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"Koala Balloon" is the 22nd episode of the 1st Season of Wild Kratts. It was written by Eva Almos and directed by Martin Kratt. It is the 22nd episode of the series overall, and it premiered on July 11, 2011. January 5, 2016, "Koala Balloon" was first released on DVD as part of Wild Kratts: Australian Adventures.
Chris and Martin challenge themselves to trek in the Australian Outback with no technology. Their trek is put to the test when Zach Varmitech drops a baby koala in the Outback. The brothers must protect the koala and return him to his natural habitat in the eucalyptus forest.
Synopsis[]
Martin and Chris must protect a young koala stranded in the Australian Outback, and help him get back to his Eucalyptus forest habitat.
Plot[]
The Kratt brothers are packing up to prepare for survival in the Australian Outback. Although Aviva tried to persuade them into taking their Creature Pods, the Kratt brothers refuse, telling her that they do not need them, as they are making sure that their survival is free of the use of modern-day technology. They then parachute down from the Tortuga while the rest of the crew flies away and waits for them at a eucalyptus forest, where they plan on observing koalas.
The Kratt brothers find and watch a thorny devil (which Martin names Spinester) drink by siphoning water collected on its back to its mouth. Meanwhile, Zach Varmitech's plane floats over the Australian Outback. Zach is in Australia to find some eucalyptus tea to relieve his cold. One of his Zachbots sends him a tree with a koala in it. Disgusted, Zach tells his Zachbots to tie the koala to a few black balloons and throw it off his plane. The Kratt brothers notice the floating koala, and they use a tarp to help it land safely. Martin names it Koala Balloon. Knowing that koalas like Koala Balloon do not belong in the desert, they vow to take him back to the eucalyptus forest where he belongs.
The Kratt brothers decide to make a stop after realizing that Koala Balloon is hungry. Koala Balloon, however, knocks their sandwiches to the ground. Later, they decide to give Koala Balloon a drink from a water bottle, but he knocks and spills much of the bottle's contents. Realizing that koalas get their water from eucalyptus leaves, Martin crafts a eucalyptus-shaped leaf out a prickly pear cactus and adds some eucalyptus oil on it. Koala Balloon bites into the leaf, but it does not take him long to realize that the leaf is not a real eucalyptus leaf. Afterward, they continue trekking, but a pack of dingoes eying Koala Balloon chase them all the way until night time. Martin distracts the dingoes by carving a koala decoy out of wood. He tells Chris to toss Koala Balloon over, and he tosses the decoy in front of the dingoes. With a little time bought, they climb up a tree and decide to sleep on it for the night. However, they remember that koalas are nocturnal, so they keep an eye on Koala Balloon instead.
On the next day, the environment begins to take a toll on the Kratt brothers and Koala Balloon, so much that they see a mud wallow mirage, and when they jump into it (thinking it is a real mud) as an attempt to refresh themselves, they sink into the sand. As they weep, Spinester comes by. This gives Martin the idea to pull out the Creature Power Suits and two Thorny Devil Discs. They activate the Powers and arrive at the eucalyptus forest where the rest of the Wild Kratts are.
The show transitions into the concluding live action segment. The Kratt brothers continue walking around with the alpaca and the camel and compare and contrast them. Afterward, they conclude the episode by saying "Keep on creature adventuring; we'll see you on the creature trail!"
Characters[]
Animals[]
Animation[]
Note: Featured animals are in bold.
Live Action[]
Note: Live action animals are linked to Wikipedia.
- Dromedary
- Alpaca
- Eastern grey kangaroo (called Kangaroo)
- American badger
- Japanese snow monkey
- Cheetah
- Bighorn sheep
Trivia[]
- The episode title features the Tortuga HQ flying over a forest in Australia.
- This is the first and so far only episode where a villain does appear, but does not cause any trouble for the Wild Kratts, mainly because Zach was too sick to do any plots this episode, though he did order his Zachbots to release Koala Balloon into the desert.
- Also; the brothers were completely unaware that Zach was responsible for that, also making this one of the only episodes where the Wild Kratts were unaware that any villains appeared at all.
- In addition, after Zach releases Koala Balloon into the desert, he does not appear for the rest of the episode, due to being sick.
- This is the first, and so far, only time where any character from Wild Kratts is seen sick.
- This is also the first and only time a villain makes a small cameo.
- Also; the brothers were completely unaware that Zach was responsible for that, also making this one of the only episodes where the Wild Kratts were unaware that any villains appeared at all.
- The ecological topics shown in the cartoon segment are non-native species and predation.
- Zachary Bennett is uncredited as Zach Varmitech in this episode.
- This is the first episode where The Brothers do not use any technology for the majority of their adventure, not even their Creature Pods. Near the end of their adventure, they do use their Creature Power Suits.
- Koki mentioned that they saw Dingoes in their adventure researching T-Devils, however Dingoes did not appear in that episode (although it could have happened either in another off-screen adventure or off-screen in the episode).
Key Facts and Creature Moments[]
- Some animals are specialized to live in certain places and eat certain foods.
- A thorny devil can drink dew on its skin by sucking it through straw-like grooves that lead to its mouth. This is an example of capillary action.
- A koala's diet consists only of eucalyptus leaves, which provide a koala with all the nutrients it needs to survive, koalas also get all the water they need from their diet.
- Koalas have a special digestive tract that allows them to eat and digest poisonous eucalyptus leaves.
- Koalas spend most of the time sleeping to digest their meals, as eucalyptus leaves are tough to digest.
- Koalas have two thumbs on their front paws to help them hold onto tree branches when climbing.
- Koalas spend most of their time living on trees because it is cooler in forests and they dislike heat, as well to avoid predators like dingoes.
- A koala can store extra food in a pouch near its mouth.
- Koalas are mostly active at night.
- Male koalas can make a warning call to tell other koalas to keep out of their territory.
Home Media[]
DVD[]
- Australian Adventures