Page 47 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #12
P. 47
THE OCTONAUTS
Shellington
A sea otter from Scotland,
Shellington’s love of science
makes him crucial in
Peso
identifying unfamiliar sea
The ship’s medic, Peso the
creatures. His obsessive
penguin’s mission is to help
attention to detail makes him a
any creature who is poorly, no
must to take on any adventure. The challenge was
matter how scaly, or fangy, or
Just don’t let him drive.
(gulp) venomous. Although how to make it
not the bravest of the bunch,
both factual and
Peso regularly conquers his
fears to help others.
entertaining.
go with an explorer in tow, who can’t wait to
see what the rockpools might deliver. Last
summer, when the beaches were littered
with thousands of jellyfish, instead of
cowering away, he exclaimed that this must
be a jellyfish bloom. For him to appreciate
such a concept, at the age of three, was
staggering proof of the success of the
programme’s creators.
Out of this world
Octonauts first came to life in a series of
books written by Meomi, the Canadian
creative studio of Vicki Wong and Michael
Murphy. Their books were discovered by
New York-based TV executive Kurt Mueller,
who began to recruit a global team to bring
the fantastic underwater world of these
intrepid animals to the small screen.
The challenge was how to make it both
factual and entertaining.
The ‘eureka’ moment came during a
visit by series writer Stephanie Simpson
to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in
Dashi
California. Children were lining up for
This clever dachshund
their encounter with manta rays at the
loves nothing more than
aquarium’s touch tank. The little girl in
taking photos of the sea
front of her turned to her mother and asked
creatures and friends she
“Mommy, what planet is that from?” At this
loves. Often to be found at
moment, Simpson suddenly realised that
the Octopod’s helm, Dashi it might be possible to teach children
Tunip is in charge of the ship’s about the creatures in our ocean through
Alongside the intrepid computer systems. a science-fiction format.
Octonauts crew are the
Once the format was established,
vegimals – a group of
the team set to work discovering which
strange part-vegetable,
incredible marine species would make
part-animal creatures, who Tweak for a good narrative. “We do a lot of
have their own language. Raised in the Deep South, Tweak research before we start writing a story,”
Headed by Tunip, their fish is unruled bunny who gets things says Adam Idelson, who is both a writer
biscuits and kelp cakes are done, faster than you can say “buncha and producer on Octonauts.
the talk of the sea. munchy, crunchy carrots”. She is
What makes the cartoon so clever is
the chief engineer and inventor
the way in which the learning is done
extraordinaire, always devising new
surreptitiously – a young viewer has no idea
‘Gups’ (the Octonaut vehicles).
that he or she is learning anything. “The
formula of the show is that you will meet a
strange creature who you might think is an
December 2018 BBC Wildlife 47
