Animal Face-Off
| Animal Face-Off | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Malcolm Hall |
| Narrated by | Scott Dreier |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Andrew Waterworth Michael Stedman |
| Producer(s) | Nick Bleszynski |
| Running time | 60/120 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Discovery Channel |
| Original run | March 21 – September 12, 2004 |
Animal Face-Off is a television program that aired on the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet in 2004.[1]
Synopsis
This program, produced by NHNZ, centers on hypothetical battles between two animals that could meet in the wild, or, in some cases, have been compared to each other by scientists. CGI replicas and models were used to collect data (such as strength, bite force, etc.) about the animals. Then, in a virtual arena, a brief computer-animated fight scene reveals the results. Some people have declared this show similar to the hit Spike TV show Deadliest Warrior. Since the fights are created artificially, results in real life may vary. Each episode of Animal Face-Off is 1 hour long, with the exception of the 12th episode, which is 2 hours long
Episode list
| Episode | Animals | Location | Winner | Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great White Shark vs. Saltwater Crocodile | Northern Australian Coast | Great White Shark | A shark is roaming close to shore, looking for food; a crocodile swims nearby, looking for a new territory. The shark hits the crocodile with the bump-and-bite technique. Accustomed to defending himself against rivals, the crocodile bites the shark's tail but can′t get a good grip. The shark swims away and makes a wide turn for a full-on assault; however, the crocodile gets the first bite on its pectoral fin. The bite tears off the shark′s fin, helped by the classic death roll. Despite the injury, the shark is still strong. Then, both animals collide head on; the croc grabs hold of the shark′s snout with its crushing bite. This time, the large fish can′t fight back; the croc attempts another death roll. After that, they both sink. Running out of air, the crocodile breaks the death roll and heads straight to the surface. The shark takes advantage of it; with the reptile′s soft underbelly exposed, it comes back with a textbook attack, killing the crocodile with a powerful bite. |
| 2 | African Bush Elephant vs. White Rhinoceros | Serengeti National Park | African Bush Elephant | A rhino is feeding when, suddenly, it feels the ground shaking – an elephant is roaming the savanna. Due to it's bad eyesight, the short-tempered rhino sees it as a rival – it soon attacks the elephant with its charge and thrust; but the much smarter elephant charges as well and dodges the attack. The rhino then tries to stab the elephant throat, but it′s too tall for the rhino to reach, even with the rhino's four-foot horn. Desperate to win the battle, the rhino tries an agile headbutt; however, the elephant defends its head and face with its trunk and seven-foot tusks. Sure enough, the elephant stabs the rhino with its tusks twice – henceforth, breaking one of its tusks in the process, topples it, and crushes it under the elephant's weight, killing it. The battle won, the elephant steps off and trumpets in victory. |
| 3 | Asiatic Lion vs. Bengal Tiger | India | Asiatic Lion | A male lion is roaming an abandoned Indian temple; nearby, a tiger is feeding. The lion roars at its bigger striped cousin to back off, but the tiger ignores the warning. The golden cat soon sprints towards its opponent, but he trips on him. The much more agile tiger quickly recovers and repeatedly tries to bite the lion′s throat, but the lion shakes off the attack. After that, the lion gets up; and both combatants face each other, roaring at one another. Like heavy-weight boxers, both cats scratch each other′s faces fiercely, but neither lands a killing blow. Desperate to put an end to the battle, the tiger leaps onto the lion, and tries to deliver a fatal neck bite; however, the golden cat′s mane deflects its aim. The tiger retreats and then charges at the lion once again, who, being the better fighter, quickly knocks it to the ground and delivers a killing bite. The lion walks away and then roars in victory, assuming its position as ″King of the jungle″. |
| 4 | Hippopotamus vs. Bull Shark | Zambezi River | Hippopotamus | A male hippopotamus is resting in the Zambezi river, unaware that a bull shark is roaming around, looking for food. Catching the smell of meat but not knowing where it′s coming from, the shark begins the encounter with an exploratory bump – after confirming the hippo is indeed food, it tries to get in some bites starting by its side; however, the hippo′s thick hide, combined with his enormous girth and weight, is too much of a mouthful; and even the thin skin behind the back leg proves too tough. Despite all of this, the shark does manage to rip off the hippo′s tail. All this while, the hippo has been roaring in pain, without knowing what hit him. His short temper lights a fire in his belly. Soon, the bull submerges, and spots the deadly shark. The hippo opens his mouth, revealing his huge foot long canines, but the shark keeps coming. Furious, the hippo crushes the shark′s head as he closes his mouth, killing it. |
| 5 | Gray Wolf vs. Cougar | Rocky Mountains | Cougar | A wolf is feeding; from a great distance, a cougar catches the smell of meat, and comes to investigate. The cat comes across the canine eating. Lying down, it thinks about how to steal the meal without having the wolf to call for reinforcements. Soon after, the wolf notices the cougar and growls. The mountain lion does the same. The wolf responds by charging forward and ferociously bites the cougar′s back leg, but backs off when the cat pounces on it with its front legs and lethal claws. The wolf howls to its pack for backup. Realizing it′s in grave danger, the cougar tries to retreat, but the large canine stops it by biting its paw. Furious, the cougar rolls onto its back, rakes the wolf with its claws and throws it off to the ground, killing the canine at once. The feline prepares to eat, but it then hears the wolf pack approaching. Left with no choice, the cougar gets up and flees straight to the forest. |
| 6 | Walrus vs. Polar Bear | Arctic Circle | Walrus | A walrus is relaxing by water. Suddenly, a hungry polar bear comes by. Startled and nervous, the walrus heads straight for the sea. The bear attempts to bite and scratch it, but the pinniped′s thick skin is too much, even for a large bear like itself. Although it briefly manages to latch on with its sharp teeth, the bear can′t do much serious damage. The walrus then tries to stab the bear with its four-foot tusks, but the agile predator anticipates. The bear then tries several paw swipes to the head but the walrus's skull is too thick to land a killing blow. As the walrus flees, the bear holds on and gets dragged into the ocean. Afterwards, the walrus turns around, goring the bear with its tusks. The bear is wounded – running out of air, it heads straight back to the surface. But too weak to get out, the walrus returns with a vengeance, and sinks its tusks onto the carnivore's back, killing it. The dead bear sinks into the abyss. |
| 7 | Brown Bear vs. Siberian Tiger | Siberian taiga | Brown Bear | On a snowy day, a tiger is feeding. A large brown bear passes by, looking for one last meal before going into hibernation. Feeling its meal threatened, the cat roars at the bear to back off, but the much larger carnivore keeps coming. The tiger then tries to knock down the bear with all its might, but the bear absorbed the blows without losing its balance. The tiger tries to deliver a neck-bite, but the bear knocks the striped cat down. The bear then knocks the cat on the ground, and moves straight for the meal. Angry at the thievery, the big, striped cat jumps on the bear from behind and latches on with its claws, cutting deep, but failing to disable. The much stronger bear then turns around and paw swipes the tiger′s head, injuring its face. Soon, the bear sees an opening, so it breaks the tiger′s back and bites its neck, killing it at once before moving on to the meal. |
| 8 | African Lion vs. Nile Crocodile | Masai Mara National Park | Nile Crocodile | A male lion is eating by the river′s edge when a crocodile emerges from the water, intent on stealing the meal. Upon seeing that, the cat roars at the reptile to back off, but it does little than get a loud hiss from the crocodile. The lion attacks but cannot land a deadly blow because of the crocodile′s thick armor. The lion then tries to flip the crocodile to reach its unarmored belly, but a roll and tail swipe stops it from doing so. Determined to get rid of the lion, the crocodile heads back to the water, and gets out of sight. Determined to protect its meal, the cat stays close to the water′s edge, looking for an opportunity to attack. However, the croc launches a surprise attack on the mammal, grabbing its neck and dragging it to the water. The crocodile soon performs a death roll, which kills the lion at once. |
| 9 | Green Anaconda vs. Jaguar | Amazon River | Green Anaconda | A jaguar heads to the Amazon river. A large anaconda is patrolling the shore. As the spotted cat enters the water, the snake sees it as prey and takes position, waiting for the right moment to strike. The cat can sense the danger, but cannot see the reptile beneath the surface. A bird call distracts it; the snake takes advantage of it and strikes without warning, wrapping its coils over the big cat. Soon, both mammal and reptile sink underwater. The jaguar gets away at first by biting the anaconda′s tail and cutting it with claws. Hurt and bleeding, the anaconda attempts to flee, but the jaguar, determined to have it for dinner, tries to fish it out of the water. On land, the snake turns around and launches a surprise attack, knocking the cat and coiling around it again. Too tired to fight back, the jaguar is defeated – and soon killed. |
| 10 | Mountain Gorilla vs. African Leopard | Congo Rainforest | Mountain Gorilla | A male gorilla has left his family in the trees, looking for a place to spend the night. However, he′s unaware that he is wandering into the territory of a female leopard, who has hidden her cubs in a nearby den. The hungry leopardess confronts the gorilla. The big primate, upon seeing her, tries to avoid the fight, beating his chest, growling and howling in the process, but the leopard does not flinch. The gorilla approaches, swiping at the cat and missing; the big cat soon leaps onto a rock. Afterwards, she takes the huge primate by surprise by jumping onto his back and biting his shoulder. The gorilla throws the leopard off, but using her better stealth, she leaps on the primate′s back again. The gorilla easily throws her off again, and the leopard runs for her life – but the gorilla turns the cat over on her back. Both animals fight briefly. Then the leopard gets back up again, but the ape chomps on her shoulder, making her roaring in with pain. After that, she backs off. Both opponents stare and snarl at each other. Desperate, the leopardess leaps towards the gorilla, but he throws his powerful arm on her back, breaking her spine and killing her – thus ending the battle. |
| 11 | American Black Bear vs. American Alligator | Everglades | American Black Bear | A black bear goes to a swamp on a hot Florida day to drink. Below the surface, an alligator looks for a place to rest. The bear drinks and this awakes the gator promptly who goes to attack the bear. The bear starts to retreat, but before it can do so the alligator emerges from the water, startling the bear. The reptile bites the big mammal′s leg, but releases it as the bear uses its paws to get it off, leaving nothing but a wound and a mouthful of fur, fat and muscle. Despite the injury, the bear is still strong. It fights back by slashing at the gator′s mouth. The gator tries to do a tail swipe, but the bear anticipates it. Knowing it′s vulnerable on land, the gator tries to return to the water; however, the enraged bear charges at it, and stops it by turning it over on its back. Soon, the gator tries to roll free, exposing its unarmored underbelly; so the bear scratches deep into it, fatally wounding and killing the huge reptile. The bear walks away as the dead gator rots on the riverbank. |
| 12 | Sperm Whale vs. Colossal Squid | Antarctic Ocean | Sperm Whale | A sperm whale is diving into the deep abyss, while a giant squid rockets through the depths. Both combatants sense each other – the squid sees the whale, while the whale′s echolocation reveals the squid's location. Upon seeing the whale as a potential predator, the squid releases a burst of ink as a warning, but it′s ignored by the whale, which launches a slow attack on the huge squid. Just before it reaches the mouth, the squid latches onto the whale and rakes it with his suckers, wounding it in the process. By rising close to the surface, the squid is shaken off, but not before it scratches the whale further. Although wounded, the whale amplifies his sonar and stuns the squid. The paralyzed cephalopod is helpless – and thus eaten alive. |
DVDs
Each episode of Animal Face-Off has been released on DVD.
See also
References
- ↑ John F. Bonfatti (March 27, 2004), "Survival of the Fittest", The Buffalo News