The Magic World of The 12 Family

　　　　　　　　　　A brief story of the 13 animation series


Fancy Rat (1)

　　Fancy Rat cruises down the brook in a canoe, looking for his 11 missing brothers in the forest. He stops at Jolly Pig's place while the latter is preparing dinner. Fancy Rat is found stealing food and is punished. He decides to visit Tommy Tiger and stay with him for the night. When Tommy Tiger hears a knock on the door, he quickly opens it but finds nobody. He thinks there is a ghost. Fancy Rat is playing a prank on him.

　　Next morning, Fancy Rat meets Macho Ox and Witty Hare while they are planting the radish. He shows them his planting skill. He also tells them he is the eldest member in THE 12 FAMILY. Macho Ox and Witty Hare do not believe him. Finally, all of them approach the knowledgeable Victor Dragon for the truth. The Dragon shows them an old picture of 'THE 12 FAMILY '.
When all doubts are removed, the 12 brothers gather and build a beautiful house for Fancy Rat.

　　Moral of the story: Never judge a person by his appearance.

Macho Ox (2)

　　The annual weight-lifting contest of THE 12 FAMILY is approaching. Naturally, Tommy Tiger is a strong contestant for the championship, because he is tough and has Witty Hare as his coach.

　　Witty Hare finds Macho Ox expressing his wish to win the championship. Witty Hare asks the Ox to plant stones. He says that if someone eats the fruit borne by the stones, he will be very strong and win the championship. Thinking that it is true, the honest Ox starts planting the stones. He doesn't realize that he is building up his muscles by the mere process of planting.

　　Macho Ox says that he will share with everyone in the family if the stones bear fruit. Witty Hare is touched. On the day of competition, the Hare finds that the Ox has lost his confidence. The Hare runs to the forest and comes back with a heap of 'wild fruits'. After eating the 'fruits', the Ox regains his confidence and wins the contest.

　　Moral of the story: Honesty and kindheartedness will gain respect and support.


Tommy Tiger (3)

　　Tommy Tiger likes to eat sweet stuff, but he doesn't like to brush his teeth. When he has a bad toothache, he goes to Lucky Snake's clinic for treatment. Impressed by Lucky Snake's superb skill, Tommy Tiger decides to make the Snake his teacher. However, the Tiger makes a lot of silly mistakes in the process of learning.

　　Once, Tommy Tiger is left in the clinic when Lucky Snake goes out to gather herbs. Cheery Rooster comes in to have treatment for continuous hiccups. The half-baked Tiger ties the Rooster up until the latter can hardly breathe. Similarly, when Jolly Pig comes in to have treatment for insomnia, the Tiger has his eyes covered and mouth gagged. He even mistakes Buddy Dog, who is keeping the Pig company, as a patient with a high fever!
Fortunately, the Snake comes back in time to save the three brothers. Tommy Tiger's experience teaches him not to pretend if he does not have the knowledge to do certain things.

　　Moral of the story: Enthusiasm alone does not make a person skilled.

Witty Hare (4)

　　Cheery Rooster drops in at Witty Hare's new house. But what he sees on the dining table are not worms which he likes best, but radish. His disappointment makes a series of funny anecdotes…

　　Witty Hare invites Cheery Rooster to stay in his house and use his new bed. Cheery Rooster says that he will have nightmares if his bed is not placed in the right direction. However, the Rooster makes offensive remarks on the Hare in his sleep. Enraged, the Hare uses the remote control to change the direction of the bed so that the Rooster keeps having nightmares. The latter storms out of the house when he discovers the Hare's attempt in making things difficult for him. After the Rooster's departure, the Hare keeps thinking about that day's event and feels guilty.

　　Next morning, the Hare receives a present from the Rooster - a fresh radish and a letter. After reading the letter, the Hare is moved. He immediately replies and expresses his apology. From then on, they become good friends again.

　　Moral of the story: Politeness is a virtue. We should have the courage to admit our mistakes.

Victor Dragon (5)

　　Jazzy Monkey is suffering from hyper-activity and Babe Sheep persuades him to see the physician Lucky Snake. Not knowing what to do, the Snake suggests that the Monkey should consult Victor Dragon since he has just developed a kind of sedative.

　　The sedative is still being experimented and the Dragon wants to try it on himself. Jazzy Monkey changes the label on the test tube when nobody pays attention to him. The Dragon changes his character completely after taking the potion in the tube. He becomes provocative and aggressive.

　　Babe Sheep knows the reason behind the change. With the help of Tommy Tiger, Macho Ox and Bonny Horse, he manages to trap the insane Dragon. The Dragon is back to normal after taking the sedative, and the forest is again filled with joy and laughter.

　　Moral of the story: Many heads are better than one.

Luck Snake (6)

　　Plants begin to flower again in early spring. Buddy Dog invites Lucky Snake, who has just woken up from hibernation, to a picnic. Every member of THE 12 FAMILY rides his own bike, expect for Lucky Snake who twists himself round Macho Ox's head. The 11 bicycles set off in the rhythms of spring.
While they are playing and picnicking by the river, an accident takes place. Cheery Rooster falls into the river when he is trying to retrieve a flying plate. Lucky Snake jumps into the water and saves the Rooster. Everyone praises his brave action.

　　The 11 brothers decide to make a manual trolley for the Snake, thus enabling him to travel on wheels.

　　Moral of the story: In a family, everybody is important. Nobody should be discounted.

Bonny Horse (7)

　　The three barbers, Cheery Rooster, Tommy Tiger and Babe Sheep have set up their 'Three Scissors Salon'. On the opening day, they want to design a fashionable hairstyle for the first guest free of charge, and make it the Salon's permanent symbol.

　　Bonny Horse is selected to be the candidate. The three barbers work with gusto to design the hairstyle for the Horse. All the three barbers try to shape the Horse after their own image, thus giving rise to plenty of fun.
The three barbers decide to try again, and they finally come up with a peculiar hairstyle, which resembles the features of the Rooster, Tiger and Sheep. Bonny Horse is dismayed. It is Victor Dragon who saves the situation. He says, "Don't ever change you own features. You are you and not anybody else"!

　　Moral of the story: It is important to have one's own identity.

Babe Sheep (8)

　　Babe sheep is the most timid and introvert among THE 12 FAMILY members. But what surprises everybody is that he recommends himself to be Tommy Tiger's all-round coach.

　　Just when Tommy Tiger thinks it is a joke, Babe Sheep produces the training plan he has prepared. The Tiger is completely overwhelmed.
The first item is long-distance running. Just as the Tiger is about to take a breather, the Sheep throws a firecracker at him, sending him back on the track. When the Tiger tries to relax by doing backstroke in swimming, the Sheep sends out an electronic insect to harass him. An electronic bee also pursues him when he is riding a mountain bike.

　　In the middle of the night a few months later, a thief with springs tied to his feet breaks into Tommy Tiger's house. He catches the thief after much swimming and riding, and beats him up. The hooded thief turns out to be his coach, Babe Sheep. Tommy Tiger finally gets his certificate!

　　Moral of the story: Everybody has potential. Only with proper guidance will a person's abilities be fully tapped.

Jazzy Monkey (9)

　　Jazzy Monkey is a student who likes to play and does not like to study. When the teacher, Victor Dragon, asks everybody to plan and take into consideration all possibilities when working on a task, the Monkey grumbles, "Do I have to be taught by you on that?" With that, he sneaks out of the class to have fun.

　　When Jazzy Monkey finds out Macho Ox is designing fences on a piece of paper, he offers to help by making fences in the shortest possible time. But the beautiful gate is only big enough for him to pass through.

　　Jazzy Monkey also offers to help when Witty Hare has an unbalanced table. The Monkey saws its legs until it is left with the top! Bonny Horse's cart is stuck in the mud. Jazzy Monkey tries to help by employing the lever principle, but ends up breaking every piece of pottery on the cart!

　　After all these incidents, the Monkey realizes that no job can be done well without proper study and planning.

　　Moral of the story: There must be planning and perseverance. Carelessness won't do.

Cheery Rooster (10)

　　Cheery Rooster gives the correct time. His crows decide the rhythms of life in the forest.

　　One day, Jazzy Monkey speaks highly of the Rooster for giving the correct time. The Rooster feels flattered and vows that he will do better and much earlier.

　　Next morning, he starts crowing at 2:00 a.m.. The forest is stirred. Everyone blames him for upsetting their sleep. Upset that his good intention is not well received, the Rooster pretends to fall sick. The life in the forest becomes even more confused.

　　The forest dwellers call on Cheery Rooster with lots of delicious worms. He appreciates their kindness and the forest 'clock' starts to work properly again.

　　Moral of the story: There must be rationale and order in doing things.

Buddy Dog (11)

　　A series of thefts have taken place in the forest: Macho Ox's corns have been mysteriously removed, Tommy Tiger has lost his favorite poster and Jolly Pig's food has been stolen. The 12 brothers are angry and they want to form a forest vigilant corps to get to the bottom of these incidents.
The corps goes into action that very evening. Little do they expect to see a moving shadow on the radish field as soon as the moon rises. But what they have caught is Witty Hare who comes out to look for food. It is a false alarm. At midnight, they find another figure whom they beat up and fasten. But it is another misunderstanding. It is Cheery Rooster who wanted to catch the thief on his own.

　　The third time involves a 'thief' who is lugging the medical box of Lucky Snake many times bigger than himself. But the 'thief' is sauntering as if nothing happened.

　　The 'thief' turns out to be Fancy Rat who is sleepwalking! Being aware of Fancy Rat's mental problem, Buddy Dog does everything he can to help the Rat.

　　Moral of the story: A person must be like Buddy Dog - responsible and caring.

Jolly Pig (12)

　　Tommy Tiger wins the championship of THE 12 FAMILY Bodybuilding Competition. Jolly Pig admires the Tiger, but Witty Hare and Jazzy Monkey mock at him. Jolly Pig decides to train hard for the next championship.
Jolly Pig draws up a training plan and he orders a magic bed which will wake him up every morning.

　　One day, Jazzy Monkey and Cheery Rooster feel odd because they have not seen Jolly Pig for several days. The Rooster decides to visit the Pig. The Rooster sees the Pig lifting the barbells. The Rooster reckons the Pig is on a keep-fit program because he is suffering from lipo liver. By the time it gets to Jazzy Monkey, the illness has become high blood pressure and then a vascular disease. When Lucky Snake gets to hear of it, the illness has become a terminal one. The members in THE 12 FAMILY eventually know that this is only a misunderstanding.

　　Moral of the story: One should always try to seek the truth to avoid spreading rumors and causing confusion.

The Magic Contest (13)

　　Witty Hare makes a bold suggestion before the coming of YEAR 2000. He wants to change the sequence of the 12 zodiac animals, which has been in place for several thousand years. Why should the little Fancy Rat be the eldest brother? The rest agree with him. They have all kinds of ideas about how to select a new line-up. It is a chaotic mess. Finally, Victor Dragon suggests that they should compete in crossing a lake, exercising their knowledge, wisdom and ability.

　　The members in THE 12 FAMILY are very busy with the preparations. They pair up to show what it takes to make the best floating craft.

　　Guess what the outcome is? The sequence remains as stubborn as ever!

　　Moral of the story: power and strengh are not the only requirements in a competition. Wisdom comes first.