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Background Blues/Transcript
Introduction
A futuristic version of Arthur is working on what looks like a tablet computer, which creates a hologram of a tower in front of him. A robot dog jumps into his lap.
R4: Hi, Hal. How's it going, boy? A futuristic D.W. floats into the room.
3W: (giggles) Look out, R4! She knocks him over. The hologram disappears.
R4: 3W!!
A futuristic Mrs. Read is talking to a futuristic Bitzi Baxter on a video phone in the kitchen.
Mother: And I got the kids’ mittens on sale for only three million dollars!
R4: Mom, 3W deleted my hologram!
Mother: Why don't you do your homework instead of fighting with 3W?
R4 sits at a computer in his room. He presses the “homework” key.
Computer: Homework done. 3W comes in.
3W: R4, will you play virtual flingy with me? Please, please, please, pleease?
R4: All right, quit gleebing!
R4 and 3W stand in the living room wearing virtual goggles. They pretend to throw something.
R4: Hng.
3W: Stop throwing it so hard. You're hurting me!
R4: No, I'm not! It's all in your imagination. The mother comes in.
Mother: All right, you two. I want you to sit on the barkazoid and watch a datagram.
The kids sit down. The mother gets a data carrier from a shelf with a picture of the present-day Arthur and the label “53B”. She puts it into a machine.
R4: What is it?
Mother: It belonged to your great-grandfather. They used to call them videos. You can see what life was like in ancient times.
The machine creates a projection of the “Family Photo” title card with the title “Background Blues”.
Cut to the actual title card.
Title Card: Family Photo
Mr. Ratburn points to a family tree on the blackboard.
Mr. Ratburn: For next week, I’d like you to research your family history and present it to the class. I found out some very interesting things about the Ratburns. As we can see, the Ratburn line can be traced far back into history.
The kids have a fantasy of Mr. Ratburn standing on a snowy plain dressed like Napoleon.
Napoleon Ratburn: Travaillez plus! Travaillez plus! [Subtitle: Work Harder! Work Harder!] The kids in French uniforms are setting up a cannon.
Arthur: What?
Another fantasy shows Mr. Ratburn sitting on a throne wearing a toga and a laurel wreath while the kids are creating a marble statue of him.
Ratburn Cesar: Laborate plus diligente! [Subtitle: Work Harder!]
In ancient Egypt the kids are pulling a huge stone block. Mr. Ratburn is dressed like a pharaoh. He creates a speech bubble with Egyptian hieroglyphs. [Subtitle: Work Harder!]
The fantasies end.
Mr. Ratburn: And so I’ve learned that the Ratburns wouldn’t be where they are today without a lot of hard work. Let’s see what you find out.
#
The kids are painting in art class.
Muffy: I can't wait to get started. I bet that I'll find lots of kings, queens and princesses in the Crosswire family.
Francine: Yeah, I’m sure I'll find some really famous Frenskys. Maybe one was a really important explorer. She has a fantasy of an older version of herself riding in a canoe. What if my great-grandmother discovered the land route to the Pacific Ocean?
Muffy: Sorry, Francine, but I think Lewis and Clark did that.
Francine: Oh, well. Maybe she helped them. In her fantasy Lewis and Clark replace her in the canoe.
Clark: (pants) have to stop, Lewis. I can barely move my arms.
Lewis: You said it, Clark. I'm bushed. A (nonanthropomorphic) bear stands on the bank.
Clark: A bear! We're done for!
Lewis: You're right, Clark! This is the end! An older version of Francine in a dress and apron appears beside the bear.
Ma Frensky: Keep your shirts on, boys!
Lewis+Clark: It's Ma Frensky! Ma Frensky and the bear wrestle on the ground.
Ma Frensky: (Take that! Take that!)
Lewis+Clark: (Go, Ma Frensky! Get him! Come on!) Ma Frensky pins the bear to the ground. It stops struggling.
Ma Frensky: One, two, three, four, five… six, seven, eight, nine, ten! I win! She and the bear get up and shake hands. Then the bear leaves. Now I want you boys to follow this route till you hit the Pacific Ocean.
Lewis: Great idea!
Clark: Why didn't we think of that?
Ma Frensky: And stay out of trouble, you hear?!
The fantasy ends.
Muffy: bet my ancestor gave your ancestor a medal for being so brave. He was probably the president at the time.
Francine: Oh yeah? Well, I bet my relatives were the presidents before and after him.
Arthur: You guys, it's not a contest.
Buster: Yeah, I'm sure we're all related to some really interesting people