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Animalia
> General Information Based on the popular 1986 children's book by Graeme Base, the CGI-animated tv series Animalia colorfully brings to life a fantasy world in which animals talk, wear clothes, and do pretty much everything else humans do. Alex and Zoe, two children who are transported from our present world to Animalia via a magic portal in a library, arrive in Animalia to find all is not well. The Core, a huge, glowing orb that governs Animalia's stability, is faltering and having potentially harmful effects on Animalia's inhabitants. With help from their new animal friends G'Bubu the Gorilla, Iggy the Iguana, and Animalia ruler Livingstone Lion, Alex and Zoe set off on one adventure after another in a quest to help regulate the Core and restore harmony to Animalia. The tv series was first conceived in 1999 when Australian producer Ewan Burnett met with Graeme Base, and obtained the rights to an adaptation of the best-selling book. In early 2002, Burnett finalised the funding arrangements with Australian and international broadcast partners and investors, but the project was delayed when the British government revised the United Kingdom's taxation laws so that projects claiming special tax status had to be delivered in the financial year they were claimed. After three years of re-financing, Animalia began production in 2005. The tv series (made up of 40 half-hour episodes) was produced by Animalia Productions, based at Village Roadshow Studios in Queensland, Australia. Animalia has been broadcast in Australia, England, Canada, and the United States. There are also plans to broadcast the tv series in South Africa, the Middle East, and in Isreal. Alex: Alex is a natural artist and is hardly ever seen without a sketchbook and pencil. He keeps a cool level head and is rather enthusiastic with a sense of adventure. What makes him special is his ability to see forgotten portals that can transport anyone anywhere in Animalia. Zoe: A sassy and outspoken Spanish Girl, Zoe met Alex by accident where she followed him to the world of Animalia. Despite a few grudges, she manages to find a friend in Alex, who she refers to as "Sketch Boy". She is high-spirited and plucky and can be a schemer when she needs to be, although she can be a bit arrogant at times. G'Bubu: G'Bubu is a large green gorilla who lives in his treehouse home with his best friend Iggy. Still a teenager himself, G'Bubu is fun-loving and enjoys monkeying around. Despite this, he still has a sense of insightfulness, be it about Animalia or his family tree. Iggy: Iggy the Iguana is Castilian with a slightly excitable personality. He thinks himself to be bigger than anyone else but always gets ahead of himself. He and G'Bubu were the first to befriend Alex and Zoe when they first arrived and are always on hand to help their new friends with any problem. He also fancies Zoe. Livingstone: Livingstone Lion is the youthful leader of Animalia and the Keeper of the Core. He has a vast knowledge of the Core itself and just about everything and everyone in Animalia. He is gentle, helpful and always up for a game. Sometimes he is doubtful whether he can manage to bring Animalia back on track with its unstable Core. Reenie: Reenie is a Scottish Black Rhino. She works at Animalia's Great Library and helps Livingston with keeping the Core stable whether something goes wrong. Almost as smart as Livingston and just as friendly, Reenie has a big heart for everyone. Tyrannicus: An aloof and pompous tiger, Tyrannicus feels he should be ruler of Animalia rather than Livingston. However, he still finds ways of getting ahead by the use of "quick-rich" schemes, fooling as many as he can in his false advertising. He despises Alex and Zoe, who he refers to as "stink bugs" and especially wants to get rid of them. His plans and schemes would never work without the aid of his assistant, Fushia, and knows that he would be useless without her. Later in the series, he forms an alliance with the Creeper. Allegra: A teenage Alligator who lives in the swamps, Allegra is a self-loving and snappy creature who is very protective of her land. She dreams of being a singer but the others find that unlikely due to her terrible voice, except for her two "gal pals", Bitzy and Snitzy, who constantly follow Allegra and admire her thoughts. The Creeper: A strange and devious character who was once part of the Community Team until he was banished when using the secret portals to steal from the Animalian's homes. During the series' run, the form of the Creeper turns out to be a long-tailed weasel, who ended up lost in his own portals. Alex comes across him one day and, masquerading as "TC", The Creeper is freed without Alex realising who he is. Now The Creeper plans to overthrow Animalia by taking control over the Core. In the series finale, he is defeated when Livingstone touches the Corwhich while the Creeper was still inside, causing him to be shot out like a Corespore, into the Wind of No Return, never to return. Butterflies: In the world of Animalia, rather than television sets, the residents watch Fluttervision. Large beautiful butterflies fly from home to home and arrange themselves as a large screen where the Animalians can watch the latest happenings from the Animalian news. They only do this for a short time as they do get worn out if watched for too long. Elni and Erno: Two friendly Australian elephants who run the Elephants Eatery, the local restaurant for all Animalians. Elni's warm personality makes her lovable by all, while Erno's cooking is something worth trying, despite his tendency to panic. Later in the series, Elni gives birth for a baby girl called Echo. Fushia: Fushia is a French fox and Tyrannicus's assistant; always sent to arrange or develop plans and has a lot more sense than her own boss. Later in the series, when she discovered that her boss and the Creeper are working together, she abandons Tyrannicus but worked briefly as a double agent to pass on the Creeper's plans to Livingstone. Herry and Horble: Herry and Horble (known as the "Horrible Hogs") are Cockney Warthogs who are a little crass at times. They are mostly seen riding on their large motorcycles, specially equipped with loud speakers that play music wherever they go. Most of the time, they normally do deeds or follow orders for either Allegra or Tyrannicus. Melba and Melford: Melba and Melford Mouse are the main news reporters on Animalia News, broadcasting all the current news and happenings on Fluttervision. Melba is more level-headed and calm whereas Melford is slightly more neurotic and rather slow on thinking. The Toucans: A colourful band of birds who, whenever they talk, speak only one word in every sentence. Sometimes they get the words mixed up and confuse their sentences. Victor and Verbal: They are a Vulture Comedy Double Act (Victor, a Jewish sounding comedian, and his wise-cracking Ventriloquist Dummy, Verbal). They're hugely popular for, not only being vegetarians unlike normal vultures, but their years of hilarious stand-ups have made them an unforgettable duo. Zee and Zed: Zee and Zed are Texan Zebras who ride in their large zeppelin-like balloon giving the low-down on Animalia from a bird's eye view. While Zed has his head on his shoulders, Zee is vast in fervour and sometimes can't stop herself talking excitedly. Episode 1 - Hello, We Must Be Going: Alex and Zoe are two kids who find themselves in an extraordinary situation. After stumbling across a magical portal hidden in the town library they're led to a parallel dimension, a sophisticated world called Animalia. Episode 2 - Goodbye, We Must Be Staying: Zoe is torn between her desire to help and her need to return home. As Alex and Zoe search for the missing core spores, the Animalians begin to exhibit strange behaviour, losing the power of communication and returning to their non-civilized state. Episode 3 - The Mist of Time: G'Bubu the gorilla is swept back in time to an era when his ancestors fought for control of the trees against their enemies, the giant tree frogs. Episode 4 - The Catcher in the Rhyme: All the Animalians are compelled to speak in nothing but rhyme. If they can't think of a rhyme, they freeze. Episode 5 - Forget Me Not: The elephants suddenly forget everything. Alex and Zoe travel to Animalia's memory canyon to retrieve the core spore that will restore their memories. Episode 6 - Long Short Story: After an important message is incorrectly communicated, the kids struggle to discover the truth about Livingstone's disappearance. Tyrannicus wants to have G'Bubu banished from Animalia. Episode 7 - Righting The Writing: Chaos and confussion errupts when all of the words in Animalia go missing. With no written laws, Tyrannicus seizes the opportunity to change the rules of the jungle so he can get G'Bubu evicted from his home. Episode 8 - Butterfly Winter: Tyrannicus' latest scheme results in the Animalians becoming hooked on television. Episode 9 - Don Iguana: To prove his bravery to Zoe, Iggy follows the lead of his literary hero Don Quixote and dons a disguise to become Don Iguana the Avenger of the Night and Animalia's hero. Episode 10 - Speechless in Animalia: When Tyrannicus' promotional campaign for Allegra's concert becomes too boisterous to tolerate, Livingstone calls out for "Quiet!" and he gets it, in spades. A Corespore blasts off, rendering Animalians incapable of speech. The animals can make nothing but feral sounds. Alex and Zoe must recover the Corespore in hopes of restoring verbal communication to Animalia. Episode 11 - Over and Beyond: Zoe travels to the land of Over and Beyond, a realm populated by fictional characters, to rescue Zee and Zed who have been captured by a fire breathing dragon named Dagmont. To rescue the zebras, Zoe must stay behind and entertain the dragon with her stories, like a latter day Sheherazade. Episode 12 - Being Peter Applebottom: When G'Bubu is hit on the head by a bongo nut, he assumes the personality of Peter Applebottom, a brilliant but pompous scientist who claims to know how to permanently fix the Core. Now if only he could fix his own personality. Episode 13 - Animalia's Talent-O-Topia: When Allegra shows her vulnerability to Zoe and admits that she can't read, Zoe helps the gator write a song for her big solo in Animalia's talent contest. Iggy and G'Bubu also perform in the music competition. Episode 14 - Brain Drain: Livingstone is feeling overworked and under-appreciated. But he gets to take the day off when a Corespore blast results in Livingstone and Allegra exchanging intellects: Allegra becomes a bona fide genius, and Livingstone turns into a happy-go-lucky twit. But while their brain power may be flopped, their personalities remain true to their natures: Allegra is all about Allegra, while Livingstone ultimately puts aside his own worries and fears to save the day and help Animalia. Episode 15 - Save Our Swamp: Zoe and Tyrannicus, for very different reasons, join forces to shut down and drain the swamp. They are opposed by Alex and Allegra, who want to save the swamp. When Alex is struck with a swamp fever that can only be cured by a flower found deep in the swamp, Zoe puts aside her aversion to the bog and teams up with Allegra to track down the elusive plant. Episode 16 - Tunnel Vision: Alex explores Animalia's tunnel system where he becomes trapped, along with an Animalian he has never met before, a weasel named TC. Iggy's new job has him reporting on all the latest gossip. Episode 17 - Iggy's Quest: On a visit to his grandfather's home, Iggy must come to terms with the fact that he is not a full-blooded iguana, but rather, is part chameleon. With the help of his grandfather Carmine, Iggy gets in touch with his 'inner chameleon' and overcomes his fear of a recurring nightmare. Alex and Livingstone search for the Core spore of Nature to reunite the restless Nature Spirits with Mother Nature. Episode 18 - What's The Good Word?: Tyrannicus starts his own nation of Tyrannia and teams up with The Creeper to declare war on Animalia, with the goal of driving Alex and Zoe out of the kingdom. Livingstone hopes that the recovery of the Corespore of Peace will reunite Animalia. Episode 19 - Alex's Secret Code: Intent on taking over Animalia, The Creeper sabotages the Core by destroying a main root which causes the animals to revert to their original languages. Alex and Zoe must find the Origin Spore that allows the animals to communicate. Zoe stops talking to Alex when he won't reveal the secret behind his new magic trick. Episode 20 - Whistling in the Dark: When the core is sabotaged, the search for the missing core spores leads Alex and Zoe to the Chamber of Legends, a dusty room filled with Animalian relics. Afterwards, Alex reveals that he helped a weasel escape from the tunnels, and only now does Alex learn that the weasel is none other than the notorious Creeper. Episode 21 - The Call to Action: Livingstone calls a meeting of all the citizens of Animalian to reveal that the Creeper is back. He journeys into the tunnels with Alex and Zoe to find the Creeper and the missing Superspore but the Creeper uses the Wind of No Return to foil the heroes' attempts. Iggy and G'Bubu's search for the Corespore of Cooperation. Episode 22 - The World According to Iggy: Iggy is asked to babysit Echo while her parents, Erno and Elni, handle a portal-guarding shift. To entertain the baby elephant, Iggy tells her tales of Animalia in which Iggy is cast as the hero. But the Creeper sweeps Elni and Erno into the tunnels in order to kidnap Echo, whom the Creeper believes stands in the way of him controlling Animalia. Episode 23 - Nothing But The Truth: Tyrannicus plants a story that Livingstone is to retire. Livingstone refutes the rumour, but many Animalians believe Tyrannicus. When the Truth Corespore blasts off, Animalia can only speak in lies, so the kids must find the Truth Corespore before Tyrannicus tricks Livingstone into quitting. Episode 24 - The Dream-Weavers: When nightmares plague Animalians, Alex and Zoe go to the Land of Over and Beyond, where they must find the Dream-Weaver and rescue Animalia from its dream troubles. Episode 25 - Getting Over The Glums: Livingstone and Reenie are struck by the 'glums', a rare Animalian version of the blues. There is only one cure for the syndrome: a good, long laugh. But those affected with the glums don't find anything the least bit funny, so Alex, Zoe, G'Bubu and Iggy must criss-cross the kingdom in search of the funniest joke in Animalia. Episode 26 - Tunnel King: The Creeper is accused of stealing from the Animalians, but without any hard evidence, Livingstone refuses to blame it. Encouraged by Tyrannicus, the enraged Animalians rush into the tunnels. It's a trap, however, and they become stuck. Meanwhile, the Creeper tries to sabotage the Core but is thwarted by Allegra, the only Animalian not in the tunnels. Episode 27 - The Day Zoe Listened: Alex bets Zoe that she can't resist talking for a full day. It's a vow of silence. So Zoe spends the day listening to the amazing and magical world of Animalia, and makes new friends and huge discoveries. Animalia faces a water shortage just as Tyrannicus begins selling bottled water - taken from a well in an enchanted forest. Episode 28 - Alex's Treasure Island: Alex and the gang put on a production of Treasure Island, but a corespore blows mid-performance, sending Animalia into a treasure hunt frenzy. Alex and Zoe journey to Over and Beyond to find the missing corespore. Episode 29 - Taking a Guilt Trip: Ever since Alex helped the Creeper escape from the tunnels, he has been wracked with guilt. Now, he has the naive and unrealistic hope that he can convince the Creeper to turn over a new leaf. Tyrannicus advertises for a replacement when Fushia finally quits her job as his assistant. When no one applies, Zoe suggests he start by apologising to everyone he's been mean too in the past. Episode 30 - The Animal Within: When Alex and Zoe share a meal with the Horrible Hogs at the Elephants' Eatery they're appalled by the Hogs' awful table manners, crudeness, and limited social skills. The Hoity-Toity toucan overhears, and puts a spell on Alex and Zoe, making them Neanderthal versions of themselves. Iggy organises a party to celebrate the anniversary of the signing of the Animalian Bill of Rights. Episode 31 - The Mystery of the Missing Melba: Alex gets a video camera for his birthday and embarks on a video documentary of the Library which turns into a hard-boiled detective documentary about the 'missing Melba'. Episode 32 - Scary Story-Go-Round: Once a year, Animalia celebrates with the traditional story-telling game known as Scary Story-Go-Round. Everyone in Animalia takes a turn to make up one continuous and very scary story. Episode 33 - The Ballad of The Creeper: Following the blueprints of the scientist Peter Applebottom, the Creeper has invented a device that can corrupt the Corespore. This turns all Animalians, including Alex and Zoe, into ninnies. Gorillas are the only species not affected by the corruption, so G'Bubu leads the quest to restore the Corespore and free Animalia from ninni-ness. Episode 34 - From A to Z: When pages disappear from Animalia's Big Book of Words, Animalians lose the ability to use the words on them. As their vocabularies shrink, the chaos in Animalia grows. Alex and Zoe must find why the pages are disappearing and restore the words to Animalia. Episode 35 - The Dragon and The Night: A Corespore blasts off and flies to the land of Over and Beyond, where fictional characters live. With this Corespore missing, Animalians are unable to agree about anything. Episode 36 - Tomorrow: Alex and Zoe join forces to write a sci-fi story called Tomorrow. The story asks if the world was going to end tomorrow, what would you do? Episode 37 - Guardians of the Core: Alex finds the Guardians of the Core Guidebook, which provides words and phrases that can help the Core. But when Alex isn't careful with the words he uses, the Core becomes a musical jukebox causing Animalians to sing and dance uncontrollably. Episode 38 - Paradise Found: With the Creeper gone and peace restored to Animalia, Alex and Zoe decide it's time to go home. Livingstone also decides to take a much needed break, but before he can go, he must choose a new leader. Allegra and Tyrannicus vie for the position, but ultimately Livingstone knows that a good leader must lead with his heart. Episode 39 - Back to The Present: After a few days in the 'real world', Alex and Zoe miss Animalia and want to return. But when they arrive, the city is in disrepair. They discover that time in Animalia moves at a different rate and a few days in their world is over a year in Animalia. Much to their surprise, G'Bubu and Iggy are no longer the leaders of Animalia, and instead King Tyrannicus is ruling the city. Episode 40 - What the World Needs Now: The Creeper is back and he uses his knowledge of the Core to gain power and force the Animalians to do his bidding. Alex and Zoe are sent to protective custody, while G'Bubu and Iggy are searching the portals for Livingstone.
Animalia Official Website
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