Mini-Beasts

VHS cover

Mini-Beasts is the tenth episode of the first season of Amazing Animals. The plot revolves around Henry learning how to live around invertebrates. It first aired on the Disney Channel on 18th June 1996.

## Episode

### Episode outline

Click here for the full transcript for Mini-Beasts.

The narrator greets Henry, who is running around energetically. Henry asks what mini beasts are, with the narrator telling him it is a term for small creatures such as insects. Henry at first struggles to see any, but when he is shown an image of a praying mantis, he says it is weird. Silhouettes of other mini beasts make him panic, but the narrator points out they are simply beetles, the most common animal group on Earth. Other mini beasts include starfish, crabs and spiders.

#### First cartoon

* Bat is hanging upside-down and having a drink. He swats two Flies that come close to him. He hears the whining sound and swats again, but there is no fly there. Bat flies from his perch with the fly swat, but suddenly pulls a frightened face and flies away. The whining turns out to be Mole, riding in at high speed on his scooter.

Henry decides he is tired of looking at mini beasts and decides to go home. On opening the door, he is horrified to find his house has a giant tarantula inside it, that squeezes out through the door. As well as living in houses, mini beasts will even live in food such as grain and flour, while others live in carpets or animal hair. The various feeding habits of certain invertebrates are shown, including the scavenging cockroaches, predatory colonial spiders and leaf-cutting ants, which farm their own fungus.

#### Second cartoon

* Vulture finds Snail and prepares to eat him, putting on a bib and getting out a fork and spoon. He tries to pounce on Snail but fails to catch him. He then tries to follow Snail up onto the ceiling but falls to the ground and breaks his utensils. Vulture storms off, and Snail comes back down to the ground, where he winks and sniggers to the viewer.

Henry is doing a topiary of himself in his garden, but has a problem with pests and the entire plant is eaten. The narrator explains that some mini beasts can be real pests, such as locusts, aphids and caterpillars. The caterpillars link in to a section all about how they metamorphose into butterflies.

#### Third cartoon

* Gorilla is playing with a tethered ping-pong ball and bat, but two Lizards walk past him with barely any interest. The ‘ball’ then reveals itself to be Spider, which cuts itself loose and jumps away.

Henry is reminded about his Special Report, which is supposed to be about bees. Henry says it is specifically about why bees hum. Henry spins a story about how the queen bee formed a choir to stop the other bees from getting too annoyed with each other when making pots to store all their honey, but the bees hum because they do not know the words. The narrator says that bees sound like they are humming because their wings beat so quickly. He also explains how bees produce honey to feed their larva. Another bee parent, the alkali bee, is shown being parasitised by a bomber fly. Another insect that takes steps to feed its young are dung beetles, which create dung balls for their grubs to feed on. Henry then decides to take a bath, only to be surprised that the narrator is in the bathroom with him. While Henry asks for some privacy, the narrator explains that many mini beasts are also very clean, as the smallest speck of dust could kill them.

#### Fourth cartoon

* Tiger finds Dung Beetle and jumps on and kicks him for his amusement. After doing this two times, leaving Dung Beetle a bit battered, Tiger sees what he thinks is Dung Beetle’s crumpled shape and whistles at it – it turns out this is actually Rhinoceros in the distance, who charges at Tiger and knocks him down.

Henry now does the Golden Gecko Awards. The bronze medal goes to the praying mantis and the silver medal to the giant land snail. But the Golden Gecko Award is given to the garden spider, as the male spider has to show great bravery to approach the much larger female which could easily kill and eat him. Mini beasts face many threats – Henry walks around but is sprayed with bug spray and hit with a fly swat. A Venus flytrap is shown catching a fly, while other insect predators include owls, bee-eaters and gerbils. Henry decides to try one of the weevils that a gerbil is eating, but is tricked when the weevil plays dead.

#### Fifth cartoon

* Frog is sitting on a lily pad and tries to catch Fly. The fly grabs Frog by the tongue, hits him against the ground and then ties the tongue in a knot around his head before trying up his whole body with it.

Predatory invertebrates are then shown, including a praying mantis, an antlion and a tiger beetle. Some smaller mini beasts can be just as bad, such as the parasitic mites that swarm over creatures and feed off them, as well as blood-sucking fleas. The flea copes with getting around despite its tiny size by being able to leap great distances. Henry finds and looks at a flea circus, where he sees what appear to be tricks being done by fleas. He goes over to a tiny cannon and asks if it is loaded, and is immediately blasted in the face. He ends up with his head covered in soot, and a large hole has been created in the floor. Henry looks through the floor and welcomes up a crowd of mini beasts, saying how happy he is to have got to know them. Henry says goodbye to the viewers and narrator, who in turn says farewell to Henry.

## Animal species filmed for the programme

### Studio footage

* Fighting giant stag beetle, *Hexarthrius parryi*
* Sun beetle, *Pachnoda marginata*
* Chilean rose tarantula, *Grammostola rosea*
* Madagascar hissing cockroach, *Gromphadorhina portentosa*
* Bluebottle, *Calliphora vomitoria*
* Two-spotted cricket, *Gryllus bimaculatus*
* House spider, *Tegenaria domestica*
* Desert locust, *Schistocerca gregaria*
* Zebra longwing butterfly, *Heliconius charithonia*
* Spiny flower mantis, *Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii*
* East African giant land snail, *Lissachatina fulica*
* African giant millipede, *Archispirostreptus gigas*
* Paper kite butterfly, *Idea leuconoe*
* Mexican redknee tarantula, *Brachypelma hamorii*

**Note:** The desert locust was originally filmed for the See How They Grow episode Mini Beasts.

### Stock footage

* Mantis, Mantodea
* Tsetse fly, *Glossina sp*.
* Harlequin beetle, *Acrocinus longimanus*
* Rainbow shield bug, *Calidea dregii*
* Horned tortoise beetle, *Omocerus casta*
* Common starfish, *Asterias rubens*
* Common shore crab, *Carcinus maenas*
* Spiny lobster, *Palinurus sp*.
* Baboon tarantula, *Pelinobius muticus*
* Wood-boring beetle, Coleoptera
* Grain weevil, *Sitophilus granarius*
* Dog flea, *Ctenocephalides canis*
* Varied carpet beetle, *Anthrenus verbasci*
* Flour beetle, *Tribolium sp*.
* House spider, *Tegenaria domestica*
* Social spider, *Agelena consociata*
* Leaf-cutting ant, *Atta cephalotes*
* Migratory locust, *Locusta migratoria*
* Blackfly aphid, *Aphis fabae*
* Greenfly aphid, *Myzus persicae*
* Tent caterpillar, *Malacosoma sp*.
* Monarch butterfly, *Danaus plexippus*
* Scarce swallowtail butterfly, *Iphiclides podalirius*
* Giant honeybee, *Apis dorsata*
* Green-throated carib hummingbird, *Eulampis holosericeus*
* Early bumblebee, *Bombus pratorum*
* Western honeybee, *Apis mellifera*
* Alkali bee, *Nomia melanderi*
* Bomber fly, *Heterostylum robustum*
* Dung beetle, *Kheper sp*.
* Blue wildebeest, *Connochaetes taurinus*
* Dor beetle, Geotrupidae
* Wasp beetle, *Clytus arietis*
* Jewel wasp, *Ampulex compressa*
* European mantis, *Mantis religiosa*
* Garden orb-weaving spider, *Araneus diadematus*
* Lesser housefly, *Fannia canicularis*
* South American dung beetle, Scarabaeinae
* Burrowing owl, *Athene cunicularia*
* European bee-eater, *Merops apiaster*
* Blue weevil, *Leptostethus sp*.
* Hairy-footed gerbil, *Gerbillurus paeba*
* Bluebottle, *Calliphora vomitoria*
* Antlion, Myrmeleontidae
* Snouted harvester termite, *Trinervitermes sp*.
* Manticore beetle, *Manticora sp*.
* Two-spotted cricket, *Gryllus bimaculatus*
* Red velvet mite, Trombidiidae
* Olive baboon, *Papio anubis*
* African wattled lapwing, *Vanellus senegallus*
* Domestic cat, *Felis catus*

## Credits

* Writer - Roger Stennett
* Narrator - Tom Clarke-Hill
* Henry - Eric Meyers
* Music - David Poore
* Director - Anne Neale
* Graphic Designer - Kate Beldon
* Researcher - Fiorella Rossi
* 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 - James Pursey
* 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 Amazing Mini-Beasts was released on 1st November 1996. The cover shows a close-up of Henry cocking his eye at the viewer, and he is accompanied by a soil centipede, a pair of fighting stag beetles, a postman caterpillar and four wood ants.

The spine of the VHS has photographs of two caterpillars and a striped shield bug, while the back cover has a photograph of a Mexican redknee tarantula.

The blurb on the back cover of the VHS reads:

**What animal can live inside its lunch? How many babies does an aphid have in a week?**

Henry realises that not all invertebrates are just creepy-crawlies, but that beetles, starfish, and even fleas can be AMAZING MINI-BEASTS.

**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