British cartoon characters make a splash in Shanghai aquarium

British production company Silvergate Media and Changfeng Ocean World launched a partnership in Shanghai on Monday to bring characters from the children's television series Octonauts to the aquarium.

Four interactive games featuring the cartoon characters — polar bear Captain Barnacles, pirate cat Kwazii, medic penguin Shellington and biologist sea otter Shellington — were installed along the visiting route and a 4D version of an episode from the cartoon will be shown at the aquarium.

Zhang Qi, general manager of Merlin Entertainments China, the owner of the aquarium, said she hopes the new features will help children become more interested in learning about the ocean and how to take care of it.

Ron Allen, the executive vice-president of Silvergate, pointed out that Octonauts has been popular among Chinese children since it started airing in China in 2014, and that the company will release this spring its fifth season, a coproduction with China Central Television.

Opened to the public in 1999, Changfeng Ocean World is a 4A national tourist site in Shanghai, displaying more than 10,000 marine animals of 300 species.