Henry the Lizard

**Henry the Lizard** (rarely nicknamed **Hen** and **Hank**) is a fictional anthropomorphic gecko who is the lead character in the Dorling Kindersley Vision series Amazing Animals. He appears in all fifty-two episodes of the series and often leads the narrative of the show.

Henry is voiced entirely by Eric Meyers (although it has been rumoured that Henry was voiced by Cody and Cynthia Kirk in episodes such as "Underwater Animals", "Animal Partners" and "Rainforest Animals"), including in all songs.

## Appearance

Henry is mostly dark green, with a paler green colour on his feet, belly and the underside of his head and neck. He has pink and purple spots on his back and running down his tail. He has yellow eyes. In Animal Senses he briefly grows a pair of small pointed ears while he is talking to the narrator about the sense of hearing, but they do not make any subsequent appearance. In most episodes, he appears to have no teeth but in Animal Changes, a major plot point is Henry losing his first tooth. From what can be seen, Henry has flat human-like teeth.

## Age and Family

Henry’s age is not given in the show. He is generally depicted as being quite young – in the second season, his special report is styled as a school report and in Giant Animals the narrator specifically describes him as immature. Despite his young age, Henry lives in his own house and can both drive a car and fly a plane. Henry is also implied to be grown up in Animal Changes.

Henry is shown across the series to have a large family, with his mother one of the only family members to appear on-screen. While he does love his mother, he is also often either embarrassed or unappreciative of her. Over the course of the series, Henry also briefly mentions his father, grandfather, two aunts, an uncle, a great uncle and at least five cousins. The only other (animated) family members to appear on-screen is the baby of an unnamed cousin in Animal Babies and another baby cousin, named Lizzie, in Animal Mothers.

Henry has a habit of referring to other lizards as cousins or uncles. While it could be that he is calling them cousins from a scientific perspective, the fact that all of the relatives attending Henry’s birthday party in Animal Families are depicted by real lizards indicates that he is related to them. For more information, see Henry the Lizard's family.

## Characterisation

Henry is often depicted as a joker, using humour and sarcasm in many of his responses to the narrator. He forms a double-act with the narrator, acting as the ‘funny man’ when compared to the narrator’s ‘straight man’. He also has a considerable ego, with him even creating a museum dedicated to himself in Extinct Animals. He often overestimates many of his own abilities, which subsequently backfire on him. These include when he tries to fly with a pair of wings in Birds of Prey and trying to hang by his tail in Monkeys and Apes.

Although often shown as being impulsive and prone to trying silly ideas, Henry is by no means unintelligent. He has created many inventions, including a time machine, a submarine and a shrink ray. He also has moments when he impresses the narrator with his knowledge about some animals, although this is often followed by him floundering when the narrator asks him a question about another animal.

One of Henry’s major loves is food – in the first season, he has more typical lizard tastes. In Animal Survivors, he states his intent to eat the contents of tins containing such lizard delicacies as fly a l’orange, mesquite mosquito and beetle bisque. In Animal Appetites, Henry says his favourite food are chocolate bugs, although Henry does state later on that they are chocolate-coated insects. Later on, Henry mostly turns down insects and prefers to eat pizza and chocolate. However, in Woodland Animals, on eating maggots and larva he finds inside a tree branch he says they taste good. Among other things that Henry eats is his own branded breakfast cereal, called Henry Pops and shaped like his footprint.

Henry’s opinions about different animals can change from episode to episode – in several episodes, such as Nighttime Animals and Scary Animals, Henry is frightened of bats but asks the narrator why some people hate bats in Animal Journeys. Likewise, he is depicted as arachnophobic in Scary Animals but in Animal Builders he has a pet spider named Boris.

From the cover of Amazing Animals Activity Center

**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