Elias: The Little Rescue Boat (Norwegian: Den lille redningsskøyta Elias) is a Norwegian All-CGI Cartoon based on a book series by Alf Knutsen and Sigurd Slåttebrekk. It takes place in a universe where vehicles are sentient and humans don't seem to exist — though organic animals like fish and seagulls do exist.
Eilas is a young and eager, if not terribly experienced, rescue boat who's stationed in the little fishing village of Cozy Cove, somewhere in the North of Norway. His job is to patrol and inspect the area together with his inflatable lifeboat assistant Swifty, and help any boats in need, plus deliver regular supplies to Big Blinky the lighthouse. Other characters include the bossy Crane, who works at Cozy Cove harbor; the fishing boats Trawler and Smacky; the careless speedboat Cruiser, and Helinor the helicopter.
The series ran for two seasons and 39 episodes from 2005 to 2008, and had two theatrical movies: Elias and the Royal Ship (2007) and Elias and the Treasure of the Sea (2010). In 2014, the series received a spinoff/reboot called Elias: Rescue Team Adventures with a different creative team, altered character designs and a slightly more "international" tone. This reboot also got a theatrical movie, Anchors Up!, in 2017.
Elias is also the mascot for the Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue, featuring in their internet Elias Club for kids.
Tropes:
- A Dog Named "Dog": The original series has a seagull named Gull. In Rescue Team Adventures, the two recurring seagull characters are named Gill and Gull.
- Adapted Out: In the original version the three Red Houses were sentient and had pretty large roles, often making commentaries and singing songs. There was also an equally-sentient fishery simply known as "the Fishmonger" (or sometimes "the Rapping Fishmonger") who sang the theme song to the series. Come Rescue Team Adventures, the Fishmonger is gone and the three Red Houses are just normal buildings who are just part of the scenery. In fact, while sentient buildings weren't uncommon in the original version, in Rescue Team Adventures the only buildings who still have faces and voices are the lighthouses... probably because Big Blinky was such a vital part of the series, and a constant source of wisdom and advice, that he simply couldn't be adapted out.
- Adaptation Personality Change: Just like the art style is different in Rescue Team Adventures, several of the characters have altered personalities. Most notably, Elias himself is a lot more childish and immature than he was in the original series, Trawler is far friendlier, and Crane has gone from a bossy workaholic to a far softer Team Mom type.
- Animate Inanimate Object: Almost all the characters, except for the seagulls.
- Art-Shifted Sequel: Rescue Team Adventures, having a different creative team, has a very different visual style. The colors are brighter and more vibrant, the landscape is greener, less dramatic and less obviously Norwegian, and the characters have all been redesigned, generally they're cuter and with a "cleaner," less weather-beaten (not to say plasticky) look. Some characters, like Dippy and Crane, look almost completely different from their original designs, while others like Trawler and Smackey are just "cutified" a little. Only Elias and Swifty (already the cutest characters in the original) look more or less the same, with only a couple of minor tweaks to their appearance.
- Ascended Extra:
- Helinor wasn't a minor character in the original series, but she was kind of a secondary one. In Rescue Team Adventures she's part of the main cast.
- Dippy the submarine. In the original version she only appeared in the movie Elias and the Treasure of the Sea, where she was The Mole working for the bad guy but had a Heel–Face Turn and became friends with Elias. In Rescue team Adventures she's one of the main characters.
- Little Blinky likewise has a larger role in Rescue Team Adventures, thanks to now being placed on an island just outside Cozy Cove rather than a long distance away.
- Big Damn Heroes: In Elias and the Royal Yacht, when Elias and the Royal Yacht are houded by the vicious paparazzi boats, Trawler (who's just lost a big haul of fish thanks to the paparazzi) shows up to haul the paparazzi away and "teach them some manners."
- Cool Old Guy: Big Blinky. He's the oldest of the cast and generally has some words of advice to everyone. Smacky also qualifies; while he's not a source of wisdom like Big Blinky he's gentle and mild-mannered, and generally well-liked by the inhabitants of Cozy Cove.
- Gender Flip: Little Blinky is male in the original series, but female in Rescue Team Adventures.
- Jerkass: The Rude Red House. Pretty much everything she says is an insult. Trawler at his worst also classifies, but he has just enough softer moments that he on the whole classifies more as a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Both Trawler and Cruiser classify, but in different ways. Trawler is a gruff and antisocial workaholic who never gives anyone a break and thinks everyone except him sucks, while Cruiser is a smooth-talking and egocentric rich layabout who's perfectly friendly to everyone but can't resist bragging and isn't very good at remembering that he's not the only boat around. And yet, neither of them are ultimately bad guys; Trawler does learn to appreciate the other boats (and particularly Elias), and Cruiser is generally helpful and generous.
- Keet: Swifty. He's got more energy than the rest of the cast put together.
- No Name Given: The three Red Houses are never given names. The credits just refer to them as "Jovial," "Sentimental" and "Rude," for their personalities.
- Polly Wants a Microphone: The seagulls are fully sentient and frequently talk with the other characters.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Not only a speech, but a rap — delivered by the Fishmonger to Trawler at the penultimate episode of the first season, after Trawler's been acting like a jerk throughout most of the season.
- Sapient Ship: More than half the cast, with Elias as the most prominent character.
- Senior Sleep-Cycle: Smacky spends most of his time asleep. In the original series, Elias sets him up with a seagull partner, whose job it is to keep Smacky awake when he's out fishing.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Cruiser thinks he's the coolest guy around. Nobody agrees.
- The Speechless: Both Swifty and Trolley in the original series. In Rescue Team Adventures, Trolley is a fully voiced character, but Swifty still only speaks in squeaks and engine noises.
- Third-Person Person: Trawler often refers to himself in third person — not because he can't say the word "I" but because he's constantly singing his own praises.
- Translator Buddy: In Rescue Team Adventures, Elias is the only one who can understand what Swifty is saying, and tranlates for the other characters.
- Vague Age: Elias. He's got the voice of a young boy and often behaves like a kid, but he's old enough to have a job and takes on the responsibilities of a grownup.
- Youthful Freckles: Elias has them, but they're not particularly prominent and are often not even visible unless it's a close-up. They're slightly more visible in Rescue Team Adventures.
