Seashore Animals

VHS cover

Seashore Animals is the eighth episode of the second season of Amazing Animals. The plot revolves around Henry getting stranded on the beach of a desert island, and meeting the animals of the seashore. This episode also marks the first appearance of Crab Tuesday. It first aired on the Disney Channel on 3rd June 1997.

## Episode

### Episode outline

Click here for the full transcript for Seashore Animals.

The narrator meets Henry walking on a beach – he finds it boring, as there is nobody to play with and nothing to do. Suddenly, he finds footprints and starts following them, only for the narrator to tell Henry that he is following his own footprints. He tells Henry that he fell asleep in his little boat and was swept to an island miles away from civilisation. Henry is at first worried he will go crazy from being so isolated, but the narrator tells Henry that the seashore is actually full of animals. Henry ends up caught in a stampede of sea lions, pelicans and gulls, with a sea lion running over him and burying him. The narrator shows Henry that, far from just being a fun place to visit, the seashore is a living landscape that is shaped by the sea.

#### First cartoon

* Rooster is watching his Chicks playing with a ball at the beach when a baby Crab steals the ball. When Rooster returns the ball to his children the baby Crab starts crying. The parent Crab takes the ball and knocks Rooster neck-deep into the sand

Henry is still bored and cannot find an ice cream stand anywhere. The narrator recommends beachcombing to see what has been washed up on the shores. Henry finds a shell with a hermit crab living inside it. He chases it after the crab pinches his nose. The narrator shows Henry a variety of animals that visit the seashore to beachcomb in search of food, including chimpanzees, fiddler crabs and mudskippers.

#### Second cartoon

* Rooster tries to settle back in his deckchair but Crab steals it. Rooster tries to create a grappling hook to pull Crab out of the chair but Crab crabs the line, hauls in Rooster, knocks him into the sand up to his neck again and uses his beak as a bottle opener.

Henry is reminded to do his Special Report, which is about seagulls. Henry says that seagulls used to live on the land, following tractors and collecting worms but when the tractors got bigger and the worms disappeared, the gulls moved to the coast. Here, they did a deal with ants to steal sandwiches from people. The seagulls ate so much they couldn’t leave the seashore and they are still there today. The narrator says that Henry has got it the wrong way around – seagulls are adaptable birds that live by the sea, although they have started to move inland to follow tractors. Back on the island, Henry has built himself a little house like in Robinson Crusoe. Henry is thirsty and tries to drink the saltwater in a rock pool. The crab returns and sits on Henry’s back. Henry shakes him off, but the crab offers Henry a coconut. Henry decides the two should be friends and names him Crab Tuesday after Robinson Crusoe’s Man Friday. Henry and Tuesday decide to carry on looking in the rock pool, which the narrator explains can be full of life such as blennies and predatory starfish.

#### Third cartoon

* One of the Chicks catches something on his fishing line and Rooster, Hen and the other Chicks try to help him reel it in. It turns out Crab has wrapped the line around the leg of Octopus while he is asleep and is holding the line. On letting go, Octopus goes flying up out of the water and lands on Rooster’s head.

Henry is still bored on the beach, as he expected it to be full of families enjoying themselves. Crab Tuesday takes Henry to show him something. Henry finds out that Crab Tuesday is here with his mother and two siblings. Henry thinks they are on vacation, but the narrator points out that many animal families live on the seashore. Sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs, while eider ducks keep their young safe in a large nursery group.

#### Fourth cartoon

* Crab sees Rooster and his family enjoying a picnic and wants to ruin it – he jumps up and down on the Chicks nearby sandcastle. Rooster then has an idea – he makes another sandcastle and Crab immediately arrives to jump on it. Octopus appears from under the sandcastle, grabs Crab and throws him into the sea. Octopus then joins the chickens at their picnic.

Henry now does the Golden Gecko Awards. The bronze medal goes to the sea turtle and the silver to the fiddler crab. The Golden Gecko Award is given to the pelican, which have large beaks that help them to perform all sorts of tasks such as displaying to mates and collecting fish to feed both themselves and their young. Henry has built a sandcastle with Crab Tuesday, but the tide comes in and Tuesday buries himself. Henry is caught up by the waves and goes surfing. The narrator recommends Henry leave the surfing to experts like the sea lions. The narrator also explains how the tides are formed by the actions of the moon. Back at the beach, Henry has a wipeout while surfing and finds a ball on the beach. He first plays with a sea lion but when he passes the ball to Crab Tuesday, it bursts. Suddenly, a ship going past sounds its horn, with the narrator saying Henry is saved. Henry is at first pleased, but then decides rather than returning to the noise and pollution of the city he will stay on the island with his friend. The narrator says that maybe Tuesday can teach Henry how to be an amazing seashore animal.

## Animal species filmed for the programme

### Studio footage

* Great white pelican, *Pelecanus onocrotalus*
* Black-headed gull, *Chroicocephalus ridibundus*
* California sea lion, *Zalophus californianus*
* European lobster, *Homarus gammarus*

### Stock footage

* Green sea turtle, *Chelonia mydas*
* Periwinkle, *Littorina littorea*
* Blue-spotted mudskipper, *Boleophthalmus boddarti*
* Soldier crab, *Mictyris longicarpus*
* Chimpanzee, *Pan troglodytes*
* Fiddler crab, Ocypodidae
* European herring gull, *Larus argentatus*
* Common gull, *Larus canus*
* Lesser black-backed gull, *Larus fuscus*
* Heermann's gull, *Larus heermanni*
* Sandwich tern, *Thalasseus sandvicensis*
* Blenny, Blennioidei
* Common hermit crab, *Pagurus bernhardus*
* Jewel anemone, *Corynactis viridis*
* Common starfish, *Asterias rubens*
* European blue mussel, *Mytilus edulis*
* Bat star, *Patiria miniata*
* Red sea urchin, *Mesocentrotus franciscanus*
* European eider, *Somateria mollissima*
* Brown pelican, *Pelecanus occidentalis*
* South American sea lion, *Otaria flavescens*
* Eurasian oystercatcher, *Haematopus ostralegus*
* Eurasian whimbrel, *Numenius phaeopus*

## 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 and Graham MacFarlane
* Computer 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 - Vince Pipe
	+ Graphics - Sue Land
	+ Online - Sharon Stiles

## Home media releases

The VHS for Seashore Animals was released on 9th March 1998. The cover shows a front view of Henry wearing a red pair of goggles with a snorkel, and he is accompanied by a green sea turtle, a California sea lion and a Pacific blue tang.

The spine of the VHS has a photograph of an edible crab, while the back cover has no photograph.

The blurb on the back cover of the VHS reads:

How does a prawn become invisible? How sharp are a sea urchin’s spines?

**“GET ME MY PAIL – I’M GOING TO THE BEACH!”**

Henry thinks he’s in for some peace and quiet, until he discovers that the SEASHORE hides hundreds of amazing surprises, from the stinging tentacles of the jellyfish to the dive-bombing seagull.

**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