was an occasional location, especially for underwater footage. The show was produced in co-operation with the Miami Seaquarium, an aquarium also located on Key Biscayne in Miami. The show used two different Thunderbird Iroquois boats as picture boats, a 22' model with all white upholstery and a single porthole on the sides of the cuddy for the first two seasons, and upgraded to a 23' model in the third season with two-tone upholstery and two portholes on the sides of the cuddy. Miami Seaquarium still presents the Flipper Show, a dolphin show in the lagoon that served as the film location for the show. The Miami Seaquarium set where Flipper was filmed also served as the set of another Ivan Tors production, Gentle Ben; the house where the Ricks family lived was the same house used for the Wedloe family on Gentle Ben. Flipper was moved to Jimbo's Shrimp (also known as Jimbo's Place), located across from Miami Seaquarium, into the care and exercise of James "Jimbo" Luznar. Sr. Flipper lived in a pen in the cove behind Jimbo's Shrimp. Role of Flipper Flipper was portrayed at first by a female dolphin named Susie, though mostly by another female, Kathy, and occasionally by other females named Patty, Scotty, and Squirt. Female dolphins were chosen because they are less aggressive than males and their skins (unlike the skins of male dolphins) are usually free from scars and other disfigurations acquired in altercations with other dolphins, making their passing for the identical "Flipper" easier. The five dolphins performed all of Flipper's scenes except the famous tail walk, a trick they were unable to master completely. A male dolphin named Clown was brought in for scenes involving the tail walk. The famous "voice" of Flipper was actually the doctored song of a kookaburra bird. Music The show's theme tune was credited to Henry Vars with lyrics by By Dunham. In France, the melody was known as "La Romance de Paris" ("The Love Song of Paris"). The first five episodes of the second season featured a different version of the theme, with Frankie Randall singing new lyrics. After those episodes, the original style of the theme was brought back. The background music of the long underwater sequences was inspired by Ravel's "Daphnis and Chloe". Broadcast history Filming began in the early summer of 1964, and the first episode of season one was broadcast on