Updated on December 10, 2021
This week’s minorities in cartoons entry is “The Deep,” a CGI animated series. The series is based on a comic (of the same name) by Tom Taylor and James Brouwer.
Background
“The Deep” follows the adventures of the Nektons, a famous family of undersea explorers. The Nektons live in a large, high-tech submarine named “the Aronnax.”
The family gets involved with various aquatic adventures across the world. Similar to the cast of “Wild Kratts,” the family all have a high degree of technology skills. Along with the above comes fighting several recurring villains. A running plot in the series involves the family trying to figure out the secret behind a cryptic ancient artifact.
The Nekton family includes:
- Antaeus (nicknamed “Ant”), a preteen boy who’s energetic about exploring the ocean, and is eager to try almost anything. Ant often totes about with him (in a modified aquatic backpack) a trained pet fish named Jeffery.
- Fontaine, a teenage girl who’s much more grounded than Ant.
- The kids’ parents, Will and Kaiko. Both are caring parents who’ve imparted their knowledge of the ship’s tech and oceanography to their kids. Will is Black, while Kaiko is Asian.
“The Deep” is a joint Australian/Canadian production. As of this writing, one season of 26 episodes produced. The show debuted in December 2015 on 7Two, a secondary digital channel of Australia’s Seven Network. The series soon debuted in Canada on Family Chrgd, a secondary cable channel of Family. Most countries air “The Deep” on broadcast or cable/satellite TV. Here in the US, the series is only available on Netflix.
Voice actors
Ant is voiced by Vincent Tong, who’s done voicework for “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.”
Fontaine is voiced by Ashleigh Ball, the voice of Jet on “Ready Jet Go!.”
Will is voiced by Michael Dobson, who’s done a variety of voicework.
Kaiko is voiced by Kathleen Barr, who also has a variety of voicework. She’s also the voice of Athena on “Class of the Titans.”
(Updated 10/20/16)
