♪ Tell me a story
♪ Read me a poem ♪
♪ Wrap it in melody ♪
♪ Sing me the song ♪
♪ Then let me hold it ♪
♪ Deep in my heart ♪
♪ Where it can speak to me ♪
♪ All the day long ♪
♪ The adventure of virtue ♪
♪ The adventure of truth ♪
♪ The thrill of knowing ♪
♪ That it's up to you ♪
♪ Building a new day shining in the sun ♪
♪ This is my story ♪
♪ The adventure has ♪
♪ Begun. ♪
Girl: build a real electric motor from scratch over the weekend?
Hah! No way.
Sure, I can.
I saw a description in a magazine last night.
It looked really cool.
But, annie, your plant experiment
Seemed just perfect for the science contest
And this electric motor
Does sound pretty ambitious.
I think I can do it
And, if I can
I'll have a better chance
At winning the contest.
Okay, I'll look forward to seeing your motor.
Remember, the judging is on monday.
( Kids clamoring )
No problemo.
Uh-oh, annie.
You're in big trouble now.
Uh... What's that about?
Oh, she's just jealous
Because I'm building an electric motor
From scratch for my science project.
From scratch?
By monday?
Yeah, right.
It can't be that hard.
A couple of electromagnets and a battery.
I saw it all in a magazine.
Just wait, zach.
You'll see, and so will julie.
If you say so.
( Annie yelps in frustration )
Get on there!
Now... Get... Come on.
( Frustrated groan )
Oh, let's see...
Spring "a" goes onto assembly "b."
( Frustrated groan )
Whoa! Cease fire!
I'm a friend.
Oh, I give up!
( Groans )
Uh... Not going too well?
No, it's going great.
I worked all day saturday
Got it nearly built
But the last stupid pieces won't fit together.
Well, it's not like anyone will be surprised
You couldn't do it.
( Sighs )
I just don't understand.
It looked so simple.
There must be a mistake in here.
( Sighs )
Well, I suppose there could be.
Look, how about we take a quick break?
We could ride our bikes to plato's peak.
As far as I'm concerned, we can go
For the rest of the weekend.
I quit.
( Sputtering )
Oh, sock, what's going on?
I dropped my lucky rock into the rainbow, and...
( Sputtering )
I'm trying to find it.
Oh, man, that rock
Was your favorite thing in the whole world.
( Frustrated groan )
Yeah, but with all the dead branches and stuff down there
I can't find it.
( Blubbering )
Hey, watch it!
Plus, you know how cats just love the water.
Well, maybe if you pull out the branches and the leaves
While you're looking
It might be easier to find your rock.
( Blubbering )
Oh, get real!
That's way too much hassle.
But you've got to find your lucky rock.
( Sighs )
Bobcats aren't too good underwater.
Besides, nothing's worth that much work.
Tell me about it.
Sometimes what looks easy
Turns out to be impossible.
Plato: well...
The world would sure be a lot different
If everyone just gave up
When the work got too hard.
But sometimes the work really is too hard.
Really?
Hmm...
I think so.
Especially when your science project instructions are wrong
And nobody thinks you can do it anyways.
Hmm. You know, that reminds me
Of a couple of fellows who were in a similar pickle.
If this has anything to do with electric motors
I'm not interested.
It has to do with motors
Instructions and airplanes.
Sock, can you get my book, please?
Airplanes? Hey, I'll fly it right in, plato!
( Growling )
Ow! Ooh! Ouch!
( Yelling )
Oh!
Wasn't where I thought it would be.
Hey, cool pictures.
Whoa!
Airmail delivery for you, plato.
Zach: so, did you have a nice trip, sock?
Very funny, zach.
Ah, here's the story.
It's about two young men who had a great idea...
A dream that began when they were still young boys.
When wilbur and orville wright were young
They loved to play with toys that flew.
By the time they were teenagers
Their love of toys led them to a business.
They started a bicycle repair shop in dayton, ohio.
Then, while caring for orville, who was sick with typhoid fever
Wilbur read something
That would change their lives and the world forever.
It had to do
With the great german glider pilot otto lillienthal
Who dreamed the impossible dream--
That man could fly.
Sadly, wilbur read that mr. Lillienthal had died
But now, it was almost
As if the wright brothers
Had inherited his dream.
Orville! Orville!
It's here!
The material on gliding
From the smithsonian.
This is absolutely fascinating.
I figure there are three factors in controlled flying:
Wings, power source and controls.
Hmm... I see what you mean.
What if we made a glider that...?
( Squawking )
Stupid crosswind.
( Squawking )
Look out, lady!
( Squawking )
( Grunting )
Ow! Hey... What are they doing?
Howdy.
Good day, mr. Daniels.
Well, kitty hawk is certainly living up
To its reputation for constant winds.
I hope you boys enjoyed the meal
The missus made for you.
Oh, we did.
Only thing more constant than the wind at kitty hawk
Is the kindness of its citizens.
Well, we sure can't figure out why nice boys like you
Are chasing such a fool crazy notion as flying.
Why not?
People flying is like...
Like birds walking.
Absurd.
If birds were supposed to walk
We'd have feet.
We do have feet, max.
Shh! I want to see this.
If you ask me
If people were supposed to fly
We'd have wings.
Maybe these are the wings we were meant to have.
( Laughing )
That must have been your hundredth crash.
Closer to
But we've learned something with each flight.
And with what we've learned
We'll be back next year
With a bigger and better glider.
Uh-oh! Look who's back.
Don't they get it?
Flying is what we do.
Ooh! I can't watch.
Ooh! That must have hurt.
( Laughing )
They call that flying.
Tee-haw! Those fools!
People will never fly
Least not as graceful as...
( Sputtering )
Me.
You made feet!
Yeah...
But our controls don't work.
The only thing I can think of
Is that the information
We got from the smithsonian was wrong.
So much work
And with so little progress.
This is crazy, orville.
Maybe we ought to pack it in.
At this point, it seemed that the whole project was dead
But somehow, the dream of flying would not die.
Gee, they kept going even when their information
Wasn't any good?
Sometimes they did get discouraged
But they didn't let that stop them.
( Wind blowing )
( Yelling )
I don't know about this wind tunnel idea!
I just set the speed
A little too high, wilbur!
( Grunting )
There.
We're missing something--
But what?
I wish I knew.
We've worked hard enough.
We ought to have better results.
Do that again.
Hmm? Do what?
What do you think it would do to "lift" and "control"
If we could bend our wing like this?
I don't know, but I know how to find out. Come on!
We may have a whole new glider at kitty hawk next year.
And if we can control it
Then we can add a motor.
Go, orville, go!
( Sputtering )
Wah!
Watch out, you beginner!
Hoo-hoo-hoo!
That's the best yet-- feet!
Wilbur, we're ready to get a motor.
A motor?! Why, it's ridiculous; it's absurd.
It's, it's...
Eddie, what's a motor?
( Panting )
Orville! Orville!
Is that the letter about the motor?
It's a single-stroke motor
And it can't be as powerful as they claim.
Our last hope, and it won't work.
Then we'll build our own motor.
How much work is too much, orville?
I don't know. I'll tell you when I find out.
Come on, we've got to get ready for kitty hawk.
( Sighing )
I've heard that before.
They worked long and hard, and by september,
They returned to kitty hawk
With a gas engine that was powerful
Yet light enough for their airplane.
They say this is the worst storm in years.
Must be.
It's blown our building clear off the foundation!
We've got some more work to do before we'll be flying.
Weather's not cooperating much, anyway.
The weather didn't cooperate for days, then weeks--
And that wasn't the worst of the news.
Do you believe it?!
Simon newcomb, a world-famous scientist
Has written an article
Showing with "unassailable logic"
That human flight is impossible.
Well, results beat logic every time.
( Sighing )
...if we ever get the chance to have results.
( Wilbur yawning )
Wilbur! Listen.
( Yawning )
What? I don't hear anything.
( Laughing )
Right! After two long months
The wind's finally stopped howling!
Max, the wind stopped.
Hmm? Oh, yeah.
After weeks of too much wind
The weather played a cruel trick.
Now there wasn't enough.
( Sighing )
But three days later...
You won the coin toss fair and square, wilbur.
December , , will go down in history.
Do you think they'll make it, max?
I don't know, eddie
But I'm not taking any chances.
What happened, wilbur?
Aw, shucks!
I overcorrected.
( Sighing )
It doesn't matter anyway.
The propeller shaft is cracked.
( Laughing ): too bad.
Yeah, that's tough...
( Yelling )
Luck.
( Groaning )
Look, I'll go back to dayton
And make a solid shaft to replace this hollow one.
Soon as I get back, you can give her a try.
Well... I don't know.
We've come too far to give up now, wilbur.
Three days later, december ,
Orville took his place in the cockpit.
What do you think, max?
What do I think, eddie?
It'll never fly, wilbur!
Fly her to kitty hawk, orville!
Come on, it's only five miles!
Yee-hoo!
Go, orville, go!
Hoo-hoo! Yes!
Wilbur, we flew!
How far did we get?
Feet! Ha-ha!
Whoo-hoo! Four years of hard work!
But we did it! We flew under power!
Whoo-hoo!
They flew! They flew!
You know, eddie, I always knew they could do it.
Me, too, max.
You did not. I did.
Did not, neither. Did so.
Did not, neither!
No one thought we could do it, wilbur.
Imagine if we'd have quit.
Yeah, just imagine.
Awesome!
Yeah, they could've quit lots of times, but they didn't.
Yeah! Me, neither.
"You, neither"-- what?
I'm not quitting until I get my lucky rock back.
( Giggling )
Good luck, sock.
I think I've got some unfinished work to do myself.
Thanks, plato. That was a great story.
Yeah, come on, let's go, annie.
I know you'll figure it out.
Mom: annie, your favorite tv show is coming on.
Tv? Not now, mom.
I want to finish working on my motor.
( Grunting )
Getting there...
Busy weekend?
It was a lot of work-- and a lot of fun, too.
But did you...?
You'll see.
Huh?
Okay, class, let's see how annie did.
Guess where I spent my weekend?
( Class laughing )
The battery...
Oh, no, I must've forgotten the battery!
Yeah, right.
Maybe your dog ate it.
I worked so hard...
It's okay, annie.
You can bring the battery tomorrow.
But I wanted to present the project today--
In time for the judging.
I saw this in your bike basket.
I figured you might need it.
Thanks, zach.
Hey, I had to find some way
To catch the results of your hard work.
That's just about right.
Here we go.
( Disappointed groaning )
Wait a minute.
Easy...
Let me try it again.
Wow! Way to go, annie!
Way to go, annie!
After hearing plato's story, I knew you could do it.
I thought I could, too.
But I didn't realize how much work it would be.
But, you know, it's kind of strange.
It means even more to me now because it was so hard to do.
All it took was a good idea and a lot of work.