Beasts Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mice

Angelina's full name is Angelina Jeanette Mouseling. She is the title character of "Angelina Ballerina", the first of a long series of children's books by the American author Katharine Holabird. The first book was published in 1983, the sixtieth in 2021. Angelina is an anthropomorphic mouse who is training to be a ballet dancer. The series has been adapted for television twice. A British version was first produced in 2001 and shown on both CITV in the UK and PBS Kids in the USA. A CGI animation was produced by PBS in 2009. In 2007 The English National Ballet took "Angelina's Star Performance" on tour; it was a live adaptation of the story.

Jerry is a mouse, created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, who appeared in the first of a series of short cartoon films in 1940 produced by MGM. He has a love/hate relationship with Tom Cat, but, possibly surprisingly, usually manages to come out on top. A television adaptation first appeared in 1965, which was broadcast by CBS, and later by the BBC. Two full length films have been made, one in 1992 and the second in 2021.

Mickey is probably the most well-known anthropomorphic mouse. The icon and mascot of Walt Disney, Mickey Mouse first appeared in an animated film, "Steamboat Willie" in 1928. In cartoon form, Mickey Mouse wears red shorts, white gloves and big yellow shows. Life-sized versions of Mickey, wearing the same white gloves, but long red trousers, a yellow bow tie, and a black jacket can be found in Disney theme parks all over the world. Smaller versions are available on innumerable merchandise items.

As a mouse, Stuart Little first appeared in a 1999 film. He is an anthropomorphic mouse living in a children's home, and is adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Little to be a younger brother for their son, George. After a number of adventures, many instigated by the family's pet cat, Snowbell, everyone learns to live happily together. The film is said to be based on the book, "Stuart Little" by E.B. White, in which a boy is born to the Little family; the boy is extremely intelligent, but also incredibly small, and is said to look exactly like a mouse.

Answer: Owls

Archimedes Owl first appeared in the 1963 animated film, "The Sword in the Stone", from the Disney Studios. He is based on an unnamed talking owl who belonged to Merlin in the 1958 book, "The Once and Future King", by T.H. White. Archimedes, who belongs to Merlin in the film, has a lot of practical knowledge, and is well educated; he helps Merlin to teach Arthur.

Hedwig appeared in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", by J.K. Rowling, which was first published in 1997. She was a snowy owl given by Rubeus Hagrid to Harry Potter on his eleventh birthday. Hedwig went to Hogwarts School with Harry, and remained a faithful companion until she was unfortunately killed during the Second Wizarding Wars, when she was almost six years old. 'Hedwig's Theme' is a popular part of the music written, by John Williams, for the first film of the series, released in 2001.

Plop is the title character of "The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark" by Jill Tomlinson. The book was first published in 1968. It is somewhat inconvenient for a nocturnal creature, like an owl, to be frightened of the dark. Over the course of a week, Plop meets different people who teach him that dark is exciting, kind, fun, necessary, fascinating, wonderful, and beautiful. In 2022 it was read by Catherine, then Duchess of Cambridge, as the CBeebies "Bedtime Story".

Woodsy Owl was created in 1970 by the United States Forest Service. He was developed to encourage children to be more environmentally aware. His original slogan was, 'Give a hoot! Don't pollute'. Later he told people to, 'Lend a hand-care for the land!'

Answer: Lions

Aslan is a talking lion, who inhabits the Kingdom of Narnia, created by C.S. Lewis for his seven book series, "The Chronicles of Narnia", published between 1950 and 1956. He is described as the King of Beasts, the son of the Emperor-Over-the-Sea, and the King above all High Kings in Narnia. According to C.S. Lewis, 'Aslan is not an allegorical portrayal of Christ, but rather a suppositional incarnation of Christ Himself'. Adaptations of the books have been made for both television and the big screen.

"Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion" was a film from 1965. It is set in East Africa, where Dr. Marsh Tracey and his daughter, Paula, try to look after and protect the wildlife. Clarence is adopted as a family pet, since his eye problem makes it impossible to hunt. He saves the day when a research scientist and her gorillas are attacked by poachers. A television series, "Daktari", was produced from 1966 to 1969, with Clarence being one of the stars again, alongside Judy, the chimpanzee.

Simba is the eponymous hero of an animated musical film, "The Lion King", first seen in 1994. He is the son of King Mufasa, but is made, by his uncle Scar, to feel responsible for Mufasa's death. The film tells the story of how Scar is forced to reveal that he killed his brother through jealousy, and how Simba takes his rightful place as the Lion King, with Nala, his bride, at his side. The story was adapted as a stage musical in 1997. There have also been various video games based on the story.

Willie, or, to give him his full name, World Cup Willie, was the first official mascot for the FIFA World Cup. He was designed by Reg Hoye for the 1966 tournament, which was held in England. A lion with a Beatles style haircut, and wearing a jersey with a Union Jack seemed to embody the United Kingdom in the mid sixties. His image appeared on many different items of merchandise, much of which was still being traded fifty years later.

Answer: Elephants

Babar first came to prominence in 1931 in a book created by Jean de Brunhoff. The story was based on a tale made up by his wife, Cécile, for their two boys, Laurent and Mathieu. Jean was a trained artist, and illustrated the story. Six more books were produced before Jean de Brunhoff died of tuberculosis in 1937. After the second world war, his son, Laurent, also a trained artist, carried on producing more books about Babar. Some of the stories have been adapted as television series or turned into films. There have also been two video games based on the stories.

Bump is a slightly clumsy elephant created for BBC television in 1990. A second series was shown in 1994. Bump, and his best friend, Birdie, try to help the other animals when they encounter problems. The contrast between Bump and Birdie is evident from the theme song for the series. 'Birdie sings the sweetest things / Bump the elephant isn't quite as eloquent / Because the sound gets tangled round / In his trunkety trunk. ... Birdie skips and never trips / Bump the elephant isn't quite as elegant / Because his feet are not so neat / Clump clump clumpety clump'.

Dumbo is an elephant created in a Disney film first shown in 1941. Jumbo Jnr. is delivered by the stork to Mrs. Jumbo from the circus. The other elephants are dismayed by the size of his ears, and bully him, nicknaming him Dumbo. His mother stands up for him, and his only other friend is a mouse called Timothy. Dumbo has an unhappy life with the circus, until they discover that he can use his big ears to fly. Dumbo the flying elephant became a popular ride at the Disney theme parks. A live action remake of the film was released in 2019.

Elmer the patchwork elephant was introduced in a book by David Mckee in 1968. A new edition appeared in 1989, which became the first of a series of forty-four books, the last one coming out in 2022. The first story emphasises that it is all right to be different, and the theme of inclusivity carries on through the series. A musical stage show was produced in Canada in 2017, and it toured the United Kingdom in 2019.

Answer: Horses

"Black Beauty" was the only book written by Anna Sewell, and published in 1877. Although it is now regarded as a story for children, it was written to highlight the cruelty inflicted on many horses at the time, and tells the story from the horse's point of view. The title is one of several names given to the horse during his lifetime. The book was adapted for film and television many times in the twentieth century, the first being a silent film in 1917.

Champion is the name of the horse which appeared in films with Gene Autry in the middle of the twentieth century. Known as the Singing Cowboy, Gene Autry was also the mainstay of a radio show called "Melody Ranch", which included songs and a slot with a camp-fire yarn. "The Adventures of Champion" was another radio show, a spin-off from "Melody Ranch", which was aimed at children, and told stories told about a boy called Ricky West, and the adventures he had with his dog and a horse called Champion. A television series with the same title followed in 1955 and 1956, with the theme tune, "Champion the Wonder Horse". This was taken by the BBC, and repeated many times in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, using the same title as the theme song.

"My Friend Flicka" is a book which was written by the American author, Mary O'Hara, in 1941. The horse, Flicka, of the title is an untamed animal with Mustang blood. The story tells how ten year-old Ken takes charge of her during his summer holidays, and how both the boy and the horse survive illnesses. The story was adapted for the radio in the 1940s, and for television in the 1950s. Two films were also made; the first in 1943, and the second in 2006, when Flicka is looked after by a girl, Katy, not a boy.

Joey is the eponymous hero of "War Horse", written by Michael Morpurgo in 1982. Joey was a farm horse who was looked after and loved by Albert. When Joey is sold to the army in the first world war, Albert is too young to go with him, but vows to find him later. Joey survives battle, but is captured by the Germans who use him for ambulance work. After they move away, Joey is left as a farm horse with Emilie and her grandfather. Later he has to pull artillery for the Germans. After he is injured in battle, Joey is looked after in a British veterinary hospital by Albert who is delighted to have found him again. When the horses are auctioned off after the war, Joey is bought by Emilie's grandfather, who sells him on to Albert in memory of Emilie who had died young. A stage adaptation was produced in 2007, using puppets for the horses. The story was broadcast on the radio in 2008. Stephen Spielberg produced a film in 2011 based on the stage show.

Answer: Cats

Dinah belongs to Lewis Carroll's Alice from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". Although the cat doesn't actually appear in the book, Alice talks about her cat, and at times, to her cat, during the course of her many adventures. The story ends with Alice waking up from her dream. It was first told to Alice Liddell and her sisters, Lorina and Edith, on a boat trip on the Thames. Alice asked Charles Dodgson (the real name of Lewis Carroll) to write it down for her. The book was published by Macmillan in 1865, with illustrations by John Tenniel.

Garfield is an orange cat who was born on 19 June 1978. He is well known for loving lasagne and hating Mondays. He was created by Jim Davis for a comic strip cartoon, which is seen in many different parts of the world. The comic strips have been collected and published in book form. There have also been television and film adaptations, as well as video games featuring Garfield.

Orlando the Marmalade Cat was originally created, as a character to amuse her sons, by Kathleen Hale in 1938. He was based on the family's pet cat, also called Orlando. Kathleen Hale wrote and illustrated a series of nineteen books about the adventures of the the cat, his wife, Grace, and their three kittens, Pansy, Blanche and Tinkle. The first was "Orlando (the Marmalade Cat): A Camping Holiday", and the last,thirty-four years later, was "Orlando and the Water Cats".

Skimbleshanks, the Railway Cat, made his first appearance in 1939 in a book of poems by T.S. Eliot, "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats". Skimbleshanks is said to spend his time on the mail train which runs overnight between Euston (in London) and Glasgow. The train cannot depart without him, because it is Skimbleshanks who keeps an eye on everyone and everything, making sure that there are no problems. In Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 adaptation of the poems, Skimbleshanks is portrayed as an active, upbeat orange tabby cat.

Answer: Penguins

Feathers McGraw is the villain in Nick Park's 1993 animated short film, "The Wrong Trousers". Wallace has taken in a lodger, Feathers McGraw, to help pay his debts. But the penguin has evil intentions, and uses Wallace and his new techno-trousers to try and rob the local museum, until Gromit comes to the rescue, and the penguin is captured by the police. In the video game, "Wallace & Gromit in Project Zoo", Wallace and Gromit have to battle with Feathers McGraw to free the kidnapped baby animals.

Peso, the penguin, is the medic who travels with the Octonauts in their mission to, explore, rescue, and protect anything that needs their help in the oceans and seas of the world. Peso will help any creature that is hurt or sick, and can be very brave when required. "Octonauts" is an animated series produced by the BBC, and first show in 2010. It is based on the books of Vicki Wong and Michael C. Murphy.

Pingu is a young emperor penguin who lives at the South Pole with his family. He appeared in a clay animation series of short films, and was created by the Germans, Otmar Gutmann and Erika Brueggemann. The series was first seen in 1990, and ran until 2005; it was originally shown in Switzerland. It became popular elsewhere in the world, particularly in Japan and the United Kingdom, because it has no specific dialogue, the penguins communicate with a universal series of sounds known as penguinese, with occasional hooting noises made by Pingu, when his beak changes shape to make the noise.

Tux is the mascot of Linux, the software company created by the Finn, Linus Torvalds. Having a fondness for penguins, he wanted a contented penguin for the mascot, so he described it as 'a lovable, cuddly, stuffed penguin sitting down after having gorged itself on herring'. The image, which is used, was drawn by Larry Ewing in 1996. It was subsequently named Tux, possibly for Torvald's UniX. Tux also appears in several open-source video games.

Answer: Rabbits

Fiver was created by Richard Adams in his book, "Watership Down" in 1972. He has a vision of the future destruction of the warren where he lives. His brother, Hazel, leads Fiver and some of the other rabbits in search of a new home, which they eventually find on Watership Down, hence the title of the book. The book was made into a film in 1978, and later adapted for both television and the stage.

The Dutch illustrator and author, Dick Bruna, created the character of Miffy in 1955 after telling his small son a story about a small rabbit they had seen in the coastal sand dunes. The original name of the rabbit was 'nijntje', an abbreviation of the Dutch for little rabbit. As well as over thirty books, Miffy has been adapted for both television and the cinema. There is a statue of Miffy at Nijntjepleintje in Dick Bruna's home town of Utrecht.

Peter Rabbit was created by Beatrix Potter in 1901 when she made up the story and sent it, accompanied by illustrations, to a five year old friend who was ill. Peter lives with his mother and three younger sisters, Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail; his father met his demise after an unfortunate encounter with Mr. McGregor in the garden. The story was published in 1902 with the title, "The Tale of Peter Rabbit". Beatrix Potter wrote five more stories which included Peter Rabbit, as well as a number of tales about some other anthropomorphic animals. All were set in the Lake District, near Beatrix Potter's home.

Thumper, the rabbit, made his first appearance in the Walt Disney animated film "Bambi" in 1942. Thumper's name comes from his habit of thumping his left foot on the ground. He and a skunk, named Flower, become best friends with Bambi. Although the film was adapted from Felix Salten's book with the same title, neither Thumper, nor Flower appear in the book.

Answer: Dogs

Dougal is the dog from the animated television series "The Magic Roundabout". The BBC production, from 1965 to 1977 used the film footage from a French series, "Le Manège Enchanté", and gave new names to the characters, with a story created and narrated by Eric Thompson. Dougal is a shaggy Skye Terrier, with a fondness for sugar lumps. In the original French series, he was a British dog, named Pollux, who spoke French with a terrible accent.

Lassie is a rough collie, who first appeared in a short story in 1938. The story was expanded into a novel, "Lassie Come-Home", written by Eric Knight and published in 1940. It tells the story of the journey Lassie made to be reunited with her owner, Joe. It was filmed by MGM in 1943, and spawned several sequels, and also a television series from 1954 to 1973. In 2005 Sony produced a video game called "Lassie".

Snoopy was created by Charles M. Schulz in the Peanuts cartoon strip, which ran for almost fifty years from 1950 to 2000. Snoopy is Charlie Brown's beagle, who lives in or on his doghouse. He is very imaginative, and, although he never speaks, his ideas appear in thought bubbles in the cartoon strips. The last cartoon appeared the day after Charles Schulz died; it features Charlie Brown telling someone on the telephone that he thinks Snoopy is writing, the next frame shows Snoopy, as he was so often seen, sitting with his typewriter on top of the doghouse, the last frame is a farewell message from Charles Schulz, as typed by Snoopy.

Timmy, the dog, was created by Enid Blyton and he first appeared in "Five on a Treasure Island". Timmy is a large, brown mongrel who was adopted by George (short for Georgina - a name she hates). The 'five' of the title are George, her cousins Julian, Dick and Anne, and Timmy the dog. They are known as the Famous Five, and the stories of their adventures ran to twenty-one books published between 1942 and 1963.

Answer: Bears

Paddington Bear has travelled from darkest Peru, where his Aunt Lucy lives in the Home for Retired Bears in Lima, and is sitting on Paddington Station clutching his suitcase and wearing a label which says 'Please look after this bear'. He is found by the Brown family, who take him home to Windsor Gardens in Notting Hill to live with them. Michael Bond wrote a series of books about Paddington's adventures with the Brown family, his problems with Mr. Curry who lives next door, and his time with Mr. Gruber who keeps an antique shop in Portobello Road. The books, some longer collections of stories, and some shorter picture books, appeared from 1958 until 2018.

Rupert Bear first appeared in a cartoon strip in the Daily Express in 1920. He is a white bear, wearing a red jersey with yellow checked trousers and a matching scarf, who lives with his parents in the village of Nutwood. The cartoon strip is one of the longest running, with it still appearing over a hundred years after it first started. Many of the cartoons have been made into books about Rupert and his animal chums, who include Bill Badger and Edward Trunk (an elephant). Several television series have appeared on both ITV and the BBC.

Winnie-the-Pooh, known as Pooh for short, was Christopher Milne's teddy bear; the name comes from Winnie, a Canadian black bear from Winnipeg, who lived in London Zoo, and Pooh, a friend's pet swan. A.A. Milne wrote the first book of stories about his son's toys, called "Winnie-the-Pooh", in 1926. The sequel, "The House at Pooh Corner", appeared two years later. Both books were illustrated by E.H. Shepard. The stories were all set in the Hundred Acre Wood, which is based on part of Ashdown Forest, in southern England, near to the Milne's family home.

Yogi Bear was created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera; he made his first appearance in 1958 in "The Huckleberry Hound Show". As a result of his popularity in that show, he appeared in his own television show in 1961. Yogi and his friend, Boo-Boo, live in Jellystone Park, and make Ranger Smith's life a misery, as they try to steal picnic baskets from the visitors. However, Yogi, who frequently comments, 'I'm smarter than the av-er-age bear!', can't be kept down for long. He also appeared in a live-action/computer-animated comedy film in 2010 called, simply, "Yogi Bear".