Nature Cat's Mysterious Adventure

Nature Cat's Mysterious Adventure is a 2018 animated short film. It was released on the PBS Kids website as a video on August 12, 2018.

Plot[]

Under the sunny sky, Lulu Ladybug, MC Ferret, Hal, Martin the pastel blue dog, Nature Cat, Daisy, Squeeks, and Jimmy the orange cat are running across a grassy field. Daisy rides down the hill using a log-shaped sled, and then she lets Jimmy ride on it afterwards. As Jimmy enjoys his ride down the hill, Nature Cat accidentally knocks him off of the log sled and Jimmy has to chase after Nature Cat. After they stop moving, the two cats get into a sudden bicker with each other, and Daisy has to break them up. Jimmy scolds Nature Cat for pushing him off of the sled, but Nature Cat explains that he should give someone else a turn. While they were fighting, Squeeks had a turn going with the log sled. Hal runs over to a small pond, but he trips before getting there. Lulu Ladybug, Hal, Martin the pastel blue dog, Nature Cat, Daisy, Squeeks, MC Ferret, and Jimmy run down another hill, but stop when they see something stationed in the sky and a mysterious scroll with weird writing falls out of the sky at a fast speed and into the pond. When the scroll hits the pond, it sends Hal and Nature Cat scrambling and a big water splash causes MC Ferret, Daisy, Martin, Squeeks, Lulu Ladybug, and Jimmy to be soaked wet. As such, a small magical dog that is the size of Squeeks emerges out of the big scroll and looks like it doesn't know where it's at. It tells MC Ferret, Lulu Ladybug, Hal, Martin, Nature Cat, Daisy, Squeeks, and Jimmy where it came from, but they don't understand. Ronald, The Seeker, and Cruiser watch from behind a fence to see what is going on. Suddenly, Kyle the yellow dog comes to the gathering and asks the animals what is going on. The dog, who introduces herself as Julie, again tries to explain where she came from, but again, MC Ferret, Lulu Ladybug, Hal, Martin, Nature Cat, Daisy, Squeeks, and Jimmy don't seem to understand Julie's speech. Kyle clearly understands what Julie is saying and he shows the group where to go. As they walk down a city alleyway, Ronald, The Seeker, and Cruiser come out of a trash can and watch where the others are heading. As the others leave, Cruiser imagines himself feeding acorns to Julie while Ronald and The Seeker are guarding them from intruders and seeing the place that Julie calls home. The three chase after the others while in a hiding spot, but Houston the gerbil notices what is going on. He thinks Ronald, The Seeker, and Cruiser are up to no good, so he decides to check on them. Meanwhile, Kyle leads Julie, Lulu Ladybug, MC Ferret, Hal, Martin, Nature Cat, Daisy, Squeeks, and Jimmy through the city, and over to a mural that has shapes of a triangle, square, and circle on it.

Jimmy pushes the triangle button in, as a line connects to the circle which pushes out and a glow emerges into Hal's face, making Hal cover his eyes in an instant. Then Squeeks pushes the square button as a line connects to the circle which pushes out. When Ronald and his two friends arrive, they ask the others if they need help, but Squeeks, upon remembering Ronald's behavior in the Nature Cat TV show, as depicted in various flashbacks, doesn't trust him or Bad Dog Bart or Cruiser. Cruiser comes up with a plan but falls back into a slingshot and gets launched at the mural, before he instead pushes in the square button which connects the final line to the triangle shape and opens up a weird teleportation code. The weird teleportation code gets bigger, sucking Cruiser inside the portal, so Ronald and The Seeker rush into the portal to save the squirrel. Julie, Lulu Ladybug, Kyle, Hal, Martin, Nature Cat, Daisy, Squeeks, MC Ferret, and Jimmy step inside. As such, the two groups land in Julie's home world. Houston and a singing mouse were brought into the dimension as well. The wall closes behind them as the triangle pushes back out.

They are sent through a shiny and sparkly portal that has colors of yellow, blue, green, pink, purple, and white with streams of lines running across. As they exit the portal, they ride a slide out of the portal area and land on stone blocks shaped like a puzzle. Hal wants to jump cross the stones and almost falls off. The others follow Hal's lead and they enjoy jumping across the stones. Lulu Ladybug jumps into too far of a gap and falls through a huge hole between a couple of stones, but she manages to fly out with the help of her wings. However, she has to start over at where she started when they entered Julie's home world, but she hears a faint laugh. As such, Julie, Lulu Ladybug, Kyle, Hal, Martin, Nature Cat, Daisy, Squeeks, MC Ferret, and Jimmy continue across the stones, and right behind them are Ronald, The Seeker, and Cruiser, who start jumping across the stones as well. Before they can reach the end, the singing mouse steps in front of them and uses Sing to put them to sleep. After it is done singing, the singing mouse is upset and hits the group with its tail and sends them off the stones. They land on more stone blocks, but this time they are together and the whole area looks exactly like a desert and is made of all stones and stone walls. Nature Cat and his friends also end up there and notice that Ronald, The Seeker, and Cruiser are following them. Ronald, The Seeker, and Cruiser decide to chase them when they see Julie in Hal's arms. The two groups enter a stone cave and go through a bright light at the end of it. They enter through the same looking portal as they did before. They go through more of the portal which is green, yellow, red, purple, blue, and black, while it looks like a multicolored space swirly in circles. They enter another area which has a massive multicolored background, and a silver-colored-looking tornado. While passing through, Ronald gets dizzy while The Seeker enjoys the ride and Cruiser says that he's about to be sick, as they are moving around the place. Julie, Lulu Ladybug, Kyle, Hal, Martin, Nature Cat, Daisy, Squeeks, MC Ferret, and Jimmy are sent floating down on balloons to an area resembling Nature Cat's backyard, and Nature Cat says that this place reminds him of home. On the ground, Ronald, The Seeker, and Cruiser land in the same place as them, but this time, they freak out and decide to search for a way out, until they see that Julie, Lulu Ladybug, Kyle, Hal, Martin, Nature Cat, Daisy, Squeeks, MC Ferret, and Jimmy are very giant. Julie, Lulu Ladybug, Kyle, Hal, Martin, Nature Cat, Daisy, Squeeks, MC Ferret, and Jimmy notice that the portal they were sent through made them grow into giants and start to dance and cheer in unison, scaring Ronald, The Seeker, and Cruiser, who try to run away from them. Hal jumps and almost lands right on top of them. The giant Squeeks steps in front of Ronald, The Seeker, and Cruiser, again scaring them. Ronald thinks there is a spell going around and wishes that he had the spell put on him.

The two groups go through two doors which split them up. In one door, Kyle, Hal, Martin, and Daisy are turned into babies and moving around the place, before they turn back to their adult sizes, and in the other door, Squeeks, MC Ferret, Julie, Lulu Ladybug, Nature Cat, and Jimmy shrink to their normal sizes while Ronald gains the upper hand in being bigger than them. After the doors send the two groups falling, The Seeker, Cruiser, Julie, Lulu Ladybug, Kyle, Hal, Martin, Nature Cat, Daisy, Squeeks, MC Ferret, and Jimmy are sent floating down on balloons to Ronald, who is now large sized. They tell Ronald to let them down, but Ronald laughs evilly and extends his tail to grab The Seeker and move the others around on his head by bobbing back and fourth. Squeeks is scared and is afraid of falling off. The Seeker tells Cruiser to hang on to Hal as he holds on to one of Ronald's ears. Ronald's giant movements and the panicking of the other animals on Ronald make the ground shake around them. After spinning around, a light purple flash of light surrounds Ronald and the others which sends them all blasting off. On the other side of the dimension, Houston is shown with a disgusted look on his face as he sits on a tall stone rock. He wonders where the others are and he goes off to look for them.

Ronald, The Seeker, and Cruiser land hard on the ground and in front of the singing mouse from earlier, who seems to not have noticed the chaos that had just unfolded. To avoid getting put to sleep this time, Ronald, The Seeker, and Cruiser try to make a run for it, but they are put to sleep again by the singing mouse who sings anyway. Again, the singing mouse is upset and hits the group with its tail and the wind sends them blasting off into the air again. Meanwhile, Julie, Hal, Kyle, Martin, Squeeks, Nature Cat, Daisy, MC Ferret, and Jimmy are now in a serene land in a green field with trees and colorful flowers. They meet three dog farmers who bring them to some apple trees. They hand them the apples to eat. In another area of the field, Ronald, The Seeker, and Cruiser land hard on the ground and they are surrounded by carrots and other vegetables. Cruiser tries to grab a carrot so that he can eat it, but it is actually the tail of a bulldog farmer. On the bulldog farmer's hat is the singing mouse from earlier, and the mouse yet again sings to put the bulldog farmer, Ronald, The Seeker, and Cruiser to sleep. Again, the singing mouse is upset and it eats the vegetables that Ronald, The Seeker, and Cruiser collected, then runs off. Nearby, Houston is examining the different foods in the field, but when he tries one of the fruits, he doesn't like the taste of it and is disgusted by it. Meanwhile, Kyle, Lulu Ladybug, Julie, Hal, Martin, Squeeks, Nature Cat, Daisy, Squeeks, MC Ferret, and Jimmy are now visiting a cave-like doorway that leads to a sky full of large stone blocks. In the middle, there is a tall stone tower that appears to go up into the funnel-shaped clouds. The sky is blue, pink, and purple surrounding the stone blocks. The animals climb up the stairs to get to the other doorway that leads to the exit, but Jimmy loses his footing and falls, taking the others along with him. A larger version of Nature Cat grabs them and brings them to the top of the portal. Once they reach the top, the larger version of Nature Cat places them on a colorful-looking and sparkly ground.

In the sky, a lot of magical small dogs, birds, and cats with varying magical features are floating around with clear colored funnels shaped like tornadoes. A couple of dogs come to see that Julie is back and that they were worried about her, then they dance in a circle. The residents thank Lulu Ladybug, Kyle, Julie, Hal, Martin, Jimmy, Squeeks, Nature Cat, Daisy, Squeeks, and MC Ferret for their help. The residents and Julie then use their powers to bring the group over to join them in their games as they play, dance, and enjoy themselves with Julie's other friends. On the ground, Houston watches them as Ronald, The Seeker, and Cruiser see the huge groups of magical small dogs, birds, and cats with varying magical features. Hal and the others see their real home through a funnel-shaped opening in the dimension and say to Julie and the other residents they must go now. Kyle, Lulu Ladybug, Julie, Hal, Martin, Squeeks, Nature Cat, Daisy, Houston, the singing mouse, Ronald, The Seeker, Cruiser, Squeeks, MC Ferret, and Jimmy then get on balloons and float down back into the same portal they came through before. Squeeks, Nature Cat, Daisy, and Hal land in the backyard while The Seeker, Cruiser, Kyle, Houston, Ronald, the singing mouse, Lulu Ladybug, Martin, MC Ferret, and Jimmy land in separate city areas. As such, Squeeks, Nature Cat, Daisy, and Hal are relieved to be back and done with their adventure. In the night, Houston, Lulu Ladybug, Kyle, Julie, Hal, Martin, Jimmy, Squeeks, Nature Cat, Daisy, Squeeks, and MC Ferret gather to watch a fireworks show from a hill with a baby duckling, Doris the Raccoon, Marvin, Alice the Butterfly, Jingles the cat, Mama Fox and her son Sammy, Petunia Bunny, Sadie Dog, and Brooks the Baltimore oriole. Ronald, The Seeker, and Cruiser sit atop a building to view the fireworks, but the singing mouse is behind them. As more fireworks go off, Houston, Lulu Ladybug, Kyle, Julie, Hal, Martin, Jimmy, Squeeks, Nature Cat, Daisy, Squeeks, and MC Ferret gaze in awe at the colors. The short ends with more fireworks going off in the city skyline.

Characters[]

Nature Cat
Hal
Daisy
Squeeks
Screechy the screech owl
Joy the poodle
Phil The Squirrel
Houston
The Seeker
Petunia Bunny
Sea Star Sven
Marvin
Jingles
Cruiser
Ms. Robin
Doris the Raccoon
Ronald
Norman
Martin the pastel blue dog
Sammy
Jimmy Cat
Sadie Dog
Giant Nature Cat
MC Ferret
Alice the Butterfly
Steve Vole
Hummingbertha
Kyle the yellow dog
Julie
Various magical birds, dogs and cats
Singing mouse
Mama Fox
Duckling
Brooks the Baltimore oriole

Trivia[]

This is the first short in the Nature Cat series to show or feature a portal. The next instances will be in Nature Cat's City Adventure (2022), Nature Cat's Second City Adventure (2024), and the 2025 anniversary special Nature Cat: Nature Cat's Birthday Adventure.
This short takes place during the summer.
Doris the Raccoon, Marvin, Sadie Dog, a baby duckling, Alice the Butterfly, Jingles the cat, Mama Fox and her son Sammy, Petunia Bunny, and Brooks the Baltimore oriole make non speaking roles near the end where they are watching the fireworks with Houston, Lulu Ladybug, Kyle, Julie, Hal, Martin, Jimmy, Squeeks, Nature Cat, Daisy, Squeeks, and MC Ferret on a hill.
The only Nature Cat characters that do not appear in this special are: Racer the Rescue Raccoon, Herbert, Chris Batt and Martin Batt, Irving and Myrna, Bad Dog Bart Junior, Ethel, Periwinkle Pete, Sea Anemone Anne, Pinkus, Screechy the screech owl, Mary, Ruthie, Ruthie's babies, Jack the rabbit, Twig Stickman, Kathy, Pidgeon, Lola the Flamingo, Jeremiah the Woodchuck, Rat, Twig Stickman, Jeremiah the Woodchuck, Kathy, Pidgeon, Sir Galahad, Tanya the orange cat, Nature Cat's family members, Buster the rat, Pinkus, Chandler the Toad, Nevin, Sputnik, Barnacle Bill, The Hawk, Mary, Ruthie, Ruthie's babies, Leo the mammoth and his parents, Warren the bullfrog, Bad Dog Bart, Tammy, Nature Dog, Little Paulie, Mr. Chewinsky, Nigel, The Fish, the Toad from the episode Nature Cat and Mr. Hide, Leeza, Hal's Mom, the band members of Dog Gone, Shirley, Groundhog, Fern, Gritty Cat, Norman, the Bumblebee Queen, Kevin, Hugo, Bernard, Shell Brooks, Barbara "Babs Ruth", Harold, Zazu, Ricardo the Muskrat, Gracie, Leslie, Johnny Spins, Vincent, Michael Bluejay, Flo the Heron, and Reggie the Toad.
Screechy the screech owl, Joy the poodle, Sea Star Sven, Norman, Phil The Squirrel, Steve Vole, Hummingbertha, and Ms. Robin make a cameo in this short, but they do not have any speaking roles.
When Squeeks said that they should not trust Ronald, The Seeker, and Cruiser, a series of episode flashbacks from the Nature Cat TV show are shown, but they only feature Ronald competing against Nature Cat, Daisy, Squeeks, or Hal. Cruiser and The Seeker are not featured in the flashbacks.
This is the first time where a giant Nature Cat is shown. It will happen again in Nature Cat's Second City Adventure.
This short later aired on TV on the same day that it came out as a video.
This short was inspired by (and similar to) Pikachu's Strange Wonder Adventure.