Animal Stories

For the stories of Charles G. D. Roberts, see Charles G. D. Roberts. For the American radio comedy series, see Larry Lujack.

1998 British TV series or programme

Animal Stories

Created by| Trevor Ricketts
Directed by| Tony Collingwood
Narrated by|

* Nigel Hawthorne (UK)
* Alan Marriott (US)

Country of origin| United Kingdom
Original language| English
No. of seasons| 4
No. of episodes| 52
Production
Producer| Christopher O'Hare
Running time| 5 minutes
Production companies|

* Collingwood O'Hare Entertainment Ltd.
* Suzhou Hong Ying Animation Company Limited

Original release
Network| ITV (CITV)
Release| 22 May 1998 (1998-05-22) –
13 December 2001 (2001-12-13)

Animal Stories is a British pre-school animated television series on ITV (CITV). It also aired on Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney block in the United States from 1998 to 2001 and on Disney Channel in the rest of Asia. The series gained a 2001 Children's BAFTA for Best Pre-school Animation.[1]

## Plot

[edit]

Every episode of the series focuses on a different individual animal, who is unique in personality. The entire episode rhymes.

## Episodes

[edit]

### Season 1 (1998)

[edit]

# | Title | Short Summary | Air Date

|
|
|

1 | Big Pink Pig | The Pig tries to work out hard, then he learns to be true to his character. |
2 | Trevor the Frog | Trevor is overwhelmed by his wife Milly's tadpoles, then gets used to it. |
3 | Helen the Penguin | Helen is obsessed with trying to fly and on her birthday, her wish is granted. |
4 | Smelly Dog | The Smelly Dog is kept out of the way due to his stinky breath, until he prevents a bank robbery. |
5 | Big Bold Lion | The Old Lion is the laughing stock due to his baldness. |
6 | Hugh the Worm | Hugh who is secretly a worm has a whirlwind romance with Joyce. |
7 | Edwina the Aardvark | Edwina is unhappy about her appearance, until she meets the doctor. |
8 | Simpson the Slug | Squeaky the Mouse helps Simpson with his slow problem, which changes his life. |
9 | Win-Stanley the Sloth | Win-Stanley has a long journey without even making a move. |
10 | Polar Bear | Little Polar Bear does not like the cold and wants to make a journey. |
11 | Billy the Giraffe | Billy is proud and snooty about his tallness, until he gets a sore throat. |
12 | Ron the Crab | Ron's friends try to teach him how to walk sideways like other crabs. |
13 | Crocodile Lou | Lou's smile scares away everyone. That is except Jake Snake. |

### Season 2 (1999)

[edit]

# | Title | Short Summary | Air Date

|
|
|

1 | Bobby the Ape | Bobby's gardening embarrasses the other apes, but not Queen Bridget. |
2 | Ant 2954 | 2954 wants to be recognised by other ants and is renamed Differ. |
3 | Tommy the Bat | Tommy has insomnia until he realises he must hang upside-down. |
4 | Tony the Tortoise | Tony removes his shell to run fast, but nobody recognises him. |
5 | Susie the Kangaroo | Susie has trouble controlling her hopping tendencies. |
6 | Camilla the Camel | Camilla isn't confident to attend a dance ball until she rescues an important host. |
7 | Oliver the Owl | Oliver has a fight against Reggie the Rooster over their different sleeping patterns. |
8 | Dinky the Dolphin | Dinky experiences freedom in the sea after escaping the aquarium. |
9 | Clive the Hamster | A selfish Clive greedily steals birthday presents that were meant for him. |
10 | Fred the Dragon | Fred tries hard to breathe fire to prove he really is a dragon. |
11 | Bruce the Goose | Bruce develops hiccup problems and his flock has a hard time trying to cure it. |
12 | Eric the Elephant | Eric is timid and shy at school, but gets confident during a fire rescue. |
13 | Jake the Snake | Jake gets in a balloon to be noticed, which works after mishap. |

### Season 3 (2000)

[edit]

# | Title | Short Summary | Air Date

|
|
|

1 | Brian the Leopard | Brian is teased for the spots on his fur and he wants a new makeover. |
2 | Pointy the Hedgehog | Pointy's spines are becoming an obstacle for him. |
3 | Peter the Peacock | Peter is proud of his feathers, but when they fall off, the peahen helps him. |
4 | Lewis the Cat | A picky Lewis has to try new foods when his regular café is closed. |
5 | Horatio the Rat | Despite his nice nature, Horatio is ostracised until he rescues a baby bird. |
6 | Cyril the Centipede | Cyril feels down, when he thinks he's missing his 100th leg. |
7 | Jimmy the Mouse | Alistair Sparkle makes Jimmy a singing star. But being a star makes Jimmy homesick. |
8 | Bob the Bee | Bob complains too much. When he gets lonesome, he changes his ways when Billy comes to his rescue. |
9 | Keith the Caterpillar | Keith is unhappy he cannot fly to impress Denise, until he turns into a butterfly. |
10 | Maurice the Magpie | Maurice has to deal with his huge rubbish collection, which bothers his wife Doris. |
11 | Eddie the Catfish | Bored of his surroundings, Eddie foolishly ventures near land and has a lucky escape. |
12 | Sammy the Hippo | Sammy likes to get muddy, much to his mother's dismay, until she receives a jar of beauty mud. |
13 | Ernest the Hyena | A serious Ernest doesn't laugh like other hyenas, until King Car-stairs slips on a banana peel. |

### Season 4 (2001)

[edit]

# | Title | Short Summary | Air Date

|
|
|

1 | Ralph the Rabbit | Ralph leaves to get away from his overcrowding family. However they rescue him from a hungry fox. |
2 | Austin the Oyster | Austin is mocked for his small pearl, but the Seahorse Princess shows everyone that it is special. |
3 | Philip the Fly | Flies think that Philip's learning is useless, but it saves him from a hungry spider. |
4 | Felicia the Hummingbird | Felicia hurries to do her daily routines until a snail teaches her the benefit of patience. |
5 | Drew the Whale | Drew is too big and can't fit into the disco club. When the disco club is destroyed, Drew has just the club for all the fish. |
6 | Clara the Cow | Clara and the hen Gwen become business rivals with dairy and egg sales. Together they start a pancake making business. |
7 | Charlie the Cheetah | Charlie is quite a show off with his fast speed. Linford the snail beats him in a race and shows him that friends are more important. |
8 | Dinosaur Tim | Tim (a Pterodactyl) and Bill (a Brontosaurus) are dinosaurs hatched in the wrong nests, but when they both meet, their families live together, side by side. |
9 | Des the Donkey | Des tells tall tales to his barnyard friends. When they find out they aren't true, they remain friends. |
10 | Ross the Rhinoceros | Ross is a very cross rhino. Only when his toothache is gone, does he become much nicer. |
11 | Carla the Koala | Carla is overwhelmed with jobs for elderly koalas. To solve this, Carla has a platypus sew her a backpack. |
12 | Melvin the Moose | Melvin is a fussy eater and swipes his classmates' food. Tricking Melvin into eating his own food cures his greed. |
13 | Dodo the Pigeon | Dodo is teased at school for his name. This changes when he tells the class the origin of his name. |

## DVD release

[edit]

Mill Creek Entertainment released Animal Stories- The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 on 18 May 2010.[2]

## References

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1. ^ "Toonhound - Animal Stories (2001-2003)". toonhound.com.
2. ^ "Animal Stories: The Complete 52 Episode Series". 18 May 2010 - via Amazon.

## External links

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* Animal Stories at IMDb
* Animal Stories at Toonhound

*[No.]: Number