Animal Hunters

VHS cover

Animal Hunters is the first episode of the third season of Amazing Animals. The plot revolves around Henry losing his party food and learning to try and hunt for it with help of some amazing animal hunters. It first aired on the Disney Channel on 14th April 1998.

## Episode

### Episode outline

Click here for the full transcript for Animal Hunters.

Henry and Crab Tuesday are in a supermarket. The narrator asks Henry what they are doing and when he replies that they are hunting, the narrator expresses his disbelief. Henry says they are hunting for bargain party food. When the narrator tells Henry to ask a nearby leopard how to find the meat aisle, as it is a natural hunter, Henry quickly runs away. The show then introduces some different kinds of hunters, including the lion and the Venus flytrap.

#### First cartoon

* Tiger hungrily looks into a fridge containing nothing but a few vegetables. When Squirrel runs past with a handful of acorns, Tiger rubs his stomach and licks his lips. Tiger tries to pounce on Squirrel twice, but he misses each time. On the third attempt, Squirrel drops his acorns and Tiger rolls away on them. Squirrel rubs his hands and laughs to himself, but quickly gets surprised by Henry throwing the door open into him.

Henry runs into the kitchen at his home to start preparing for the party. Crab Tuesday is hit by the swinging door, sent flying and lands on Henry’s back. When Henry goes to get the food from the cupboards, he finds it completely empty. When the narrator tells Henry a real hunter can find food for itself, Henry tries to prove himself as a good hunter and searches for the missing food. He looks in the freezer, in the sofa, in his clothes drawers, underneath his car and up a tree outside. The narrator points out that if Henry is going to hunt for food on his own, he must learn fast. The serval is the first solitary hunter shown, which uses its long legs to leap and surprise its prey, while the fishing bat trawls using its back feet to catch fish. Back in the house, Henry is still trying to find the food. When the narrator asks Henry if he thinks the food was stolen, Henry says he does and immediately puts on his detective hat. Henry interrogates a praying mantis and a horned frog, which the narrator points out both use camouflage when hunting. The chameleon also uses camouflage to sneak up on and catch its prey. Another sneaky predator, the cantil snake, is shown using its tail as a lure to try and capture a frog.

#### Second cartoon

* Tiger sets a trap for Squirrel, using acorns as bait. He hides behind a bush and, when he hears something eating the acorns, releases the trap. Tiger finds he has accidentally caught Gorilla. Just before Gorilla can attack Tiger, the trap flings him into the air. Tiger expresses relief, until Gorilla falls back and lands on top of him. Squirrel then runs through and collects the last two remaining acorns.

The narrator now reminds Henry of his news report. His report is about a giant bird-eating spider that uses state-of-the-art web technology to built a net between the twin towers of Lower Bongo-Bongo. The net works too well, catching a flock of migrating dodos, four drumsticks and a six-pack of barbecue wings but also a giraffe, two weather balloons and an incoming plane. The spider, who is unaffected by the problems he has caused, is planning an even bigger World Wide Web. While Henry gets most of the report wrong, the narrator does say there is an element of truth to it, as some animals build amazing traps. These include the ant lion and, particularly, the web-weaving spiders. One is shown catching a bat in its web, but even spider webs have their limits. Back in the house, Henry hears something and, thinking it is the food thief returning to the scene of the crime, he leaps out from behind a houseplant and demands to know where his food is. However, Henry is embarrassed when he discovers they are actually his party guests, a cat and a tawny eagle. The narrator suggests enlisting them both to help hunt for the food – instead, Henry delegates the work to them and watches TV. The narrator reminds Henry that many predators successfully hunt as a team, and all the members need to work together. These include African hunting dogs and army ants, the latter of which eat more meat than all the other meat-eaters put together.

#### Third cartoon

* Tiger calls upon two other tigers to help him catch Squirrel. They all charge from different directions and try to pounce on Squirrel but, at the last second, Squirrel sidesteps and the three Tigers all crash into each other.

Henry now does the Golden Gecko Awards. The bronze medal goes to the Venus flytrap and the silver medal to the serval. But the Golden Gecko Award is given to the archerfish. They catch their prey by spitting at it, using a jet of water fired from their mouths. They are so accurate with their shooting that they can hit an ant off a branch that is ten feet above the water.

#### Fourth cartoon

* Tiger has given up on catching Squirrel and tries fishing instead. Squirrel wanders along and tries to tempt Tiger into chasing him, but Tiger refuses. Squirrel jumps onto a log in the river and Tiger, having a change of heart, tries to catch Squirrel on his line. He snags the ‘log’, which turns out to be Crocodile. Crocodile chases Tiger away.

Henry and his guests have had no luck finding the food, so are trying to find it by fishing in Henry’s garden pond. Suddenly, a sea serpent rises out of the pond and Henry and his guests flee. The narrator tells Henry about how many hunters can find themselves being hunted. The serval is shown investigating a giant rock python before having second thoughts and leaving, while a lion is shown getting chased away by buffalo. Back in Henry’s house, Henry and his guests are hiding behind the sofa to avoid the sea serpent. A distant noise spooks Henry, who thinks the sea serpent is coming to get him. Suddenly, Crab Tuesday bursts through the door on a shopping trolley, full of the lost food. It crashes into Henry and then hits the wall. When the narrator asks Tuesday where he found the food, Henry has to translate for him. Henry is embarrassed to find that he left the food at the supermarket. Henry thought the store did deliveries and says he is still a hunter in training. A pizza rolls past Henry and he manages to catch it in his mouth. The narrator complements Henry on his catch and says that one day he could become an amazing animal hunter.

## Animal species filmed for the programme

### Studio footage

* Domestic cat, *Felis catus*
* Leopard, *Panthera pardus*
* Orb-weaving spider, Araneidae
* Praying mantis, Mantodea
* Cranwell’s horned frog, *Ceratophrys cranwelli*
* Tawny eagle, *Aquila rapax*

### Stock footage

* Lion, *Panthera leo*
* Common housefly, *Musca domestica*
* Killer whale, *Orcinus orca*
* Southern sea lion, *Otaria flavescens*
* Praying mantis, Mantodea
* Greater bulldog bat, *Noctilio leporinus*
* Jackson’s chameleon, *Trioceros jacksonii*
* Manticore beetle, *Manticora sp*.
* Black field cricket, *Gryllus bimaculatus*
* Northern spotted owl, *Strix occidentalis caurina*
* Nile crocodile, *Crocodylus niloticus*
* Amazon kingfisher, *Chloroceryle amazona*
* Cardinal tetra, *Paracheirodon axelrodi*
* Driver ant, *Dorylus sp*.
* Cantil, *Agkistrodon bilineatus*
* Serval, *Leptailurus serval*
* Helmeted guineafowl, *Numida meleagris*
* Meller’s chameleon, *Trioceros melleri*
* Yellow-fronted canary, *Serinus mozambicus*
* Frog, Anura
* Plains zebra, *Equus quagga*
* Brent goose, *Branta bernicla*
* Antlion, Myrmeleontidae
* Snouted harvester termite, *Trinervitermes sp*.
* Garden orb-weaving spider, *Araneus diadematus*
* Black widow spider, *Latrodectus sp*.
* Yellow-tailed scorpion, *Tetratrichobothrius flavicaudis*
* Golden orb-weaving spider, *Nephila sp*.
* Bat, Chiroptera
* African hunting dog, *Lycaon pictus*
* Blue wildebeest, *Connochaetes taurinus*
* Banded archerfish, *Toxotes jaculatrix*
* Weaver ant, Formicidae
* African rock python, *Python sebae*
* African buffalo, *Syncerus caffer*

## Credits

* Henry - Eric Meyers
* Narrator - Tom Clarke-Hill
* Writer - Alastair Swinnerton
* Script Editor - Rob Harvey
* Music - David Poore
* Director - Anne Neale
* Graphic Designer Director - Kate Finding
* Graphic Design Assistant - Chris Wreford
* Researcher - Jan Ronca
* Production Co-ordinator - Janelle Backes
* Post-Production Co-ordinator - Esta Porter
* Production Secretary - Mandy Vaughan
* Production Team - Steve Cronick, Sarah Davies and Dominic Weston
* Camera - Andy Shillabeer and Graham MacFarlane
* Computer Animation - Ricochet 4, Daniel Pearson and Matt McKinney
* Computer Animation Director - Henry Lutman
* Cel Animation - A for Animation
* Cel Animation Director - Mark Taylor
* Sound Editor - Ian Brown
* Dubbing Mixer - Chris Domaille
* Editors
	+ Offline - Vincent Pipe and David Warner
	+ Graphics - Sue Land
	+ Online - Sharon Stiles

## Home media releases

The VHS for Amazing Animal Hunters was released on 22nd February 1999. The cover shows Henry looking through the looking glass attached to his detective hat, and he is accompanied by a lioness, a Venus’ flytrap eating a common blue damselfly and a tarantula.

The spine of the VHS has a photograph of a serval.

The blurb on the back cover of the VHS reads:

Why do archer fish spit? Who’s a better hunter – the lion or the lioness?

**“HEY! I’M STILL A HUNTER-IN-TRAINING!”**

Henry’s off on a hunting expedition to the supermarket. Along the way, he meets some AMAZING ANIMAL HUNTERS, from the King of the Jungle to the tiny ant lion.

**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