| Theme Music Composer: | Terry Fryer |
| Opentheme: | "Bubble Guppies Theme Song" |
| Endtheme: | Various ending themes |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 6 |
| Num Episodes: | 129 |
| List Episodes: | List of Bubble Guppies episodes |
| Runtime: | 22–23 minutes |
| Network: | Nickelodeon |
Bubble Guppies is an animated children's television series created by Jonny Belt and Robert Scull and developed by Belt, Scull, and Janice Burgess for Nickelodeon.[1] The series is a combination of the sketch comedy, edutainment, and musical genres, and revolves around the underwater adventures of a group of merperson preschoolers named Molly, Gil, Goby, Deema, Oona, Nonny, and Zooli.[2] The program premiered on Nickelodeon on January 24, 2011, and ran for six seasons until June 30, 2023. The series is produced using 3D software.
The series originally ended on October 21, 2016. Almost three years after the last episode of its original run, it was revived for a fifth season on June 4, 2019 with an order of 26 episodes. The fifth season premiered on September 27, 2019.[3] [4] On February 19, 2020, the show was renewed for a sixth and final season, which premiered on October 19, 2021.[5]
The episode starts with the show logo in a room and it is filling with water. Then the Little Fish breaks the fourth wall by saying the title of the show to the audience. The series starts with an introduction by Molly, saying 'Hi, it's me, Molly, and it's time for—' only to be stopped by Gil performing an act related to the episode's subject. One or both of the two then state 'It's time for Bubble Guppies!', and the theme song plays. After the theme song, the Little Fish say the episode's name.
An event may occur when one or more characters is on the way to school. For example, Avi breaks his tail in "Call a Clambulance!" when Oona is on the way to school. A guppy tells Mr. Grouper about the earlier experience. He suggests, "Let's think about it", and the characters discuss the theme. A pop song follows, focusing on the episode's main theme. Usually, Molly or Gil sing this song, but there are episodes where Deema or Mr. Grouper sing it instead.
One of the guppies may go to a shop that mostly focuses on the theme (example: a doctor's office in "Call a Clambulance!"). The owner of the shop (usually played by Deema) will ask questions about what they need. Jokes and silly responses will eventually lead to the correct necessity. Mr. Grouper often ends this segment by asking, "Excuse me, what time is it?" in a call and response pattern, with the guppies responding, "It's time for lunch!" three times.
At lunch, three of the characters make a food pun about the subject of the episode; usually done by Nonny. After lunch, another Gil and Molly sketch is shown.
After the sketch, some classroom activity is shown further reinforcing that episode's topic, or Mr. Grouper talks more about the theme. This is usually ended when Mr. Grouper says, "Line up everybody, it's time to go outside!" followed by the "outside song". Outside the classroom, the guppies act out a story about the theme, interfused with Adobe Flash-animated graphics. Once back inside, a dance song is typically performed. In Season 1, the dance song occurred before the story segment, and both were preceded by a second "Let's think about it" segment. After all that, Gil and Molly do another sketch.
The guppies may either go on a field trip (before which they yell out "FIELD TRIP!") or do a special activity that focuses on the theme. This may focus on a problem shown earlier and involves the key characters. The episode concludes with a final sketch by Gil and Molly, followed by a shorter version of the theme song. The credits then roll which include a song played earlier in that episode.
Season 5 introduced a new series format which keeps the initial format, but this time has the story segment take up the majority of the episode, and incorporates the shop and lunch segments into the narrative (basically with the new structure, the store and meal parts are now integrated into the story and the story section takes up the bulk of the show). Gil and Molly simply introduce themselves before the theme song with no opening gag. The show cuts right to school after the theme, and the dance songs and field trips were removed. With the exception of select special episodes, Mr. Grouper's overall presence in the show was primarily reduced to the beginning class segments. Gil and Molly's sketches were removed as well, instead having Mr. Grouper wave goodbye to the viewer as the guppies go back inside.
A significant contribution to the show's popularity is its two-level humor track. Minor characters include a police officer named Miranda and a winged serpent named Pretzel-coatl. Heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne guest starred as Sid Fishy in the 2015 episode "Super Guppies!",[6] while actor George Takei guest starred in a sci-fi mashup which pitted him as a Darth Vader-like armored villain against starship captain Gil and his first officer, Mr. Smart (Nonny). Recurring character Mr. Grumpfish is a reference to Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, while the episode "The Puppy and the Ring" makes in-jokes ranging from J. R. R. Tolkien to L. Frank Baum.
The revived series was not dubbed for UK release, and instead, the original airs. "The Jawsome Sharkventure!", however, used the British voices for the Baby Shark's Big Show! cast.[10]
Although it premiered on Nickelodeon in 2011, the show started production in 2009.
The series was created by the duo of Jonny Belt and Robert Scull, who had previously served as staff writers and executive producers on another Nickelodeon animated series, The Backyardigans (2004-2013), created by Janice Burgess. Burgess also developed the concept of Bubble Guppies with Belt and Scull. In addition, Belt and Scull served as supervising art director and supervising director, respectively; both were roles they held on The Backyardigans as well.
The voice cast is based in New York and California and the dialogue is recorded at New York-based Dubway Studios and Rhumba Recorders and Burbank-based Nickelodeon Animation Studio.
In addition to Nickelodeon Animation Studio, outsourced animation was provided by Wildbrain Entertainment for season 1, Nelvana for seasons 2 to 4, and Jam Filled Entertainment for seasons 5 to 6.
Originally the series ended with season 4 on October 21, 2016. In June 2019, an announcement was made that the series would return. It returned on September 27, 2019 with season 5 premiere. Season 6 premiered October 19, 2021, and ended June 30, 2023.
The series first premiered on January 24, 2011, the second season then premiering on November 4 of the same year. Season 3 premiered on August 12, 2013, with an episode entitled, "Get Ready for School!".[11] [12] Season 4 premiered on May 21, 2015. Season 5 premiered on September 27, 2019 after a three year hatitus .[13] Season 6 premiered on October 19, 2021.
During the run, the series premiered on the Nickelodeon channel. Reruns are on the Nick Jr. Channel.
See main article: List of Bubble Guppies episodes.
| Title | Season(s) | Episode count | Release date | Episodes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bubble Guppies | 1–2 | 4 | May 1, 2012 | "Bubble Puppy!", "Bubble Bites | ", and "Bubble Puppy's Fin-tastic Fairy Tale!" | |||
| On the Job! | 6 | February 5, 2013 | "Call a Clambulance!", "Build Me a Building | ", "The Grumpfish Special!", "Fishketball | ", "Firefighter Gil to the Rescue!", and "A Tooth on the Looth | " | ||
| Sunny Days! | May 28, 2013 | "The Legend of Pinkfoot!", "Gup, Gup and Away | ", "The Beach Ball!", "The Sizzling Scampinis | ", "Bubble Duckies!", and "Bring on the Bugs | " | |||
| Animals Everywhere! | 1–3 | March 11, 2014[14] | "Ducks in a Row!", "Boy Meets Squirrel | ", "The Lonely Rhino", "The Elephant Trunk-a-Dunk!", "The Arctic Life | ", and "Puppy Love!" | |||
| Get Ready for School! | July 29, 2014 | "The Moon Rocks!", "Check It Out | ", "Construction Psyched!", "Good Hair Day | ", "Get Ready for School!", and "Good Morning, Mr. Grumpfish | " | |||
| The Puppy and the Ring | 2–3 | 5 | June 2, 2015 | "Bubble-Cadabra!", "Sir Nonny the Nice | ", "The Wizard of Oz-tralia!", and "The Puppy and the Ring" | |||
| Fun on the Farm | 1–3 | May 10, 2016 | "The Spring Chicken is Coming!", "Have a Cow | ", "The Cowgirl Parade!", "The Bubble Bee-athalon | ", and "Bubble Kitty!" | |||
| Super Guppies | May 16, 2017 | "Haunted House Party!", "X Marks the Spot | ", "The Police Cop-etition!", "The Unidentified Flying Orchestra | ", and "Super Guppies!" | ||||
| Bubble Puppy's Awesome Adventures | 3–4 | May 8, 2018 | "The Wizard of Oz-tralia!", "Bubble Kitty | ", "The New Doghouse!", "The Temple of the Lost Puppy | ", and "Sheep Doggy!" | |||
| We Totally Rock! | 1, 3–4 | 4 | May 14, 2019 | "We Totally Rock!", "Super Shrimptennial Celebration | ", "Party at Sea!", and "Guppy Style | " | ||
A Bubble Guppies game was made for the Nintendo DS in 2012.[15] Common Sense Media gave the game 3 out of 5 stars.[16]
| Bubble Bops! | |
| Type: | Soundtrack |
| Artist: | The Bubble Guppies Cast |
| Genre: | Soundtrack, Children's music |
| Length: | 46:26 |
| Label: | Nickelodeon Records |