Animal Colors

VHS cover

Animal Colors (called Animal Colours in the UK) is the fifth episode of the second season of Amazing Animals. The plot revolves around Henry painting his house and learning about the colour schemes of different animals. It first aired on the Disney Channel on 13th May 1997.

## Episode

### Episode outline

Click here for the full transcript for Animal Colors.

The narrator meets Henry while he is redecorating, as he says he needs a change from white. The narrator says that painting with your favourite colours can make a home feel more welcoming, and asks what colours Henry is using. Henry starts with green and purple, with the narrator saying Henry has no taste – Henry points out he is working with the narrator, so go figure. The narrator suggests Henry use a colour wheel, which Henry uses as a merry-go-round. It starts spitting at great speed and, when it stops, Henry flies off into cans of paint and spills them everywhere. The narrator suggests Henry look for inspiration from the colourful world of animals, but Henry is frustrated as he thinks there are millions of colours. The narrator points out there are only seven primary colours, with the others all being shades of those original seven. The narrator suggests Henry look around for colour combinations he likes, and says one of the best places to look is on a coral reef. Although corals are animals, the colours are made by tiny plants living inside their bodies. At first, Henry is scared that this is an invasion of the body snatchers, but the narrator corrects him and says the plants actually feed the coral and provide its colour and without the plants, the coral would die.

#### First cartoon

* Rooster gets tasked with painting a fence by Hen. He tries to make a painting machine with Rattlesnake as his assistant. Rattlesnake does not fit a component and the machine malfunctions, covering Hen in paint. She makes Rooster paint the fence manually, using Rattlesnake as a pole to hold the paint roller.

Henry starts by painting with a strong red colour. While he thinks it, and the red monarch butterfly, are beautiful the narrator reminds him it can also be a danger warning. Henry’s ladder falls over. When the narrator asks Henry if he is alright, Henry says he is fine but is alarmed by the sight of a nearby pigeon with a red chest patch. The narrator tells Henry it is actually a bleeding-heart dove, and Henry panics before trying to rush the dove to the ER. The narrator says that the dove isn’t actually bleeding and the colour is there to confuse predators. Red colours can be used as warning signs by toxic creatures such as poison-dart frogs, but are also used as courtship displays by birds including frigatebirds and cock-of-the-rock. The narrator says that the colours help female birds choose the mate that will give them the best and brightest offspring. Henry says his mother was lucky to get the best and brightest too. The narrator says Henry is the most conceited lizard he has ever met and wonders if he will be as cocky about his report, which Henry only just remembers.

#### Second cartoon

* The smaller Eagle has been tasked by his commander to paint a building but continuously slacks off. To save time he sneaks over to the Squirrels, replaces their acorn catapult ammunition with a paint can and then encourages them to fire at him. Just as the paint can is about to hit the building, the Eagle commander approaches and gets covered in paint.

The narrator now reminds Henry about his special report, which is supposed to be about albino animals. Henry first defines albinos as animals with no colour, so they end up white with pink eyes. The narrator is impressed, thinking Henry has done his homework. Henry then talks about how all axolotls are albino, but once they were blue and belonged to a pirate named Bluebeard. After Bluebeard was killed, they swam off to the beach to relax but, when they saw the ghost of Bluebeard, their gills stood on end and they went white as a sheet. Once Henry has concluded his report, the narrator tells him he didn’t get one bit right. For a start, not all axolotls are albino and secondly, they were never blue – the standard colour of the axolotl is a dark brown. Albinos simply missed out on this colour. The narrator tells Henry that axolotls are salamanders that remain young for their whole lives. He then explains that, to tell an albino from a white animal, you need to look for their pink eyes. Henry now tries painting with a sunny yellow, adding some blotches. The narrator shows Henry a couple of animal species that use this pattern as camouflage – the leopard for hiding from its prey and the giraffe for hiding from its predators.

#### Third cartoon

* Dung Beetle is flying through an art gallery, where Chameleon tries to eat him several times by disguising himself as artworks. He catches Dung Beetle when the beetle lands on a marble statue. The statue’s arm falls off, dragging down Chameleon and allowing Dung Beetle to escape.

Henry tries spraying his home blue, but because he colours over the yellow, he makes green instead. Henry ends up completely camouflaged and cannot see where he is going. The narrator makes the green colour fade away, revealing not only Henry but several tree frogs. Henry goes off with the tree frogs to talk about being green, with him also saying that green is his favourite colour. The narrator says that many animals are green to provide camouflage, including the sloth which is one of the few green mammals. It gets its colour from algae growing on its fur. Henry and the narrator also look at the kelpfish, which is green to hide in kelp, although Henry is rather dismissive of its unimaginative name.

#### Fourth cartoon

* The Lizards are playing golf and one hits a ball that lands on the head of Crocodile. Crocodile chases the Lizards, who throw away their hats. Crocodile loses the Lizards but spots a hat and pounces on it. However, it is actually Elephant who has put the hat on his trunk. Elephant angrily throws Crocodile back into the stream.

Henry now does the Golden Gecko Awards. The bronze medal goes to the frigatebird, and the silver medal is awarded to the colour-changing chameleon. The Golden Gecko Award is given to hummingbirds, which are the most colourful birds in the world. Henry says they remind Henry of new cars because of their sparkly metallic appearance. The narrator in turn says that this is because their colours come from iridescence, which is when light passes through the feathers. Henry has decided to combine all the seven major colours together to get rainbow patterns, but his paint mixing machine explodes and leaves a series of dark squiggles on his wall. While the narrator says it is a mess, Henry thinks it is artistic. The narrator does concede that many animals have black-and-white patches such as zebras which use their stripes to disguise themselves from tsetse flies and the zorilla, which uses its stripes to warn of their bad smell. The narrator asks Henry if the animals have inspired him at all. Henry says they have, especially the iridescent colours of hummingbirds. When the narrator points out these colours come from light, Henry says that he knows that, and turns on a mixture of disco music and lighting, which flashes all the different colours – Henry says that all the colours were so amazing that he couldn’t pick just one.

## Animal species filmed for the programme

### Studio footage

* Golden pheasant, *Chrysolophus pictus*
* Monarch butterfly, *Danaus plexippus*
* Green-winged macaw, *Ara chloropterus*
* Luzon bleeding-heart dove, *Gallicolumba luzonica*
* Blue-and-yellow macaw, *Ara ararauna*
* Axolotl, *Ambystoma mexicanum*
* Leopard, *Panthera pardus*
* Domestic canary, *Serinus canaria*
* Mallard, *Anas platyrhynchos*
* Green-cheeked parakeet, *Pyrrhura molinae*
* White’s tree frog, *Litoria caerulea*
* King penguin, *Aptenodytes patagonicus*
* Eurasian magpie, *Pica pica*
* Plains zebra, *Equus quagga*
* Clown triggerfish, *Balistoides conspicillum*

### Stock footage

* Dyeing poison-dart frog, *Dendrobates tinctorius*
* Magnificent frigatebird, *Fregata magnificens*
* Red admiral butterfly, *Vanessa atalanta*
* Plains zebra, *Equus quagga*
* Andean cock-of-the-rock, *Rupicola peruvianus*
* Zorilla, *Ictonyx striatus*
* Hummingbird, Trochilidae
* Giant kelpfish, *Heterostichus rostratus*
* Pacific blue tang, *Paracanthurus hepatus*
* Blue-and-yellow macaw, *Ara ararauna*
* Leopard, *Panthera pardus*
* Flatid leaf bug, Flatidae
* Yellow boxfish, *Ostracion cubicum*
* Oscar, *Astronotus ocellatus*
* Red-backed poison frog, *Ranitomeya reticulata*
* Strawberry poison-dart frog, *Oophaga pumilio*
* Lehmann’s poison-dart frog, *Oophaga lehmanni*
* Ring-tailed lemur, *Lemur catta*
* Masai giraffe, *Giraffa tippelskirchi*
* Red-eyed tree frog, *Agalychnis callidryas*
* Brimstone butterfly, *Gonepteryx rhamni*
* Thistle mantis, *Blepharopsis mendica*
* Natal dwarf chameleon, *Bradypodion sp*.
* Red-bellied macaw, *Orthopsittaca manilata*
* Brown-throated three-toed sloth, *Bradypus variegatus*
* California sheephead, *Semicossyphus pulcher*
* Garibaldi damselfish, *Hypsypops rubicundus*
* Rufous-tailed hummingbird, *Amazilia tzacatl*
* Broad-billed hummingbird, *Cynanthus latirostris*
* Mantled geureza, *Colobus guereza*
* Laughing gull, *Leucophaeus atricilla*
* Northern raccoon, *Procyon lotor*
* Pioneer white butterfly, *Belenois aurota*
* Lion, *Panthera leo*
* Tsetse fly, *Glossina sp*.
* Brown hyena, *Parahyaena brunnea*
* South African springhare, *Pedetes capensis*
* Serval, *Leptailurus serval*
* Black-backed jackal, *Lupulella mesomelas*
* Common warthog, *Phacochoerus africanus*
* Blue wildebeest, *Connochaetes taurinus*

## Credits

* Henry - Eric Meyers
* Narrator - Tom Clarke-Hill
* Writer - Alastair Swinnerton
* Script Editor - Jennifer Lupinacci
* Music - David Poore
* Director - Anne Neale
* Graphic Designer - Kate Beldon
* Graphic Design Assistant - Emma Rigney
* Production Co-ordinator - Esta Porter
* Post-Production Co-ordinator - Liz Lewin
* Production Secretary - Vivienne Mackay
* Production Team - Steve Cronick, Pauline Davis, Sam Evans and Dominic Weston
* Camera - Andy Shillabeer
* 3-D Animation - Ricochet 4 and Daniel Pearson
* Computer Animation Director - Henry Lutman
* Cell Animation - A for Animation
* Cell Animation Director - Mark Taylor
* Sound Editor - Paul Fisher
* Dubbing Mixer - Andrew Wilson
* Editors
	+ Offline - John Wabe and David Hindmarsh
	+ Graphics - Sue Land
	+ Online - Sharon Stiles
* Producer - Rob Harvey

## Home media releases

The VHS for Animal Colors was released in 1997. The cover shows a full body view of Henry with a spilled can of paint, and he is accompanied by a polar bear, a jendaya conure and a royal gramma. On the British release of the VHS, the Dorling Kindersley Vision logo is replaced with a Lehmann’s poison frog.

The spine of the VHS has a photograph of a Eastern rosella, while the back cover has a photograph of a longnose butterflyfish.

The blurb on the back cover of the VHS reads:

**Which bird has 50 ‘eyes’? How can you tell when a chameleon is in love?**

**“MAYBE A SPLASH OF RED? OOPS!”**

Henry figures it’s time to redecorate – and ends up in a multicoloured mess. But he soon gets some artistic inspiration from ANIMAL COLOURS, from the dazzling macaw to the camouflaged leopard.

Alternative Animal Colors VHS cover

**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