Crash in the Jungle

Part 1

Preparing for the upcoming Trans African Grand Prix, Speed is in a small, two engine plane holding a pilot, copilot and one other passenger, a bespectacled, brown haired Prof. Robert Carnivoray, a biologist. Speed is checking out the race course which.. will cover the entiure continent of Africa and is now ready to return to Nairobi for the start of the race three days from now. Dr. Carnivoray points to a volcano and asks Speed if he's heard of the stories about the mountain. He says there are rumors that a monster lives there, and he has come to check out the story.

The pilot turns around then and pulls a gun on them saying that the professor must be taken with them. They're exiles from the country of BangdeBungle and remind Dr. Carnivoray that 20 years ago, he was a countryman of theirs. Carnivoray, they say, can help free the country. So that Speed won't be able to tell who kidnapped him, though, he is tied to the seat before the other three parachute out of the plane.

Speed struggles and frees himself seconds before impact. He leaps out and a parachute breaks his fall after employing at only tree top level! No sooner does he land in a tree, than a huge snake comes towards, then a leopard. The leopard closes on Speed until it hears pounding the footsteps of a King Kong sized gorilla. To outrun the ape, Speed swings from vine to vine giving Tarzan a run for his money. [The animals, incidentally, are not impressively animated in this episode. Not that I could do any better, of course, but it's clear this is new territory for the artists!]

Back in the lobby of their Nairobi hotel, Trixie, Spritle and Chim Chim hear of the plane crash on tv. Spritle cries, but Trixie says the reporter didn't say what happened to the passengers. They hop in the Mach Five and head to the crash site.

In the jungle near the crash, a primitive tribe is dancing around a bon fire and worshipping the god of Goomachuck, beseeching it to help them defeat the monster in the jungle. Some tribesmen find Speed nearby and bring him to the leader. He tells Speed that they're a peace loving tribe but for the past years a monstrous ape has been destroying their jungle. If they don't stop it, they won't be able to survive. They've decided that tomorrow they will search for it and destroy it. He asks Speed to come with them. At first Speed declines saying he has to get the race. But we all know Speed's conscience wouldn't let him live with an answer like that for long...

The next morning, Trixie, Spritle and Chim Chim are still driving towards the mountain. Chim Chim is excited because tis is where he's from. In the jungle, the tribe and Speed -- we knew he'd be there, didn't we? -- are on the move hunting for the huge gorilla. Soon, they approach the same volcano Speed had pointed out to him by Carnivoray in the plane. A gigantic spider suddenly attacks them. Not so much from bravery, but simply because he stumbled and had no option, Speed fights the spider with some nearby spears that had earlier missed their mark. With a bit of luck, Speed manages to dispatch the misproportioned arachnid but has become separated from the tribe. After the battle, Speed's clothes are shredded and makes him look more than a little like that other vine swinging, king of the jungle. Deciding what to do next, he hears the sound of an engine and sees an armored tank rumbling through the jungle. He does his best to follow.

About then, Trixie has pulled up where Speed fought the spider a short while before. They see Speed's red scarf on one of the violently amputated spider's legs and know Speed is nearby. They hear drums, and soon they and the tribe discover each other's presence. The tribe explain to Trixie what happened and how they got separated from Speed.

Speed has followed the tank to a lake that surrounds the volcano. As the tank approaches a very modern looking bridge raises up from the lake. When the tank reaches the volcano island, the bridge begins to submerge. Speed dashes across but doesn't quite get to the other side before it fully submerges.

Back at the Mach Five, Chim Chim seems have forgotten the ways of the jungle. He climbs a tree and finds a bird nest with a few jumbo sized eggs in the it. He grabs one and earns the rath of the mother bird. She carries him away towards the volcano in her talons. Trixie and Spritle follow in the Mach Five.

Inside the island's secret research center, Professor Carnivoray meets the exiled General Smasher. Smasher, who looks a bit like Hitler, talks about how their old country, Giltar, was caught between two countries fighting twenty years ago. Smasher says he wants to restore Giltar and can do so by making an army of huge soldiers using the same technique used to create the mammoth apes and spiders. Carnivoray can help with that, Smasher says. But Carnivoray says it was their country that started the war and deserved the consequences. On a monitor, Smasher sees Speed swimming towards the island. He tells a subordinate to kill him.

Still following the large bird, Trixie and Spritle come to the lake around Smasher's island compound. When Chim Chim rops the egg, the bird drops him to catch the egg. Trixie sends the Mach Five into the lake to rescue Chim Chim. Before doing so, they come upon an underwater road; really, the now-submerged bridge Speed tried to cross.

On the shore of the island, Speed is discovered and chased by about a half dozen of the large apes. ``Will Speed survive? Tune in next week to find out!''

Speed, being much smaller than the apes, can run this way and that to outmaneuver them. They collide, fall down, trip over vines Speed ties on the legs, and so on. But soon they have him backed against a cliff. It drops off to a whirlpool below. The gorillas throw rocks at him until one manages to knock him in. Gen. Smasher has been watching it all on a monitor and laughs that Speed is finally done in. Carnivoray is there but still refusing to help. Smasher brings Carnivoray to his colleague of twenty years before, Professor Loon, a white haired man with a monocle on his left eye. Loon tells Carnivoray that this is the opportunity of a lifetime. While Carnivoray agrees, he still refuses to help since it would aid Smasher as well. Before he can argue the point further, Loon is called away when the Mach Five is seen approaching along the submerged bridge. As Trixie approaches the end of the bridge, at the end she sees a door with the four-pointed Star of Giltar on it. It opens and the Mach Five is sucked into it.

The tunnel leads up to dry land where Trixie makes a run for it in the Mach Five trying to outrun pursuing tanks. After she's run off the road, she and Spritle are captured. Loon decides to use them as a means to get the kind hearted Carnivoray on Smasher's payroll. He threatens to lower them into a pirannha infested pool unless he consents. Carnivoray reluctantly agrees.

Outside, Speed has survived the whirlpool and is washed ashore. He's overjoyed when he sees Chim Chim, who proceeds to show him where the Mach Five is.

Inside, Carnivoray is talking to the two prisoners, Trixie and Spritle. He tells them that the old country of Giltar loved war, and the people in exile want to start another one.

Speed and Chim Chim come across a feeding area where guards are near large cages housing the apes. They don't realize that at first that coming behind them are more tanks. One tank driver opens the hatch to look around and see where Speed got to; the driver is none otehr than the pilot of the plane that Speed crashed in. Speed jumps down from a tree and knocks out the pilot as well as another tank driver.

While all this is going on, in the research facility, Dr. Loon has decided to use Trixie and Spritle as guinea pigs for the first mammoth human tests. He prepares the machine to do the job, and is ready to turn the final dial to begin the process. With his impeccable timing, Speed, in a commandeered tank, crashes through the lab wall, and then fights some soldiers. Loon pulls out a pistol, but before he can shoot it, Carnivoray grabs his arm. By now, soldiers are rushing in. As they do, Chim Chim, still in the tank, fires at Gen. Smasher. Speed, Trixie, Spritle, Chim Chim and Carnivoray get in the tank. At the controls, Speed commences firing at and destroying Dr. Loon's twenty years of work in the lab.

To make matters worse, one ape in the excitement manage to break loose from his cage. He chases soldiers and seems to be having a great time. Smasher worries because the gorilla happens to be heading towards the power room. He orders men to stop him. Speed tells Trixie to drive the tank, as he jumps out and into the Mach Five. His fancy driving and turning at the last possible instant cause many tanks to crash either into each other or into boulders.

Back in the research facility, the ape has managed to get into the power room despite the soldiers' efforts. Soon, the room explodes. Loon is lamenting over his lab, which is now little more than rubble. He says he's upset because he loves war and can't start one now. Smasher runs by and tells Loon that ``maybe we were wrong.'' This has no effect on Loon. After a big explosion, more apes are loosed. Trixie, Carnivoray, Spritle and Chim Chim get in the Mach Five with Speed, and the car plunges into the water making a submerged crossing. From the shore, they see the island explode. The Go Team plans on heading to Nairobi for the Trans African Grand Prix in time for the race.