Fish

**Fish** is an Emmy-award winning American animated television series created by Thatstuff in 2003 for Kingson and produced by Stuff Productions. The series focuses on a group of fish that have adventures in their hometown, Oceago. During its lifetime, the show has won 7 awards, and has been nominated for 11. The show has also gained a large audience, from kids to adults. In 2017 Thatstuff made a revival of the series, which also ran on Kingson, and announced plans for a direct-to-video third movie. Merchandising includes various clothes, video games, books, collectible action figures, and home releases.

The show is rated TV-Y7, for mild violence and intense scenes.

## Premise

Four aquatic creatures (Steven, a butterfly fish; Matt, a clownfish; Will, an octopus; and Stan, a parrotfish) have adventures in Oceago. Along the way they discover new places in the ocean, and fight villains. The friends also just have fun together, reading comic books and watching television, and hanging out at each other's houses.

Villains attempt to take over Oceago or some other plot, and usually the villains are stopped by some deus ex machina/unexpected occurrence.

## Episodes

* *Main Article(s): List of Fish episodes*

## Development

### Conception

Thatstuff (creator of such shows as The Amazing Adventures of Frog and Toad and Moo) decided to make a show about ocean life. He started sketching a frightened butterflyfish next to a goofy-looking clownfish. After he finished the drawing, he decided to pitch his idea to a kids network.

### Pitching

The show was pitched to Kingson by Thatstuff, saying he wanted one of his shows there. In a chat with Hat (Kingson's owner) it was accepted and work began soon after.

## Production

### Writing

The show is written by Thatstuff and Hat (with occasional other writers.) Typically, the scripts take about 3 weeks to form a rough draft, and then they are looked over to see if everything holds place. The script is then rewritten with lots of jokes and new elements added in. After this the script is sent to the voice actors.

### Voice acting

Voice acting generally takes 1-2 weeks at the most. The actors voice the characters in 1-3 hour long sessions, each line usually taking 3-5 takes to get perfectly. All the lines are recorded in this way, and after this the storyboards are sent in.

### Storyboarding

The storyboards are, in case you didn't know, basically drawings of the script. Storyboarding usually takes about a month. Storyboards are a good opportunity to insert visual gags.

### Animation

The show is animated using cels (digital ink and paint from 2005-present) and occasional CGI and live action along with stock footage, which in case you didn't know is called a Mixed-Media style. The animation is done by Stuff Productions, Thatstuff's vanity company. Animation usually takes place after the storyboards are approved. An animator takes the storyboards, draws them using cels and digital animation. The animating usually takes 4-6 months. After the animation is complete, the episode takes about 2 months to prepare for the airing.

### Setting

The show takes place in Oceago, a large underwater metropolis. The city is based off of a visit to Chicago the creator had as a child.

## History

### Prerelease

The show airing on Kingson first came up in a January 2002 interview with Thatstuff. He said in the interview: *"I have plans to make a show for a network like Kingson, you know, the channel with Risky Frizz? I don't know what it'll be about, but I think Hat would allow me to air it on Kingson."*

In March 2002, the show was revealed to be about fish, though some had known as early as February from a hidden sketch of the show (see Conception) on Stuff's website. Working titles for the show included *"Life in the Ocean"* and *"Bubbles"* until Stuff decided on *"Fish"*. The new name was announced at San Diego Comic Con 2002, along with many other details, such as character names and the premise, at the Kingson panel.

In early August, work began on the pilot for Kingson, which was later released on the official DVD of Fish The Movie as an easter egg. Every character was voiced by Thatstuff and random coworkers at Stuff Productions, and the animation was done at an unknown Hong Kong studio. The pilot was finished on August 28, lasting 5 minutes long. The pilot was also leaked on YouTube until 2012. The episode was never shown on television.

In early October, more announcements were made about the show, and the official website went up, along with 3 clips from the first episode (which was in production at the time).

In November, promos for the show started airing on Kingson. These continued until late December. In addition to this, the first episode finished production, and was in the midst of being released.

The day before the premiere, clips already started airing, between shows and commercial breaks. The clips lasted 30 seconds-2 minutes long, usually.

Right before the world premiere on Kingson on January 5, 2003, specially made clips based around the characters meeting other Kingson characters aired (which are now lost and are only found on some VHS captures.)

### World Premiere

The show made its world premiere on Kingson on January 5, 2003, at 6:00 pm. About 3.24 million viewers watched the series premiere, giving the show a successful start.

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### Fandom

The show's fandom is a large one resembling SpongeBob and Amazing World of Gumball's fandom. The show has its own subreddit and internet forum, which fans discuss the show on. The show also has a huge following on DeviantArt and Fanfiction.net, as well as other social media sites.

#### Memes

Fads that have spread among the Fish community. TBA

## Audience statistics

* Under 5: 2% of views
* 5-8: 11% of views
* 8-10: 24% of views
* 10-13: 16% of views
* 13-17: 19% of views
* 17-34: 20% of views
* 34-56: 7% of views
* Over 56: 1% of views

## Websites

### Kingson website

The official site for Fish on kingson.us.net is kingson.us.net/shows/Fish. The site went up in October 2002.

It has the following things:

* 144 clips from episodes
* Every full episode (the 10 latest episodes for free if you don't have a Kingson Prime membership\*)
* Crafts and printables
* 13 different flash games
* 1 "what character are you?" quiz
* Character section which gives a bio of each character
* Link to the discussion forum
* About The Show and its crew and cast

*\*after the show ended, the best episode from each season (voted by fans) was available for free.*

## Television Content Ratings

### US

* Kingson: TV-Y7, TV-Y7-FV, TV-PG
* Supernova: TV-Y7

## Reception

The show has gained overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics for its clever writing. IGN ranked it number 57 on their top cartoons of all time. It also is ranked high in many lists of best Kingson series.

### Critical reception

Many critics loved the show, calling it *"A breath of fresh air from many of the sillier shows on Kingson such as Risky Frizz"*. However, Common Sense Media gave the show 2 stars, saying that "The jokes often fall flat, and the characters are rude to each other. The show may be too repetitive for its target audience, since some episodes have various gags and jokes that run on for too long." More TBA

### Internet reception

* IMdB: 7.8/10
* TV.com: 8.2/10
* Metacritic: 75/10

In phantomstrider8's list of top Kingson series, the show is no. 10. TBA

## Trivia

* In 2008, an entire theme park ride was built in Universal Studios just for the promotion of the second movie.
* There is a random word repeated throughout the series, "bottle". It currently has no point except for comic effect (however there are fan theories about the meaning this has in the series), and made its debut in the Season 2 episode "Bottle", making an appearence in every episode since then. It could be a reference to the Kingson series Risky Frizz, in which the main character is a bottle of soda.
* The show within-a-show "The Amazing Not-So-Amazing Hyperbolic Awesome Funny Hall of Fame Adventures of a Bee Named Trevor Who Goes on Amazing Adventures With His Pals Troy and Trent" was actually spun off in 2007 in a miniseries with 8 episodes. It aired on Kingson.
* The series is known for its occasional dark humor and feels.
* A bootlegged Steven toy sold sometime in 2015, with the captions "Steven the Universe" on the box (complete with Steven Universe pictures on the back) and a creepy looking smile, became a popular meme in the community after a fan noticed the toy in a dollar store, and posted it on the blogging site Tumblr.
* The show uses various animation styles, usually for comic effect. It also uses lots of stock live action footage, similar to SpongeBob SquarePants.
* Unlike most other shows, all characters are voiced by the staff for the show (except celebrity cameos). This is because no voice actors could get the parts exactly as wanted.

## Merchandising

### Home releases

#### DVDs

Note that Fish episodes made appearances on the first 4 editions of the Kingson Classics DVD series.

* **Fish: The Complete <insert season number here> Season**: Includes all of the episodes of the season, and commentary by Stuff and an occasional other crew member. Also includes sneak peaks of other Kingson shows.
* **Fish: The Complete Series**: Includes every episode of the show ever (even the banned ones), commentary on almost every episode, both movies, lots of sneak peeks, deleted scenes, games, concept art, early scripts, 6 featurettes, Fish website promo, fanimations and fanart, character bios, printables, secret computer game accessed by a code in a paper inside the case of the DVD, promos for Fish and other Kingson shows, 2 coloring sheets, how to draw all of the main characters, and an interview with Stuff, many hidden interactive easter eggs, old bumpers, 2 commercials for the show's release, and others.
* **Fish: The Top Ten Best Episodes**: A collection of the best episodes based on an online poll taken by Kingson watchers. Order TBA
* **Fish: The Babysitter (and other episodes)**: A collection of 6 Season 1 segments.

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### Video games

* **Fish: The Game**: A game based off the Fish movie. The game is largely platformer/action, and was released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube.
* **Fish (LeapPad game)**: A game for the LeapPad was released in 2007. It mainly has educational games featuring the characters.

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### Books

* **Encyclopedia Oceanica: The Fish Encyclopedia**: A book of the series, released in 2008, that discusses characters, episodes, and other things.

## Movies

*Main article: Fish: The Movie*

A movie based on the series called Fish: The Movie was released in 2005. Directed by Thatstuff, it focuses on a fisherman capturing Matt and other fish, and Shark teaming up with Steven, Will and Stan to save the day (and Matt). Noted for being darker than the series, the movie got lots of positive reviews.

### Fish: The Deep Sea

*Main Article: Fish: The Deep Sea*

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## Reboot

Series creator Thatstuff announced a reboot in early 2016. The series began production in June, and went on the air in January 2017. The series aired on Kingson, and had mostly the same premise as the original.

## Broadcasting

### USA

* Kingson (2003-2010, 2011-present (reruns))
* StuffNetwork (2003-present (reruns))
* Nicktoons TV (2016-present (reruns))
* Featherman Network (2016-present (reruns))
* KaSplat! (2016-present (reruns))

### UK

* Kingson (2003-2010, 2013-present (reruns))
* Nickelodeon (2008-present)
* PowerGo (2016-present)

### Timeslot

* Kingson: New episodes aired at 4:00 pm on weekdays and 6:00 pm on weekends. Syndicated episodes now air in the block, Kickstarter.
* StuffNetwork: Random times
* Nicktoons TV: random times
* KaSplat!: Random times of the day, but mostly at 7:00 am.

## Controversies

### Banned episodes

* **Apple Tree**: Banned for not very subtle and rather insensitive rape and masturbation jokes. The intention was to make an episode that would be remembered for "edginess", but they created an episode that made many parents ban Kingson itself from their homes, causing viewership to drop rapidly. It caused one of Kingsons declinations, and is still looked down upon today.
* **Gregory's Room**: Banned in Canada and the UK for rather creepy imagery, however it was unbanned in 2017 in the UK when Fish returned to Kingson+, but is still banned in Canada.

## Tropes

For a full TVTropes page (including YMMV and Crowning Moment of Funny) see Fish/Tropes.

## Statistics

* **130 episodes**
* **8 seasons**
* **23 total different characters (not including background characters or one-time characters)**
* **243 characters in all**
* **8 voice actors**
* **22 staff members**
* **2 theatrical movies**
* **One direct to video movie**
* **12 specials and TV movies**
* **8 video games**
* **3 billion dollars earned from merchandise and promotion**
* **145 pop culture references**
* **127 Getting Crap Past The Radar moments**
* **2 banned episodes**
* **137 countries broadcasting in**
* **105 mixed-media moments**
* **102 fourth wall breaks**
* **1 soundtrack album**
* **23 original songs**
* **34 books**

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