Fish Hooks
An animated series about fish in a pet-store high school.
Fish Hooks is an American animated television series created by Noah Z. Jones and developed by Alex Hirsch and William Reiss for Disney Channel. It aired for three seasons from September 3, 2010, to April 4, 2014, totaling 59 episodes. The show follows the lives of fish attending a submerged high school inside a pet store aquarium.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Slice of life; Animated sitcom
- Creator
- Noah Z. Jones
- Developer
- Alex Hirsch; William Reiss
- Director
- Maxwell Atoms
- C. H. Greenblatt
- Derek Evanick
- Diana Lafyatis
- William Reiss
- Mr. Warburton
- Voices
- Kyle Massey
- Justin Roiland
- Chelsea Kane
- Opening theme
- "Ring the Bell", Jeremy Fisher
- Composer
- Andy Sturmer
- Country
- United States
Facts from the source article.
Characters
Milo is a Siamese fighting fish who loves adventure and describes himself as a "party guy." He is very loud, often reckless, and always tries to find fun no matter what. His best friends are Bea and his older brother Oscar. In the episode "Fail Fish," it is revealed that Milo has an attention-related disability and can only learn things when he is in a near-death situation. Oscar is a catfish with an afro who is Milo's older brother. He is nervous, socially awkward, and spends a lot of time playing video games. He usually acts as the voice of reason and is constantly stressed, mainly because of Milo's wild behavior. Oscar is a neat-freak, and even though he and Milo are brothers, they are complete opposites and different species. For the first season, Oscar has a secret crush on Bea. This continues until around the middle of season two, when he starts liking an angelfish named Angela. At prom, Angela spends almost the whole time playing video games, and Oscar accidentally calls her Bea, which ends their relationship. After that, Oscar goes back to loving Bea, and Bea eventually feels the same way, so they become a couple in the final episode. Bea Goldfishberg is a goldfish who is very dramatic and wants to be a professional actress. For most of the series, she has no idea that Oscar likes her. She is self-centered and often brags about her acting and other talents, but she has a good heart. She loves drama and theater and is always joining school plays. By the end of the series, she finally starts a relationship with Oscar. Shellsea is a jewelfish who is Bea's best friend. She speaks in a flat, monotone valley girl voice and is usually pessimistic, but she truly cares about her friends. She loves fashion and takes pride in her appearance. She often has to pull Bea out of her dramatic fits or help solve her problems. She is friends with Finberley, Koi, and Esmargot, and like most of the other female characters, she has a big crush on Steve Jackson.
Production
In 2009, Disney Channels Worldwide's President of Entertainment Gary Marsh praised the show as original and inventive. The series is produced using a mix of 2D digital animation and photo collages. That pilot was further developed for television by Alex Hirsch and Bill Reiss. Main and recurring cast were announced in a Disney Channel press release on August 26, 2010.
Broadcast
The Disney Channel series Fish Hooks first aired as an 11-minute preview on September 3, 2010, right after the movie Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. Its official U.S. premiere followed on September 24, 2010, on Disney Channel, with a later debut on Disney XD on February 19, 2011. Canadian viewers saw a preview on September 3, 2010, before the show launched there on September 25, 2010. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, it began on November 6, 2010. Australia and New Zealand got a preview on October 2, 2010, with the full premiere on November 23, 2010. Latin America and Brazil started airing it on December 8, 2010. Southeast Asia saw its premiere on April 1, 2011, while South Africa had a preview on January 15, 2011, and a premiere on February 13, 2011. The complete series became available on Disney+ on April 3, 2020.
Reception
Fish Hooks received mixed reviews. David Perlmutter, in The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows, wrote that while the program started well, it quickly faltered, becoming obsessed with plotting the minutiae of its fishbowl universe and losing its creative touch. He criticized the voice acting as "incredibly shrill; loud; and, above all, hammy" and described the show as a "shotgun wedding" between Cartoon Network's hyperspace-paced narrative approaches and Disney's more measured style. A reviewer for Common Sense Media gave a more positive review, stating the show was entertaining and offered many life lessons about friendship and following dreams.
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