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Big Blue is a Canadian animated television series for children ages 5 to 9 created by Gyimah Gariba and produced by Guru Studio. The series debuted on CBC Kids on December 4, 2021 in Canada,[2][3] on Nicktoons on January 10, 2022 in the United Kingdom and on The Roku Channel on October 1, 2024 in the United States.[4] The series follows Lettie, and her crew as the Calypso in United Current, with her brother, Lemo, pals Freddie and Phil and Bacon Berry, who might just be the one who can save the Big Blue. They go on missions and explore the ocean and must stop the splat of pollution, the Blegh, who can only be defeated by Bacon Berry, and discover why and how they can care for each other around any predicament.
Big Blue | |
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Genre | |
Created by | Gyimah Gariba |
Developed by | Gyimah Gariba |
Directed by | Riccardo Durante |
Voices of | Kevin Duhaney Jeremy Harris Tianna MacDuff-Gibson Tal Shulman Bahia Watson |
Theme music composer | Jared Gutstadt Joel S. Silver Timbaland |
Composer | Joel S. Silver |
Country of origin | Canada United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 26 (52 segments) |
Production | |
Producers |
|
Running time | 22 minutes (two 11 minute segments) |
Production company | Guru Studio |
Original release | |
Network | CBC Kids / Radio Canada |
Release | December 4, 2021[1] – June 18, 2022 |
Plot
editSet in an underwater world where humans live alongside anthropomorphic sea creatures, the show is about the crew of the United Current submarine Calypso, composed of the Sibling Team Lettie and Lemo (who are the crew's captain and science officer, respectively), a laidback turtle named Freddie (the ship's mechanic), a nervous dolphin named Phil (the resident medic), and Bacon Berry, a childlike magical guardian of mysterious origin and power. Under the command of the diminutive Admiral Krill and his number two Commander Plink, they explore the seas and take on missions to defend the ocean from various threats, most prominently a sapient mass of pollution known as The Blegh that seeks to corrupt all of the Big Blue, while helping to redefine what a family means and how caring for one another is the most important thing of all.[5][6]
Characters
editMain characters
edit- Lettie (voiced by Bahia Watson) - the captain of the Calypso Crew. She takes her job and responsibility in a serious manner, therefore she can be irritated at the stuff Lemo does, but she knows how to get her team out of bad situations. She also has a soft side on Bacon Berry and is best friends with Commander Plink.
- Lemo (voiced by Kevin Duhaney) - the chief scientist and Lettie's little brother. He invents things that are not needed at times, and they usually either are not liked or they miserably fail, and Lettie does not like that, but he can also get the job done.
- Phil (voiced by Jeremy Harris) - an anthropomorphic medic bottlenose dolphin of the Calypso Crew, who sometimes gets nervous about missions, but he is loyal whenever he helps his crew mates. In the episode, "Fraidy Phil", it is revealed that he has a huge fear of sea spiders, and in "Captain Bossy Fins" his parents are seen for the first time, making him the only crew member who has parents.
- Freddie (voiced by Tal Shulman) - an anthropomorphic mechanical engineer sea turtle of the Calypso Crew who is laid back and occasionally sarcastic, but he can help fix anything in the Calypso when it goes wrong. In the episode "Dodge Bubble", it is revealed that he used to play dodgeball (or dodge bubble in this instance). He is also the only sea turtle in the series.
- Bacon Berry or BB (voiced by Tianna Macduff-Gibson) - the newborn guardian of the Big Blue and the Calypso Crew who has powers of the ocean. She sacrifices herself in order to save the Big Blue from the evil Blegh in the season finale "Return of the Blegh", which leads to the result of her transformation into flowers, and a new orb that she was born in appears at the end of the season finale with her eyes in it.
Supporting characters
edit- Admiral Krill (voiced by A.C. Peterson) - an anthropomorphic krill who is in charge of United Current.
- Commander Plink (voiced by Ana Sani) - Admiral Krill's number two of United Current and Lettie's best friend. In "Revenge of the Sibs", she has an adoptive family of angelfish.
- Mira Clearwater (voiced by Shannon Hamilton) - an anthropomorphic manta ray captain and rival of Lettie since they were cadets.
- King Puffypants (voiced by Jonathan Wilson) - an anthropomorphic pufferfish who is king of Pufferia; a kingdom with pufferfish.
- Remo (voiced by Jeremy Harris) - An anthropomorphic sardine who is a very serious science officer.
- Lea Lionfish (voiced by Mouna Traoré) - an anthropomorphic lionfish who is a famous television actor and singer.
Villains
edit- The Blegh (voiced by Ron Rubin) - A sentient ooze and Bacon Berry's arch-enemy whose goal is to pollute the Big Blue and take over the world. He was destroyed by Bacon Berry's sacrifice in the season finale "Return of the Blegh".
- Captain No Beard (voiced by Neil Crone) - a shark pirate.
- Spoony (voiced by Neil Crone) - Captain No Beard's first mate pirate red-bellied piranha.
- Cuddles (voiced by Brandon McGibbon) - An octopus thief.
Broadcast
editBig Blue first premiered on CBC Kids on December 4, 2021, at 10:15 AM EST, airing the first two episodes Goo in the Loo and Let's Get Kraken.
Shortly after, the series would premiere on Nicktoons in the United Kingdom and Ireland on January 10, 2022, at 8:00 AM BST on weekdays, with repeats being shown at 6:00 PM BST on weekends. It should also be noted that a sneak peek of the series aired in December, a month prior to the premiere in the United Kingdom.
On February 14, 2022, the series premiered on ABC Me at 4:20pm AEDT.
The series premiered on Cartoon Network in Africa on March 7, 2022, at 7:30 AM CAT.
The series subsequently aired on EBS 1 (South Korea), Boing and Boomerang (France), NRK Super (Norway), CTC Kids (Russia), Panda KIDS (Portugal), Clan (Spain), RTS 1 (Switzerland), MBC 3 (Middle East), and Cartoon Network (Latin America).
Streaming
editThe series was made available of CBC's CBC Gem service shortly after the premier of the series in Canada.
In the United Kingdom, the series is available to watch on Sky Kids, Sky Go and Now.
In Australia, the series is available to stream on ABC iview.
In China, the series is available to stream on Youku.
The series is available on The Roku Channel in the United States as of October 1, 2024, after Guru Studio and Roku struck a deal to distribute the series on the streaming service back in late 2023.[7][8]
Series overview
editEpisodes
editSeason 1 (2021–2022)
editNo. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Nicktoons UK air date | Prod. code | UK linear viewers (millions) | ||||||
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1 | "Goo in the Loo" | Riccardo Durante | Diana Moore | December 4, 2021 | January 12, 2022 | 101 | 8.7 | ||||||
"Let's Get Kraken" | Laurie Elliot | ||||||||||||
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2 | "Frenemies" | Riccardo Durante | Diana Moore | December 11, 2021 | January 10, 2022 | 102 | 4.9 | ||||||
"Plant in the Pipes" | Laurie Elliot | ||||||||||||
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3 | "Jellyous" | Riccardo Durante | Jason Hopley | December 18, 2021 | TBA | 103 | 9.0 | ||||||
"Fraidy Phil" | Tom Berger | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
4 | "BB on Board" | Riccardo Durante | Jason Hopley | December 25, 2021 | TBA | 104 | 5.0 | ||||||
"A Royal Mistake" | |||||||||||||
Note: This episode is an origin of how BB joins the Calypso Crew.
| |||||||||||||
5 | "Let It Go Lemo" | Riccardo Durante | Jason Hopley | January 1, 2022 | TBA | 105 | N/A | ||||||
"Arlo and Me" | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
6 | "Coral Circut" | Riccardo Durante | Ashley Lannigan | January 8, 2022 | TBA | 106 | N/A | ||||||
"Sub-divided" | Phil McCordic | ||||||||||||
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7 | "Engine Trouble" | Riccardo Durante | Tally Young Knoll | January 15, 2022 | TBA | 107 | N/A | ||||||
"Losing Lemo" | Ben Joseph | ||||||||||||
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8 | "My Li'l Captain" | Riccardo Durante | Jerome Simpson | January 22, 2022 | TBA | 108 | N/A | ||||||
"Walk the Plank" | Desmond Sargeant | ||||||||||||
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9 | "Diary Woes" | Riccardo Durante | Emer Connon | January 29, 2022 | TBA | 109 | N/A | ||||||
"Cruise Control" | Jeremy Winkels | ||||||||||||
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10 | "Crying Dutchman" | Riccardo Durante | Ben Joseph | February 26, 2022 | TBA | 110 | N/A | ||||||
"Remora Never More-a" | Tom Berger | ||||||||||||
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11 | "Change of Hearrrt" | Riccardo Durante | Mark Steinberg | March 5, 2022 | March 7, 2022 | TBA | N/A | ||||||
"Ooze on the Loose" | Ben Joseph | March 8, 2022 | |||||||||||
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12 | "Shell Game" | Riccardo Durante | Alex Ganetakos | March 12, 2022 | March 9, 2022 | TBA | N/A | ||||||
"The Good, The Bad and the Goopy" | Ashley Lannigan | March 10, 2022 | |||||||||||
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13 | "Lettiebot" | Riccardo Durante | Mark Steinberg | March 19, 2022 | March 11, 2022 | TBA | N/A | ||||||
"Quibbling Rivalry" | Tom Berger | March 14, 2022 | |||||||||||
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14 | "Funderstruck" | Riccardo Durante | Jeremy Winkels | March 26, 2022 | TBA | TBA | N/A | ||||||
"Fins Up" | Ashley Lannigan | ||||||||||||
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15 | "There's no Chair in Team" | Riccardo Durante | Emer Connon | April 2, 2022 | TBA | TBA | N/A | ||||||
"The Experiment" | Alex Ganetakos | ||||||||||||
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16 | "Revenge of the Sibs" | Riccardo Durante | Alex Ganetakos | April 9, 2022 | TBA | TBA | N/A | ||||||
"Photo Day Disaster" | Laurie Elliott | ||||||||||||
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17 | "Truthfully Yours" | Riccardo Durante | Emer Connon | April 16, 2022 | TBA | TBA | N/A | ||||||
"Dodge Bubble" | Ben Joseph | ||||||||||||
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18 | "Mini Mira" | Riccardo Durante | Jeremy Winkels | April 23, 2022 | TBA | TBA | N/A | ||||||
"Understudy Buddy" | Ashley Lannigan | ||||||||||||
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19 | "Better Never Than Late" | Riccardo Durante | Mark Steinberg | April 30, 2022 | TBA | N/A | |||||||
"Faith In Freddie" | Ben Joseph | ||||||||||||
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20 | "Game Nightmare" | Riccardo Durante | Phil McCordic | May 7, 2022 | TBA | TBA | N/A | ||||||
"Captain Lemo" | Desmond Sargeant | ||||||||||||
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21 | "My Dinner with Krill" | Riccardo Durante | Craig Martin | May 14, 2022 | TBA | TBA | N/A | ||||||
"What's Your Vector, Collector" | |||||||||||||
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22 | "A Night at the TheaRRR" | Riccardo Durante | Ashley Lannigan | May 21, 2022 | TBA | TBA | N/A | ||||||
"Hero Boy" | Jeremy Winkels | ||||||||||||
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23 | "Lemo vs. Phil" | Riccardo Durante | Craig Martin | May 28, 2022 | TBA | TBA | N/A | ||||||
"Busted" | |||||||||||||
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24 | "The Incredible Lemo, and his Dancing Sea Flea, Sloan!" | Riccardo Durante | Craig Martin | June 4, 2022 | TBA | TBA | N/A | ||||||
"Baby Bro No More" | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
25 | "Now You Sea Ghosts, Now You Don't" | Riccardo Durante | Craig Martin | June 11, 2022 | TBA | TBA | N/A | ||||||
"Captain Bossy Fins" | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
26 | "Ready Steady Lettie" | Riccardo Durante | Mark Steinberg | June 18, 2022 | TBA | TBA | N/A | ||||||
"Return of the Blegh" | Craig Martin | ||||||||||||
Note: The Blegh and Bacon Berry are the only characters to pass away, which was both at the same time in this episode, so this was shown emotional to viewers upon seeing BB’s sacrifice. However, Bacon Berry was revived by the end, whilst the Blegh isn’t revived. |
References
edit- ^ "Guru Studio's 'Big Blue' Greenlit by CBC/Radio-Canada". Animation World Network.
- ^ "Big Blue Title". IMDb.
- ^ "Garbia Make a Splash". January 6, 2022.
- ^ "Big Blue Launches Today on the Roku Channel!". Guru Studio. October 1, 2024.
- ^ "western animation / big blue".
- ^ "Coming in December".
- ^ "Guru Studio & Roku Ink Deal". World Screen - TVKIDS. October 10, 2023.
- ^ Milligan, Mercedes (June 6, 2024). "Guru's 'Big Blue' Inks Warner Bros. Discovery Deal, Sets U.S. Premiere with Roku". Retrieved December 25, 2024.