Vamonos!
Santiago of the Seas is a Nick Jr. animated series created by Dora the Explorer alumni Niki López, Leslie Valdes, and Valerie Walsh Valdes.
The show follows a young pirate boy named Santiago Montes, and the swashbuckling misadventures he and his friends Tomas and Lorelai get up to in the fantastical Caribbean world of Isla Encanto. Along the way, they battle a nefarious young pirate named Bonnie Bones, who will stop at nothing to achieve power.
The show infuses action and comedy with Latino-Caribbean culture and Spanish language lessons, much like Dora. It premiered on October 9, 2020, on Nickelodeon. Season two premiered in January 2022 and is currently ongoing.
Santiago of the Seas contains examples of:
- Alliterative Name: Bonnie Bones.
- Affectionate Nickname: Santiago's friends and family often call him "Santi". In season two, Pepito calls Tomás "Music Maker" to flatter him and gain his trust.
- All-CGI Cartoon: The series is animated in CGI.
- Animesque: The characters have large, shiny eyes, expressive mannerisms, and go through transformation sequences that wouldn't be out of place in a Magical Girl show. In fact, Niki Lopez has stated that
the show's visuals were inspired by Sailor Moon and the works of Rumiko Takahashi (Urusei Yatsura, Inuyasha, Ranma ½, etc). - Blow You Away: Tomas' guitar can harness the wind.
- Boys Like Creepy Critters: Santi has a pet coqui frog Kiko and Tomas has a pet green iguana and seems fond of electric eels.
- By the Power of Grayskull!: Lorelai turns into a human by chanting, "Bracelet of Pearl, from mermaid to girl!" She reverts back to mermaid form by saying "to mermaid from girl."
- The Captain: Santiago is in charge of his ship, El Bravo, and is also The Leader of his team of pirate kids.
- Cats Are Mean: Bonnie's crew consists of cats who are just as villainous as she is.
- Childish Tooth Gap: Tomas has a gap in his teeth. The young faun villain, Pepito, also has one.
- Christmas Episode: "A Pirate Christmas" is a half-hour special about Santiago and his crew Saving Christmas.
- Clever Crows: Bonnie's pet raven, Sir Butterscotch, is quite the outspoken truth-teller who may be smarter than Bonnie.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Santiago is blue, Lorelai is purple/pink, and Tomas is green.
- Cool Old Guy: Antonio Gaviota is a cool guy who is a good grandfather to Santiago, and an expert on the lore of Isla Encanto.
- Cool Sword: Santiago wields Capitan Calavera's sword, which glows and can levitate things.
- Curtains Match the Window: Enrique has blue hair and icy blue eyes.
- Disappeared Dad: While we see Santiago's grandpa and his mother, we have yet to see Santiago's father.
- Edutainment Show: The show teaches about Latino-Caribbean culture.
- Enfant Terrible: Bonnie is around Santiago's age (8), and yet she is a notorious, power-hungry pirate villain. So is Enrique.
- Episode Title Card: Every episode has a map-like title card read aloud by Santiago in English and Spanish, and Kiko acting out the theme of the episode.
- Every Episode Ending: At the end of each episode, Santiago and his crew will shout: "¡Piratas Ahoy!"
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Bonnie can't stand Santiago's All-Loving Hero nature and simply does not get it.
- Evil Counterpart: Bonnie Bones and Enrique Palacious III are this to Santiago since all three are the captains of their respective crews. Escarlata La Pirata is this to Lorelai since they're both, more or less, merfolk. Pepito counts as one for Tomas since both are magical musicians.
- Fake Interactivity: Santiago often talks to the viewers and occasionally asks them for help. This lessens considerably in season 2 where he will only address the audience at the very beginning and then very end of the episode.
- Famed In-Story: Capitan Calavera, who is Santiago's hero. He kept the Island safe with his magic compass, sword, and pirate ship.
- Friendly Pirate: Santiago and his crew, who go around helping and protecting others.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: In "The Legend of Capitan Calavera", Santiago gets the treasure back, but Bonnie still has Kiko. Santiago decides to give up the treasure and save Kiko, because friends and family are more important than treasure.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Tina likes to invent things and is quite good at it. Enrique counts as this as well.
- The Good Captain: Santiago is a kind and brave pirate captain who always saves the day and treats his friends (and enemies) with respect.
- Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Lorelai is a girly girl who wears purple in her human form.
- Gratuitous Spanish: As the series is made to teach children about Latino culture, it naturally incorporates the Spanish language.
- Greed: Both Bonnie and Enrique's Fatal Flaw are their greed. They only want treasure and do not care about the needs of others.
- Green and Mean: Bonnie has green hair and is the villain of the show. Another villain, Pepito, also has highlights of green in his hair and fur.
- Halloween Episode: Season 1 has "The Mysterious Island/Mystery of the Vam-Pirates" while season 2 has "Peek-A-BOO/Night of the Witches".
- Harmless Villain: Owing to Bonnie being a child, she is little more than a petty schoolyard bully, and doesn't do much harm to Santiago and his gang.
- The Heart: Lorelai serves as the team's heart and moral compass.
- Hyper-Competent Sidekick: Sir Butterscotch, Bonnie's pet raven, is smarter than her and serves as her conscience (who she doesn't listen to).
- Ideal Hero: Santiago is a brave and kind pirate kid who protects Isla Encanto from evil.
- Ironic Fear: Despite being a pirate, Tomas is afraid of water.
- Kid Hero: Santiago is 8 years old, but he's now the protector of Isla Encanto. Lorelai and Tomas also count.
- Killer Rabbit: Season 2 introduces Pepito, a cute and charming faun who seemingly only wishes to play music and enjoy the company of Tomas, until he reveals his true colors as an evil, magical shapeshifter who tricks Tomas and almost succeeds in stealing the voices of every person on Isla Encanto and would have stolen more if not stopped by the Pirate Protectors.
- Latino Is Brown: The entire cast is Latino, and they all have brown skin.
- Long-Lived: As mentioned down below, Lorelai is around 150 years old. In "Finceanera," her older sister Nani turns 300, which (according to Lorelai) is the merfolk equivalent of 15.
- Lovable Lizard: Nacho, Tomas' new pet, is a friendly green iguana who enjoys cuddles, naps, and being perched on Tomas' head.
- MacGuffin: Episodes often feature Santiago and his friends trying to retrieve a magical item that Capitan Calavera tried to find so they can finish what he started.
- Make Me Wanna Shout: Downplayed with Lorelai and other merfolk. While the effects and visuals are similar to typical sonic screams in fiction, the sound is basically a soothing song.
- Making a Splash: Lorelai and other merfolk can control water to varying degrees.
- "Metaphor" Is My Middle Name: In "The Sidekick Switcheroo," Bonnie says Danger is her middle name, then reveals it's actually Bunny.
- Non-Human Sidekick: Santiago is accompanied by a yellow coqui named Kiko. Lorelai is sometimes accompanied by a small, pink octopus named Cecilia. Bonnie has her first matey, a palm crow named Sir Butterscotch and her Kitty Cat Crew. Enrique has a trio of mice assistants led by Primera.
- Number Two: Tomas is the First Mate of El Bravo, and thus is Santiago's sidekick.
- Older Than They Look: Lorelai looks like a human child, but she's actually 150 years old. The same applies to her big sister Nani, who looks like a teenager but is actually 300 years old.
- Only the Chosen May Wield: Santiago is the only one who can operate El Bravo and use the magic compass.
- Our Mermaids Are Different: Lorelai is a young mermaid who can turn from a mermaid to a human at will thanks to a magic pearl bracelet.
- Overly Long Name: Enrique Real de Palacios III is quite a mouthful, but he always makes sure to say it all.
- Pets as a Present: In the latest holiday special "Three Kings' Day", Tomas receives Nacho, a green iguana, as a gift from King Balthazar.
- Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Lorelai wears pink in her mermaid form while Santiago wears blue. In Lorelai's human form, she wears purple.
- Pirate: The whole aesthetic of the show. Santiago and his friends are pirate kids who sail the seas and protect the Island.
- Pirate Girl: Bonnie Bones, Santiago's arch-nemesis, is a villainous girl pirate.
- Plucky Comic Relief: Tomas brings a lot of humor to the show with his clumsiness and energy. Despite his shortcomings, he is very lovable nonetheless.
- Preppy Name: Enrique Real de Palacios III. "Palacios" means "Palace" in Spanish, indicating that he comes from nobility. Bonus points for him having Roman numerals in his name.
- Public Hater, Private Fan: Sir Butterscotch is secretly a fan of Santiago.
- The Reveal: In the season two opener "The Stones of Power," it's revealed that Capitan Calavera is alive and well, albeit tied to Isla Encanto's magic, making him unable to leave.
- Rogues Gallery: The show's villains include Bonnie Bones and her crew (her three cats and Sir Butterscotch), Enrique Real de Palacios III, Escarlata La Pirata, and the newest villain- Pepito the faun.
- Save the Villain:
- In "The Magic Spyglass", Santiago rescues Enrique from the spider web, despite the fact that Enrique is a villain.
- In general, Santiago and his crew almost always have to rescue either Enrique or Bonnie when their schemes backfire.
- Shout-Out: Plenty.
- There are several to The Little Mermaid.
- The Calypso-style music that sometimes plays when Lorelai uses her mermaid powers is reminiscent of "Under the Sea."
- Escarlata is a sea witch with a tentacled lower half not unlike Ursula.
- In one episode, Escarlata calls Lorelai and her friends "little mermaids."
- The pirate characters occasionally ask/say "Savvy?".
- There are several to The Little Mermaid.
- Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Tomas has green eyes, dark red hair, and is a main character of the show.
- Sirens Are Mermaids: Lorelai and other merfolk can use songs for a variety of purposes, most commonly moving things around.
- The Smurfette Principle: Lorelai is the only girl on the team.
- Somewhere, a Herpetologist Is Crying: Coqui frogs like Kiko are actually much, much smaller than portrayed in the show.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: Lorelai can communicate with sea animals, and is friends with all of them, even the sharks.
- Talk Like a Pirate: Although the show is about pirates, Bonnie is the only character who consistently uses stereotypical pirate jargon.
- Team Pet: Kiko is Santiago's pet coqui who accompanies him and his friends on their exploits.
- Title Theme Tune: The show's title repeats itself a few times in the theme song.
- Transformation Sequence: Santiago has one in the series premiere when the medallion transforms his ordinary clothes into pirate ones; this same sequence is repeated in a few episodes.
- Transformation Trinket: Lorelai's magical pearl bracelet allows her to transform into a young human girl so she can go on pirate adventures with Santiago and Tomás. Interestingly, anybody can use the bracelet to turn into a mermaid as long as they know the incantation.
- Treasure Map: In the series premiere, "The Legend of Capitan Calavera", Santiago has a map that leads to Capitan Calavera's treasure.
- Two Guys and a Girl: Santiago and Tomas are the two guys and Lorelai is the girl.
- Two Shorts: While the series premiere is 22 minutes, subsequent episodes are 11 minutes and aired in pairs.
- Underwater City: Caracol Cove and Merlandia, both of which are home to merfolk.
- Unscaled Merfolk: Escarlata's upper half is human, but her lower half is tentacled.
- Unusual Euphemism: Tomas often uses "Caracoles!" as an expletive. It means "snails" in Spanish.
- Villainous Lineage: Bonnie Bones' mother is revealed to a legendary nefarious pirate Billie Bones.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?:
- Tomas has many fears, such as water.
- Bonnie is afraid of sharks.
- Santiago is afraid of spiders but was ashamed to admit it.
- Lorelai is afraid of bats
- Wicked Witch: Escarlata La Pirata.
- Word, Schmord!: In "The Stone of Life", Bonnie says "Booby trap, schmooby trap".
- Also said by Tomas in "The Sidekick Switcheroo".
- X-Ray Vision: Santiago's spyglass allows him to see through things.
