WildeHopps Fan

Plot: Mud/Slinger creates a new invention which accidentally shrinks Eco, leading to a perilous adventure as they must rescue her from a dangerous, sticky situation.

Story told by Eco:

Once there was a friendly little elf who got caught up in a trap by a big grumpy giant. The giant took the little elf back to his lair and made the poor little elf do all his work for him. Because the giant was so big and scary, the little elf never tried to run away. One day, the giant got a splinter in his toe. Soon his toe was so sore, the giant could hardly walk. The elf realized that this was his chance to escape, but just as he was about to hurry away, he stopped because he saw the giant was crying.

"Why are you crying?" asked the elf.

"My toe hurts!" answered the giant.

The little elf felt sorry for the giant and he carefully pulled the splinter from the giant's toe. Even thought the splinter was out, the giant kept on crying.

"Oh dear," said the elf. "Does it still hurt?"

"No," cried the giant. "Thanks to you, my toe doesn't hurt at all anymore."

"Then why are you still crying?" asked the little elf.

"Because you were so kind to me, even though I've been so mean to you. I'm sorry, little elf. Will you forgive me?"

"Well, of course I'll forgive you."

And so, the little elf and the giant became great friends. The giant learned that just because he was big didn't give him the right to be mean. His little heart grew much bigger that day and he made a promise to be a much nicer giant from then on.

Note: Voice change for Hegdish from Fred Stinson to John Pattison

Songs: Icky Little Things & Being Small

Rating: 8/10

Plot: Galileo feels jealous and rejected as Maggie's attention shifts to a new friend, Crystal, an "Undergroundling" who also happens to be Eco's "many great" grandniece.

Story told by Eco:

Once upon a time, there was a little zebra named Biff who was the happiest little zebra ever. He and his mother and father did absolutely everything together, playing and laughing from dawn to dusk. Then one day, his dad told Biff there was a surprise waiting at home and it was quite a surprise to see his mother nuzzling another little zebra.

"This is your new baby brother," she said.

"We're so very lucky to have him to share our love," said his dad, leaning over to give the new baby a cuddle.

Biff was speechless. Biff didn't want a baby; Biff didn't want to share anything, especially love. How could he get rid of this runt? All day long, Biff thought about what he could do. He thought about leaving the baby in the jungle. He thought about putting a stamp on Baby's head and mailing him to the moon. He thought about using the baby as home plate when he and his friends played baseball. Oh, how he wished the baby would disappear so he could have his parents all to himself again.

Then one day, it happened - Baby was missing! Biff was overcome with a deep sadness he never felt before; he didn't like it. Joining the search, Biff felt bad for wishing Baby would disappear. His father was right; there's always room in your heart to love one more. Then Biff heard the call "We found Baby!" and ran back to his home. He nuzzled his baby brother and smiled because once again, Biff was the happiest little zebra ever.

Note: The first appearance of Crystal

Songs: Tag-a-Long & Old Friends

Rating: 9/10

Plot: Stacks gains a new level of independence when Mud/Slinger invents him a mobile unit made from a grocery cart. He becomes overwhelmed by his ability to roam freely through the marsh and quickly learns that this newfound freedom comes with significant responsibilities.

Story told by Eco:

Harry was a quick little fox who used to brag about how fast he was.

"I'm fast!" he said. "Wanna see how fast?"

And he'd be off in such a hurry, he didn't hear his friends' answer, "No." One of his friends was a porcupine named Tortisa. Tortisa liked to walk slowly. In fact, she liked to do everything slowly so the day she told Harry he was a pest, she did it very slowly. All Harry could do was laugh.

"You slowpoke! I could run rings around you!"

And that's just what he did. Tortisa smiled sweetly.

"I could beat you in a race."

All the animals gasped. One little rabbit even checked to see if Tortisa was running a fever. Why would she make such a challenge? Tortisa and Harry shook hands and the race was on. Harry ran so fast, he had time to show off; he ran on his front paws and the onlookers cheered. Meanwhile, Tortisa plodded on, one step at a time. Harry thought it would be funny to pretend to be sleeping, but all his fooling around had made him tired and he was soon snoring. As Harry laid sleeping, around the corner crept Tortisa. The animals cheered as she slowly made her way to the finish line. The noise woke Harry and he raced to catch up, but it was too late. Tortisa won the race; he couldn't believe it!

"How could such a slowpoke be faster than me?!"

"But I never said I was faster," answered Tortisa. "I'm smarter. Slow and steady wins the race."

Songs: Cutting Loose & Let's Start From the Beginning

Rating: 7/10

Plot: Hegdish invents a fake monster called the Megaboo to frighten the other Groundlings so he can trick them out of their delicious bom bom berries.

Story told by Eco:

Once there was a wise and kind old owl who, because he could see in the dark, would watch over the forest every night. One night, he gathered the forest dwellers together and told them tjhat he had to go away for a little while. Just before he soared off into the sky, he circled back and hooted down to them.

"Take care and watch out for the Shinook!"

"What's a Shinook?" they ask, but the owl had already flown off.

It was a dark, moonless night and even though a warm wind blew gently through the trees, the forest dwellers shivered with fear. Huddled in their nests and burrows, they waited for the Shinook to pounce. The skunk kept his tail in the air, spraying stinky skunk smell whenever he heard a rustle in the bushes. The chameloen lizard changed to the color of a log and hissed at every shadow. The porcupine was so nervous that she lost about 100 quills. The next morning, when the owl returned, he asked the forest dwellers if the Shinook had appeared last night.

"Yes! It was horrible! The Shinook hissed like a lizard, stunk like a skunk and had claws as sharp as porcupine spine.

"You actually saw the Shinook?" hooted the owl, laughing his old laugh.

"The Shinook is no laughing matter!" the animals replied. "It's scary!"

"Don't you see?" said the owl. "You weren't frightened by the Shinook, but by your own fears and each other."

"How do you know?" they asked.

"Because," replied the owl. "A Shinook is no monster at all, but a nice, warm wind."

Songs: I'm So Blue & Clever Hegdish

Rating: 6/10

Plot: Once a year, Mud/Slinger goes into the Marsh Cave to find fertilizer to landscape the whole Marsh. However, Mud has various fears about the caves. Pretty soon, he is convinced that a lucky stick will help him overcome his fears.

Story told be Eco:

Down in the deep blue sea, where mermaids and mermen live, Charlton and his little sister Helena played hide-and-seek with their young fish friend, Mushi. Helena hid from Charlton behind a coral reef while Mushi hid in a seaweed forest where the seaweed was thicker than anyone could imagine.

"Home free!" called Helena as she ducked past her brother to win the game.

Charlton continued to look for Mushi, but couldn't find him. When Mushi didn't return, they began to worry and decided to go look for him themselves, but Charlton was afraid. He'd heard stories about ghosts living in the seaweed forest. Helena tried to convince him that there was no such thing as ghosts.

"Ghosts are only in your imagination," she said. "I need your help, Charlton. I'm not strong enough to pull the seaweed apart to look for Mushi myself."

He wiped the fear from his mind and tried not to think of ghosts, and into the forest he went. Suddenly something jumped up; it was only a seahorse. Then, something else jumped up. It was Mushi; his fin was caught in the seaweed. Charlton freed him and together, they swam to the safety of the coral reef.

"You did it!" cried Helena.

And from then on, Charlton knew that some fears are only in your mind and that those fears can be overcome.

Songs: Lucky Stick & I'm Scared

Rating: 7/10

Plot: Mud/Slinger discovers purple pebbles in the stream and begins to trade them for favors. As they become obsessed with accumulating more pebbles, they grow shallow and fail to notice that the river is overflowing to dangerous levels.

Story told by Eco:

Larky the giant grew the biggest, tastiest, juiciest marshmallow trees in the land. Everyone from far and wide marveled at the beauty of the orchard and wished they could have trees as wonderful. This made Larky feel extra special. The giant knew that if they could, absolutely every child in the kingdom would want to eat up a tree or two, but Larky didn't want to give up his beautiful marshmallows so easily. He wanted something valuable in return.

"Every bite will cost you your favorite toy."

The children lined up to give the giant what he asked for. They handed over dolls and balls and trains and planes, and in return, they feasted on marshmallows. But before long, they had nothing left to trade so the children stopped coming to the orchard. The giant's marshmallow trees began to wither and die.

"What's happening?!" Larky cried.

Then he knew; when he stopped sharing his orchard, his orchard stopped being beautiful. The very next day, the giant welcomed everyone in and to this day, Larky's marshmallows bloomed fatter and puffier than anyone could imagine, and there's always a child or two to be seen hanging out of a tree. And yes, he gave back all the toys.

Songs: Purple Pebbles & Everything We Need

Rating: 8/10

Plot: It's Maggie's Youday (a Groundling's version of a birthday) and she decides to sneak a peek at the present that Eco is giving her. She then fears she had broken it, leading to a misunderstanding.

Story told by Eco:

Ursula the bear cub knew that the best way to get honey from a hive was to leave it upside down in the sun so the honey would melt and drip out, but Ursula loved honey and she couldn't wait that long. She poked her snout inside the hive trying to get just a little taste, but when she tried to pull her snout back out again, she discovered that it was stuck. No matter how hard she shook her head, the hive stayed put.

Mama would be here soon; she'd better get the bees' nest off and fast. She tried rubbing it against a bush, but only ended up with twigs and burs in her fur. She plunged her head into the stream hoping to wash the nest away, but when she came up for air, she was covered in weeds and a frog was sitting on top of her head. Finally, she banged the nest against the ground trying to break it off, but only ended up with a headache. What was she to do? A moment later, her mother came along and carefully pulled the nest away from Ursula's snout.

"How ever did this happen?"

Ursula explained what she'd done wrong and that she was afraid to come to her mother for help.

Her mother sighed, "Now you've learned why we don't stick our snouts into a bees' nests."

"Yes," Ursula nodded. "And when you try to hide a little boo-boo, it just becomes a bigger boo-boo."

Songs: I Love Presents & Thank Goodness for the Sun

Rating: 7/10

Plot: Maggie’s beloved chucklenut tree is old and dying from soil erosion, teaching her about the circle of life as she deals with its impending fall. Meanwhile, Stacks predicts that the dying tree will land on Eco's house when it falls.

Story told by Eco:

Once there was a little reindeer named Fritzy who was really, and truly, little. He was already four years old and he should've been full grown, but was as small as a fox. The other reindeer teased him for being pint-sized and it made him sad when no one would play with him. He couldn't reach the tasty leaves on the trees and instead of helping him, the others just laughed and shouted, "Itsy Bitsy Fritzy!" Reindeer can be very cruel. One day, he wandered away and he started to cry. Suddenly, from inside the bushes, Fritzy heard someone calling.

"Psst. Psst. Over here."

Intrigued, Fritzy wandered over and there, hiding among the greenery, was a great, big, full-sized reindeer.

"I'm Morty. I'll be your friend. They laugh at me too."

The big reindeer stepped out of the bush and Fritzy saw what Morty was talking about. For instead of a huge set of antlers, on his head was a puny little set you could hardly see.

"If you climb on my back, I'll lift you up to snack at that tree."

And that's just what happened. Fritzy jumped onto Morty's back and found he was just the perfect height to eat the tasty leaves. From that moment on, Fritzy and Morty were inseparable friends. They ate together, slept together and played all kinds of reindeer games together, and they both felt the joy, comfort and warmth deep inside that only a good friend could give.

Songs: Chucklenut Tree & Sad Chucklenut Tree

Rating: 8/10

Plot: A hailstorm is approaching and since Eco has to go help out in the Outer Lands because of a flood, she temporarily gives Galileo the role of Sproutmaster, responsible for gathering sprouts for the harvest. Unfortunately, he abuses his power, becoming bossy and changing the other Groundlings' jobs which disrupts their work and causes problems, showing how power can corrupt.

Story told by Eco:

Once there was a young crow who liked to think he had lots of good ideas of how things should be done. Well, one morning, he found that during the night, all sorts of lovely nuts had fallen from a tree and all the squirrels, chipmunks and cardinals were happily sharing them in full.

He yelled at the chipmunks, "Stop cramming so many nuts into your cheeks!"

He scolded the squirrels, "You leave too many shells lying around!"

And he chided the cardinals, "You shouldn't drop your nuts from up high to break them open! You should jump up and down on them like me!"

The others tried to do things his way, but soon became discouraged and went away. Then suddenly, a big dog rushed up and started to bark. The crow dashed into a bush to hide and discovered the others hiding in the bush too.

He nodded, "I guess you're hiding from the dog too. Boy, he's loud and mean."

The others shook their heads.

"No, we're hiding from you! You're worse than the dog! He's noisy, yes, but you are so bossy! We don't want to be around you!"

The crow was shocked; he'd only wanted to help. Promising to be more friendly, he flapped his wings until the dog went away, and he and his friends enjoyed a lovely feast.

Songs: I'm the Boss & Get the Job Done

Rating: 8/10

Plot: Maggie gives her "Merry-Go-Pop" (a jack-in-the-box) to Mud/Slinger, calling it junk. However, she quickly regrets it after they clean it up and discover its fun features. She then tries to take it back, leading to a fight.

Story told by Eco:

The Land of Snu has a big mountain right in the middle of it. On one side of the mountain lived the pixies thinking they were the only Snuians and on the other side, elves who call themselve Snuites. I know that everyone thinks that pixies and elves are identical, but the truth is they are very different from one another. For one thing, pixies have ears that are pointed at the top and elves don't have any ears at all. That's why they like to wear hats. Now another thing to know about pixies is that they love to eat peanuts. All day long, they crack open peanut shells, toss them aside and savor the juicy nuts. Elves love to eat peanuts too, but not the nut. Oh, no, no. Elves love to eat the shell; they crunch away until they reach the nut and then they spit it up and they run for another shell. And so it went in the Land of Snu until alas, the peanuts stopped growing. It was terrible; the elves stared at the huge piles of nuts everywhere and cried because they had no shells to eat. The pixies cried because all they had were mounds of shells all over their pixie village. The Chief of the Elves and the Chief of the Pixies knew there was only one thing to do - leave their homes and go in search of food. And that's what they did. Everybody traveled all the way around the mountain in search of what they really loved to eat and of course, they found it. Not only lots of food but lovely houses to live in too, which proves that garbage for one is not garbage to the other.

Songs: Junk, Junk & I'm Sorry

Rating: 10/10

Plot: Hegdish attempts to steal the colors from the rainbow. This action has serious consequences because the rainbow is a vital energy source for Eco. It's up to Galileo to stop Hegdish and restore the colors before Eco's energy is completely depleted.

Story told by Eco:

Once, long ago, there was a brother and a sister named Mertie and Gertie. From the time they were just little Groundlings, Mertie always took care of Gertie. Once, when they were children, Gertie fell into the marsh and started to sink. Mertie grabbed a stick and with one big tug, pulled his sister out. As they grew older, whether she was stuck in the mud or over her head in water, Gertie always counted on her brother to save her. One day, they were walking in the dark, green forest when there was a crumble. Mertie had fallen into a deep hole in the ground.

“Help me!” Mertie called.

But Gertie was afraid because she had no idea how to help her brother. Soon it grew dark and cold, and when she called, Mertie didn’t answer.

“I’m sorry, Mertie!” Gertie cried. “I don’t know what to do!”

Gertie thought back to all the times Mertie helped her and she remembered the things he did. Recalling that day when she almost drowned in the marsh, Gertie found a big stick and lowered it into the hole.

“Grab on!” she called to her brother.

He did and with all her strength, Gertie pulled him right out.

“Thank you for saving me,” said Mertie.

“Anytime,” said his sister, quite proudly because now she knew she could.

Songs: The Color of Night & I Did It

Rating: 10/10

Plot: Hegdish becomes Mud/Slinger’s hero after saving him from a falling tree branch, much to his annoyance as Mud/Slinger then follows him around constantly, treating him like a hero.

Story told by Eco:

Once, there was a turtle named Toots who longed to travel and see the world. She confided her wish to the two ducks who lived next door.

“I have a brilliant plan,” Toots said. “It’s a way for me to fly around the world, just like you. Will you help?”

The two ducks gladly agreed to help and together, the three of them set to work on making a flying machine. Toots slipped a long stick sideways into her mouth. She explained to the ducks that they were each to take one end of the stick in theirs beaks and fly.

“That sounds dangerous,” said the more sensible of the ducks.

“What if you fell?” honked the other.

But Toots assured them that she would clamp down hard on the stick and wouldn’t dare let go, and so away they flew. Toots, her head and feet poking out her shell, dangled between the ducks as high as a kite. Down below, everybody gasped at the sight.

“Amazing! A miracle!” they all cried. “The queen of the turtles is flying!”

“Yes! The queen is what I am!”

Foolish Toots should have kept her mouth closed. For the moment she opened her mouth to boast, she let go of the stick and dropped from the sky. That foolish creature paid a high price for getting caught up in her own brilliance.

Songs: You & Goodbye

Rating: 7/10