Africa 10: The Great Emigration (1997)

***Africa X: The Great Emigration*** is a 1997 direct-to-video animated adventure musical drama film and the tenth film in the *Africa* series.

## Plot:

Lenny has an ominous "sleep story" (dream) where he sees the "Great Circle" (the sun) falling out of the sky, and when he mentions it to his grandparents, they reveal they are sharing the same experience, with his grandpa lamenting that they need to go somewhere. Lenny explains his situation to his friends and they become interested. Led only by their instinct, they leave the next day. Out of curiosity, Cindy, Stan, Lizzie, and Patrik follow them. During their trek, Lenny is nearly eaten by a *West African Crocodile* while playing in a swamp, but a *South African Bush Elephant* named Snow saves his life by stepping on the predator and joins him and his grandparents, as she is driven on by the same sense as them. They are soon joined by dozens of other Elephants feeling the same instincts. Meanwhile, Lenny's friends are attacked by the *West African Crocodile* in the same swamp that Lenny and his grandparents passed through, but they manage to escape. That night, they sleep next to what appears to be a large boulder. The next morning, they discover that the "boulder" was a sleeping grey *West African Lion*, which wakes up and chases them. They escape into a small cave and meet Pete, an elderly *East African Bush Elephant*.

Lenny, his grandparents, and Snow reach a large crater where hundreds of Elephants have gathered. There, he meets his long-lost father, Brick, for the first time. Brick tells Lenny how he was separated from Lenny's mother during the great "earthshake" (earthquake) in the first film. During his wanderings in search of Lenny, Brick became the leader of a herd of elephants and the guardian to a young, mischievous *African Forest Elephant*, Sammy, who becomes jealous of Lenny taking all of his father's attention. Meanwhile, Pete tells Lenny's friends that the Elephants are being driven by a tradition involving a solar eclipse, which was taken as a sign that the sun will be sent crashing down into the Earth by the "Night Circle" (the moon). Every solar eclipse, Elephants from all around the world gather in one location to stretch their necks up and "catch" the sun, so they can propel it back up into the sky. Soon after, Pete steps into a pool of lava, which burns his leg badly, but he is still able to move as they escape the lava field.

On the day of the eclipse, Lenny wakes up to see Sammy traveling over the crater walls and running away, out of spite for being ignored by Brick. He catches up to Sammy and convinces him to stay; the two reconcile and agree to see themselves as brothers. Moments later, Lenny's friends appear, with a brown *West African Lion* pursuing them. Pete defends the children but is slowed down by his burned leg. Brick rushes to their aid and is able to temporarily knock out the Lion, then a third green *West African Lion* and the grey *West African Lion* arrive. Lenny's grandparents join in the fight and defeat the green Lion. Brick fights the brown Lion again while Pete fights the grey one. As soon as all three Lion are defeated, the eclipse begins, and the sudden darkness scares away the Lion towards the end.

Lenny, his grandparents, Brick, Sammy, Snow, and Pete take their place among the other Elephants, who have all gathered on top of the crater walls. They succeed in "catching" the sun, and everyone rejoices as the eclipse ends. With their mission completed, the different Elephants herds depart on their separate ways. Snow departs with an *West African Bush Elephant*. Lenny's friends ask Pete to come live with them in the Kupatana Valley, which he accepts. Lenny is initially hesitant in leaving Brick, as he is the leader of a migratory herd, but he eventually realizes that he belongs in the Kupatana Valley. Accepting this, Brick leaves with Sammy and his herd, promising to keep in touch with Lenny and visit him. Lenny returns to the Valley with his friends, grandparents, and Pete.