Shelldon is an animated children's television series directed by Dr. Jirayuth Chusanachoti. The series debuted on Qubo in the United States on October 16, 2009.
Shelldon is about Shelldon the snail and his adventures with his friends in Charming Clam Inn.
The first two seasons of the series were released on DVD.
Shelldon provides examples of:
- Alternative Foreign Theme Song: An odd example. The show is a U.S.-Thailand co-production. In the U.S., it uses its own Title Theme Tune by an unknown vocalist, but still credits Lea Salonga for the song "Brand New Day" ("It's a Brand New Day"
) in the credits. This was used as the theme song in most other international markets and also released as a music video, yet in Thailand, a version other than the one by Salonga was used. - And This Is for...: In "Slime, Crime, A Hard Time," when the group catches up to Spiky Riptide, Shelldon bonks him repeatedly on the nose and tells him "This one's for my papa! [who he framed] This one's for my mama! And this one's for the Charming Clam!"
- Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: In "Citizen Clams," after receiving what seems to be bad news from Doctor Shell, Herman declares "Rats, curses, cursed rats cursing other rats!"
- Cassandra Truth: In "Pay Happiness Forward," Shelldon and Herman both try to warn Connie that Mr. Kraken has commandeered her "pass it along" so that it is no longer really about helping people but rather about his own profit. They're absolutely right, however, she pays them no attention because both of them were complete jerks to her before, openly dismissive of her project and even laughing at her about it.
- Disappeared Dad: The father of Shelldon's best friend, Herman, disappeared approximately a year before the events of the episode "Alien Encounter," apparently abducted by aliens. In fact, he was taken by a human fishing vessel. However, the end of the episode shows that he's very much alive and well, even though he can't be with Herman and his mother.
- Edutainment Show: One that is very much on the "pro-social values" end of the spectrum. The premiere episode, "Crabby's School Daze," actually focuses on Shelldon helping an adult friend, Crabby, to get his G.E.D. (adult diploma.) Also, Doctor Shell appears at the end of each episode as a Fourth-Wall Observer, teaching the viewer about real-life sea-creatures.
- Evil Twin: Sheriff is a starfish and when he was split in half, one half was cared for by his friends and remained him, while the other was lost and ended up becoming a jewel thief named Spiky Riptide.
- Hold Your Hippogriffs: In "One Grain of Sand," Connie and her friend imagine if the roles were reversed in a beauty contest and the guys were the ones being judged on their looks. Connie comments that it's "not so funny when thehorseshoe crab is on the other foot."
- Humans Are Cthulhu:
- The entire show is about sentient sea creatures living in the Pacific Ocean. Humans operate fishing vessels and this technology is seen as alien U.F.O.s by the cast and has resulted in a number of unexplained disappearances.
- In the end segment of "Baby Shark Blues," Doctor Shell notes that while it's understandable that you may be afraid of sharks, only 3 of 360 known species are actually known to be harmful to humans. Furthermore, humans are wiping out sharks at a rate that soon a species which has survived for millions of years could be gone in just 50 to 100.
Doctor Shell: I don't know about you, but that's what scares me. - Iris Out: Each episode ends with this, followed by an iris in to a Doctor Shell segment recapping the events of the episode or teaching about real-life sea creatures. This segment ends with a regular brief fade to black before the credits.
- It's Quiet… Too Quiet: "Alien Encounter" opens with two police officers, one stating that it's quiet, and the other suggesting that it is perhaps too quiet. The first says to enjoy it while it lasts, and indeed, almost immediately after they begin chasing after the "U.F.O." that is the focus of the episode.
- Jerkass: Somewhat unusually for a 21st century Edutainment Show targeted at preschool and early grade-school audiences, the main character Shelldon can be a real jerk at times. While he does have some redeeming qualities, he often does not seem to be a good role model for the target audience. He is often rude and abrasive to his best friend and even his family and often displays lazy or selfish behavior. For example, in "Locked Out," he goofs off with Herman when he's supposed to be babysitting his younger siblings, foisting his chores and trying to foist his homework on them without a second thought. His adoptive sister, Connie, who is actually younger than him, generally comes across as being much more responsible.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: At the end of "Alien Encounter," a black crab wearing sunglasses appears and takes possession of the "U.F.O.," then flashes the two police officers, causing them to forget what just happened.
- Look Behind You: In "Slime, Crime, A Hard Time," Spiky Riptide uses it to get away. It works, but he gets caught again.
- Magic Feather:
- In "Magic Mojo," Shelldon becomes the mascot of the school finball team and comes to believe his mascot costume is magic after he ends up being subbed into the team and scores a game-winning goal. When the costume ends up getting shrunk in the wash, he despairs. He ends up seeking help from Doctor Shell, but when he doesn't believe Doctor Shell's advice that the mojo comes from him, Doctor Shell gives him what he claims to be a powerful mojo charm. After winning the big game, Shelldon returns it to him and he eats it. It turns out it was a peanut butter candy.
- "Guru of the Ocean" shows Mayor Yoka in flashbacks giving these out to various characters to give them courage.
- Non-Mammal Mammaries: Mama Clam, a shellfish, surprisingly has these.
- Paying It Forward: The whole idea of "Pay Happiness Forward" in which Connie's school project that she chooses is that she does two favors for two people with the idea that instead of returning the favor to her, each of them instead does a favor for two other people.
- Pet Baby Wild Animal: "Baby Shark Blues" is about Shelldon and his friends adopting an orphaned baby shark after a seaquake.
- Protagonist Title: Shelldon is the main character of………… Shelldon.
- Punny Name: The main character Shelldon, is a shellfish.
- Shout-Out:
- In "Alien Encounter," the musical sound coming from the U.F.O. (unidentified floating object, and clearly actually a human fishing vessel), while not the same, is clearly intended to evoke the tune from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
- In the same story, a black crab wearing sunglasses neuralyzes two police officers before absconding with the "U.F.O."
- In "Guru of the Ocean," Mayor Yoka tells Inky Squid that everybody loves the Octopus's Garden when he says that he's afraid to take the class there because they have to pass through the Kelp Forest. He says that he could write a song about it, but he thinks somebody beat him to it.
- So Proud of You: At the end of "Alien Encounter," Herman's dad, from afar, says that he did well and makes him proud.
- Title Theme Tune: "Come and join in the fun! Shelldon!"
