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The Ham-Ham Clubhouse (とっとこ作るよ!地下ハウス), also known as Building the Clubhouse, is the 2nd episode of the series and the 2nd episode of Season One.
Boss introduces Hamtaro and Oxnard to his friends. When it's raining, a cat appears and attacks Penelope, but Hamtaro defeats the cat. Boss shows everybody his house, only to find a sleeping hamster named Snoozer. The hamsters decide to convert Boss' house to the Ham-Ham Clubhouse. Meanwhile, Laura goes to a new school. Her new teacher is Mr. Yoshi and her new classmates are Kana, Travis, Kylie and June.
On Laura’s first day of school, Hamtaro can't help Laura choose the perfect outfit, but he decides to help by keeping an eye on her at school. He soon gets sidetracked though when he runs into his new friends Oxnard and Boss, who introduce him to more hamster pals, Pashmina, Penelope, Howdy and Dexter.
Suddenly a huge rainstorm sends them under a tree to stay dry. There they encounter a ferocious cat who battles them for territory. Hamtaro saves the day by diverting the cat after a close call with the youngest hamster, Penelope. After that, Boss takes them to his hideout, only to find a hamster sleeping there in a yellow and blue striped sock. They name him Snoozer. Howdy gets everyone to clean up Boss’s place. Hamtaro has a great idea: the hideout can become the Ham-Ham Clubhouse!
That night Laura tells Hamtaro about her day, and he learns that Laura’s new friends have pet hamsters of their own. He’ll see them all soon at the new Ham-Ham Clubhouse!
The following notable differences are present in the English-dubbed version of the episode compared to the Japanese original:
Many lines are altered to sound better in English, and/or have aspects of humor added. While the translation retains the meaning of the Japanese script, the English dub features an oddly different, more comedic tone (moreso than other dubbed episodes) compared to the original. Additionally, a few scenes that were presented as jokes in the Japanese version are presented somewhat neutrally in the English dub.
Several scenes of animation were cut; including two birds in the opening scene, and a brief clip of Hamtaro shaking the rain off of his fur.
In the English dub, Hamtaro proclaims that he wants to have "galoshes"; meaning to say "glasses", in reference to Dexter. Hamtaro does not generally mispronounce words in the Japanese original; however, this would become a recurring character trait for him in the dub.
A brief scene towards the end of the episode, showing Laura having dinner with her parents, was cut entirely.
