Pet Pals

One grand-mother from Australia starts packing to join her two little grandchildren together with five nice Pet Pals: Holly the kitty - leader of the group, Diva - the star duck, Nameless, the chick - who speaks through signboards, Pio - the funny frog, who wants to be an actor, Top Hat - a little clumsy rabbit.

The six Pet Pals go on sailing without knowing the exact course to Venice. So they ask for information to a migratory bird and try to allure him by singing a wild rock song. As a result of this pathetic performance an orca bursts out laughing and obliges them to perform conjuring tricks for her.

The protagonists sail towards an island killing time with games and practising sports. They try to fly on a kite as beginners, instructed by a young swift. Diva asks her travel-mates to land on the opposite island, which turns out to be The Mompracem Island.

Before long the Pet Pals realize that it will take them months to join Venice by sea on their small boat. Better make a plane. While looking for bamboo reeds they bump into an “archer” fish who will show them his great skills in getting his food. The little model plane is ready to take off, the wobbly little plane drives for a few meters and bangs against the head of a prehistoric monster.

All the Pet Pals take their positions to operate the plane, but its sluggishness makes the birds around laugh. Moby, the highbrow, takes the chance to read some passages from ‘The Treasure Island”, drawing the attention of the other Pet Pals. There it is: the treasure island is just down below. A short visit will not let them waste too much time.

The Pet Pals resume their way on a makeshift and slow sailing boat. An island with smoking volcanos strike them, along with the tracks of the Macaques from Japan they happen to observe on the sand. The six friends find themselves involved in the theatre performance organised for the birthday of the Chief of the tribe.

The six protagonists are making an attempt at building the new “seimarano” which will allow them to sail more rapidly towards their final destination. For the umpteenth time they fail: they fall into the water and are rescued by friendly turtles. Venice is further and further, and who of all the fish can help them to resume the right way if not old Ido, the oldest fish of all seas?

On boat, one night no different from any other nights, on TV there is the 1040th episode of the soap opera, where Pio grudgingly plays a role which Diva finds very funny. But as a consequence of the umpteenth trouble by Top Hat the boat goes adrift. Nothing to be scared of, Moby recognizes the Manaar Bank Islands just opposite them.

The Pet Pals resume their journey half having funny rows with each other and half making bungling imitations. A not very smart idea causes their boat to sink, so that the six friends have to reach the closest island on a drift wooden board. The island is populated by a large community of crabs-musicians. Of course the Pet Pals will challenge them introducing themselves as a rock group.

The curiosity about the means of transport invented by the Pet Pals, in order to reach Venice, grows each episode more. This time a gaily-coloured hot-air balloon will unfortunately crash owing to Top Hat’s foolish mistake. But luckily enough there is Holly who is always ready to solve the most tangled situations out.

While the Pet Pals are exploring the deserted island, they hear a yell from the trees they have heard before: it is Tarzan’s call. In a fright, they run after a shadow vaulting from one liana to the other. Eventually they are bit disappointed when they find out that Tarzan’s yell has been imitated perfectly by a young monkey.

The island on which the Pet Pals are going to disembark has got something familiar to them. Maybe it is because of the objects scattered on the sand, clearly recalling the remains of a wreck. Or maybe is the parrot, who is spying on them, a relative of Poll, Robinson Crusoe’s parrot? Robinson’s story is captivating and the incredulous Pet Pals listen to it in the hut he himself built up.

The Pet Pals detect some prints on the sand and notice strange movements in the forest. Who might ever be, since it should be a deserted island? For sure not a ghost, since it cannot leave prints. Actually it is a lively chameleon, who enjoys joking the poor Diva.

The Pet Pals are held as hostages by the giraffes. To get free they must accept this very tall team’s challenge to play a basketball match. As for the height they cannot bear comparison, but as for the cleverness they cannot be beaten. Acting on Moby’s knowledge, the Pet Pals - new champions - win the respects of the other animals, so that they will help them to fly off on hang-gliders.

Nothing better than joining a sailing race on their new boat if they want to sail safely to Venice. The situation gets entangled but a whale get them out of trouble and soon after they start playing together water games. Two shady-looking fellows on a whaler watch them through their binoculars. Though they have harpoons, Holly has many strings to her bow.

While the Pet Pals are climbing a very steep mountain they find the wreckage of a plane. A parachute is the sign that the pilot survived. Moby, who is fond of electronics and circuits, manages to fix the plane’s radio. Only one little but essential component is missing, Diva has used it as a hair slide.

The Pet Pals discuss about where they got to and what to do next. They have been at sea for long time now, presently they are at the Gulf of Mexico and Venice is still very far. Better to attract the attention of planes and ships by carving their faces on a big rock. But it turns out to be useless, since an armadillo informs them that those rocks are overcast by clouds all the year round.

The balsawood they found on the island is used to build a light and quick boat. The mouth of a river attracts their attention: they have just landed in America, the land of the gold rush, as it is clearly suggested by a coffer full of objects.

As soon as they have left the river, they find themselves in a perfect western-style setting, where they find the typical though harmless rattlesnake. They spend the night chatting with him by the fire.

Could Dive possibly miss the chance of competing with Divina-the polecat, the outgoing Miss of the Beauty contest? Diva is impossible, in spite of poor Top Hat’s efforts to satisfy her foolish demands, such as the request of a bodyguard acted by Pio. In the meanwhile the other three Pet Pals are building a gun which will shoot them bullet-like across the ocean.

In order to find some long pieces of wood for the new boat, the Pet Pals have to reach the highest peak of the mountain where, as the beaver says, very dangerous raccoons live. There they are, challenging the Pet Pals in a cart race along narrow and steep paths.

The already well-know Top Hat bad luck make him tumble on a Viking’s helmet where he finds the drawing of the map leading to the ship’s wrecks. The area they start scouring is inhabited by coyotes and buffaloes. The coyotes are the guardians of the Viking ship’s wreck and move it continually to mislead the Pet Pals.

In this episode the encounters will be on the sea. A vessel looms ahead from the fog: the Phantom Vessel, perfectly in order and operating, but deserted. Instead of people it is inhabited by ghosts, such as the clown-ghost who is the owner of a circus and is kept in prison by the detective ispector-ghost, since he is accused of not being scary enough.

Owing to the inadvertence of Top Hat, the Pet Pals disembark in Egypt. Venice can wait, the valley of the Kings must be visited, with a crab as special tour leader. And above all there are the treasures of the Pharaoh to be discovered by reading the riddle nobody can solve. Nobody except Holly obviously.

Did you know that the hedgehog can shoot his quills with the strength of an arrow and these can even stick? The Pet Pals discover this in the last stage of their journey to Venice: they have at last approached the Adriatic coasts. There is still time to help the hedgehogs to free the castle together with Robin and Lady Marian, who was held hostage by the wolves.