The 12 year old boy JIM searches his seahorses TOKATU and MIRANDA who flee from his aquarium back into the ocean. They realise this with the help of a circus that steals them from a laboratory where they land, as Jim´s father Oscar finds out that the animals posess intelligence.

SYNOPSIS:

The little 12 year old boy JIM gets from his single father OSCAR an aquarium with a sea horse to his birthday. Jim is very pleased, but soon realizes that the seahorse is sad and does hardly eat.They buy another seahorse to it´s company and name both Miranda and Tokatu. The seahorses start to paint with their tails into the sand of the aquarium bottom the landscape of the Ocean. Jim and his father Oscar seek advice from a scientist, HORTENSIA who makes an astonishing discovery: The seahorses possess intelligence and are painting with their tails seahorse pattern in the sand, which seem to have a meaning. Hortensia persuades Jim’s father OSCAR to bring the seahorses into their scientific aquarium for research purposes. They bring the seahorses to the large research laboratory at the University of PROF.DR.HAGEBUND.

Dr.Hagebund and Hortensia Knofelbauch observe the seahorses. The seahorses MIRANDA and TOKATU observe by themselves, what these scientist try do with them. They can talk with each other and become friends. Miranda wants to escape with Tokatu from the aquarium. But they do not know how. Both yearn to get back to the ocean into which they were born and sing songs about their longing for the sea and dance to it in the aquarium. First they dance only in secret, when the researchers can not see them. But soon the scientists find it out and the press swirls around the "painting seahorses". The professor wants to get research funds with the help of his new scientific exploration. A circus director, DIRECTOR TRON CALLIF, whose circus is close to bankruptcy, reads the story in the newspaper and decides to steal the two seahorses together with his wife. They break into the scientific laboratory secretly at night, and fish the seahorses tokatu and Miranda from the aquarium. Tokatu and Miranda fight not very long, because they see their chance to escape from the laboratory. Miranda and Tokatu make a trip with the circus TRON CALLIF through Europe.

The professor Dr. Hagebund and his assistant Miss Knofelbauch trace the seahorses, because much money is at stake for them. Even Jim, who has heard of the theft, decides to find his seahorses again and escapes from home. His father is looking for him and they are all behind the seahorses Miranda and Tokatu. The both experience a first show a the circus where the director Tron Callif is exited to present his newest sensation to the public.The circus gets a lot of audience now and the director is eager to manipulate the seahorses to make more and more difficult dance figure in theri aquarium. The professor Hagebund is only interested in the money for his research project and tells his assistent Hortensia to find out if Oscar knows where they are.

Jim finds in between the circus who has stolen the seahorses and a small town and hires at the circus secretly as a clown to have the opportunity to bring his seahorses back home. The circus director is unaware about his goal. Jimmy shows some magic tricks and captures the circus as the small Clown Jaba. He writes to his father, who should not have to worry. This brings the father on the trace of the circus and he follows the circus on his journey through Europe, the scientist Hortensia follows him behind. The seahorses Tokatu and Miranda are pleased to see Jim in the circus again, on the other hand, it is their plan, since they do not want to go back to the aquarium,to return to the ocean. They draw maps of the sea in the bottom of their new aquarium. That pleases the circus director a lot and he presents it proudly to the applauding audience.They get even coloured sans to make brighter pictures. The seahorses become bolder and now sing in front of audiences and paint with their tales beuatiful pictures in the sand.

This is of course a greater sensation and the professor is doing everything to get the seahorses back to his lab. But for this he needs the consent of Jim, the official owner and he now works at the circus too. He follows Hortensia who calls him and tells him about her detective research on Jim´s father Oscar. Jim’s father finds finally the circus and sits in the audience as Jim makes his clown show. The father wants to take Jim back home now. Jim asks him only to be allowed to join this tour for some days to secretly smuggle his seahorses away from the circus.

The Director Tron Callif of course does not admit that it are the stolen seahorses and would them not give back to him. Jim knows by now that the seahorses want to escape back into the ocean. He has promised to help them by their escape. Jim’s father Oscar wants to convince Jim to come home and leave the seahorses to the laboratory now. He tells him that the sea is so polluted that the seahorses could not survive there.

Anywhere in the Mediterranean. Hortensia tells Jim the same story.The father, who is in love now with Hortensia thinks he can convince Jim better when he accompanies the troup a bit and agrees that Jim can stay for some shows. The circus nears the mediteranean ocean´s coast. In various ports they give performances and the seahorses are a huge success. Tokatu and Miranda are so occupied by their success so that they reflect to stay at the circus. On the other hand, they are afraid of getting older and there have fallen in love.They want to start a family and be in freedom. The seahorses are convinced that Jim will help them now . Jim tells them about the pollution of the mediterranean sea and that they need to find a clean place in the sea, so that their family plans will work out. Jim meets a scientist of the oceanographic institute in monaco who visits the circus and he explains him that a new popollation projetc is going on to return the seahorses into the mediterranean sea.The pollution has gone back enough to guarantee a survival of the species of seahorses there.

Jim is relieved to hear that and tells Miranda and Tokatu the great news. The seahorses Miranda and Tokatu are overwhelmed and happy that they have a chance to swim free in the ocean and live in the mediterranean sea again. They make a dance of joy about it, in the evening show which makes a great impression on the audiance. Jim tells his father Oscar the good news. Jim’s father Oscar can convince Hortensia to give the seahorses as research objects back into the sea and not to put the effort in their behavioral research in the laboratory but in improving their living conditions. Hortensia talks to the professor Hagebund about it. The professor Hagebund is angry and says, this gets no EU research funds and that the Fishinglobbies have to say more than the scientists in the EU. And he has now sold his research on the seahorses to a Chinese genetic research group. And how she imagines to make this all now. Hortensia finally turns to the side of the seahorses Miranda and Tokatu. She says it is of more importance for the future to protect their habitat than the professor’s genetic research. They should be able to develop freely and not be crushed into powder as a remedy, as that would be the case in China. The research group ALLINONE sends a representative, Chian Hun after the circus Tron Callif to steal the seahorses themselves and bring them directly to China.

They lie to the professor and tell him the seahorses would survive, they plan to clone their genes. The representative of the Group ALLINONE Chian Hun sneaks secretly in the circus and kidnappes the Seahorses at night. Miranda and Tokatu are shocked to find themselves in a water bottle in direction to China. When the circus director Tron Callif finds out that the seahorses disappeared in the morning a large tumult is in the circus. Jim’s father Oscar tells the director about his son Jim and that he was not involved in the kidnapping. Jim and his father Oascar make their plan alone with Hortensia now to pursuit the group’s representative Chian Hun who has stolen the seahorses. Jim´s friend from the circus Alif helps them. They can distract the representative Chian Hun at the airport of Nice and Jimmy pulls the trunk with the seahorses out from his hand. The representative Chian Hun wants to take up the pursuit, but is stopped by Jimmy’s father Oscar and Hortensia again. They put him down at the airport and hand him over to the police. Hortensia reportes the Professor Hagebund about the stolen seahorses who now agrees to the new research project "Sea Life" and cooperates with them.

Tokatu and Miranda are save and very proud and happy. They promise all to swim once in the month to the sea beach and deliver a report from their live in freedom. But the circus director Tron Callif wants the seahorse back. Jim’s father Oscar declares they belong to his son. Jim has an idea: If the seahorses agree, they can come once a month into a large marine Circus, the director can open it at the seaside. The circus director Tron Callif agress. It’s nice and warm there at the seaside and his wife would prefer to stay too, why should he not take up residence there. Professor Dr. Hagebund promises to stand with research on their side. They want to share the revenue to finance the ocean safety project independently. The seahorses Miranda and Tokatu agree.

They will even swim once a month for the Marine Circus a little show and report back of the situation in the ocean. Tokatu sees himself as a floating reporter now and Miranda must remind him that he still is longing for seahorse babies and will then be pregnant soon. They all sing a happy song together and the last frame of the film you can see the singing and floating reportage of the seahorse couple’s Miranda and Tokatu and her little offsprings as a choir in the background in the sea circus Tronkallif under the water. In the audience behind a glass wall sit Professor Hagebund, Jim, Jim’s father Oscar and new wife scientist Hortensia.