Sea Princesses

Plot

The series takes place in the World of Salacia, a hidden underwater kingdom founded by the goddess Salacia. There, a human-like race called the Salinos lives in harmony with sea creatures, each species ruled by a royal family. Salacia's most important law forbids contact with surface humans, known as Drylanders. The main protagonists are three elementary school girls: Polvina, Tubarina, and Ester. They attend Sea School under teacher Marcia and often learn about the ocean while helping sea creatures in danger.

Concept and Production

After his Combo Rangers comic was canceled in 2004 due to lack of funds, Fábio Yabu created a new series aimed at young girls. He initially drew a girl with octopus-shaped hair who became Polvina, though he had never liked the sea. Yabu planned an animated series but, facing difficulty creating animation in Brazil in the 2000s, instead made a picture book. A website hosted under UOL was launched. The first book's popularity led to more books, products, and eventually an animated adaptation in 2007. The franchise ended in 2010 with the final book; the website was last updated in 2012 and deactivated in 2014, as Yabu returned to the Combo Rangers graphic novel trilogy.

Characters

Polvina, Princess of the Octopuses, is calm, friendly, and often leads the trio. She loves reading and risks herself to help friends. In the books her hair and clothes are red; in the animation they are pink. She is voiced by Isabella Dunwill.

Esther, the yellow Princess of the Starfish, is Polvina and Tubarina's best friend since babyhood. She is the most mischievous and immature of the three. She is voiced by Katherine Cohn Beck. Tubarina, the blue Princess of the Sharks, is daughter of the powerful King Shark and sister of Vito.

She is temperamental, bossy, and arrogant but learns from mistakes. She is voiced by Paige Walker. Marcello, Prince of Hammerhead Sharks and Tubarina's cousin, often acts as an antagonist with his friend Hugo but sometimes helps the girls. He originated in the cartoon and was later added to the books.

Bia, Princess of the Abyssal Kingdom, maintains order in the Beyondness sea and cares for the throne while her parents travel. She is sensitive to light and leaves only at night. She is voiced by Roslyn Oades.

TV series

The animated TV series was co-produced by Southern Star Entertainment (Australia) and Neptuno Films (Spain), with Brazilian company Flamma Films supervising under Fábio Yabu. In Brazil and Latin America, it premiered on Discovery Kids on March 24, 2008, and later aired on TV Cultura on July 12, 2010, broadcasting only the first season. The series aired in dozens of countries. In the United States, it appeared on Discovery Familia (dubbed into Latin American Spanish) and Discovery Junior.

In 2010, it debuted on Nick Jr. in Australia and later on the Seven Network; it was also confirmed for Treehouse. All characters speak with American accents despite being voiced by Australian actors. The cartoon shows Polvina, Esther, and Tubarina as friends since babyhood, whereas the first book depicts them meeting on the first day of school. The TV series omits technology and servants shown in the books, and rarely features commoner Salinos except for teacher Miss Marla.