Unfinished/Transcript

(Arthur and his parents are driving in the car)

Arthur Read: Why?

David Read: Why what, Arthur?

Arthur: Why do I have to go to a boring grown-up party with you when it's sunny outside and D.W. gets to go to the lake with Emily?

David: Because sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do.

(The car arrives at the party)

Arthur: There's no kids! You said there would be kids!

Jane: Mrs. Fox told me there would be.

Arthur: Why?

David: She probably thought people would bring them.

Arthur: Why would she think that?

(Mrs. Fox waves to Jane from the front step of her house)

Jane: (sigh) These questions... Sometimes you just can't know the answer to everything.

Arthur: And sometimes you can't know the answer to anything.

(Title card)

UNFINISHED

Written by Dietrich Smith

Storyboarded by Elie Klimos

Arthur: Yeah!

Francine Frensky: (V.O.) Unfinished!

(Arthur grabs an umbrella off-screen. Fade back to the episode.)

(Arthur and David walk inside the house.)

David: Okay, Arthur, we're only gonna stay a little while. Just try to occupy yourself here in the meantime.

Arthur: How long's "a little while"?

(David shuts the door)

Arthur: Why can't grown-ups ever just answer a simple question? Why can't they just say, "Yes, we know the answer, and this is what it is,"?

(Arthur turns the knobs on a TV, but each channel is static.)

Arthur: Why, why, why, why, why, why, why can't someone give me (loudly) an answer?

(A book falls from above. Its title reads "93 Million Miles in a Balloon.")

Mr. Fox: Sorry! Just doing a little bit of packing here before Mrs. Fox and I move into the retirement home.

(Arthur picks up the book and reads the title)

Arthur: "93 Million Miles in a Balloon"?

Mr. Fox: Got that from granddaddy when I was your age. Why aren't you out at the party?

Arthur: Boring old people. Oh, sorry. Why aren't you?

Mr. Fox: Boring young people.

(Arthur returns the book to Mr. Fox)

Mr. Fox: Keep it! I have to get rid of most of this stuff anyways! Just be careful with the loose pages.

(Arthur turns to the middle of the book and sees an illustration of a huge blimp landing through the roof of a library)

Arthur: Why is there a balloon in the library?

Mr. Fox: (calmly) Don't remember.

(Arthur sits on a blue chair.)

Arthur: (reading) "Lord Caleb Trimingham, bored, restless, and is always aggravated by his house staff's lack of interest in his ever-legitimate questions, looked to the ceiling as if for an answer, and was rewarded with a balloon. A hot-air balloon, to be precise, descending from the rafters..." What kind of answer is that? And what questions was he asking?

(The illustrations in the book are now animated.)

Arthur: (reading) "Yet, before young lord Trimmingham could express proper irritation of the inappropriateness of a balloon in a library, he was greeted by..."

Dr. Gustavius Boles: Dr. Gustavius Boles. Don't bother to get up, just passing through.

(He deflates the balloon and it condenses into a suitcase.)

Caleb: But what are you doing here? And how did you get here? How'd you get that balloon in that suitcase?

Gustavius: Oh, a questioner. Sorry, I have no time at the moment.

Caleb: No! Wait!

(Caleb and Gustavius are riding in a green vehicle.)

Caleb: So, you didn't answer my question. Who are you? How did you-

Gustavius: Dr. Gustavius Boles, as I've already informed you. I'm a balloon explorer.

Caleb: What's that?

Gustavius: Ah, here we are. Thank you for the ride.

Caleb: What is this place? (to driver) What does he do here?

Driver: I don't know, sir, I'm just your driver.

(Caleb watches from outside as Gustavius opens his suitcase, re-inflating the balloon. While Gustavius walks away, Caleb runs into the building and hides in the balloon basket. Gustavius gets in without noticing Caleb. He releases a sandbag and the balloon flies out of the building. Gustavius looks at a waterfall through a telescope. Caleb gasps.)

Caleb: Dr. Boles! What are you-

Gustavius: Oh dear. It's the questioner.

(We cut to Arthur reading the book.)

David: Okay, Arthur, time to go.

Arthur: Already? Why do we have to go right now?

(Transition: Books fall down the screen. There is a shot of the outside of the Read residence at night. Arthur is reading in his bed.)

Arthur: (reading) "As Lord Trimmingham bravely tried to brace himself for the crushing waters ahead..."

(The book's illustrations are animated again. The balloon is heading into a waterfall.)

Caleb: We're doomed!

Gustavius: My, that's the first thing you've said that isn't a question!

(Gustavius hands Caleb an umbrella, as well as getting one of for himself)

Gustavius: Here, take this.

(The balloon goes through the waterfall. It gets spit out of a flower. The balloon flies past the Taj Mahal.)

Gustavius: Of course! The Falls of Glomach in Scotland leads to the garden of the Taj Mahal in east India!

Caleb: The what?

Gustavius: There are invisible connections between all things in existence. Your library ceiling, for example, is connected to the baboon cage in the Cairo Zoo. I presume that answers all possible questions? Here.

(Gustavius hands Caleb a space suit.)

Gustavius: You might want to wear that. It provides oxygen and protects the body against extremes of pressure and temperature.

(The balloon is now in space. It flies away from Earth.)

Gustavius: I had expected to make this final exploration without stowaways, so be careful; that's my only spare suit.

Caleb: Where are we going?

(Gustavius points to the right. He pulls a string that makes the balloon go faster.)

Gustavius: I've always wondered what the Sun was connected to.

(Arthur turns the page. The last part of the book has been ripped out.)

Arthur: Mom! Dad!

(His parents walk into the room.)

Arthur: The end is missing!

Jane: What are you doing up past your bedtime?

Arthur: Reading. That's good. Isn't it?

(David is on the phone)

David: Okay, well, thanks for looking, Mr. Fox. Arthur appreciates it. (he hangs up the phone and speaks to Arthur) He can't find any pages that might have fallen out, and he can't remember the ending, except that he thinks it had something to do with the Sun. Sorry, Arthur.

Arthur: But how am I gonna find out what happens?

(Arthur is on a computer at the library)

Arthur: Yes! One copy, fiction, P.O.U.

Paige Turner: Yes, apparently 93 Million Miles in a Balloon was checked out ten years ago and never returned.

Arthur: Never returned?

Paige: Whoever borrowed it moved and left no forwarding address. But don't worry. If he ever comes back here, I will personally revoke his library card.

Arthur: Oh, uh, thanks. I'd rather have the book. Can you order another copy?

Paige: Oh, no, dear. That book is long out of print. Maybe you can buy a used copy on the Internet.

(Cut back to Arthur's house. Jane is on a computer.)

Jane: (reading) "Rare copy, fair condition..."

Arthur: Order it! Please?

Jane: A thousand dollars. Oh, I'm sorry, honey, but we tried, and that's the only used copy available.

Arthur: What about posting something on a message board?

Jane: Good idea, let's try it. Hey, look, there's a movie called "93 Million Miles in a Balloon." We can rent it on 16mm! (pronounced "16 millimeter")

Arthur: What's... 16mm?

(Transition: Movie film reel. The movie is being projected onto a screen.)

David: It's been 25 years since I've used this old 16mm projector! Hope it makes it!

(Arthur, Buster, Muffy, Francine, and The Brain are on the couch watching the movie. The 16mm projector is making shuttering noises.)

Arthur: It's such a cool book! Wait 'til you guys see! He rides this hot-air balloon into a waterfall, and out into space, and...

Francine: What? I can't hear you!

Arthur: Never mind! You'll see!

(In the musical)

Female singers: (singing) Flying high, flying low / Broadway rhythm, go go go / 93 million tapping feet / Make a sound that can't be beat!

Sally: Oh, Caleb! I've always wanted to star in a Gustavius Boles show!

Caleb: I know, Sally. And 93 Million Miles in a Balloon is gonna be his biggest hit yet!

(In the living room)

Buster: I thought they were gonna fly it to the Sun!

Arthur: This isn't in the book!

(In the musical)

Gustavius Boles: Sing it, Sally! This show is gonna make you a star, or my name ain't Gustavius Boles, the biggest producer on Broadway!

Sally: (singing) It always seemed that old Broadway / Was 93 million miles away / But with the help of this balloon / I'll get to Broadway soon!

(Buster opens up the curtains.)

Arthur: (reading a book labeled "Home Video") "93 Million Miles in a Balloon: The novel's exploration plot was dropped by Broadway producer Tunesmith Bugsby Brown and turned into a backstage musical to showcase his songwriting skills." (groans)

Muffy: Well, I'd rather see a good musical any day than some silly story about balloons in outer space.

Francine: Yeah. I don't think it's right to make movies about flying into the Sun. What if some poor kid tried to imitate it and got hurt?

Arthur: But what about the ending?

The Brain: There couldn't be a logical ending to that book. It is physically impossible to fly into the Sun.

Arthur: But there is still an ending! Just because you didn't read it doesn't mean-

Buster: Yeah! If a tree falls in the forest, does anybody hear it?

(Francine and Muffy speak at the same time)

Muffy: Of course!

Francine: Yeah!

The Brain: Buster means, "If a tree falls in the forest, and there's no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?"

Francine: What? There's not even insects there to hear it? What kind of forest has no mosquitoes?

Arthur: I just wanna know the ending.

Jane: (sadly) Um, Arthur? I found the pages. I just washed your jacket, and... looks like they were in your pocket.

Arthur: No! No! (loudly) No!

(Arthur imagines himself in the place of Caleb where the story left off)

Arthur: I'm sorry, Dr. Boles. I didn't even think to look in my jacket! And now-

Gustavius: Foolishness is no excuse. Well, we'll just have to keep going.

Arthur: Wait! How can you keep going when we don't know what the ending is?

Gustavius: If a balloon explorer only proceeded knowing in advance what he was to discover, no discoveries would be made at all.

Arthur: But there's nothing to discover. There's no ending!

Gustavius: Well, find another one.

Arthur: There's only one ending to a story, Dr. Boles.

(Back in the living room. Arthur is on the couch and David walks in.)

David: Good news, Arthur. Somebody responded to your post on the message board. A woman who lives over in Shelbytown found a copy when she was cleaning out her garage.

Arthur: I can't believe it! I'm actually going to find out the answer!

Jane: Sure was nice of her to drop off that book for you. That clan of eight kids she's got must really keep her busy! Well, aren't you going to read it?

(Arthur runs up to his room and opens the book. The pages are covered in crayon scribbles, and the last few are completely obscuring the page.)

Arthur: (loudly) Noooooo!

(At night, David and Arthur are sitting on Arthur's bed.)

David: This is kind of what historians go through: piecing together the past from clues. They often reach dead ends, too.

Arthur: But this isn't history. This is a story. With an ending. We know there's an ending.

David: Well, we know there were all sorts of endings in history, too. We just don't know what all of them were - yet. It's kind of exciting!

Arthur: (sadly) I'm never gonna find the ending, am I?

David: (comforting) You don't know that. It's hard to predict the future. Of course, there's nothing stopping you from imagining what you want it to be!

Arthur: You know, Dad, maybe you're right. Maybe I can write myself an ending. Kind of, a sequel!

David: There you go! I think you found yourself an answer.

Arthur: Goodnight.

David: Lights off.

(Arthur laughs in his sleep. We fade into his dream, where he is sitting in the balloon with Dr. Gustavius Boles. He is still laughing.)

Gustavius: What's so amusing?

Arthur: The ending! I finally found it! And it was completely colored by babies! But you know, you're right, Dr. Boles. Let's keep going. The future's out there - the unknown. Let's explore it. Sometimes, people just can't tell you the answer to something, and you have to find it out for yourself.

(The balloon flies into the sun.)

Arthur: All right! Yeah!