Henry's Amazing Animals

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Henry's Amazing Animals
Format Animated Children's Nature Program
Starring Eric Meyers, Tom Clarke-Hill
No. of seasons 4
No. of episodes 53
Production
Running time Roughly 30 minutes
Broadcast
Original run 1996 – present

Amazing Animals is an educational children's nature program originally broadcast on the Disney Channel in 1996. It currently plays in syndication on Discovery Kids Canada and Treehouse TV. It is also available on VHS video.

The show centres around the interactions of its CGI protagonist, a green gecko with purple spots named "Henry the Lizard", and an unseen, unnamed human narrator. Each episode centers on a specific theme relating to the episode's subject matter, (such as Henry travelling through prehistory in a time machine during an episode about Prehistoric Animals.) In a typical episode, Henry is usually faced with some kind of predicament or work that Henry is doing (always relating to the episode's theme), which is resolved by the end of the episode, often learning a lesson of some sort in the process.

The main plot thread of each episode is supplemented by various random cartoons which feature recurring unnamed cartoon animals, sessions in which "Henry" is featured, periods which display video of animals narrated by the narrator with occasional replies by Henry, and two recurring segments, such as "Henry's special report" and the "Golden Gecko Awards". Henry's special reports relate to the episode's subject matter, but typically show Henry busily trying to search for something to report on, and are usually comical and wildly inaccurate, and is always given the correct information by The Narrator afterword, often with Henry saying lines like "Do I get an A, or what?", and The Narrator giving a reply, usually indicating that the report was invalid, such as "That wasn't even worth an 'Or What', Henry" or "A 'Z' would be more like it, Henry". Early episodes depicted Henry's Report as a school report, though later episodes would change the format to one more like a News Program which is also comical and wildly innacurate in the same manner, where Henry is pictured running across the globe, with video of animals doing strange things with a description, then finally a globe falling on Henry's head and Crab Tuesday giving Henry the papers in order to start the report. In Henry's Amazing Golden Gecko Awards, Henry the Lizard picks three animals featured in the episode or at least relating to the subject in general, and awards the Golden Gecko Award to the best of the three contestants. Unlike the report, the Golden Gecko Awards are typically more genuine, and the Narrator only talks during the featuring of the winning animal rather than after.

Contents

[edit] Cast and major characters

  • Henry: The show's protagonist. He is a small green Gecko with purple spots and yellow eyes. He is portrayed as being enthusiastic, albeit foolish and immature. He is generally depicted as ignorant of the episode's subject matter, and typically fails in many endeavours he attempts to undertake.
  • The Narrator: The Narrator is Henry's co-star. He is almost never seen on-camera and is almost never named, but is depicted as usually being wise and knowledgeable. In addition to teaching Henry about animals and grading his special reports, The Narrator acts as a comedic foil to Henry: the show's "straight man", contrasting Henry's foolishness and immaturity with a mature seriousness (though he sometimes displays a dry sarcasm).
  • Crab Tuesday: Crab Tuesday is an animated crab Henry meets during a visit to the seashore, and he has been Henry's friend and assistant ever since. Henry gives the reason for naming this crab after a weekday while citing a fictional assistant named Friday. Henry can tell what Tuesday is saying.

The voice for "Henry" is done by Eric Meyers, and the voice for The Narrator is done by Tom Clarke-Hill. Crab Tuesday has no voice and only occasionally makes sound while snapping his claws, but in Amazing Animal Hunters, he is heard mumbling "I don't know" to Henry.

[edit] Episodes

[edit] Series 1

Animal Mothers (Lioness)

Animal Colors (Golden Pheasant)

Prehistoric Animals (Crocodile)

Desert Animals (Camel)

Monkeys and Apes (Mandrill)

Animal Records (Tortoise)

Animal Families (Duck)

Birds of Prey (Black Vulture)

Endangered animals (Siberian tiger)

Scary animals (Vampire bat)

Animal Pets (Akita Inu)

Seashore animals (White Pelican)

An Animal Year (Grey squirrel)

[edit] Series 2

Armoured animals (Tortoise)

Animal appetites (Emperor penguin)

Mini Beasts (Rhinoceros beetle)

Poisonous animals (Gila monster)

Animal disguises (Chameleon)

Animal babies (Puppy) (Kitten) (Duckling) {Wild Boar Piglet)

Animal Survivors (Gray wolf)

Animal Senses (Siamese cat)

Animal Journeys (Salmon)

Animal Builders (American Beaver)

Animal weapons (Goat)

Nighttime animals (Spring Hare)

Tropical birds (Scarlet Macaw)

[edit] Series 3

Backyard animals (Raccoon)

Creepy Crawly animals (Caterpillar)

Rainforest animals (Toco Toucan)

Giant Animals (Asian Elephant)

Underwater animals (Bottlenose Dolphin)

Animal acrobats (Gecko)

Farm Animals (Pig)

Mountain Animals (Yak)

Underground animals (Earthworm)

Tiny animals (Zooplankton)

Animal eggs (Duck-billed Platypus)

Extinct animals (Dodo)

Animal helpers (Oxen)

Animal Changes (Tadpole)

Animal neighbors (Polyp)

Slimy animals (Banana slug)

Animal Hunters (Leopard)

[edit] Series 4

Polar animals (Arctic Wolf)

Woodland animals (Red Squirrel)

Around the world (Rat)

Scaly animals (Painted turtle)

Flying Animals (Ladybug)

Animal partners (Horse)

Animal talk (Wolf)

River animals (Heron)

Future animals (Llama)[citation needed]

Young animals (Standard Schnauzer)[citation needed]

Rare animals (Narwhal)[citation needed]

[edit] External links