“Build It Beaver” is the eighth episode of the first season of Wild Kratts, originally airing on PBS Kids on January 13, 2011.[2] The episode was written and directed by Chris Kratt.
Plot
The episode begins with a live action segment. The Kratt brothers are building a lodge out of wood. They then take a bike ride, and they fall off their bikes after bumping into a tree felled by a beaver. They then see the beaver’s dam. They ask their “What if?” question and the show transitions into the cartoon segment.
The Kratt brothers are riding a canoe, when they reach a waterfall. Chris tells Martin to paddle faster, and they fall until Chris releases the boat’s new built-in-parachute. However, the parachute starts failing, and they fall onto a beaver lodge. They see a beaver swimming, and Martin names it Sticker. They follow Sticker, dive down, and enter the lodge, where they discover a family of beavers, including Sticker, which is a father, a mother, and two cubs. Aviva calls and asks where they are, with Martin simultaneously naming the mother Timber, and the cubs Buddy and Twig. Aviva zaps out, and they exit the lodge. Chris and Martin meet the Wild Kratts kid Aidan. He explains how the beavers modified the environment of the pond, and they later see the various animals that inhabit it. Afterwards, Chris walks across the dam when he notices his paddle. He pulls the paddle out of the sticks, but the dam bursts, and all the water leaks out. He apologizes to the beavers, and calls the Tortuga crew. Aviva and Koki jump down from the Tortuga and they take as many animals as they can to the Tortuga, which Jimmy lands nearby. After taking the animals to the Tortuga, the Kratt brothers follow one of the beavers, and witness it cutting down a tree with its teeth. Once the tree is cut down, the follow the beaver as it takes the tree back to the dam.
Back at the Tortuga, Koki tries to stop the animals from messing around with the controls, and then explaining to Aviva how beaver teeth are able to cut down trees.
The Kratt brothers toss a bunch of wood onto the large hole in the dam, but leaks quickly ensue, and all the loose wood floats away. They soon realize that, to prevent leaks, beavers fill holes with mud. Chris then helps the beavers pack in the mud, while Martin finds more wood.
Aviva works on the teeth for the Beaver Power Suit, but it goes out of Jimmy’s control, and the teeth “chase” him around the Tortuga. Luckily for Jimmy, Aviva is able to stop them from making more “sudden movements”.
While collecting wood, Martin watches one of the beavers eat the cambium layer of a tree.
Chris packs in the final handfuls of mud and tosses in the final twigs. The pond fills up, and he is able to see how the beavers escape a wolf with their pond. Chris reassures the team that they have enough wood. After he does, a tree Martin leans on crashes, and a bunch of other chewed upon trees fall like dominoes, and one falls on the loose part of the dam, causing the water to drain again. Koki then calls, and she warns everyone that a flood of water is coming downriver. Aviva comes and gives the brothers their Suits and beaver teeth. But then, an otter tries to enter the dam. Martin first activates Bass Power to save the cubs. He lures the otter outside and it only stops when Chris activates Beaver Power, and he scares the otter away. Afterwards, the Kratt brothers, both with Beaver Powers, take large portions of a tree and fill the hole, while Aidan and Aviva pelt mud at the cavities, and the water rises. The flash flood then comes, and the dam easily prevents any water from leaking out. Chris tells Koki that the dam is repaired, and she cheers.
The Kratt brothers apologize for breaking the dam again and again and again. In spite of all their hard work, Chris notices that his paddle ended up in the dam again. Martin simply makes a new paddle with Beaver Powers, and everyone laughs.
The show transitions into the concluding live action segment. The Kratt brothers and some beavers build a beaver lodge. Once the lodge is done, the Kratt brothers show the various things people can build for animals. They return to the lodge, and they lie inside with the beavers. Afterwards, they conclude the episode by saying “Keep on creature adventuring, we’ll see you on the creature trail!”.
Characters
Animals
- North American beaver (adults and kits)
- Star-nosed Mole (adult)
- American Bullfrog (called Bullfrog)
- Wood Duck
- Smallmouth Bass
- North American River Otter (called Otter)
- Moose
- Largemouth Bass
- Sunfish
- Raccoon
- Gray Wolf (called Wolf)
Production Notes
- Beavers build their dams out of wood, which acts as the dam’s framework, and mud, which acts as the dam’s nuts and screws.
- Beaver teeth are made up of two layers. The outermost layer is hard, while the innermost layer is soft. As the beaver chews on trees, the innermost layer wears out quicker than the outermost one. This makes the teeth sharper and sharper.
- The ecological topic shown in the cartoon segment is floodwater.