Olivia Ostrich

**Olivia Ostrich** is the main protagonist of the 1987 Golden Book Step-Ahead Video, *Journey Through the Jungle of Words*.

## Description

Olivia Ostrich is a smart and adventurous ostrich who loves to explore the world and try new things. She wears a pith helmet and scarf to show her adventurous spirit. She is always willing to help her friends and solve problems. Despite being mostly confident, she can easily be scared by things such as snakes and ghosts, sometimes so much, she buries her head in the sand (despite ostriches doing that being a myth); also, she still has a sensitive feminine side, and doesn't like too much pressure - like when her head gets stuck in the ground - or getting dirty.

Her best friend is Groucho Barx, a dog who parodies the comedian Groucho Marx. The two love when they go on adventures together. Even though they are best friends, there are times when Olivia scolds Groucho for his snarky comments, but knows that he always means well.

Despite being female, Olivia has plumage that normally the male ostriches would have, including a black body of feathers, tailfeathers, and feathered arms, grey feathered hands, as well as a grey neck and head, and an orange beak and legs.

## Biography

While not much is known about her earlier life, it is suggested that Olivia lives with Groucho in New York City when they aren't going on adventures. At one point, the duo met Schnoz Ali, the famous explorer, and the three quickly become friends due to their love of adventure.

One day, Olivia and Groucho got shocking news that Schnoz Ali had apparently went missing in the Jungle of Words. Soon after, they receive a message from Schnoz Ali on how to find him, along with a map, which lead Olivia and Groucho to assume that he has treasure in store for them.

So they set off in a biplane, and flew in it to the Jungle Island, with Groucho piloting the plane the whole way. After a rough landing in the Jungle of words, they met a zebra named named Zebra who was scared of an apparent jungle monster chasing after him. Olivia was frightened, but Groucho asked Zebra about it. After hearing the sounds, Groucho helped Zebra realize that the noises are just animals. Afterwards, the three heard more unusual sounds and decided to investigate. They arrived at a watering hole that was crowded with animals trying to drink. Olivia blew her whistle to get them in order, then had the idea of letting the animals drink in groups sorted by letter. She, Groucho, and Zebra sorted the animals and called them to the water. When Groucho called a snake, Olivia became frightened and stuck her head in the ground. Groucho and Zebra struggled to pull her out of the ground while she grunted. She was pulled free with a "pop!" and the three sat on the ground tired. Olivia then called the last group to drink. Once all the animals had gone, the crocodile swam up holding a message from Schnoz Ali. Groucho invited Zebra to ride the crocodile with them, but Zebra chose to stay to find more animals. Groucho and Olivia waved goodbye as they rode the crocodile across the water.

During the rather long ride, they came across a tree sticking up in the water, which had a piece of the map Schnoz Ali sent them and an arrow sign. After Olivia took the map piece off of the sign, Groucho read that it leads to King Tut's Hut. They got off the crocodile and took the path leading to the hut. Olivia found the place spooky, while Groucho suggested they go in. While at the entrance of the hut, a trapdoor opened beneath them. As they fell and slid down a ramp, Olivia screamed and flapped her wings. The two ended up dizzy at the bottom. Olivia checked her reflection in a nearby mirror before King Tut the ghost materialized behind her. She freaked out, called for help from Groucho, bolted away from King Tut, and stuck her head in the ground. Grouch initially ridiculed her for worrying about a ghost, but then realized what he was saying and got scared. He grabbed Olivia's tail and tried to run out of the hut, but when Olivia got free, the two of them crashed into King Tut's treasures. When Groucho inadvertently made a negative comment on the mess in the hut, King Tut started crying. Olivia got offended and scolded Groucho for hurting the ghost's feelings. Groucho realized his mistake and apologized to King Tut. King Tut told them he had had no idea how to clean up his hut for many years. Olivia wass glad to help King Tut, and after looking through his stuff, realized that the rooms in the hut were labelled with word endings. Groucho lead them in sorting the items into the right rooms. Later, when Groucho and Olivia were outside the Hut, King Tut expressed his gratitude to them by sending them the last piece of the map folded up into a paper airplane.

Olivia was overjoyed that she and Groucho have another piece of the map. Olivia decided they should turn right on the path, but when Groucho excitedly pulled on her wing so they can continue, he lost his balance and the two of them slid down a cliff. Olivia screamed all the way, until she and Groucho splashed down in a muddy pool. At the last minute, Olivia ended up upside down and got stuck headfirst in the mud, while Groucho sat in the mud next to her. Dualot saw the pair falling and swung over to investigate. Groucho introduced himself and Olivia, before making a couple of jokes. At first, it took Oliva a while to figure out what happened. She couldn't open her eyes or breathe. She realized her head was stuck in the mud. Groucho usually pulled her out when this happened, but not this time. After waiting, she began kicking and struggling to get out the muck, while Groucho and Dualot looked on. Eventually, she got herself free with a "pop!". Her mouth was full of mud. She coughed and exclaimed that she was a mess! After Dualot introduced herself and Seealot, and Olivia got out of the mud, Groucho told Dualot that they were looking for Schnoz Ali and showed her the map. Dualot recognized it as the ancient map to King Solomon's Mind and decided to take them there. All four of them swung on vines to get to the skull.

When they arrived, Seealot pointed out a red marker in one of the teeth of the skull, which swung open like a door. The gang enters the dark cave before the door slams shut behind them, frightening Olivia and the others. Groucho turns on a flashlight and Olivia discovers there are pictures on the wall telling them what to do. After seeing the clue "jump", Olivia notices a shaft in the floor and jumps over it, then tells Groucho and Dualot to do the same. Olivia finds another clue that says "Sing" and tells everyone to sing. The cave echoes their words, which spooks Olivia. Groucho tells her not to panic, saying there must be a way out of the cave. Seealot finds a picture that says "run", and the four of them run to the end of the cave. A door opens, leading them to the Reader's Palace.

After Dualot and Seealot bid them farewell, the pair finally meets Schnoz Ali at the entrance to the palace. Groucho asked him about the treasure and how he got there. Schnoz Ali surprises them both by telling them he took the bus, and wrote a message on the back of the map telling them to do the same. Olivia asked if their journey was for nothing, and Schnoz Ali says he took the same journey years ago. Schnoz Ali shows Groucho and Olivia his books and tells them that they can all read. He then shows them into the palace, which is filled with reading games, which excites Olivia. They meet Dualot selling word chips for the games. Olivia says they should get chips for each word. Schnoz Ali introduces Groucho to a game where he uses the "See" and "the" chips to make sentences. Groucho asks Olivia if she notices anything familiar about the words at the end of each sentence, to which she replies that they learned all of them at King Tut's Hut. King Tut then arrives and Olivia tells them they are having fun and learning. He invites the two to try his card game, where Olivia uses her "A" card to read sentences. She then realizes that she can also use a "The" card to start the sentences. Zebra shows up and invites them to his word-popping machine which amazes Groucho and Olivia. Groucho inserts his "In" chip and reads the sentence on the chips, winning the Grand Prize. Zebra gives them tickets to the Reader's Palace Extravaganza. Groucho and Olivia hurry to the show, in hopes of finally getting their treasure. Schnoz Ali invites them up stage, exciting Groucho and Olivia. He then tells them that their treasure is their love and knowledge of reading. Dualot, Seealot, King Tut, and Zebra give a musical tribute to Groucho and Olivia's journey, before Groucho bids the viewer farewell.

## Trivia

* Despite mostly shown to not have teeth, Olivia does have teeth anyway, as shown when she is scared by King Tut when she sees him in the mirror.
* She may have been voiced by Lynn Blair who voiced some characters in Dr. Seuss videos.