Armoured Animals

VHS cover

Armoured Animals is the ninth episode of the first season of Amazing Animals. The plot revolves around Henry learning about armoured animals and the forms armour comes in. It first aired on the Disney Channel on 11th June 1996.

## Episode

### Episode outline

Click here for the full transcript for Armoured Animals.

The narrator asks Henry if he knows what armour is. He replies that he does, before banging his head and saying he needs armour himself. They look at some examples of armour, including the shells of armadillos and crabs plus the horns of the rhinoceros. Henry taunts the rhino and gets attacked by it. The narrator reminds Henry not to underestimate the power of an armoured animal. They then look at the armour of smaller animals. These include the giant millipede, which has toughened skin and poison, the African hedgehog show defending itself from a black-footed cat with spiny armour and an armadillo, which uses armour to keep it safe. When Henry calls the armadillo ugly, it kicks dirt all over him.

#### First cartoon

* Squirrel finds a pile of nuts and starts eating them. One is so tough that it causes him to lose a tooth. Squirrel throws the ‘nut’ away and storms away, only for the nut to unfold and reveal itself to be Dung Beetle.

Under the sea, a turtle is shown using armour as a means of protecting itself from sharks. The narrator shows Henry examples of human armour, which he points out are all very military. The narrator then gets Henry to do a march, and then a montage of different armoured animals moving around is shown. Henry and the narrator then look at animals that use thick skin as armour – the elephant seal uses its hide and blubber to protect itself during fights but it does leave the seal vulnerable to overheating in hot weather, while the honey badger uses thick skin as protection from bee stings. Some animals use bristly hair as armour, including the spiny mouse and the peccary. Sometimes the hair is modified, into quills like in the porcupine or horns like the bighorn sheep. The rhinoceros has the ultimate in hair-based armour. When Henry meets the rhino again, he tries to intimidate it with kung-fu skills. The narrator advises him to quit while he is behind, and Henry says he’ll let the rhino off this time.

#### Second cartoon

* Rhinoceros is standing and eating when Tiger tries to attack him. Tiger’s claws don’t leave a mark and when he bites, his teeth all break out on Rhinoceros’ hide. Tiger scoops up his teeth and walks away.

Henry now does the Golden Gecko Awards. The bronze medal goes to the tortoise and the silver medal to the millipede. Henry gives the Golden Gecko Award to the elephant, even though the narrator suggests the crocodile and sharp-ribbed salamander as contenders. The elephant wins because it has so many different types of armour, including thick hide, padded feet and large tusks.

#### Third cartoon

* Rhinoceros continues to eat when Tiger comes back in full armour – the sword he uses bends on striking Rhinoceros’ skin and the spear pings away. Rhinoceros kicks Tiger and disintegrates the armour, leaving Tiger in his underwear.

Next, Henry and the narrator look at how scales and spines serve as armour, with Henry trying to avoid a rain of quills. Henry then meets his cousin Rex, a spiny-tailed lizard. Scales are used by the ostrich to protect its legs while it runs through the bush. Henry impresses the narrator with his knowledge of the pangolin, the only mammal covered with overlapping scales, but he doesn’t know anything about sea urchins, which use spines as protection. Also using spines is the echidna, which can curl into a ball to ensure it is well-protected when it sleeps.

#### Fourth cartoon

* Porcupine is bouncing around when Vulture lands nearby. When Porcupine uncurls, Vulture tries to grab him but gets quilled and crashes into the ceiling; Vulture hops away while Porcupine goes back to bouncing.

Henry and the narrator now look at different types of headwear used to protect humans, with Henry trying several on in turn. One animal that uses a helmet is the cassowary, which uses its casque to protect its head from low-hanging branches. The redstart uses a helmet too, but in this case, it is a knight’s helmet as a place to build her nest. Henry and the narrator then look at what happens when an animal outgrows its armour, with both the lobster and Honduran milk snake shedding their skins to reveal a fresh new one underneath.

#### Fifth cartoon

* Rattlesnake slips into a bush to shed his skin but the bush blows away. The embarrassed Rattlesnake then hurries to get back into his old skin.

The narrator now reminds Henry about his special report, which is supposed to be about hermit crabs. Henry says his report is specifically about how the hermit crab got its name. He says it is because the hermit crab sold its house and went off to live in a cave on a mountaintop to think about the answers of life’s great questions. The narrator tells Henry his report was ridiculous. He explains that hermit crabs don’t have shells of their own and have to look for an empty shell, like how a hermit looks for a cave. The one problem with having to find a shell is that other hermit crabs will fight them for it.

#### Sixth cartoon

* Tiger attempts to attack Rhinoceros with a tank. Rhinoceros runs away and Tiger gives chase but the tank crashes into a wall. Rhinoceros continues to run away.

The narrator tells Henry that, while armour is good, it does have its problems. While snails have a protective shell, the thrush has learned how to break through the armour with a stone. Armour also needs to be maintained, with many large mammals using either oxpeckers or a mud bath to keep their thick skins from cracking. Heavy armour can slow down an animal like the tortoise, but when Henry laughs at them, a tortoise falls from above and squashes him. The narrator reminds Henry that armoured animals, while sometimes slow, can be tough. Henry tries to pick a fight with a baby hippo and asks him who the roughest and toughest animal around is, before the rhino appears again and Henry runs away. The narrator is pleased that Henry has at least learned something.

## Animal species filmed for the programme

### Studio footage

* West European hedgehog, *Erinaceus europaeus*
* Common rough woodlouse, *Porcellio scaber*
* Egyptian spiny mouse, *Acomys cahirinus*
* Leopard tortoise, *Stigmochelys pardalis*
* African giant millipede, *Archispirostreptus gigas*
* Sharp-ribbed salamander, *Pleurodeles waltl*
* Saharan spiny-tailed lizard, *Uromastyx geyri*
* Domestic chicken, *Gallus domesticus*
* Milk snake, *Lampropeltis triangulum*
* Land hermit crab, Coenobitidae
* Garden snail, *Cornu aspersum*
* Pancake tortoise, *Malacochersus tornieri*

### Stock footage

* Six-banded armadillo, *Euphractus sexcinctus*
* White rhinoceros, *Ceratotherium simum*
* Black rhinoceros, *Diceros bicornis*
* Plains zebra, *Equus quagga*
* Common rough woodlouse, *Porcellio scaber*
* African giant millipede, *Archispirostreptus gigas*
* Southern African hedgehog, *Atelerix frontalis*
* Black-footed cat, *Felis nigripes*
* Green sea turtle, *Chelonia mydas*
* Blue shark, *Prionace glauca*
* Leopard tortoise, *Stigmochelys pardalis*
* Ghost crab, Ocypodinae
* Fog-basking beetle, *Onymacris unguicularis*
* Cape porcupine, *Hystrix africaeaustralis*
* Driver ant, *Dorylus sp*.
* Southern elephant seal, *Mirounga leonina*
* Honey badger, *Mellivora capensis*
* African bush elephant, *Loxodonta africana*
* Collared peccary, *Dicotyles tajacu*
* Bighorn sheep, *Ovis canadensis*
* Mexican hairy dwarf porcupine, *Coendou mexicanus*
* Asian elephant, *Elephas maximus*
* Nile crocodile, *Crocodylus niloticus*
* Common ostrich, *Struthio camelus*
* Ground pangolin, *Smutsia temminckii*
* Purple sea urchin, *Strongylocentrotus purpuratus*
* Garibaldi damselfish, *Hypsypops rubicundus*
* Short-beaked echidna, *Tachyglossus aculeatus*
* Southern cassowary, *Casuarius casuarius*
* Black redstart, *Phoenicurus ochruros*
* Common spiny lobster, *Palinurus elephas*
* Milk snake, *Lampropeltis triangulum*
* Common hermit crab, *Pagurus bernhardus*
* White-lipped snail, *Cepaea hortensis*
* Song thrush, *Turdus philomelos*
* African buffalo, *Syncerus caffer*
* Red-billed oxpecker, *Buphagus erythrorynchus*
* Giant forest hog, *Hylochoerus meinertzhageni*
* Hippopotamus, *Hippopotamus amphibius*
* Geometric tortoise, *Psammobates geometricus*

## Stock footage sources

Chateau Safari (1991) – Black redstart nesting in helmet (CONFIRMED)

## Credits

* Writer - Roger Stennett
* Narrator - Tom Clarke-Hill
* Henry - Eric Meyers
* Music - David Poore
* Director - Anne Neale
* Graphic Designer - Kate Beldon
* Researcher - Liz Lewin
* Production Secretary - Cristina Hughes
* Production Team - Dominic Weston, Karen Steele, Susan Hubble and Tessa Nelson
* Camera - Jonathan Noad and Mike Kamei
* Animation - Varga Studio Ltd
	+ Animation Director - Igor Lazin
	+ Animation Co-Ordinator - Krisztina Varga
* 3-D Animation - Ricochet 4 and Henry Lutman
* Titles Post-Production - Sue Land
* Sound Editor - Julie Mitchell
* Dubbing Mixer - Andrew Wilson
* Editors
	+ Offline - Colette Hodges
	+ Online - Sharon Stiles
* Special thanks to:
	+ Doug Zwick
	+ Nancy Kemp
* Producer - Rob Harvey

## Home media releases

The VHS for Animal Colors was released on September 21st 1998. The cover shows Henry wearing his horned Viking helmet, and he is accompanied by a spiny-tailed lizard, a nine-banded armadillo, a tortoise and a lobster.

The spine of the VHS has a photograph of a white rhinoceros calf, while the back cover has a photograph of a giant millipede.

The blurb on the back cover of the VHS reads:

**What do the chicken and the ostrich have in common? What is a rhino’s horn made of?**

Henry learns a few tricks from nature’s self defence experts as he discovers the scales, spikes, horns and shells of some AMAZING ARMOURED ANIMALS.

**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