Original subtitles

[upbeat music playing]

[motor whirring]

[grunting]

The truck needs gas again?

This is why cowboys ride horses.

Uh, horses need fuel, too. Also, cowboys aren't a thing anymore.

What do you mean?

We're in the American West. That means cowboys.

We don't even get to meet cowboys?

America keeps letting me down.

But America will save your mom,

and my plan for a more efficient rest stop will help.

Step one, Chang gets gas without stealing.

Step 1A, Gizmo and I get provisions.

-Step 1B-- -Elle refills our water.

What? I know your plans by now.

Oh, the bright light's setting, Giz.

Wow! [chuckles]

[Gizmo squealing]

[chuckles]

Come on.

Not really the hugging type.

I wasn't either.

But being friends with these two

-makes you do strange things. -[squealing]

And now we're done.

Let's get going.

[Gizmo grunts]

[Sam] Maybe this will be the general store that finally sells bao.

[theme music playing]

[Margot] Elle.

Maman! I-- Is that you?

[grunts]

I have been waiting here for days

and perhaps traumatized a few thirsty locals in hopes that I'd see you.

What's wrong?

It may be from overextending my magic,

but I seem to be turning into water sooner than we thought.

I only have a couple of days left.

I want to hold you one last time.

Nope, uh...

Nobody's arms or eyes or hearts are getting watery.

Um, we're gonna grab some supplies

and then it's off to Kung Kung to get you that wish.

Please hurry.

The sooner I'm human, the sooner we're a family again.

I should go. Time and... stuff.

But you are excited that we'll be together soon, yes?

When I agreed to help you,

it was just to stop you from disappearing forever.

Um, when we save you...

Look, I'm scared, too,

but things can't stay the same forever.

That includes us.

This is our chance to be together after so many years.

Maybe,

but I also can't just leave my friends.

They've stood by me and you...

I did not.

I know, but this is a chance for a fresh start as mother and daughter.

Don't you want that?

You're turning into a puddle, so...

Let's just focus on stopping that, okay?

-[emotional music plays] -[panting]

That's right, you'd be giving free gas to a living legend.

This is the Kid in the Hat.

San Francisco would be San Full-of-monsters if not for him.

-He is a hero. -Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

About how many monsters would you say you've faced?

Sorry to interrupt this brag session,

but we need to get moving.

Where is the truck?

Hey, they're stealing our car.

-Hey! Hey! -[Elle grunting]

[Chang] I see you doing it. That's not cool.

[woman] We're not stealing.

We're incentivizing.

Y'all help us with a problem, y'all get your truck back.

You have my word, as Mayor of Innocence, Nevada.

Yeah, well, I'm the Mayor of no-way- just-give-our-truck-back.

Lady, I only said that stuff to get a discount, okay? This kid is no one.

[Sam] Guys, it's okay.

This kid can solve anything at the drop of a hat.

[woman exclaims]

-No, Sam, we've got a mom to save. -[Mayor] Thank you.

Our situation will be no trouble for a hero

who saved San Francisco.

I'd explain more, but it's nightfall.

Got to go.

Wait. What?

-[people shouting] -[doors closing]

What's going on? We need more information.

[woman] A ghostly stranger terrorizes us

with fire and nightmares every night from dusk till dawn.

Please save us. Try not to die. Good luck.

[wind blowing]

[eerie western music playing]

Why, lookie here, it's a cowboy.

To all you criminals that call this mockery of a town, their home,

return to where you belong...

or burn.

Okay, it's an angry ghost cowboy, but still...

[all gasp]

A coin? Is throwing money supposed to be scary.

I'm taking that coin.

-[explosion] -[all grunting]

[ominous music playing]

Never mind. Run. Run!

[explosion]

Bright light! Bright light!

Why can my finger go through the window?

When will this train get us to Sam?

Well, it'll take us to where Sam's going, Kung Kung's lair. [chuckles]

Now... [chuckles] Give me your jacket. I need a cozy pillow.

-[Grandpa grunts] -No napping until we get Sam, Elle and Gizmo back.

We need to be ready.

Tell us everything you know about this Kung Kung monster.

Not a monster, a God.

[chuckles] Although, I guess, it's a little murky in this case.

[hesitating] A Gonstor?

-A Monst-od? -[grunts]

Ah! Fine, fine.

If you won't let me nap until I tell you...

It was my first treasure hunting expedition here in America.

With me were my seven best friends,

my brothers in arms,

there was Liu the bomb guy,

Chou, the snacker, and the rest.

[Fong] Are any of these guys important?

[Grandpa] Only how they died.

And these were your friends, right?

[hesitates] Anyway, we scoured San Francisco for any tales of treasure.

Ah, that's when I met Jingwei.

The attraction was instant.

[scoffs] For what Air Spirit could resist me,

[chuckles] the freest spirit of all of them. [chuckles]

-[Grandpa imitates kisses] -[Fong] Ugh! Dad.

-[Grandpa] All right, fine. I'll skip the good stuff. -[birds cawing]

[Grandpa] Jingwei was something else. [chuckles]

Uh, but she was hung up on her ex.

He was handsome, brave, and part of a band of warriors

who came to America on a secret mission

to end China's centuries of cataclysmic floods

by trapping and burying Kung Kung deep in the American desert,

rendering the malevolent Water God powerless.

[Grandpa] Jingwei helped him by lending her magic whistle,

uh, to get him on board the train between worlds.

But then, Jingwei said something I really cared about.

And since Kung Kung can grant wishes to anyone who frees him...

A wish?

I should go free him and wish for treasure.

What? No! Do not do that.

Haven't you been listening to me?

[Grandpa] I might not have paid close attention to everything she said,

uh, but I heard enough.

That night, my friends and I boarded this very train.

I was just like Sam, Elle and Gizmo. [chuckles]

Young and oblivious to the death lying ahead.

-[explosion] -[Elle grunts]

[shouts] Bright light! Bright light!

Burning light.

See what happens when you brag, Chang!

[Chang] See what happens when you whine about not meeting cowboys?

[all grunting]

-We gotta kill the-- -[both grunting]

No! We don't kill anyone.

He's already dead!

The principle remains!

[Nightly Stranger] Run.

But you can't escape me, newcomers.

-Just ask-- -What are we supposed to do now?

Grandpa did teach me a trick to trap ghosts inside an enchanted gourd.

But I would need time to enchant it... And a gourd.

Where do you get a gourd in America?

[Gizmo squealing]

Good eye, Gizmo. Kid in the Hat plan time.

Chang breaks in, I enchant the gourd and Elle--

Don't say distract him.

Ugh.

Hey, Masked Ghost Man, uh, over here.

If you're passing through, I have no quarrel with you. Ride along.

Love to, but you hit the road first.

You may have scary fire coins,

but I got a magical ghost-slaying umbrella.

What you got there is so beat up,

it must be either magic... or trash.

Wanna take that chance, Buckaroo?

[intense western music playing]

[intense western music crescendos]

Stop, stop! I give up.

I've been dead for nigh on 15 years.

I know there are fates far worse than that.

Here,

I resign as Marshal of this jurisdiction.

[explosion]

-[ominous music playing] -[grunting]

[Nightly Stranger] Ah!

My old exploding-badge routine still's got that flair.

Youngster, that umbrella was a fine bluff,

but you have to do better than that

to best a soul who's seen every con, swindle and scam

west of the Mississippi. [chuckles]

Wait, who were you? Billy the Kid?

Billy the-- [grunts in frustration]

I am a legendary lawman of the West

who's brought in over 3,000 outlaws in life and an additional 72 in death,

the invincible Marshal himself, Bass Reeves.

Huh?

But, of course, you never heard of me.

Lawmen never get the catchy song,

especially not a Black one at that.

If you're the ghost of a great lawman,

why are you spending your afterlife terrorizing a tiny town?

Because this tiny town...

Is nothing more than a nest of depravity

sitting on a branch of lies and it shall burn!

-[explosions] -[Elle screams]

[glass shatters]

-[explosions] -[Gizmo whimpering]

What, you said break in, right?

I thought you were gonna pick the lock or something.

Never mind. Let's just find our ghost trap.

Not a gourd, not a gourd, not a gourd.

-[explosions continue] -[grunting]

[Chang] Here, it's, uh, like an American gourd.

-So you paint it and then what? -[explosions continue]

Spirits get drawn in, you cork it up and ta-da! Spirit in a, uh, flask.

Hmm.

Hmm.

[grunts]

-[explosion] -[gasps]

[growls]

[whimpers]

[growls]

[Bass] Despite dying, I did not wish to quit serving justice.

Fortunately, in America, they never let legends disappear.

So I started rounding up stray felons.

[grunts]

[grunts]

[grunting]

This brought me to discover a gang of escaped convicts who'd fled west

and had the audacity to build themselves a town called Innocence.

Innocence! I could not let that stand.

[people screaming]

[grunting]

So you're going to kill everyone here because they were in jail?

Kill? Of course not.

A US Marshal catches the wanted.

He doesn't execute judgment.

Regrettably, ghosts cannot wield revolvers,

but a good Marshal improvises.

I added some new ghost moves to my old calling card.

If I can't drag this scum town to justice,

I'll terrorize them every night until they turn themselves in.

[screams]

Hey, are these ex-cons still doing criminal stuff?

They did what they did.

People don't change.

I did--

I know a pickpocket who did... When they were given a chance.

Doing something bad doesn't mean that person is bad.

[Gizmo squealing, laughs]

-[gasps] -[grunts]

-Gizmo, what are you doing? -[Gizmo grunts]

Friends don't cleaver friends, Giz.

[grunting]

Gizmo, stop!

-[gasps] -[Bass] Ah, I get it.

You know a pickpocket...

You're the pickpocket!

Distracting while your mini chupacabra robs me.

Oldest trick in the book.

-[gasps] -What? No!

And don't try to lecture me about right and wrong.

-[both gasp] -I brought in my own son on a warrant

because it was the law.

He had to serve his time and so do you.

[both gasp]

And all of Innocence.

[Gizmo] Bright light! Bright light!

Oh, boy, snacks!

Ah, all good storytellers need snack fuel.

[gags]

Uh, where was I?

Hmm. All the deaths.

It turns out, Jingwei's ex

really didn't want anyone to free the Water God.

[screaming]

[all gasp]

[Grandpa] Uh, there was one final obstacle...

[man chuckling]

[Grandpa] The ex himself.

[gasps] Turn back.

No wish is worth the destruction he will unleash.

[Grandpa] Liu and and Chou, uh, told him to step aside

or things would get ugly.

That usually worked, but...

[grunting] Never!

[Grandpa] ...things got ugly.

[groaning]

[both grunting]

[Grandpa] I-I-I pleaded with him. Even offered to split the treasure.

[grunting]

[Grandpa] Oh, but he was willing to do anything

to stop us from freeing Kung Kung.

[man groaning]

[Grandpa] Even die.

Don't! He'll drown the world...

Wish time.

[Grandpa] All my life, I've wanted treasure.

But then I realized, if Jingwei's ex

was willing to die to keep Kung Kung imprisoned,

the price of this treasure might be just too dear.

[Gizmo whimpering]

[Bass] Haven't you jailbirds had enough?

I reckon prison is more peaceful than the hell you're living.

[Mayor] This is our home!

We built it!

We will never leave, you ghoul!

Then we shall stay in this same standoff forever.

No, nothing stays the same forever.

Yeah, I was once a pickpocket. But guess what?

I'm not that anymore.

Give these people a chance.

This mayor, I-I don't know what she did before.

[Mayor] Nothing.

I was jailed back East for a crime I didn't commit.

See, the town name isn't a joke. She is innocent.

Maybe the whole town is.

Oh, no. The rest are guilty as sin.

Uh, but they feel real bad about it.

[snaps fingers]

[Elle and Gizmo screams]

[grunting]

Guilty, not guilty,

if you keep hounding them and calling them criminals,

how can they ever move on from being outlaws?

Let them show you who they are now,

who they can become.

-[wind blowing] -[grunting]

-[both grunting] -[Elle] Huh?

[straining]

Whoo-hoo-hoo! Kid in the Hat to the rescue.

Hmm?

[triumphant music playing]

[people cheering]

No, stop, Sam. He's not a bad guy. Let him go!

But this was our plan.

The girl with scarf's got a new one.

Hmm.

[grunts]

[groaning]

Hmph. [grunts in frustration]

Oh, that hurt.

What are you?

[Elle] He's the Kid in the...

He's a good guy trying to help me get our truck back

so we can de-spirit-ify my mom as soon as possible.

Your mother is a spirit and a truck will restore her to life?

No, she's not... all the way dead yet.

We need to drive as fast as possible

to this Water God to save her, Nightly Stranger, sir.

Water God?

You mean Kung Kung?

[Gizmo and Sam gasp]

When you've been dead 15 years,

you hear things about the supernatural landscape of America.

Never met the fellow, but a car won't get you to him.

What you need is the train between worlds.

[Sam and Gizmo gasp]

Next station's just yonder, at the Purple Mountains Majesty.

Could you show us?

Hmm... I suppose.

But it would mean ending my nightly visitations to this town.

Oh, we're good with that. Bye.

Show us you can change by leaving

and we'll show you we can change

by giving you no reason to come back.

[upbeat music playing]

Seems like we should be getting more than four horses for this.

[chuckles]

[squealing and laughing]

[horse neighing]

[Elle] Thank you for being our guide.

And for giving me an excuse to ride a horse.

Of course.

-[Gizmo grunts] -To tell the truth,

I've spent my whole life and afterlife chasing outlaws.

Time I check out Purple Mountains Majesty

and see how us Western legends are supposed to spend eternity.

And thank you for reminding me that you can't have a future

if you don't let go of the past.

I gotta go.

Where are you off to?

There's something I gotta do. Be right back.

[Gizmo grunts]

[horse snorts]

Well, in order to free Kung Kung and get his wishes,

Jingwei said each bond's got to be opened by a different person.

Then you can wish for anything.

Except for bringing back the dead.

Wait, wait, uh... Maybe we should stop and...

You with us or not, kid?

-Whoa! Giant spider's back. -[gasps]

[Liu] Where? Where's the spider?

[dramatic music playing]

Kid?

[grunts]

[rumbling]

[coughing]

[Grandpa] I chose the world over treasure, over wishes,

even over my friends.

But what other choice did I have?

Elle, why are you still here?

To tell you that we found a shortcut to Kung Kung and, um,

that after we free him...

Well... I love Sam and Giz, but...

after I make your wish...

I wanna try being with you.

[chuckles softly, gasps]

Merci.

[sobbing]

[chuckles, sighs]

Now, go, get that wish before I melt into my happy tears.

[sighs]

Sometimes, I regret choosing the world over my friends.

But then, I remember how much money I owe them.

To honor all my brothers in hunting,

I vowed to leave and never again set foot in America.

-[thuds] -[both gasp]

Fascinating tale,

but I'm afraid I must hijack your narrative for a story

where I am the protagonist.

-[Chang] Something's been bugging me. -[gasps]

I know we're doing all this to save your skin with Kung Kung's wish,

but I could have sworn I heard you say in Chinatown

that there were wish-es, as in multiple.

Everything Kung Kung has is for me and my daughter.

That's all you need to know.

You're right.

That is all I need.

-[whooshing] -[Margot struggling]

[ominous music playing]

To get a wish of my own.

[theme music playing]