Animal Babies

VHS cover

Animal Babies is the eleventh episode of the first season of Amazing Animals. The plot revolves around Henry learning what it takes to look after a baby, after an egg he is babysitting hatches. It first aired on the Disney Channel on 25th June 1996.

## Episode

### Episode outline

Click here for the full transcript for Animal Babies.

The narrator meets Henry looking in a photo album at baby pictures of himself. When the narrator asks Henry what the baby carriage in the background is for, Henry says his cousin dropped off an egg for him to babysit. Suddenly, the egg hatches and Henry asks for help to look after the baby. The narrator shows Henry some animal babies and explains that they all need feeding, cleaning and attention and all have a mother in common, including marsupials.

#### First cartoon

* Parrot is sitting on some eggs and gets up to pick up a new stick for the nest. Parrot returns to find what looks like an extra egg and tries to sit on them. The nest starts to move, but when Parrot picks up his eggs, they show no sign of movement. Parrot jumps off the nest, with the extra egg turning out to be the tip of Rhinoceros’ horn. Rhinoceros jumps out of the tree while Parrot angrily shouts at him. Parrot then puts back his eggs and sits on the nest.

Henry is trying to sleep, but the baby he is looking after continues to cry. He at first tries to ignore it but then tries to soothe it by bouncing the carriage. He then goes back to sleep, but the carriage rolls away through a crowd of baby animals before looping back and ending up where it started. The narrator points out that many animal mothers are more caring about their babies. The parental care of a tammar wallaby is shown, as well as the self-sacrificing behaviour of the mother *Amaurobius* spider. The cuckoo is less caring about its offspring, dumping its eggs into the nests of other birds to be cared for by these foster parents.

#### Second cartoon

* A baby Gorilla is piling up bricks. Squirrel comes in and deliberately knocks down the brick tower, causing the baby Gorilla to cry. The Squirrel tries to make the baby stop crying by pulling faces, but cannot stop it. When the parent Gorilla approaches, Squirrel starts crying himself. The parent Gorilla then puts a pacifier in Squirrel’s mouth, making the baby Gorilla start to cry again.

The baby, now in a high-chair, is crying for food while Henry looks at his own massive lunch. The narrator asks Henry what the baby might like to eat, and Henry imagines a bottle of milk in a thought bubble. He then grabs the bottle in his mouth but, returning to the pile of food, finds the baby has eaten his food. The baby goes for a nap and Henry uses this as an excuse to sneak away. As soon as he is gone, the baby wakes up and chases some passing ducklings. The narrator shows how mother lions and naked mole-rats pay much closer attention to their babies.

#### Third cartoon

* A Gorilla dressed as a clown goes on stage in front of an audience of Lizards and starts juggling six eggs. As he goes, five of the eggs hatch into Birds, with the final one falling and smashing on his face. Gorilla sidles off stage, embarrassed, while the young Birds come back and continue the performance to applause from the Lizards.

Henry now does his Special Report, which is supposed to be about where baby seahorses come from. Henry first rubbishes other stories about where babies come from (such as cabbage patches or delivery by storks) and then talks about how different animals produce eggs. The narrator reminds him to get back on track, and Henry says that seahorses are different from other animals because the mother doesn’t produce the babies. The narrator sounds hopeful, until Henry says that seahorses are magic and produce their babies by stirring a magic mixture in a jar. The narrator commends Henry for trying, but says fact is stranger than Henry’s fiction, as in seahorses the male gives birth. Moving on from the report, the baby has accidentally angered a mother duck. Henry realises he isn’t doing such a good job of looking after the baby, and encourages it to ride on his back. The narrator shows other animals that carry their young as protection from predators, including the scorpion, jacana and arowana fish.

#### Fourth cartoon

* A mother Frog hops along with her baby, but loses it when it wanders off. She looks for it and then talks to the nearby Chameleon, who feigns ignorance. When Chameleon starts belching, Frog gets suspicious and, when she kicks Chameleon up the backside, he coughs out the baby Frog. The mother Frog leaves with her baby, while Chameleon is left with his tongue hanging out.

Henry now does the Golden Gecko Awards. The bronze medal goes to the giraffe and the silver medal to the right whale. But the Golden Gecko Award is given to the African hunting dog, because Henry wants to pay tribute to a fellow amazing babysitter. One female dog is left behind on each hunt to suckle and look after the pups, even if they are not her own. Once the hunting party comes back, the babysitter can take a break and get food of her own. Back with Henry, he has started to get the hang of babysitting but as soon as he goes to read his book, the baby runs off with a crowd of other baby animals. The baby first plays on a slide and then a see-saw, both times ending back where it started when Henry turns around to check. The narrator talks about how baby animals need to play in order to learn, such as black bear cubs and baby baboons.

#### Fifth cartoon

* A Rabbit couple have just got married, and Chameleon is taking the wedding photographs. Just before he can take the shot, he realises something is missing and goes to grab the camera flash. Returning, he finds the Rabbits have had around eighteen babies. Chameleon, despite being a bit puzzled, takes the photo. On the photograph, new baby Rabbits start to spontaneously appear.

Henry is surrounded by not only his cousin’s baby but other baby animals. When the narrator asks why, Henry says that because he now knows everything about babies, he has started his own daycare centre. His cousin’s baby bites onto his tail, before climbing back up onto Henry’s back. The two lizards then smile as their photograph is taken, which then appears in a photo album. The narrator then says his goodbye to Henry before the credits roll.

## Animal species filmed for the programme

### Studio footage

* European rabbit, *Oryctolagus cuniculus*
* Domestic cat, *Felis catus*
* Domestic Dog, *Canis familiaris*
* Domestic chicken, *Gallus domesticus*
* Mallard, *Anas platyrhynchos*
* House mouse, *Mus musculus*
* Imperial scorpion, *Pandinus imperator*
* European brown common frog, *Rana temporaria*
* Long-tailed chinchilla, *Chinchilla lanigera*
* Lion, *Panthera leo*

**Note:** The imperial scorpion was originally filmed for the See How They Grow episode Jungle Animals.

### Stock footage

* Lion, *Panthera leo*
* Barn swallow, *Hirundo rustica*
* Proboscis monkey, *Nasalis larvatus*
* Amazon river turtle, *Podocnemis sp*.
* Nile crocodile, *Crocodylus niloticus*
* Common ostrich, *Struthio camelus*
* African bush elephant, *Loxodonta africana*
* Black-tailed prairie dog, *Cynomys ludovicianus*
* Cheetah, *Acinonyx jubatus*
* Antechinus, *Antechinus sp*.
* Tammar wallaby, *Notamacropus eugenii*
* Eastern grey kangaroo, *Macropus giganteus*
* Black lace-weaver, *Amaurobius ferox*
* Common reed warbler, *Acrocephalus scirpaceus*
* Common cuckoo, *Cuculus canorus*
* Naked mole-rat, *Heterocephalus glaber*
* Long-snouted seahorse, *Hippocampus guttulatus*
* Comb-crested jacana, *Irediparra gallinacea*
* Carpet python, *Morelia spilota*
* Silver arowana, *Osteoglossum bicirrhosum*
* Arapaima, *Arapaima gigas*
* Masai giraffe, *Giraffa tippelskirchi*
* Southern right whale, *Eubalaena australis*
* African hunting dog, *Lycaon pictus*
* American black bear, *Ursus americanus*
* Olive baboon, *Papio anubis*
* Chacma baboon, *Papio ursinus*

## Credits

* Writer - Roger Stennett
* Narrator - Tom Clarke-Hill
* Henry - Eric Meyers
* Music - David Poore
* Director - Anne Neale
* Researchers - Fiorella Rossi and Clare Dornan
* Production Secretary - Cristina Hughes
* Production Team - Dominic Weston, Karen Steele, Susan Hubble and Tessa Nelson
* Camera - Jonathan Noad, Mike Kamei and Tom Gordon
* Animation - Varga Studio Ltd
	+ Animation Director - Igor Lazin
	+ Animation Co-Ordinator - Krisztina Varga
* 3-D Animation - Ricochet 4 and Henry Lutman
* Sound Editor - James Pursey
* Dubbing Mixer - Andrew Wilson
* Editors
	+ Offline - Colette Hodges
	+ Online - Sue Land
* Special thanks to:
	+ Doug Zwick
	+ Nancy Kemp
* Producer - Kate Beldon
* Series Producer - Rob Harvey

## Home media releases

The VHS for Amazing Animal Babies was released on September 21st 1998. The cover shows Henry leaning out of a pram, with his eyes and mouth wide open, and he is accompanied by an American black bear cub, a goat kid and a white tiger cub.

The spine of the VHS has a photograph of an American black bear cub, while the back cover has a photograph of a Bennett’s wallaby with a joey.

The blurb on the back cover of the VHS reads:

**What animal carries its babies in its mouth? How do baby scorpions like to travel around?**

Henry discovers some different ways to bring up the kids, from the family life of the hunting dog to the cheating cuckoo, in AMAZING ANIMAL BABIES.

**Cartoon Characters**: \* Eagles • Tyrannosaurus • Rattlesnake • Tiger • Squirrel • Lizards • Elephant • Bat • Fish • Camel • Gorilla • Caveman • Mole • Bear • Stickman • Chicks • Hen • Rooster • Owl • Chameleon • Tortoise • Crocodile • Frog and Toad •
• Parrot • Porcupine • Mouse • Whale • Rhinoceros • Beavers • Snail • Rabbit • Dog • Skunk • Spider • Octopus • Vulture • Woodpecker • Flea • Dung Beetle • Butterfly • Gibbon • Fly • Mosquito • Bee • Beetles • Crab • Pigeon • Carnivorous Plant • Lamb

**Voice Actors**: Eric Meyers • Tom Clarke-Hill
**Season One**: Tropical Birds • Animal Disguises • Nighttime Animals • Animal Appetites • Animal Survivors • Animal Senses • Animal Weapons • Animal Builders • Armoured Animals • Mini-Beasts • **Animal Babies** • Poisonous Animals • Animal Journeys
**Season Two**: Birds of Prey • Desert Animals (Amazing Animals) • Scary Animals • Animal Records • Animal Colors • Animal Mothers • Animal Pets • Seashore Animals • Animal Families • Endangered Animals • An Animal Year • Prehistoric Animals • Monkeys and Apes
**Season Three**: Animal Hunters • Animal Talk • Slimy Animals • Rainforest Animals • Animal Acrobats • Underwater Animals • Animal Neighbors • Giant Animals - Creepy Crawly Animals • Farm Animals (Amazing Animals) • Animal Changes • Extinct Animals • Animal Eggs
**Season Four**: Around the World • Polar Animals • Clever Animals • Underground Animals • Animal Helpers • Woodland Animals (Amazing Animals) • Mountain Animals • Backyard Animals • Tiny Animals • Animal Partners • Scaly Animals • River Animals • Animal Flight