Olly and Beth are two young trainee submarines who, with their friends, help keep the seas clean, learning about protecting the ocean floor along the way...

Dive Olly Dive: Ocean Explorers - Vol 1 (2005) is an animated 3D CGI show directed by Bob Doucette and Jane Schneider. The show, with an ecological message, is aimed at five to eight year olds.

Each of the show's lasts just over eleven and a half minutes and volume one contains seven episodes: Tunnel Vision, I Thought I Saw a Sea Serpent, Beth’s Backfire, The Haunted Ship Prank, The Red  Tide, Sub Magnet and Hide and Seaweed.

The style of animation is bright and sassy, the use of primary colours should appeal to its target audience. Through the show the kids also get to know Doug the subs human friend; Skid his underwater bike; Brant, a cantankerous hermit crab; UMA an eight legged underwater maintenance assistant; Ranger a sea horse who corrals squid; Shankley a sea crane who imparts tales of the deep sea; Suzy, the seaplane and Luseal, an athletic seal.

As a kid’s show with a message Olly is quite a delightful series. The characters are easily recognisable stereotypes, important for its audience, and the script offers a balance of adventure and character interaction without you feeling that they are shoving their message down your throat. That said, there is nothing wrong with a show that promotes caring and cooperating with others.

The disc comes with a very bright clean print. There are no extras but then given the price you can’t really complain.

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Charles Packer