64 Zoo Lane

Nelson the loveable elephant has his story told about his adventures through the garden of Vascodilation to the desert of redfifulaty.

Kevin is a friendly little crocodile who likes to play with his friends Doris the Duck and Toby the Turtle. Victor on the other hand is a big, nasty crocodile. He lures Kevin away from his friends and promises to teach him a few real crocodile tricks such as grinning maliciously, looking mean and tail slamming. Little Kevin is keen to learn, but the harder he tries to be mean and nasty the more he fails. Doris and Toby fall over laughing when Kevin demonstrates his 'mean grin'. After three failed attempts Victor decides it's time for a demonstration. He catches Toby's tail in his snappy teeth. Kevin has to decide who his real friends are now. He rescues Toby and concludes it's better to be a nice crocodile.

Joey's dad is a champion bouncer. But when the time comes for the little kangaroos to leave their mums' pouches it becomes clear that Joey can't jump! He just falls flat on the ground whenever he tries. Jimmy and the triplets make fun of him. In the middle of the night Joey wanders to a billabong feeling sad and lonely. Suddenly Rolf the Frog jumps from the pool. The crazy frog manages to cheer Joey up with his jokes. He offers Joey his magic jumping boots. Joey tries the boots on and . . . yes he can jump! Joey's mum and dad are over the moon. At the Junior Jump Competition, of all the young kangaroos it's Joey who jumps the highest. But Jimmy is jealous. He draws the referee's attention to Joey's boots. Joey's heart sinks when Mr. Platypus declares that he will have to jump without his boots. Rolf encourages Joey whispering 'They're only beginner's boots. You don't need 'em anymore!' And he's right. Joey wins, even without his boots!

Snowbert lives all alone on the North Pole. He makes snow sculptures and talks to himself a lot. Sometimes he longs for a friend. One morning while Snowbert is fishing a seal pops up in the ice hole. Sidney the Seal is wary of Snowbert first but soon the two become friends. Every day they meet at the ice hole. They play dominoes together, build snow sculptures and have snowball fights. Snowbert is very happy to have a friend. But then one frosty morning the ice hole has closed. Snowbert searches everywhere for Sidney calling his name in vain. When night falls he returns to his snow house feeling very lonely. It's midwinter. Snowbert sleeps a long, long time. When he finally wakes up it's spring. Snowbert's house is floating in the middle of a large pool. Sidney is swimming in the water together with three of his seal friends. Snowbert is so happy he jumps in the air.

Henrietta isn't like the other hippos : She's hairy! The others always laugh at her and this makes her feel very sad so she decides to leave the river and look for a new place to live. First Henrietta tries the desert, but it's too hot for her. Dennis the Dromedary takes her to the jungle. Henrietta likes the sounds and colours of the jungle. But then she gets stuck in the giant web of Lot's O' Legs the spider and has to be rescued by Giggles and Tickles who take her to the Blue Mountain. Henrietta climbs over some huge boulders to the top of the mountain. There she meets the Snip Snip Bird who promises to give her a new hairdo. He starts to groom and cut Henrietta's hair with his claws and beak transforming her into a hippo princess. Henrietta thanks the Snip Snip Bird before returning to the river. The other hippos are very impressed with Henrietta's hairdo. They want to know all about her adventures, but when Henrietta shakes herself dry after crossing the river her princess hairdo is ruined. There's an awkward silence. 'Come on Henrietta tell us the rest of your story', says a little hippo. Henrietta takes a breath and continues her tale.

Giggles and Tickles love to play tricks on the other animals. First they tell Raymond the Crocodile that there's a pretty crocodilla in the river. Raymond starts to chat up a painted log. Then they slip a coconut into Audrey 's nest. Audrey is a bit surprised at the sight of this hairy egg but she tries to hatch it anyway. Next they tease Zed the Zebra. Finally the monkeys move on to their 'waiting around the rock trick.' They soon have lots of animals waiting for a surprise behind a rock. After a few hours the animals get impatient. Nelson asks where the surprise is. The monkeys laugh hysterically. 'The surprise is... We've been playing a trick on you!' The animals don't think it's funny though and they decide to send Harry the Hyena to teach the monkeys a lesson. When Harry meets Giggles and Tickles he can't stop laughing. Giggles and Tickles are perplexed. They haven't played any tricks so what could be so funny? Or could it be that they've lost their laugh? The monkeys go in search of their lost laugh. They look everywhere. When they look behind the rock they are confronted by the other animals. 'You haven't lost your laugh, silly monkeys. Harry is laughing because he's a laughing hyena!' Feeling relieved Giggles and Tickles start to chuckle and soon all the animals join in uproarious laughter.

Zed knows he is the fastest animal in Africa. After all he's the only one with 'go faster' stripes! When the other animals challenge him to take part in an obstacle course he is confident he will win. Zed, Nelson, Nathalie, Herbert, Ronald and Georgina line up for the race. The Snip Snip Bird gives the start signal. Then he flies up in the air to comment on the race. Zed has taken the lead, but after little while he has to stop in front of a dense forest. Nelson the Elephant bulldozes the forest flattening all the trees. The second obstacle is a river. The animals struggle trying to cross the river swimming. Nathalie the Antelope on the other hand jumps over the river with one elegant leap. But it doesn't take Zed long to recapture the lead. A bit further he gets lost in the 'High Grasses'. Only Georgina the Giraffe is tall enough to be able to look out over the grass. Now the terrain becomes rocky. Here Ronald the Rhino is in his element. He barges into the rocks breaking them in many pieces. The next obstacle is the Blue Mountain. The animals patiently wait for Ronald to break it to pieces, but this rock is a bit too big for him. Herbert the Warthog starts to dig a tunnel through the mountain. The others follow. Zed takes the lead once more. He's so confident he pauses to admire the reflection of his 'go faster' stripes in a water hole. It takes just a split second: All the others overtake Zed finishing joint first in a photo finish. Zed has learnt a lesson!

Jazz the Jaguar, Leopoldo the Llama and Dudley the Sloth are playing football. Adam wants to play too but the others say he's too small, so he just sits on the side and watches the game. Jazz and Leopoldo juggle with the water melon like top class South American footballers. Dudley is hanging down from a makeshift goal. He only moves his paws but never misses a ball. But then the watermelon is shattered when it lands on a cactus. Jazz has an idea. He turns to Adam. 'You wanted to play football didn't you? Well now you can. You can be the ball'. This wasn't quite what Adam had in mind. He curls himself up into a ball and the match continues. Poor Adam is kicked all over the field. He rolls into a puddle and catches a cold. Then Leopoldo kicks him in a cave. Jazz, Leopoldo and Dudley approach the entrance of the cave. A terrible roar resounds from the cave. Could it be a monster? They will have to rescue Adam. But the trio isn't as brave as they would like to be. With shaking knees they enter the dark cave. They find Adam sitting in a pool of light. Again they hear a terrible roar. Jazz, Leopoldo and Dudley jump up terrified, but Adam just laughs. 'That's not a monster', he says. 'That's just me!' The others laugh sheepishly when they realise the noise they heard was just the echo of Adam's sneeze. Afterwards they all play football together.

Georgina is a multi-talented Giraffe. She performs for the other animals: singing, dancing, doing all sorts of acrobatic tricks with her long neck. But when she sings ' I'm so clever, I'm the best, I'm much better than the rest, LALALA!' she not only manages to get a knot in her neck but she also receives very little sympathy from the other animals. Only Molly the Hippo feels sorry for her. After a few unsuccessful attempts to untie the knot Giggles and Tickles take Georgina to their Uncle Gordon who is a knot doctor. Various animals with various knots are queuing in front of the Gorilla's cave. After a long wait it's Georgina's turn to enter the dark cave. Gordon Gorilla examines Georgina's neck closely and consults his knot-book. 'You will have to sing the song backwards', he concludes. So Georgina sings LALALA backwards (ALALAL) and as she moves her head in a reversed sequence, the knot magically unties itself.

All the animals in the Savannah are bored, especially Herbert. Out of frustration the warthog kicks a small rock. It makes a pleasing sound. Herbert tries to tap different sized rocks slowly building up a rhythmical pattern. Music has been invented! Zed the Zebra joins in shaking two gourds. Aardvark uses his long snout as a trumpet. The musical trio ask Reginald the Lion if he wants to join in too, but Reginald is not interested. He wants to be left alone while he is doing a nap. Herbert, Zed and Aardvark move a bit further away and resume their practice session. However, Reginald can still hear them and gets very annoyed. The animals move further and further away, until they reach the Old Volcano. The next day a concert is planned in the crater of the volcano. Animals have come from far and wide. When the band starts playing, a row of weaver birds flying over the volcano pick up the catchy tune. They are still whistling the tune when they pass near Reginald. Now the lion is really cross! He marches to the volcano and roars in protest: 'RRRROAAARR!!!'. But instead of frightening the animals, Reginald's roar has the opposite effect: It seems to fit in perfectly with the music. The audience goes wild for Reginald. Now the lion has no choice but to join in. The concert a great success!

Pauline isn't having much luck catching fish in the lake. The fishes are just too clever and slippery. Then she spots a stork who has left his catch unguarded. Pauline takes the fish and hides it in her bill. 'I'll eat this now and catch another fish for stork later.' Pauline flies away with the fish in her bill. A little later she spots Herbert the Warthog who is having a bite of a big juicy water melon. Pauline distracts Herbert and takes off with the watermelon. Later still she spots Reginald the Lion who's holding a chunky piece of meat. Pauline grabs it too. Her bill which is now stretched to full capacity. She runs and runs but she can't take off because of the weight. She has to walk to her nest. Later Pauline is settling down on her nest ready to enjoy her meal. She has laid the food out carefully and is pondering what to have first. Suddenly a deputation of animals arrive. Pauline quickly hides everything back in her bill. Stork, Reginald the Lion and Herbert the warthog warn Pauline to be on her guard. . . It seems somebody's been taking things without asking! After the animals have gone Pauline feels really guilty. She realises she must return the food. One by one she returns the meals. The next morning Stork, Reginald and Herbert arrive near Pauline's nest carrying an enormous birthday cake topped with fishes. Now Pauline won't go hungry after all.

Once every seven years in the savannah the Juicy Fruit Tree bears fruit. The single fruit is legendary amongst the animals for its bigness and nobbliness and deliciousness. Unfortunately the favourite foodie treat of every animal is only ripe for one day, so when a flower appears on the tree word travels fast! All the animals get really excited. One morning the animals awaken to the most wonderful smell. As they wonder what it is, TOBY the TORTOISE reminds them that it's the one day of the year when they can gather the delicious fruit. Each of the animals races off in a state of excitement to be the first to harvest the fruit. Poor TOBY is so slow that he can't keep up. When the animals arrive they realise that the Juicy Fruit is almost impossible to harvest because the tree is ridiculously tall with an incredibly smooth, straight trunk! AUDREY the OSTRICH reminds everyone that they only have one day: When the sun sets the Juicy Fruit will drop down from the tree!Each of the animals tries in turn to get to the top of the tree where the fruit is hanging tantalisingly out of reach. As sunset approaches, TOBY finally arrives and takes matters into his own hands. He climbs up GEORGINA's long neck, reaches out, and plucks the fruit. The animals are delighted, but in the excitement TOBY drops the fruit. It falls, and as it falls, each animal in the chain makes an unsuccessful attempt to catch it. Just when it seems the fruit will be lost, NELSON flicks out his trunk and flips the fruit up into the air. TOBY slides down the tree and catches it, rugby style. TOBY is everyone's hero.

NELSON the ELEPHANT is frustrated with doing elephanty things. One day, when he observes a little weaverbird, he decides he wants to be a bird too and learn to fly! He sets about his self-imposed task with extreme dedication and seriousness. Unfortunately, flapping his ears and jumping doesn't work. Sometime later as Nelson walks through the savannah in a sulk he bumps into a Helicopter tree dislodging a whirling Helicopter tree seed which gives Nelson a brainwave.The recently inspired NELSON builds a flying rotor made from three banana leaves and attaches it to a harness on his back. He asks NATHALIE the ANTELOPE to turn the leaves to wind up the rotor and yes: It works! He manages to hover a foot above the ground and flutter round the savannah looking smug. Using his ears to steer, NELSON sets off on his maiden flight. For a while all the animals are pleased for NELSON... but then he makes a great big nest in the Baobab tree and tries to hatch five watermelons... with disastrous results. Feeling sad and dejected, NELSON heads back to the baobob tree and sits in his nest sulking. Now the other animals feel sorry for NELSON. The SNIP SNIP BIRD says the animals need a big strong elephant to pull away a log that has rolled in front of the snakes' burrow. NELSON gladly obliges. Then NATHALIE the ANTELOPE's flower garden needs watering. NELSON is happy again because he feels important and announces his retirement as a bird. He has broken the world elephant flying record and that's enough. The sky is for birds!

A thunder and rain storm sweeps across the plains one night. The animals take shelter beneath rocky outcrops, amid the long grasses, in the trees, and watch with the storm. Toby the Tortoise is absolutely petrified. One especially loud crack explodes right overhead. He ducks inside his shell, shuddering with fear and vowing never to come out of it again.The next morning Doris the Duck and Kevin the Crocodile call on Toby but he doesn't respond to them. They wonder at his silent and still shell. Audrey sends the other animals away then she asks Toby if the reason why he won't come out is because he's frightened. Amazed by her perceptiveness, he peers out at her and admits he's afraid of thunder. She says it scares her too, and when it gets really loud she buries her head in the sand; as long as she can't hear it, it doesn't bother her. Then she has an idea, she gives Toby ear-muffs made out of peanut shells - which draws him out of his shell. Just then a dark cloud appears and Toby suggests to Audrey that she put on some ear-muffs. Audrey puts on some of ear-muffs and settles down next to Toby. We see the animals running for cover beneath Nelson. When they run past Toby and Audrey they are surprised to see them looking happy and relaxed. Audrey hands them all sets of ear-muffs and they all watch the show together, sitting under Nelson's legs to shelter from the rain. Nelson hold a tiny leaf with his trunk over his head to keep the rain off.

AUDREY the OSTRICH is hatching an egg. Unfortunately, there are things she needs to do. She decides to find an 'egg- sitter' to look after her egg while she's away. She spots NELSON and goes over to ask if he would mind helping. NELSON is only too pleased to oblige.NELSON agrees to be gentle with the egg and AUDREY exits. NELSON realises that he isn't going to help by sitting on the egg so he goes off to find someone more suitable. NELSON asks RONALD the RHINO if he could possibly borrow his TIC TIC BIRD for a while. At first RONALD is not too sure, but when NELSON explains that it is very important he says OKAY. NELSON takes the TIC TIC BIRD to Audrey's nest and stresses how important it is to look after the egg. NELSON wanders off, relieved. The TIC-TIC BIRD sits on the egg proudly, to no avail. He soon realises that she's far too small to hatch the egg. He has to find someone larger, someone who can cover the whole egg. He finds GEORGINA who agrees. GEORGINA's legs are too long. She in turn decides to ask RONALD the RHINO If he'd mind egg-sitting."What egg?'" asks RONALD. GEORGINA is mystified. The egg has gone!

GARY the Dromedary lives in the desert with his uncle DENNIS. He is always building sandcastles and asking his Uncle difficult questions like 'What's behind the horizon?' 'More sand and more desert, I suppose', replies DENNIS who isn't really interested. He's happy in the desert just looking at the sand. One day GARY's curiosity takes over. GARY asks his uncle for permission to go and see what's behind the horizon.. Although DENNIS doesn't want to join GARY he does give his permission: 'But make sure you're back before dinner time!'.

Lucy tells the animals she has been to her first ballet lesson. She twirls around in the zoo enthusiastically. Lucy grabs Boris' paw and invites the (reluctant) bear for a dance. This reminds Molly the Hippo of her first ballet lesson. 'You, ballet?' The other animals look at her in disbelief. 'Oh yes', says Molly, 'Natalie the Antelope taught me how to dance!' Best friends Nathalie the antelope and Molly the hippo like to dance together across the plains. Nathalie moves with grace and elegance. Molly crashes about like a bull in a china shop - crushing plants in her wake, causing minor earthquakes when she leaps and jumps - but the two girls enjoy themselves nonetheless. One day Nathalie and Molly are told by Georgina Giraffe that a dance contest is being held by the river the next day. Anyone who wants to enter must dance a routine with a partner. Both girls are hugely excited by the news - they can be partners! - but most especially Nathalie because she so competitive by nature. Alas, when she and Molly try to dance together, clumsy Molly (accidentally) nearly trods on her. Nathalie is seriously put out. There's no way she'll win the contest with Molly as a partner!

Beneath a Gum tree near a large magical red rock in the middle of a Great plain lives a very elderly, venerable old Wombat called Wally (or Koala bear called Ken). Wally is slow, chews eucalyptus saves everything and does weird little rain dances. Wally seems to be a bit of a stick in the mud, he's always telling the younger animals (Joey the kangaroo Rolf the frog) off for wasting their time for indulging in water fights etc Joey and friends find the old wombat very amusing and make fun of him. (imitating his dance etc,). The summer continues and the sun shines and gradually the water runs out. Each of the animals in turn tries to solve the water shortage - digging water holes, searching under rocks, trying to carry it in their pouches etc. but nothing works. Eventually they remember old Wally's dances. Didn't he perform a rain dance? They set out to find him, which isn't easy as the 'red rock' has many secret places and get him to teach them the rain dance. Wally teaches them to do lots of silly things have nothing to do with the raindance. When they finally jump up and down in exasperation wishing they'd listened in the first place then Wally begins to laugh he clouds begin to gather and it begins to rain. The animals are overjoyed and now they all join in the dance.

The jungle is looking very untidy. HERBERT the WARTHOG thinks it looks OK, but then he would, wouldn't he? When NELSON the ELEPHANT slips on a banana skin, GEORGINA the GIRAFFE decides that the mess should be tidied up, because litter not only looks a mess, it's dangerous as well. All the animals volunteer to help with the big tidy-up, even HERBERT, who loves the thought of a day spent rooting around knee deep in rubbish. The animals follow the trail of rubbish and discover it leads to GIGGLES' and TICKLES' tree home. Banana skins, branches, leaves, rotting fruit and all sorts of rubbish surround the area around the tree. NELSON orders the monkeys to help in the clear up operation, but they refuse. While GIGGLES and TICKLES enjoy their afternoon nap high in the treetops, the other animals get to work. NELSON has an idea. Why don't they use the rubbish to build an adventure playground? Everyone thinks that this is a great idea and they set to work. HERBERT delivers the rubbish, the other animals begin building. GIGGLES and TICKLES awake to the sound of laughter and squeals of delight. It is dusk and the playground has been completed. There are extra slippery slides made from banana skins, swings made from vines, a climbing frame constructed from twigs and branches and a wind powered roundabout. ZED goes so fast on the roundabout that his stripes disappear. GIGGLES and TICKLES can't believe their eyes - or wait to try out the playground! But NELSON bars their way with his trunk. He gives them a stern lecture and tells them that there's another area of the jungle which needs tidying up - lf they were to volunteer then maybe they might be able to come back and use the playground! GIGGLES and TICKLES salute and race off to begin tidying the forest. They clean up the forest in record time and join the other animals at the playground.

Lucy arrives feeling rather sorry for herself. She has broken off a friendship with her best friend, Trudy. The animals ask why. Lucy explains that Trudy is stupid and clumsy and broke her favourite pencil-sharpener. Boris the Bear remembers someone else who was clumsy... Melanie the Moose. One day Melanie saw some elks frolicking about in a clearing. She marvelled at the finesse and majesty of their movements, and decided to try a bit of frolicking herself. She jumped about in an ungainly manner, leaping ever higher into the trees. Then she accidentally banged into Boris Bear's special bee-hive. It fell on her head and bees swarmed out all around her. Panicked, she stampeded across Randolph's mushroom plantation then tumbled down the river bank and landed with a crash in Beverly Beaver's recently finished dam. Oh dear.

NELSON the ELEPHANT is frustrated with doing elephanty things. One day, when he observes a little weaverbird, he decides he wants to be a bird too and learn to fly! He sets about his self-imposed task with extreme dedication and seriousness. Unfortunately, flapping his ears and jumping doesn't work. Sometime later as Nelson walks through the savannah in a sulk he bumps into a Helicopter tree dislodging a whirling Helicopter tree seed which gives Nelson a brainwave.The recently inspired NELSON builds a flying rotor made from three banana leaves and attaches it to a harness on his back. He asks NATHALIE the ANTELOPE to turn the leaves to wind up the rotor and yes: It works! He manages to hover a foot above the ground and flutter round the savannah looking smug. Using his ears to steer, NELSON sets off on his maiden flight. For a while all the animals are pleased for NELSON... but then he makes a great big nest in the Baobab tree and tries to hatch five watermelons... with disastrous results. Feeling sad and dejected, NELSON heads back to the baobob tree and sits in his nest sulking. Now the other animals feel sorry for NELSON. The SNIP SNIP BIRD says the animals need a big strong elephant to pull away a log that has rolled in front of the snakes' burrow. NELSON gladly obliges. Then NATHALIE the ANTELOPE's flower garden needs watering. NELSON is happy again because he feels important and announces his retirement as a bird. He has broken the world elephant flying record and that's enough. The sky is for birds!

Melanie, Boris and Randolph take pause to admire the work Beverly's done on the dam. This inspires her to boast: you ain't seen nothing yet! She's going to build the biggest, greatest, grandest log dam in the world! The other animals laugh ruefully. Isn't it just like Beverly to go OTT? Then they resume their own activities - only to have their trees removed mid-scratch/mid-forage/mid-stuff by Beverly. Hey! Not fair, they exclaim. But Beverly's far too busy to take heed of their complaints and carries on chewing down trees, hollering 'Timber!' non-stop. Unable to get through to the busy beaver, Melanie, Boris and Randolph decide it's no longer fun to stay where they are. So they set out down the river bank to find a new forest home. Other animals, birds and reptiles join them on their trek, all complaining about the loss of their tree shady spots, tree nests, tree hiding places, tree branches on which they sun themselves, etc.

DORIS the duck, TOBY the Tortoise and KEVIN the Crocodile are friends. One day they play some sort of role play game together. Doris pretends she's a princess. She's in her element because she can boss the others around. In fact she enjoys herself so much that when the game is over she decides that from now on she's not Doris the Duck but the Zambam Princess! The others are to do as she says! Toby and Kevin are not very pleased but they don't dare protest and so go along with Doris. They are ordered to collect pretty lotus flowers for Doris and nice things to eat etc. . . After a while Kevin and Toby get tired. They wander out off Doris' sight and meet Audrey (or Nelson). Audrey asks why they're looking so weary. Kevin and Toby explain the situation. Audrey thinks for a moment then whispers something to Kevin and Toby. Kevin and Toby return to the Zambam Princess. They lavish gifts on her with renewed enthusiasm, going completely over the top. Toby carries her on his back. They build her a throne and give her a crown with shiny stones. Kevin waves a Lotus leaf to cool the air. Doris is very pleased with her friends' subservience. How grand to be a princess! Then Toby and Kevin tell Doris they're going off for a wallow in the mud pool. She's not to worry: They'll be back soon with new gifts! Doris wants to go with them, she loves mud pools! But Toby points out that she's a princess and that wallowing in the mud is not something princesses do. So Doris stays behind feeling rather lonely. When Kevin and Toby return Doris has cast off her regalia. She announces that she is no longer a princess but just Doris the Duck who wants to play with her friends. Kevin and Toby laugh and explain they've played a trick on her. Doris blushes sheepishly. She promises not to be so bossy in the future! Kevin and Toby explain that she is the only duck they know so she must indeed be the Zambam Princess and everyone is happy.

In a burrow in a sandy hill, where the desert meets the jungle, lives ESMERALDA the Snake. She's a house-proud creature: Always dusting and tidying up her underground home. On the other side of the jungle, in another burrow, near the Savannah, lives HERBERT the Warthog.HERBERT is not so tidy. . . One day disaster strikes. There's been a terrible downpour and HERBERT's home has been flooded. HERBERT tries to dig a new burrow, but it's no use. The ground is just too muddy. It looks like he will have to find a temporary home. GIGGLES and TICKLES offer HERBERT a home in their tree, but HERBERT gets stuck on a branch halfway up the tree suffering from fear of heights. It looks like HERBERTis homeless. Just then, he wanders past ESMERALDA, who is sunning herself at the entrance to her burrow. ESMERALDA takes pity on HERBERT and offers him lodgings. HERBERT is over the moon and quickly sets about widening the entrance to ESMERALDA's home. ESMERALDA is horrified when she sees all the dust. She's already regretting offering HERBERT a place to live, but she decides to give HERBERT a chance, but first she sets a few house rules. The most important rule: HERBERT is not to touch her collection of neat things: Sea shells, colourful pebbles, unusual seeds etc. carefully arranged on shelves against the wall.

Molly is waiting by the Baobab tree. She is supposed to be meeting her young nephew, Eddie, but where is he? Eddie trundles happily across the savannah, narrowly (and very fortuitously) avoiding accidents: He skips along a vine bridge swinging over a perilous gorge, hops between two big rocks, and then slides down a large slide which turns out to be an unfriendly snake. He lands straight at Audrey's feet and bursts into tears. Audrey tells Eddie not too slide down snakes. They're dangerous!

HERBERT the WARTHOG is having a particularly enjoyable day. He is covered in mud, dust and dirt and is running about digging holes and scratching against trees. Trotting contentedly home, he meets several of his neighbours. Each seems to be making a great deal of effort grooming and preening themselves . HERBERT examines his own appearance and begins to wonder if he hasn't let himself go a little too far this time, and maybe that's why he is being excluded. When the animals decide to throw a party, HERBERT goes to AUDREY the OSTRICH for some advice. She advises him to learn some social graces and have a bath. "What's a bath?" says HERBERT.HERBERT makes a tremendous effort. Instead of rolling in his usual (brown) mud puddle, he heads for the Old Volcano where he discovers a pool of bubbling pink mud. Then he decides to go to the hairdressers. He picks a red flower and by pressing the bottom bit of the flower he sprays a sweet perfume. Meanwhile the other animals have arrived at HERBERT's home in order to organise the birthday surprise. There's no sign of HERBERT so they decide to start without him. HERBERT arrives at the party, but no-one recognises the new warthog in their midst. Worse even, they think he's a gate crasher and chase him out of his own home. NELSON follows HERBERT all the way to the water hole and showers him with water from his trunk. The pink mud washes off, the curls spring back into stiff hairs, and HERBERT finds himself surrounded by flies once more. The animals recognise HERBERT instantly. Everyone is delighted to see him at last, and now the party can really begin. There is a big cake of course, and everyone dances to disco music until late at night.