Ocean Girl

[rogueslayer452]

I just discovered, much to my pleasant surprise, that the entirety of Ocean Girl has been uploaded onto their official YouTube channel, all four seasons.

Ocean Girl was a live-action Australian science fiction children's show that syndicated in the US on The Disney Channel during the 90s (but only the first three seasons, I wasn't even aware there was a fourth season until much later). The entire premise centers on two brothers and their discovery of a mysterious girl, Neri, who lives alone on an island and who can swim unprotected in the ocean for long periods of time. The series focuses primarily of their friendship and bond with Neri while keeping her secret from others who might want to exploit her, but also uncovering the truth of her origins along with helping her protect the ocean and nature in general. This is a series that I grew up on, this is literally a huge formative piece of my childhood that has shaped me into who I am today.

I really wish there were more shows like this out now, because even for a kids show it was quite intriguing, filled with mysteries and suspense, but also a kind of whimsical wonderment. It also got me curious about marine biology and environmental activism as a kid. And also I wanted to become Neri because, come on, who didn't want to live on an island and swim with a humpback whale? I know the creator of Ocean Girl also went on to create H20: Just Add Water years later, a show that while different shares similar themes and concepts, and I've read there's been talk about possibly reviving both shows, but I haven't heard much outside of that.

If you haven't seen Ocean Girl, I highly recommend doing so. Every episode is only half an hour, so it'll be a nice thing to binge-watch. I honestly like that they uploaded it for those unable to have accessibility to the DVDs. It really is a fantastic series that I feel more people need to know about.

Comments

[krissasaur]

Neat!!! I may check it out. :)

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I hope you enjoy it once you do. It's a really good show. :)

[honeymink]

I feel like I've heard about this in passing but never watched. I do own all seasons of "H2O: Just Add Water" and "H2O: Mako Mermaids" in DVD though and have recently re-watched it all. So I will definitely check it out. Thanks for the link. And yes, I'm always one to look for a well-produced children's TV show that comes with elements of mystery and perhaps some sort of educational intent.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I have to admit I never watched H20: Just Add Water, I only heard of it and saw some people post about/post gifs from it, but that's about it. I just knew that the creator was the same as the one who did Ocean Girl, which once having that connection it made sense.

I hope you enjoy it. :)

[sometimesartist.livejournal.com]

This is literally the best news ever. I really loved that show growing up.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I watched a lot of shows growing up, but Ocean Girl was one of the shows that really made an impact on me as a kid. I'm glad that I'm not alone in loving it. :)

[violateraindrop]

I loved that show as a kid! It was the only time I was allowed to watch TV while having lunch because it aired right when I came home from school^^
Germany didn't air that many American kids shows, but had a bunch of Australian ones. Whenever people talk about shows they watched growing up, I'm always thinking "WTF is that? Where are Ocean Girl and Spellbinder?"

[noybusiness.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I saw an episode or two of Spellbinder when I lived in Scotland (ages 6-10).

[violateraindrop]

Good to know I'm not the only one remembering that show!

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

It's so amazing seeing other people remember the show! There's definitely a lot more shows that unfortunately have since faded into obscurity (due to lack of it being available on DVD or streaming or whatever), but Ocean Girl was a huge part of my childhood, we have quite a number of VHS tapes with it as we recorded the episodes. And the fact that the show syndicated not only here but elsewhere too means that it was quite popular for the time. I just wish more people talked about it more, for those who watched and enjoyed it.

And Spellbinder! I remember that one as well. Not as much as Ocean Girl, but it did air here on The Disney Channel and I remember watching a few episodes here and there.

[violateraindrop]

I'm pretty sure I saw the same episodes over and over again because they aired rather often. If I remember correctly, none of my friends watched it back then. I honestly never talked about it with anyone...it's also not something that came up when I was older. People talked about the movies they watched as children, but not really the TV shows.

I don't remember anything about the Spellbinder story, but back then I thought it was really cool lol
When I watched True Blood I found out that Ryan Kwanten had his "big" break in the spin-off which I also watched at one point.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

People talked about the movies they watched as children, but not really the TV shows.

This is oddly very true. You'll get the occasional, "do you remember this show?" kind of conversation, but mostly it's just about movies. Which is strange, though I guess most assume we all watched the same kinds of shows growing up when that's far from the truth (some were Nickelodeon kids while others Disney Channel kids, some were raised on PBS and other stations or grew up on other things, different generations and eras, etc). There are a plethora of shows though, so perhaps it can be too overwhelming to get into that conversation of, "what was your favorite show as a kid?" because it can be all lumped together.

But I think even just listing a few, you can find other people who remember those shows and them reminisce with them about it, even if it's just small details.

[violateraindrop]

Germany didn't really have a free/public kids channel until 1997. Nickelodeon and Disney Channel were not available everywhere. In addition to that, the rights to their shows were sold to various other channels. I imagine that makes it even harder for us lol
We all had Die Sendung mit der Maus (The Show with the Mouse) which is a famous educational program that started in the 70s.

[elizalavelle.livejournal.com]

Oh that show sounds cute. Sort of reminds me of things like The Odyssey (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Odyssey_(TV_series)) which was on when I was a kid... which I now see is also on YouTube woo! Content not at all the same but it was also a complex kids show that was really neat.

I'll put Ocean Girl down as something I should look at :)

[silverusagi]

It's great that they uploaded all of it! I remember this show fondly and rewatched all of it not that long ago.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I was so delighted finding this out! I only have the first three seasons on DVD (still waiting for the fourth, which will happen eventually), but it's amazing that I can recommend the show to others and they can easily watch it officially on YouTube. :D

And just rewatching it myself, all the nostalgia. It is basically a happy place for me. :)