Octonauts on TV around the world

Well, shiver me timbers and blow me down. The Octonauts are now an animated TV show and it debuted this month in the United Kingdom, France, and South America!

They started in the King's English on the esteemed BBC in the UK, on the children's channel CBeebies, which also broadcasts worldwide. Though the web episode player is restricted from operating in non-sanctioned territories (i.e. the USA), you can enjoy some fun stuff.

We always imagined what Captain Barnacles would sound like if he became James Bond. Note, Sauci dog is now called "Dashi"!

Octonauts "sub" site:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/octonauts/

Listen to the Theme Tune!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/octonauts/songs/octonautsthemetune/

Dance to the Creature Report

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/octonauts/watch/octonautsclips/

Play at the TV show's site

http://www.theoctonauts.com/

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On the continent, the home station in France is TF1. The title translation is very debonair, and we're confident that Dr. Shellington sounds very convincing in French.

Les Octonauts

http://videos.tf1.fr/octonauts/

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In South America, the team has found their headquarters on Discovery Kids. From the sound of it, the ocho amigos will give telenovelas on Telemundo a run for their pesos. Vegimals must be even more cute when they babble in Spanish.

Los Octonautas

http://www.tudiscoverykids.com/
http://www.discoverykidsbrasil.com/
"Os Octonautas e a Tempestade Submarina/Os Octonautas e a Lula Gigante"

All in all, many more adventures await. We're glad that the rest of the globe can learn not only how the Octonauts can be such a treat, but also help them learn more about the ocean and its creatures. Of course, there is no substitute to enjoy our original 4 missions - the Immedium books that started it all!

So turn in if you're travelling and let us know that your TV tube time was well spent!

Space Cadet Topo

Calling all you wanna be astonauts!

Next up is our 2nd new book of the fall season. Topo lives the dream of many a child - he monitors the universe from his rotating space station and helps out extra terrestrials in need.

Being a good space cadet, he wants to become space commander one day! That means, he is eager to undertake missions that would turn a regular terran's knees to jelly!

The following surprise assignment certainly qualifies...the sun has mysteriously turned off and needs to be turned back on before everything freezes forever! Ooops.

Well, that's not all. The only way to accomplish that impossible mission is to use the mythical "galactic torch"... and no one in eons has ever been able to do that.

Of course, Topo may be the right mole for the job. He is a cheery fellow and aided by his intrepid robot friends.

The Argentinian artists DGPH have created a colorful universe in Space Cadet Topo: the Day the Sun Turned Off. Bursting at the seams with life and wit, outer space has never seemed so much fun (let's forget about that dark matter for the moment). Kids will get a kick out of this brave astronaut's fantastic voyage, and parents can appreciate these entertaining adventures on the little printed screen.

Sid the Squid

New book alert! We're a little tardy in celebrating the annual Cephalopod Awareness Day (October 10), but here goes anyway.

Sid is no ordinary squid. Given the fact that he has 10 appendages (8 tentacles + 2 arms), he wants to use them all to the best of his ability. He's scoured the seas and had no luck. So he is willing to travel up to the human world on a rumor that he could find the perfect job there.

In that sense, Sid is the same as you and me. Everyone likes a little adventure. But certainly one is willing to travel the extra yard in the hope they could find some fulfilling work. Self-actualization is as important for a cephalopod as it is for a homo sapiens.

Sid the Squid and the Search for the Perfect Job is the first story by David Derrick, a story artist at Dreamworks. Dave recently contributed to the summer flick How to Train Your Dragon and the upcoming Megamind.

Take a gander at Sid's adventures, and you'll enjoy seeing not only how an everyman becomes emblematic of our age, but also how a lush world of color and whimsy is created which both kids and adults can simply savor.