Advanced Darkness: The Deep Sea in Children’s Media

In the cultural imaginary, the deep sea is persistently constructed in terms of its alterity. Young children are particularly fascinated with the ocean, and popular media such as books, tv programmes, and films constitute their introduction to the deep sea in the context of both education and entertainment; usually a mix of both. This paper considers the representation of the deep sea and its function as a narrative setting in children‘s films Finding Nemo and Luca, animated series SpongeBob Square Pants and Octonauts, and in the picture book Rainbow Fish Discovers the Deep Sea. Each of these texts have primarily marine settings and feature temporary excursions to deeper waters, indicating that the deep sea is imagined as a separate, more dangerous place in contrast to the safety of shallow waters. In doing so, these texts impose a juxtaposition of the Self (shallow) and other (deep) upon the vertical geography of the ocean. Some texts, however, go a step further in utilising the deep sea to question Otherness by showing that it is not as scary as initially believed. The setting of the deep ocean is used to encourage critical thinking and to emphasise the importance of experiential learning. Although the deep sea is a highly metaphorical, formative space in these fictional texts, the way in which it is represented has an impact on how audiences view and relate to the largest and least explored ecosystem in the world.