Lost of the Shell Shores

"**Lost of the Shell Shores**" is the fifth TV special produced for the *Enchatria Girls* cartoon series. The TV special ties into the *Shell Shores* line.

## Story

For Spring Break, Gina invites all of her friends to come with her to the Great Barrier Reef with a luxurious ship her parents sent. The only one she has not yet invited is Jimmy, because she wants to surprise him during the pre-spring break school carnival.

Layla, Jessica, Clyde, and Keith all received invites to the Great Barrier Reef, but aren't able to come along because they or their families have other plans already. This leaves Gina herself, Judy, Rachel, Lori, Wendy, Zee, Abby, and Elsa for the trip together. Jimmy finally receives his invite, and though he cannot refuse his girlfriend, he makes no secret of it either that he doesn't want to go and fears Lagoona's parents reaction to a freshie like him.

Gina and Jimmy discuss the matter on board later, with Jimmy being adamant that the seas and oceans are scary places where everything tries to harm you. Gina is exasperated that he thinks so badly of her home but has to swallow her words when the ship is attacked by a Kraken and sinks, leaving the group stuck on a small raft.

Not far from them, two humans are having problems of their own too. A man named Otis Marter is an eccentric show-and salesman with nothing left to show or sell, his frustation over which he takes out on his assistant Kipling, a freak who keeps his head covered by a sack with holes poked into it so that he can see. As Farnum tries to think up something that can earn them some money, he hears shouting outside and is delighted to find the young peoples adrift. Planning to exhibit them, he saves them from the raft. However, his plan to exhibit them is swiftly ditched when he sees Wendy, who looks remarkably similiar to an unnamed explorer from early in the 20th century. This explorer had a particular attachment to a creature Farnum has been wanting to capture for a long time, the Beach of Shell Shores, so he plans to use Wendy as bait.

Pretending to bring the group to the Great Barrier Reef, Farnum instead takes them to Shell Shores, which he excuses by claiming he has to pick up supplies. Gina is suspicious and a bit stressed since her parents are waiting for her, but accepts Otis's story. Once docked, the group, and Frankie in particular, is welcomed by the local population, the Tiki. Otis has had previous dealings with the Tiki and knows of their fear of the beast, so he easily convinces them to keep the group entertained so that he can work out a trap for the beast.

However, Otis's plan missed to take one thing into account: the Enchatria High students are primarily non-judgmental and nice folks. Their attitude wins over the Tiki, who express concerns over the plan to trick them. Farnum deals with it by reminding the Tiki of their life in constant fear of the beast.

While suspicious that Shell Shores is littered with statues that look a lot like Wendy, the students are convinced to spend the night on the island because the Tiki are organizing festivities. Wendy is declared guest of honor and asked to participate in a performance Otis and the Tiki want to do. Naturally, she accepts. At the same time, Gina's suspicion grows again when Otis refuses her entry to his boat to check the maps on the distance between Shell Shores and the Great Barrier Reef. That evening, she and a reluctant Jimmy sneak aboard to figure out what Otis's up to and find a recording of the beast and the explorer who befriended him, finding out that Otis is using Wendy as bait to capture the beast, they then rush off to warn their friend.

At the island, the performance starts with Otis giving Wendy a necklace. He proceeds to tell the "Tall Tale of the Beach of Shell Shores", which is visualized by the Tiki's shadowgraphy. Otis reveals the existence of the beast to the students and how only one person has ever been able to soothe it. Wendy's chair suddenly rises in the air, and Otis elaborates that the Tiki gave the girl to the beast to keep him from attacking them. Rachel is the first of the students to demand the performance to end because it's starting to become scary, but only a moment later, the beast appears, lured by the drums of the Tiki. The students are shocked, and Wendy is very afraid in her vulnerable position until she notices how the beast is looking at her. Otis and the Tiki launch their attack, throwing spears at the beast. The spears cannot pierce the beast's skin, though, and the beast makes sure no harm comes to Wendy either. After a few seconds, it grabs Wendy and marches off with her. Elsa, Zee, and Abby are forced into a pitfall trap, but Rachel, Lori, and Judy escape. Otis splits up the Tiki into two groups: one that will remain in the village and keep guard under the Tiki chief's guidance, and one that will follow the beast's trail as well as the tracking device in Wendy's necklace with Otis. Gina and Jimmy return shortly afterward to find that they are too late and set off to save Wendy on their own.

The next morning, Wendy awakens in an elaborate tree house made from old ship parts. To her surprise, a shy, handsome boy is with her. She asks who he is, then remembers the monster and tells him they should flee while it is gone. The boy answers that won't be necessary, as the beast and he are the same creature. He introduces himself as Andy, and explains that he is different. He was born some centuries ago with a particular affliction that causes him to change into a huge beast if he experiences hate, anger, or fear, whether his own or another's. Due to this, his family had to move often to escape mob retaliation, which only made the affliction worse because Andy didn't get a chance to learn to trust others. Eventually, he reached Skull Shores in search of a place to live in peace. That dream was shattered when the Tiki found out about him and began to fear him. Nonetheless, he stayed, having nowhere else to go anymore.

Meanwhile, Rachel, Judy, and Lori follow the trail of the beast on their own with the help of Rachel's superior olfactory sense. Back In the village, Elsa, Zee, and Abby trick the remaining Tiki down the pit to give them food, at which point Abbey freezes them, allowing the girls to use the Tiki as stairs to escape. Abbey intends to go after Otis immediately, but Elsa points out they can't leave the Tiki like this. Abby and Zee agrees and unfreezes them, making sure they get stuck in the pit. She then holds a speech that the Tiki are foolish to trust Otis and let themselves be treated like this, which moves the Tiki to join forces with the students to stop Otis. In the jungle, Gina and Jimmy are spying on Otis from a promontory and realize he has a tracking device planted on Wendy. They intend to follow him, but the rock slips away from under Gina, and she falls down. On Otis's orders, Kipling captures Gina. Jimmy runs off, leaving both Gina and Otis certain he's acting on cowardice. As Otis mocks both Gina and Jimmy, Gina tries to convince Kipling to break ties with Otis because he isn't like his cruel master. Kipling declines, certain he has no one else to rely on.

Out for a walk, Wendy asks Andy about the statues on the island. Manny tells her about his friendship with a girl a long time ago, who was the only one he ever met who wasn't afraid of him. He made the statues after she left to be reminded of her whenever he felt upset. Suddenly, the duo notices movement in the bushes, and Manny charges in to attack, only to find the surprised trio of Rachel, Lori, and Judy. Any joy about the reunion is squashed mere moments later when Otis is spotted. Wendy urges Andy to run since Otis is only interested in him. Manny does so reluctantly but doesn't make it far before he has to hide and subsequently overhears the entire exchange between the students and Otis. Though Otis initially has the upper hand, Abby, Zee, and Elsa make their entrance, backed up by the Tiki chief, who orders the Tiki with Otis to turn on him. Only mildly bothered, Otis, takes his special cane and makes a magnet appear, which pulls Wendy to him. Threatening to suck the electricity from her with his cane, Otis shouts for the beast to appear. Andy is enraged and changes, but like the others, finds he can't do anything but obey lest he risks Wendy's very life. He changes back and turns himself in. Otis is delighted about the beast's dual nature and how that makes him much more manageable than he had thought the beast would be.

Back at Otis's boat, Otis is still holding onto Wendy as Manny gets into the boat and her friends watch. However, the group is surprised to see Jimmy rise from the water. Jimmy demands that Otis releases his friends, to which Otis asks how he intends to enforce his demand. Jimmy reveals he's not alone - with him is a small army of dolphins as well as the Kraken that destroyed the students' boat. This time, the Kraken destroys Otis's boat, picks up the crook, and flings him into the jungle. Kipling runs after his master, despite Gina's plea for him to stay. With the threat gone, Jimmy explains that he ran and swam off to the Great Barrier Reef to ask Gina's parents for help. They talked to the Kraken, who felt sorry for what he had done and agreed to save Gina and co. and fix the boat he had destroyed. The students resume their journey, taking Manny with them. Gina is thrilled about the courage and reliability Jimmy showed her and happy he finally stopped being scared of her parents and her home.

At a distance, Otis and Kipling watch the students, who've forgotten about Wendy's necklace, leave. Otis swears this isn't the end of the matter.

With Spring Break over, Wendy and her friends try to make Andy feel at home at their school, which turns out to be more work than initially thought. Due to Manny's long-time isolation, he is unfamiliar with 21st century technology. At one point, Principal Goodway announces something over the intercom, prompting Manny to believe there's a woman stuck in 'that box', which he promptly rips from the wall. The students and teachers take it in stride though, laughing about Manny's antics at worst. Andy starts feeling welcomed, but remains doubtful that the others would like him if they knew about his true nature.

After some days, Principal Goodway orders everyone to the auditorium for a speech about tolerance by a human guest speaker. While the man appears merely eccentric at first, realization hits when he starts calling the individual students "specimens" and "oddities". He appears particularly intent to torment Manny with his derogative words, leading to Goodway demanding he leave as his speech has nothing to do with tolerance. The man joyously explains he must have misspoken: he didn't mean to lecture about tolerance, but about intolerance. Pestering Manny further, he is slammed away by the boy, and finally reveals that he is Otis. This revelation first draws the ire of the Finster siblings, who prepare to attack, but Farnum pulls out a dog whistle to keep them at bay. Next, Keith tries to petrify him, but Farnum pulls out a mirror from his cane, petrifying Keith instead. Other students have similar success.

Manny, pushed by the chaos, transforms and bursts through the roof, sending the other students and teachers fleeing for their lives as the ceiling comes down on them. Wendy stays and tries to calm Manny, but he picks her up and climbs one of Enchatria High's towers with her to escape the chaos. Otis and Kipling show up on the bridge between the towers, and Otis convinces Manny that, just as with Kipling, a freak like him has nowhere else to turn to than to a man like Farnum. Though Wendy tells him not to listen, Manny does and agrees with Otis's reasoning. Kipling, though, finally realizes he's been wrong to let Otis's abuse crush his self-confidence. He takes off his hood, revealing his ears are deformed in the form of an elephant's and picks up Otis. Spotting one of the carnival stands not yet removed, (which contains a tar pit), he throws Otis into it. During his fall, Otis crosses paths with a flock of birds, causing him to end up not only tarred but feathered too. Aghast about his own freaky look, Farnum runs off, only to be captured by many humans he probably had called himself to capture Andy.

As Manny, Wendy, and Kipling join the students below, Wendy tells Kipling to stay. While freed from Otis's influence, Kipling isn't sure he'll be accepted until he spots two girls who have elephant ears, too, and clearly think he's a beauty. The happy end seems to be gone with that when Principal Goodway announces she has grave news. Due to the damages done to the school, Spring Break is extended by a week to get reparations done. As Principal Goodway ends in an upbeat tone of voice, the students cheer. On recommendation by Abby, the entire student body decides to enjoy the extra vacation on Shell Shores, much to the Tikis' delight.

## Characters

1. Rainbow
2. Elsa McMorgan
3. DJ Jack
4. Braces boy
5. Kimberly
6. Layla Parton
7. Brainy Puffies
8. Dory Gazette
9. Woody Voodoo
10. Timmy Plasience
11. C.J. Cupid
12. Rachel Finster
13. Scarlett Ferris
14. Judy von Puckett
15. Abby Snowglode
16. Zee Kazaam
17. Clyde Finster
18. Murray Martin
19. Oliver McQueen
20. Von Puckett servants
21. Otis Marter
22. Kipling
23. People scientist
24. Tiki
25. Manny Beast
26. Wendy Wonders
27. Pamela McIvy
28. Mr. Glennsburg
29. Jack Andrews
30. Ned
31. Hewitt East
32. Mike
33. Ms. Goodway
34. Lori Creaser
35. Tawnya Finster
36. Keith Evans
37. Donald Marks
38. Jessica Piper
39. Andy Tuffkowski
40. Julie Grande
41. Penelope
42. Jimmy Stones
43. Gina Miller
44. Suzy Fitzgerald
45. Mindy Mars
46. Norman
47. Amy Blossom
48. Bella Carson
49. Donna Lucas
50. Michael Chips
51. Sandy Larson
52. Captain Planet
53. Cody Winds
54. Wiz Kid
55. Carly Kicks
56. Sophia Cata
57. Rosie Heart
58. Tammy Match
59. Valerie Skye
60. Presley
61. Courtney Crash
62. Gabby Hazel
63. Caroline Peach
64. Patty Purby

## Notes

### References

* "Lost of the Shell Shores" is based on the late 19th century/early 20th century exotic expedition fiction, particularly the 1933 movie *King Kong*. The scene in which Manny climbs one of the towers of Enchatria High with Wendy in his hand mimics the icon scene in *King Kong* in which Kong climbs the Empire State Building with Ann Darrow in his hand.
* "Lost of the Shell Shores" also uses elements from the fairy tale *Beauty and the Beast*, such as Manny's changing from handsome young man to a beast. The scene in which Manny shows horrible table manners at Enchatria High appears inspired by Disney's movie adaption of the fairy tale.
* The carnival cutout Gina and Jimmy use for a photo is based on the painting *American Gothic*.
* Four Seasons is likely a play on Four Seasons.

### Continuity

* Timmy previously made the exact same mistake of insulting a Wolf girl by questioning her athletic abilities in the Volume 1 webisode "Girl Will Fly". Then, his target was Rachel Finster]].
* Timmy also earlier had a 'job' as dunk-dummy in "Fight On!".
* Andy's dislike of mazes will be brought up again in "Girls Rule".
* In "Fight On!", Abby and Zee could not speak Zombie and needed someone to translate Elsa for her. She can understand Elsa just fine in "Lost of the Shell Shores", meaning she's mastered the language in the meantime.
* Four Seasons was previously mentioned in "Wizard Trials", in which Judy also compared her temporary cabin residence to it.
* Wendy tells Manny how she, during cheerleading tryouts, lost her leg and hit the captain in the face. This is a simplified version of an event in "A New Girl in School".
* The Great Barrier Reef is mentioned again in the special of the same name.

### Milestones

* Julie Grande, Otis Marter, Manny Beast, Kipling, and the Tiki make their cartoon debuts.
* Posters depicting Michelle Vortex can be seen in Otis's cabin.

### Errors

* Michelle is one of the students almost run over by Nightmare. According to "Friday Night Fights", she shouldn't be a student at Enchatria High yet.
* Just before Gina tells Jimmy that she'll take him with her to the Great Barrier Reef to meet her parents, her flower sits on the right side of her head instead of the left.

### Other

* Despite going to the Great Barrier Reef it's referred to as the Great Barrier Reef in the special.
* The web game *Fantastic Rescue* ties into this TV special.
* The March entry of Freedom Fab 13 contained a trailer of the TV special and a fictional flyer for Shell Shores.
* As with "Why Do Girls Fall in Love?", Swapit put up "Escape From Shell Shores" for the UK audience, but initially forgot to region-lock it. The TV special was available to everyone for a few hours on April 13.
* The *Gory Gazette* article "EGGG Exclusive: Wendy on Planning Spring Break" implies that Manny's old friend is Wendy's mother. However, the article's details don't match the TV special's, and the article's details also don't match with other details known about Wendy's parents. In particular, the old friend does not have scars or neck bolts (which Wendy's mother has according to Wendy's SDCCI diary). Not to mention that Jimmy identifies the girl in the film as a "normie scientist".