War of the Worms Arthur

# Every day you walk down the street Everybody that you meet

# Has an original point of view

-# And I say, hey!

-Hey!

# What a wonderful kind of day We can learn to work and play

# And get along with each other

# You gotta listen to your heart Listen to the beat

# Listen to the rhythm of the street Open your eyes! Open your ears!

# Get together, make things better By working together

# It's a simple message And it comes from the heart

# Believe in yourself For that's the place to start

-# And I say, hey!

-Hey!

-What a wonderful kind of day

# We can learn to work and play And get along with each other

# What a wonderful kind of day, hey! What a wonderful kind of day, HEY! #

Hey, DW!

Hey!

Whoa...!

-'What happens next, Fern?

-Yeah! Does she make it out alive?

'Exhausted from her journey,

'the intrepid explorer searches desperately for water.

'What's that? She spots a cool mountain stream, but suddenly...'

-Not so fast!

-Oh!

BIRDS SQUAWK

ROARS

I'm going to eat you for lunch!

Waa-aargh!

Aa-aargh!

'Wait a minute! Firstly, there's no such thing as a giant gorilla.

'Second, gorillas don't eat people.'

It's true. I prefer leaves and fruit.

'And finally, gorillas don't talk!

'Aw! You wrecked Fern's story!

-'You always do that!

-Why, Brain? Why?

'Brain!'

And then Brain said it wasn't a good story

cos a goat with wings was unbelievable.

Well, he IS right. Goats don't have wings.

Who cares if it's believable?

Stories are supposed to be fun.

Can you imagine what Brain's stories would be like?

'Once upon a time, there were three little pigs.

'They did not build houses, because pigs lack opposable thumbs,

'which is necessary to hold tools. They went in the woods

'and fed on grass and roots.

'They were not disturbed by wolves. The end.'

Just imagining it makes me bored.

If Brain wants a realistic story, that's what I'll give him.

Hmm! Now, what should it be about?

BELL RINGS

-Class, who can guess what's in this box?

-A mummified platypus?

-Designer shoes?

-Worms?

Very good. Extra credit for you, Binky.

All right!

(How did you know it was worms?

(I always guess worms. I had to be right sometime.)

This is a vermiculture box, meaning it has worms in it for composting.

You put your kitchen scraps in, the worms eat it and change it to soil.

When the worms eat the scraps, do they get bigger and bigger?

Well, yes, Fern, they do get a little bigger.

And I guess they could eventually turn into giant worms, right?

And take over Elwood City?

That's nonsense.

As the scientist Carl Sagan once said,

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."

-And I'm afraid there's no evidence for giant worms.

-Yet!

(Binky, would you like to help me with the greatest hoax of all time?)

-Tell me again why we've just bought 800 worms.

-You heard Mr Ratburn.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

Well, this is part of our extraordinary evidence.

This will be one story that Brain believes hook, line and sinker!

BOTH LAUGH

Wait!

-What am I laughing at?

-Just follow me.

"Buster's tomatoes" This is the spot.

Hi! Buster, did you bring any fresh tomatoes from your garden today?

This salad could use them.

No. I was going to, but there were too many worms around my plants.

Too many worms?

Yeah. I'm used to seeing a few, but this morning there were hundreds.

-It creeped me out.

-Odd. Sometimes there are more worms when it rains,

-but it didn't rain last night.

-You don't suppose...?

-What?

-That worms are taking over Elwood City? Please!

-They were everywhere!

You find worms in the dirt. That's where they live, end of story.

OWL HOOTS

Fern, I gotta hand it to you.

When you plan to trick someone, you go all the way.

Ssh! Keep your voice down, and start digging.

Hey, guys! Look at this! These holes are really weird.

-Could they possibly be from...?

-ALL: Giant worms!

Impossible! Although I agree they are weird.

There! All done.

-What do you think of the giant worm?

-Waagh!

Wow! It's even better than I thought.

-How's the slime?

-Pretty good, but we could use a little more mint jelly.

I was surprised to receive your phone call this morning.

Well, I need an author's photo as part of my latest story,

so I thought, "Brain is scientific. He'll take the best picture."

I am a pretty good photographer.

Nice! Hey, I'll take one of you now.

Right...there.

OK, here we go.

I think it's perfect.

But...what's that in the background?!

No!

It just couldn't be!

Could that thing have been a giant worm?!

What's all this green slime?

There must be a logical explanation.

We're right by the library. Maybe we can find some answers in there.

Of course! The library!

The computer says all the worm books are located right here...

Oh, no! They can't ALL be gone!

Huh? What's this?

"From the National Secret Anti-Worm Squad.

"Remove all worm books from the local library

"to keep people from discovering the truth

"about the giant worm invasion of Elwood City." Aagh!

Waargh!

Gotcha!

There are no giant worms. There are no giant worms. There are no...

giant worms.

What?!

Mom? Dad?

'This invasion started in an elementary school in Elwood City.

'But now they're everywhere! Oh!

'They're even in the studio! No!

'Wa-aargh!'

What's going on?

Aa-aa-aargh!

Oh-h!

It's true! The worms are coming! The worms are coming!

Binky, my friend, that was sheer genius!

You should have seen the look on his face!

Oh, hang on. I have another call.

Hello?

..You're doing what?!

-Yeah!

-Get the worms!

Let's do it! Let's get the worms!

Thank you all for coming so quickly.

As you all know, we have to stop these giant worms, now.

ALL: Yeah!

-What have I done?

-Agh! Giant worms! We're doomed!

Binky! There ARE no giant worms, remember?

You helped me with the hoax.

So? Just because it's a hoax doesn't mean it isn't true. We're doomed!

ALL CHANT IN PROTEST

This all started with those worms in the school. Let's get them first.

ALL: Yeah!

They've got him in their wormy grip! We'll save you, Mr Ratburn!

What's the meaning of this...?

Alan, whatever gave you the idea there were giant worms?

There was extraordinary evidence - the worms in the garden,

all those worm holes, the worm in the photo.

And the National Secret Anti-Worm Squad.

I mean, it was like...some fantastic story that Fern would make up!

Actually, er...it was.

I made everything up to show Brain that I could tell a good story,

and it, er, got a little out of control.

And I helped!

I see. Well, seeing as how that's all straightened out,

-would anyone like to see how REAL worms help the environment?

-I would.

Wonderful! Well, then, let's get started.

Although not as exciting as Fern's story, the truth is

the worms' amazing digestion makes soil out of scraps.

-Wow! They're eating everything.

-Let me put something in.

-That's very interesting.

-Yep. Banana peel, apple cores, used teabags.

They can eat almost anything that comes from a plant.

It's just one way we can all help protect the planet.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd