her as ''mija'', which literally translated as "my daughter" in Spanish. He likes
mysid shrimp
Mysida is an order (biology), order of small, shrimp-like crustaceans in the malacostracan superorder Peracarida. Their common name opossum shrimps stems from the presence of a Brood pouch (Peracarida), brood pouch or "marsupium" in females. The ...
as his favorite food.
* Ripple's 499 brothers (voiced by Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, Sarah Oh, Raymond Carr, and Donna Kimball) are all of the green Barbour's seahorses. Number 66 (voiced by Sarah Oh) wants to go on adventures like his sister. Number 278 always wanders off like number 66. She also mentions that number 342 is a storyteller, number 96 makes the silliest faces, number 77 sleeps next to her every night and number 231 always stealing her things.
* Melody is a female
fin whale
The fin whale (''Balaenoptera physalus''), also known as the finback whale or common rorqual, is a species of baleen whale and the second-longest cetacean after the blue whale. The biggest individual reportedly measured in length, wi ...
whose brother is in the Southern Ocean which is opposite to the Arctic. She helps Splash and his friends get home twice.
* Mrs. Leafy and Mr. Leafy are a friendly
leafy seadragon
The leafy seadragon (''Phycodurus eques'') or Glauert's seadragon, is a marine fish. It is the only member of the genus ''Phycodurus'' in the family Syngnathidae, which includes seadragons, pipefish, and seahorses.
It is found along the s ...
couple that reside in a
kelp forest
Kelp forests are underwater areas with a high density of kelp, which covers a large part of the world's coastlines. Smaller areas of anchored kelp are called kelp beds. They are recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on E ...
off the coast of
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
.
* Maury (voiced by John Tartaglia) is a quidnunc
snowflake moray who lives in the caves and tunnels of Reeftown and is always eager to gather news of what goes on around the reef.
* Snap (voiced by Dan Garza) is a
pistol shrimp
Alpheidae (also known as the snapping shrimp, pistol shrimp or alpheid shrimp) is a family within the shrimp infraorder Caridea characterized by having asymmetrical claws, the larger of which is typically capable of producing a loud snapping sou ...
who can't see very well, doesn't like moving and sometimes attacks with his big claw when he thinks they say "Now!"
* Scout (voiced by Donna Kimball) is a
goby fish who helps and protects Snap.
* Denny (voiced by
Sarah Oh) is a
cleaner shrimp
Cleaner shrimp is a common name for a number of swimming Decapoda, decapod crustaceans that clean other organisms of parasites. Most are found in the family (biology), families Hippolytidae (including the Pacific cleaner shrimp, ''Lysmata amboi ...
who acts as Reeftown's "dentist", and has an extensive knowledge of teeth.
* Myshell is a decorative
decorator crab who likes to have her shell decorated. Her name is a pun on the phrase "my shell".
* Dorsal is a
spinner dolphin, he likes playing games, and making friends.
* Finny is a green mandarin dragonet with freckled cheeks who has similar interests with Bubbles, like being messy.
* Mo is a
sunfish who is Dunk's cousin.
* Tyke is a
harbor seal
The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared sea ...
who loves to snuggle with friends by nuzzling. She even gets carried away by playing.
* Scoot is a young
sea turtle
Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerh ...
.
One-time characters
* Plum, Ruby, Rose and Violet are red
giant tube worm
''Riftia pachyptila'', commonly known as the giant tube worm and less commonly known as the giant beardworm, is a marine invertebrate in the phylum Annelida (formerly grouped in phylum Pogonophora and Vestimentifera) related to tube worms ...
s who finish each other's sentences.
* Mortimer is a little
nautilus
A nautilus (; ) is any of the various species within the cephalopod family Nautilidae. This is the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and the suborder Nautilina.
It comprises nine living species in two genera, the type genus, ty ...
who seems shy at first, but then is excited to talk.
* Puffy is a purple pufferfish who has indigo eyelids.
* Oblo is a
blobfish.
* Dusty is a green and gray parrotfish.
* Neat is a yellow garibaldi who is Tidy's wife.
* Wart is a frogfish. His body is orange colored compared to his dad's purple body.
* Boo Hagley is a
hagfish
Hagfish, of the Class (biology), class Myxini (also known as Hyperotreti) and Order (biology), order Myxiniformes , are eel-shaped Agnatha, jawless fish (occasionally called slime eels). Hagfish are the only known living Animal, animals that h ...
with a British accent.
* Archie is a
sea urchin
Sea urchins or urchins () are echinoderms in the class (biology), class Echinoidea. About 950 species live on the seabed, inhabiting all oceans and depth zones from the intertidal zone to deep seas of . They typically have a globular body cove ...
whose color seems unknown.
* Whitebeard is an ancient humpback whale with
barnacle
Barnacles are arthropods of the subclass (taxonomy), subclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacean, Crustacea. They are related to crabs and lobsters, with similar Nauplius (larva), nauplius larvae. Barnacles are exclusively marine invertebra ...
s on his chin. He is the
Santa Claus
Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...
of the Arctic Ocean, but way deep under the North Pole.
The jellyfish
* There are four Christmas-colored white-spotted jellyfish who appear to be Reeftown tourists. Two are red and the other two are green. Their voices are squeaky unlike Polly and Bell.
The sharks
* Hamilton is a friendly
scalloped hammerhead shark.
* A friendly unnamed
great white shark
The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large Lamniformes, mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major ocea ...
.
Episodes
Film
Songs
Home media
Awards and nominations
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{The Jim Henson Company
2010s American animated comedy television series
2010s American children's comedy television series
2010s American musical comedy television series
2010s preschool education television series
2016 American animated television series debuts
2018 American television series endings
American children's animated adventure television series
American children's animated comedy television series
American children's animated fantasy television series
American children's animated musical television series
American computer-animated television series
American preschool education television series
American television shows featuring puppetry
American television series with live action and animation
Animated preschool education television series
Animated television series about fish
American English-language television shows
PBS Kids shows
PBS animated television series
Television series by The Jim Henson Company