The Rainbow Fish
The Rainbow Fish is a children's picture book drawn and written by author and illustrator, Marcus Pfister, and translated into English by J. Alison James. The book is best known for its message about selfishness and sharing and for the distinctive shiny foil scales of the Rainbow Fish. Decode Entertainment turned the story into an animated television series of the same name, which aired on the HBO Family television channel in the United States and Teletoon in Canada from 1999 until 2000.[1]
 Original German cover | |
| Author | Marcus Pfister |
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| Illustrator | Marcus Pfister |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Language | German English |
| Genre | Children's book (illustrated) |
| Publisher | NordSüd Verlag |
Publication date | 1992 |
| ISBN | 978-3314015441 |
Plot
The story is about The Rainbow Fish, a fish with shiny, multi-coloured scales. He has blue, green, and purple scales. Interspersed with these colourful scales are shiny, holographic scales which are his favourites. One day, a small blue fish asks him if he could have one of his shiny silver scales. The Rainbow Fish refuses in a very rude manner. The small blue fish tells all the other fish that The Rainbow Fish was being rude, and as a result, the other fish do not want to play with him any more.
His only remaining friend, the starfish, tells him to go visit the wise octopus for advice. When he goes to the cave where the wise octopus lives, he sees the octopus, who says that she has been waiting for him. She explains that the waves have told her his story. Then, she gives The Rainbow Fish her advice: He must share his scales with the other fish. He might not be the most beautiful fish after that, but he will discover how to be happy. The Rainbow Fish says that he cannot share his favourite scales, and the wise octopus disappears in a cloud of ink.
When he encounters the little blue fish for a second time, The Rainbow Fish gives away one of his precious silver scales and sees the little fish's joy. With that one shiny scale gone, he immediately feels much better. Very soon, the Rainbow Fish is surrounded by the other fish requesting scales and he shares one of his shiny silver scales with the each of them. Soon, everyone in the ocean, has one shiny scale, including The Rainbow Fish. The Rainbow Fish is finally happy.
Theme
A Publishers Weekly reviewer called the book a "cautionary tale about selfishness and vanity".[2]
Controversy
Negative backlash against the story, especially its inclusion in early childhood education, has arisen from some readers, teachers, and parents [3][4] Since the plot involves the Rainbow Fish exchanging the scales which make him special for social acceptance after being shunned, the story has been interpreted in a negative light as encouraging forced sharing, changing or harming yourself to suit others, assimilation, and/ or the preference for mediocrity over being exceptional.
Book series
There are five other sequels in the Rainbow Fish book series:
- Rainbow Fish to the Rescue: About the acceptance and integration of foreigners.
- Rainbow Fish and the Big Blue Whale: About arguments and how to settle them.
- Rainbow Fish and the Sea Monster's Cave: About irrational and rational fears.
- Rainbow Fish Finds his Way: With the help of his new friends, Rainbow Fish finds his way back home.
- Rainbow Fish Discovers the Deep Sea: About modesty and happiness.
Short Film
On March 25, 1997, an animated adaptation of the story book was released on VHS and DVD. The home video releases also contain the film Dazzle the Dinosaur which is based on another book written by Pfister and published in 1994. The animated short film features a song called "Giving Makes You Special".
Television series
| Rainbow Fish | |
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| Created by | Marcus Pfister |
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| Directed by |
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| Starring |
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| Theme music composer |
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| Opening theme | "There's a Rainbow in the Water" sung by Blu Mankuma and Saffron Henderson |
| Ending theme | "There's a Rainbow in the Water" (Instrumental) |
| Country of origin |
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| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 52 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
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| Running time | 25 minutes per episode (approx.) |
| Production company(s) |
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| Distributor | Sony Wonder TV-Loonland AG |
| Release | |
| Original network | |
| Picture format | 16:9 |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | January 2000, 8 – December 2000, 25 |
The Rainbow Fish was adapted into a children's animated television series in 1999.[5] However, the television series does not follow the plot of the book; rather it takes the character and the setting and creates a new story with them. Some characters were added and others embellished for the purposes of the show. In the series, the place where the fish live is called Neptune Bay (after Neptune, god of the sea). The fish attend school, which is aptly named "The School of Fish". There is a shipwreck called "Shipwreck Park" in the series that resembles the wreck of the RMS Titanic. It was produced by Decode Entertainment and EM.TV for Sony Wonder. 26 episodes were produced.[6]
Characters
Rainbow Fish: A proud, vibrant fish that lives with his parents and sister. He was voiced by Rhys Huber.
Sea Filly: In the first episode, Sea Filly is a new girl in school. She is a beautiful seahorse, though she is half mermaid, half seahorse. She eventually becomes friends with Rainbow and Blue. She is often seen reading books. She was voiced by Chantal Strand.
Blue: Rainbow Fish's best friend, who is more down-to-earth and thoughtful than Rainbow Fish. He is a blue fish and has a baby sister called Turquoise. He was voiced by Andrew Francis.
Ruby: She is Rainbow Fish's older sister who is a teenager. She is arrogant, bossy, self-centered and ruby-coloured. She regularly gets Rainbow Fish into trouble, because she gets jealous, although she actually loves him. She was voiced by Chiara Zanni.
Sol and Aqua: Aqua is an aqua-colored fish and is Rainbow Fish's mother. Sol is purple and is Rainbow's dad. They help their daughter and son whatever way they can and will always provide them with great courage. Sol was voiced by John Payne whilst Aqua was voiced by Ellen Kennedy.
Principal Gefilte: The proud Principal of the School of Fish, he is strict about behaviour. He was voiced by French Tickner.
Mrs. Chips: The teacher of the school. She teaches history, mathematics, science, and literature. She was voiced by Ellen Kennedy.
Wanda the Octopus: She is the owner of the Neptune Bay fast food restaurant. She is very wise and when Rainbow Fish and his friends are down she will always give them advice. She was voiced by Kathleen Barr.
Chomper and Stingo: The two bullies of the school. They do not really commit acts of physical violence but they can bully and tease Rainbow Fish and his friends. Chomper is a shark while Stingo is a stingray. Chomper was voiced by Christopher Gray and Stingo was voiced by Bill Switzer.
Sherman the salt-water shrimp: The smallest of the school. To him, everything looks big. He was voiced by Alex Doduk.
Sir Sword: Local swordfish, upper-class and a bit of a busybody. He is sometimes grumpy, and sometimes civil, but always seems to think he is better than everyone else. He was voiced by Colin Murdock.
Episodes
| 1 | "Rainbow Fish and the New Girl at School" | A new girl, Sea Filly (who is a seahorse) comes to Rainbow Fish's school and Rainbow and his best friend Blue welcome her. | 8 January 2000 |
| 2 | "Rainbow Fish Meets Wayne Grunion" | Rainbow is excited to meet his hero, renowned hockey star Wayne Grunion when he comes to town for a visit. | 15 January 2000 |
| 3 | "Rainbow Fish Plays the Conch Shell" | In the school band, Rainbow Fish is assigned the conch shell, the hardest instrument in the band to play. Rainbow is then forced to practice and he does so, making for a better performance at the school concert. | 22 January 2000 |
| 4 | "Riptide" | When Rainbow Fish and his friends attempt a dangerous sport called 'Riptiding', Blue is swept away on a riptide and his friends must find him. | 29 January 2000 |
| 5 | "Rainbow Gets an 'A"' | Rainbow Fish gets a bad report card, but after he spills a kelp gusher on it, his parents mistake the "C" grade for an "A". Rainbow must prevent them from meeting Principal Gefilte and learning the truth. | 4 February 2000 |
| 6 | "Grandpa's Fishy Tale" | Rainbow is not enthusiastic about spending time with his grandpa while his parents are away at the store, thinking he will be bored, but when his grandpa tells him an amazing story that hides an incredible secret, Rainbow discovers that old people can be exciting after all. | 11 February 2000 |
| 7 | "Rainbow's Dental Dilemma" | Rainbow fears visiting the dentist, but when he goes, he discovers that dentists aren't as bad as he thought they were. | 18 February 2000 |
| 8 | "Rainbow Fish and the Pop Star" | Rainbow mistakenly brags to his friends that he knows the famous pop star, Bruce Sturgeon, which lands him in trouble and causes him to force Bruce Sturgeon himself to perform at the school. | 25 February 2000 |
| 9 | "Sherman Shrimp" | A new student, Sherman Shrimp, comes to school and Rainbow Fish treats him badly. However, after Sherman saves Rainbow from a shipwreck, Rainbow realizes that he has been bad to Sherman all along. | 3 March 2000 |
| 10 | "Lost in Crumbling Canyon" | Chomper, the school bully, gets lost in a canyon with Rainbow Fish, and the two opposites must work together to find their way out. | 10 March 2000 |
| 11 | "The Golf Lesson" | Rainbow fools around with his father's golf club and breaks it, causing him to search for a new one before his father's big game with Sir Sword. | 17 March 2000 |
| 12 | "Ruby's Adventures in Babysitting" | Ruby decides to babysit their guppy neighbors' baby, Ferdie, and says Rainbow is too irresponsible to help her. However, Ferdie turns out to be more troublesome than expected and runs away. Rainbow then finds him and Ruby apologizes for what she said. | 24 March 2000 |
| 13 | "Sir Sword Goes Back to School" | Sir Sword needs to finish third grade, so he attends Rainbow's school. | 31 March 2000 |
| 14 | "Rainbow de Bergerac" | Blue has a crush on Goldie, but he's too shy to ask her on a date, so Rainbow tells him what to say via a communicator made by Sea Filly. However, Chomper and Stingo soon ruin the plan. | 7 April 2000 |
| 15 | "Big Fish on Campus" | When Blue becomes a hall monitor, he lets the power go to his head. | 14 April 2000 |
| 16 | "Sibling Rivalry" | Blue gets a new baby sister and he feels left out because of the attention his mom and friends are giving to the baby. | 21 April 2000 |
| 17 | "One Fish's Treasure" | Rainbow lines a sea-monkey bowl with his sister Ruby's magazine, in process ruining the magazine. | 28 April 2000 |
| 18 | "Project Rainbow Fish" | Rainbow learns a lesson about charity and works on a project involving it. | 5 May 2000 |
| 19 | "Ruby Slips In" | Ruby starts spending time with Rainbow, Blue and Sea Filly, leading Rainbow to believe she is trying to steal his friends. | 12 May 2000 |
| 20 | "Working Fish" | Rainbow gets a job at the Candy Counter to earn money. | 19 May 2000 |
| 21 | "Cecil B. Derainbow" | Rainbow takes up making movies and casts himself as the director. | 26 May 2000 |
| 22 | "Rainbow's Pen Pal" | Rainbow's pen pal is coming to visit him and Rainbow is excited. | 2 June 2000 |
| 23 | "Campus Current" | Sea Filly becomes the editor of the school newspaper. Unfortunately, in her enthusiasm for journalism however, she soon becomes nothing but a tabloid gossip columnist and no fish is safe from her probing and humiliating articles. Rainbow comes up with a plan that ends with Sea Filly writing an untrue article about Principal Gefilte and losing her job. Sea Filly learns that real journalists have a responsibility to print only what they know is true. | 9 June 2000 |
| 24 | "Fish Alone" | Burglars break into Rainbow's house one afternoon and ruin it. | 16 June 2000 |
| 25 | "Rainbow Fish and the In Crowd" | Rainbow and Blue start hanging out with a new clique called the High Tides, to the chagrin of Sea Filly. | 23 June 2000 |
| 26 | "Knights of the Coral Table" | Sir Sword lends Rainbow a book that he becomes hooked on and cannot stop reading. | 30 June 2000 |
| 27 | "Bad Luck, Ruby" | When Ruby encounters a series of unfortunate events one day, she believes that she has been cursed. | 7 July 2000 |
| 28 | "Father's Day" | Rainbow's class has Dads' Day at school and all students' fathers are invited to describe their jobs. Rainbow is worried, as he thinks his father has a boring job. | 14 July 2000 |
| 29 | "Prehistoric Pal" | Rainbow finds a hole in the ground that an extinct coelacanth called Carl swims out of. However, Carl spends most of his time in the modern world trying to impress Ruby. | 21 July 2000 |
| 30 | "May the Better Fish Win" | Rainbow and Blue compete for the role of class president. They both try to impress Sea Filly in order to get her vote. | 28 July 2000 |
| 31 | "Blue's Fishy Catch" | Blue wins the clamball championship for his school, but only because no one saw him drop the ball. | 4 August 2000 |
| 32 | "To Catch a Thief" | Rainbow is suspicious of his sister when she starts acting oddly. However, it turns out she is just making a surprise gift for their parents. | 11 August 2000 |
| 33 | "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" | Rainbow's mum invites his teacher, Mrs. Chips, to dinner, and Rainbow is worried that she will act like a teacher. | 18 August 2000 |
| 34 | "It's a Wonderful Fish" | A guardian angel fish shows Rainbow the value of his life. | 25 August 2000 |
| 35 | "Moving Day" | Rainbow fears his parents are planning to sell the house to two fish called Ret and Snapper, and so his friends attempt to make his house as much of a wreck as possible to avoid it being sold. However, Rainbow then discovers his parents were planning to build a new recreation room. | 1 September 2000 |
| 36 | "A Romantic Dinner" | Rainbow and Ruby prepare an anniversary dinner for their parents. | 8 September 2000 |
| 37 | "The Bodyguard" | Rainbow saves a whale's life, and, in return, the whale becomes his bodyguard. | 15 September 2000 |
| 38 | "Mum's Away" | Rainbow is not pleased when his mother gets a job in his school. | 22 September 2000 |
| 39 | "How Sea Filly Got Her Groove Back" | After being teased by her classmates for not being feminine enough, Sea Filly decides to take up cheerleading, causing Blue and Rainbow to worry about her becoming a different person. | 29 September 2000 |
| 40 | "High Tide Noon" | Rainbow is embarrassed after failing to stand up to Rocko Rockfish, a bullying second grader. | 6 October 2000 |
| 41 | "Game Girl" | After watching Rainbow and Blue play it, Sea Filly becomes addicted to a video game called Clam Blaster and hardly does anything else. | 13 October 2000 |
| 42 | "There's No Business Like..." | Rainbow, Blue, and Sea Filly hearing the tale of two feuding crabs who were once song-and-dance partners, and set out to bring them back together. | 20 October 2000 |
| 43 | "Sea Filly Needs a Helping Fin" | Sea Filly gets a bad grade on a math test and worries greatly. | 27 October 2000 |
| 44 | "Prince Blue" | When Blue looks at his book and mistakenly thinks his ancestors were royalty, he starts behaving like a prince. | 3 November 2000 |
| 45 | "Pool Shark" | When Chomper's relative, a pool-playing master, comes to Wanda's refreshment shop, he beats everyone in pool by secretly cheating. Rainbow, unaware of this at first, is in awe and decides to become his assistant, then discovers his secret. Rainbow then declares a match to determine that Chomper's relative is cheating. Rainbow then wins, and the other player leaves the shop forever. | 10 November 2000 |
| 46 | "Halloween Under H2O" | Rainbow tries to put Sea Filly in the Halloween spirit, then has a haunting Halloween dream, and wakes up to find Sea Filly has scared him in his sleep. | 17 November 2000 |
| 47 | "An Eviction Notice" | Phineas T. Gronch is planning to demolish the Mollusk Reef Villas and Neptune Bay to build a shopping mall. Rainbow, Blue and Sea Filly have to stop him. | 24 November 2000 |
| 48 | "The Vacation" | Rainbow and his family go on a camping trip. | 1 December 2000 |
| 49 | "Cave Mates" | Blue and Rainbow's friendship is tested when Blue comes to stay at Rainbow's house. | 8 December 2000 |
| 50 | "Chomper, Master Thespian" | Chomper is given the lead role in the school play, but he mistakenly believes acting is for wimps. | 15 December 2000 |
| 51 | "Rainbow's Hiccups" | Rainbow's love of kelp gusher drinks causes him to get hiccups. | 22 December 2000 |
| 52 | "Santa Sword Is Coming To Town" | Rainbow Fish helps Sir Sword dressed as Santa Sword on Christmas Eve. | 25 December 2000 |
References
- Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 651. ISBN 978-1476665993.
- "Children's Book Review: The Rainbow Fish". Publishers Weekly.
- https://humanparts.medium.com/why-i-hate-rainbow-fish-87fab42beef6
- https://bookriot.com/the-rainbow-fish/
- Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 488. ISBN 978-1538103739.
- Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. pp. 251–252. ISBN 9781476672939.