''Rainbow Fish'' is a children's animated television series adapted from the book of the same name by

Marcus Pfister Marcus Pfister (born 30 July 1960 in Bern, Switzerland) is a Swiss author and illustrator of children's picture books. His ''Rainbow Fish'' series of children's picture books, published since 1992, has been a worldwide success. The books have bee ...

. However, the television series does not follow the plot of the book; instead, it takes the character and the setting to create new stories. For the show's purposes, some characters were added and others were expanded. In the series, the fish live in a place called Neptune Bay (named after

Neptune Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...

, the god of the sea), and attend "The School of Fish." The series also features a location called "Shipwreck Park," resembling the

wreck of the RMS Titanic The wreck of British ocean liner RMS ''Titanic'' lies at a depth of about , about south-southeast off the coast of Newfoundland. It lies in two main pieces about apart. The bow is still recognisable with many preserved interiors, despi ...

. The series was produced by

Decode Entertainment WildBrain Studios is the in-house television studio arm of Canadian entertainment company WildBrain based in Vancouver, British Columbia, which was established in 2016 as DHX Studios. History In January 2016, DHX Media announced that they woul ...

and EM.TV & Merchandising AG for

Sony Wonder Sony Pictures Kids Zone is the kids and family entertainment label of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and the former record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Despite the similarity in name, Sony Wonder is not directly related to the fo ...

. It originally aired for a single season of 52 episodes, from January 8 to December 24, 2000.

Characters

Rainbow Fish (also known simply as "Rainbow") (voiced by Rhys Huber) is a proud and feisty 9-year-old male

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

with shiny scales, and the main character of the series. He lives with his parents, Sol and Aqua, and his 12-year-old sister, Ruby, in a

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

near Shipwreck Park. Sea Filly the

Seahorse A seahorse (also written ''sea-horse'' and ''sea horse'') is any of 46 species of small marine Osteichthyes, bony fish in the genus ''Hippocampus''. The genus name comes from the Ancient Greek (), itself from () meaning "horse" and () meanin ...

(voiced by

Chantal Strand Chantal Strand (born October 15, 1987) is a Canadian voice and stage actress as well as former stunt performer known for her vocal roles in animation, anime and video games. Her vocal role credits include those for younger girl characters in t ...

) is a 9-year-old girl in the School of Fish. She is a beautiful

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are ...

-seahorse hybrid who is often seen reading books. She eventually becomes best friends with Rainbow Fish and Blue. She is friendly and has orange hair. Blue (voiced by

Andrew Francis Andrew Michael Scott Francis is a Canadian actor. He has appeared in many television shows and films including '' My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic'' as Shining Armor, '' MegaMan NT Warrior'' as MegaMan.EXE, '' Monster Rancher'' as Genki, '' ...

) is Rainbow Fish's best friend, a 9-year-old

bluefish The bluefish (''Pomatomus saltatrix'') is the only extant species of the family Pomatomidae. It is a marine pelagic fish found around the world in temperate and subtropical waters, except for the northern Pacific Ocean. Bluefish are known as ta ...

who is modest and contemplative. He has a baby sister named Turquoise. Blue is based on the small blue fish from the ''

Rainbow Fish ''The Rainbow Fish'' is a children's picture book drawn and written by Swiss author and illustrator, Marcus Pfister, and translated into English by J. Alison James. The book is best known for the distinctive shiny foil scales of the Rainbow Fi ...

'' book series by Marcus Pfister. Ruby (voiced by

Chiara Zanni Chiara Zanni () is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles as Amy Ryan on The N series '' About a Girl'' and Maggie Buckman on the CBC series '' Edgemont''. She is also known for her voice-work as Hahli in '' Bionicle: Mask of Light'' ...

) is Rainbow Fish's ruby-colored and bossy 12-year-old sister. She is often arrogant and self-centered. Although Ruby means well, she regularly gets Rainbow Fish into trouble because she occasionally gets jealous. Despite this, she loves him, just like their parents, Aqua and Sol. Aqua (voiced by Ellen Kennedy) is an aqua-colored fish and Rainbow's mother, while Sol (voiced by John Payne) is a purple-colored fish and Rainbow's father. They support their son and daughter in any way they can, always providing them with courage and love. Principal Gefilte (voiced by French Tickner) is the proud principal of the School of Fish, known for his strictness about behavior. Mrs. Chips (voiced by Ellen Kennedy) is the only teacher at the School of Fish, instructing students in art, history, mathematics, science, and literature. Wanda the Octopus (voiced by

Kathleen Barr Kathleen Barr is a Canadian voice actress. She is best known for voicing Marie Kanker and Kevin in ''Ed, Edd n Eddy'' and Trixie Lulamoon and Queen Chrysalis in '' My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic''. She also voiced Henri Richard Maurice ...

) is the wise owner of Neptune Bay's fast food restaurant. When Rainbow Fish and his friends are feeling down, she offers them sound advice. She is based on the Wise Octopus from the original book. Chomper (voiced by Christopher Gray) and Stingo (voiced by

Bill Switzer William Ashton Switzer is a Canadian actor. He is known for his work on the animated television series ''Mummies Alive!'' He had a leading role in '' Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension'' and he also performed in '' Sabrina: The Animated Series' ...

) are two bullies at the School of Fish. While they don’t physically harm others, they frequently bully and tease Rainbow Fish and his friends. Chomper is a shark, and Stingo is a stingray. Sherman Shrimp (voiced by

Alex Doduk Alexander Doduk (born December 21, 1989) is an American voice actor and former child actor who is well known for his roles in the films: ''Barbie in the Nutcracker'' (2001), ''Scary Godmother'' (2003), '' The Impossible Elephant'' (2001) and in t ...

) is the smallest student at the School of Fish, and as a result, everything looks big to him. Sir Sword (voiced by Colin Murdock) is a local swordfish, upper-class, and somewhat of a busybody. He is sometimes grumpy, sometimes civil, and tends to think of himself as superior to others.

Episodes

Broadcast

Internationally, the series aired on

Rai 3 Rai 3 (formerly Rai Tre) is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It was launched on 15 December 1979 and its programming is centred towards cultural a ...

in Italy, on La 2 and

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

(Small World) in Spain, on ARD in Germany, on

MTV3 MTV3 (, ) is a Finnish commercial television channel owned and operated by the media company MTV Oy, originally launched on 13 August 1957 as a programming block, becoming its own channel on 1 January 1993. It had the biggest audience share ...

in Finland, on

HBO Family Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based ...

in the United States, on

Tiny Pop Tiny Pop (styled as tiny POP) is a British free-to-air television channel, owned by Narrative Entertainment UK Limited. Broadcast on many of the major digital television platforms in the UK, Tiny Pop, which was launched on 8 September 2003 as ...

in the United Kingdom, and on

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

(Playhouse Disney) in Australia.

References

External links

* {{Teletoon 2000s American animated television series 2000s American children's television series 2000 American animated television series debuts 2000 American television series endings 2000s Canadian animated television series 2000s Canadian children's television series 2000 Canadian television series debuts 2000 Canadian television series endings 2000s German animated television series 2000 German television series debuts 2000 German television series endings American television shows based on children's books American children's animated fantasy television series Canadian television shows based on children's books Canadian children's animated fantasy television series German children's animated fantasy television series American preschool education television series Canadian preschool education television series Animated preschool education television series 2000s preschool education television series HBO original programming Teletoon original programming American English-language television shows Television series by WildBrain Television series by Sony Pictures Television Animated television series about children Animated television series about fish Children's television series about talking animals Television shows about mermaids