Original subtitles

(upbeat music)

♫ Now listen here folks, my name is Tom Sawyer

♫ I don't want to be no doctor or no lawyer

♫ Fishin' by the river that's the only place to be

♫ I wanna be free, sittin' under a tree, that's me

(upbeat music)

♫ These are the stories of Tom Sawyer

♫ Me and Huck Finn just playin' by the river

♫ Chasin' that steamboat, teacher let me be

♫ I wanna be free, sittin' under a tree

♫ That's me

(upbeat music)

(upbeat music)

- [Tom] Yesterday was one of the most excitin'

days ever in St. Pete.

It was the day my new friend, Mr. Arthur O'Connor,

flew into town in his balloon and crash landed

on Cardiff Hill.

Lucky for me, he spent the night as our house guest.

And today, I've made up my mind that I'm

gonna get Arthur to take me for a ride

in that there balloon.

(upbeat music)

- [Jim] Mornin' Miss Mary.

- Mornin' Jim.

- Pardon me, Miss Mary, but is that fella still asleep?

- Who, Arthur?

- Yes'um, if that's the man that come flying

into to town in that contraption.

- I think he still may be asleep.

He was really banged up when he landed

so it's a good thing he's resting comfortably.

Oh, Jim, get me some tomatoes and cucumbers.

- Right away.

(birds chirping)

- [Sid] Why don't we just wake him up?

- He's bound to wake himself up,

so let's hurry and get dressed.

- Mhm.

- [Tom] The fact is, last night I dreamed

I was flying in the balloon, high above the ground,

and at one point, I got out to walk on the clouds.

They were as soft as marshmallows

and tickled my feet when suddenly,

I fell through and began falling to Earth.

As always happens in flying dreams,

I woke up just before hittin' the ground

and that convinced me I had nothing to fear about flying.

- We really should let him sleep.

- I know that.

Can't wait to hear some more of those stories of his.

- Mhm, I sure never heard more exciting ones.

(upbeat music)

- We just have to wait a little longer, that's all.

Darn.

- Here you are, Miss Mary.

- Why thank you very much, Jim.

I think Mr. Arthur will really enjoy this.

- Ma'am?

- What?

- Hm, I don't know how to say this,

but a lot of the people are saying that fellow

is the very devil hisself.

- Why, that's unbelievable.

- I don't believe it, ma'am,

but that's what folks is sayin'.

- Well he's not.

Arthur is an engineer who designs balloons

for the army.

- That may be, ma'am, but he did come flying in

from the sky, you know.

(chuckling) - He flew in a balloon.

My word, it isn't though he had wings on his back.

He can't fly on his own.

- That right?

I hear tale that somebody saw the wings on his back

and him flying through the air.

- That is untrue.

Whoever said it is a liar.

- Oh, well.

(upbeat music)

- Come on, Tom, let me try 'em on, too.

- Keep quiet, otherwise you'll wake him up.

- If you let me use 'em, I'll keep quiet.

- Stop!

- [Sid] Come on, Tom, give 'em to me.

- [Tom] No!

Sid!

- Yes! - Alright!

- I can't see a thing!

- Here, let me.

- Why'd you do that?

Whoops.

- Morning, guys.

- Oh, it's your fault we woke him up.

Good mornin' Arthur.

- Yeah, good morning.

- You get a good night's sleep?

- Sure did.

(groaning)

Your bed's really comfortable.

- Glad you like it.

- Yeah, but I don't wanna overstay my welcome

so I'm gonna have to find another place to stay tonight.

That way, you can have your bed back.

- But I don't wanna sleep in my bed,

I want you to sleep in it.

I really don't mind.

- Oh, boy.

- Besides, that Mary will be very disappointed if you leave.

- Uh huh.

- Oh.

- Anyway, you promised to tell us more about travelin'

and balloons and all that stuff about flying

and Chicago, too.

- Arthur, you gotta stay.

It's not everyday we get a visitor from

as far away as Chicago.

- I sure don't want my being here to be a burden

on you and your family, but if you're insisting.

- As far as I'm concerned, you can stay here

as our house guest as long as you'd like.

- For a week or even a month.

- Or even a whole year.

(slow music)

- There you are.

You know you're welcomed to stay with us as long as you need

'cause we're happy to have you, Mr. O'Connor.

- Thank you, ma'am.

I'll be glad to accept, and I'm grateful

for your hospitality.

- Oh boy!

- How 'bout that, how 'bout that?

- When do you suppose they'll come for you?

- Hm, I have no way of knowing.

Maybe tomorrow, or the day after,

or maybe even later, Mary.

- [Both] Huh?

- They might be here that soon?

- Well I imagine that would be the earliest.

- If they're comin' all the way from Chicago,

surely it would take them a little longer.

- Of course, you're probably right,

but then again, I'm only guessing.

- I guess you must've sent for the army

to get the balloon, huh?

- Sure did.

- It's awful big, how do you think they'll carry it?

- Well, in a wagon, I guess.

- Arthur, I was just wonderin',

do you think you could take us up in it?

Just once I mean, before they come and take it away.

- That might be impossible, Tom.

I'd have to check it out a lot closer to tell.

- Oh.

But you will take a look at it, won't ya?

- Why, I don't know.

I really hadn't thought about it,

but I can't think of a good reason why I should.

- Why, so you can fix it up and make it fly again.

- Even fixed up, I couldn't fly

it back to Chicago, understand?

- Mhm, but it could work good enough

to take us up in it.

- [Aunt Polly] Now, Thomas--

- And besides, I told you yesterday it can be

pretty dangerous to go up in a balloon.

You have to realize that if you fell from

a height of over 40 feet, you could be seriously injured,

maybe killed.

- But hot hair balloons don't really crash, do they?

I mean, I thought they just floated down to the ground.

- Well, from my experience, I must say that possibility

is remote by not out of the question.

I might still have been killed.

- Which reminds me, Arthur,

you should come into the office to see

Dr. Mitchell for a check up and have your bandages changed.

- Thanks for the reminder, I will.

- Arthur, if you do get it up again,

you won't forget about me, will ya?

- Tom, didn't you hear Mr. O'Connor say it's dangerous?

Besides, he's not even sure the thing can fly.

Now stop being a pest.

- If you ever do get it to fly again,

I still wanna go with ya.

I don't care if it's dangerous.

- Thomas, that's enough of that.

- Arthur, I'm not afraid.

I really wanna fly in that balloon.

- You really mean that, don't you, Tom?

- Mhm.

I wanna go fly more than anything

I've ever wanted in my whole life.

- [Aunt Polly] Tom!

- Yes'um.

(upbeat music)

- Do you really think you can get the balloon

to fly again all by yourself?

- I really don't now for sure.

But as badly as Tom wants to go up in it,

I gotta give it a try.

I'm not about to disappoint him if I can help it.

- But once you're aloft, wouldn't the same thing

happen as before?

Wouldn't you be at the mercy of the winds?

And there's no telling what direction you'd fly in.

- Not necessarily.

That's one mistake I'll try not to let happen again.

- We wouldn't have met if you hadn't of made that mistake.

- I never quite thought of it in that way.

- Well I certainly have.

- Now that you mention it, we'd still be strangers

if it hadn't of been for that wind.

- Oh.

- Arthur, wait a second.

Are you headed for Dr. Mitchell's office right now?

- Oh, not exactly Tom.

As a matter of fact, I was just telling Mary

I was thinking of going over to check out the balloon, Tom.

- Good idea, the sooner you get it fixed,

the sooner we can go flyin'.

- Well, I'm not even sure it can be fixed,

but I'm going to take a good look.

- But you gotta fix it, Arthur, you just gotta.

(upbeat music)

(sighing)

- That's the fifth.

- Huh?

I'm sorry, Dr. Mitchell.

Did you just say somethin'?

- of course I did.

I said that was the fifth one.

- I'm sorry, what do you mean by that?

- [Dr. Mitchell] You mean to tell me you have

no idea what I'm talking about?

- No.

- Mary, that was the fifth heavy sigh

you've breathed today.

- That's impossible.

- Come now, Mary.

What is it that's troubling you?

- Sir?

- Anything wrong?

Because if there is, I think I might be able to help.

- No, nothin's wrong.

- Couldn't prove it by me.

Of course, it's none of my business, but I've been

watching you mope around here all morning like a sick calf

and I hear these heaving sighs and ooo, yes,

that's it.

- I really can't imagine what you're talking about, doctor.

- Well,

I'll tell you.

I think you might be in love,

but of course that's just a guess.

But a good one.

I'm talking about the young fellow who crashed landed

near here in the balloon.

- What?

I can't imagine how you could think such a thing.

I admit, he's an attractive young man,

but after all, I only met him yesterday.

- Wouldn't make the slightest difference if you met him

10 seconds ago, it's called love at first sight.

(laughing)

And unless I missed my guess, he's gonna

be returning to Chicago.

(sighing) There, you did it again.

(sighing) Yet again.

Anyway,

it about time the young man came in for his appointment.

- Oh?

- I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see him

walk through that door at any moment now.

- [Tom] In order to fill up the balloon,

we had to carry ropes high up into the trees

and then hoist the balloon into place over the fire.

Huck and me volunteered to do it 'cause

we climb trees better than anybody.

(upbeat music)

- Hey, Tom, that'll do it right there.

Oh Huck, hey Huck!

That's far enough.

Now just wrap the rope around the limb like I showed ya.

Okay, start pullin' it up easy.

Okay, go.

Easy.

Don't rush it.

Make sure you keep it even.

(upbeat music)

Good, you're both doing fine.

Just keep pulling down evenly.

- [Tom] It was a big job, but we were taking

the first step to get the balloon a-flyin' again,

and I couldn't wait.

And neither could Huck from the way he was workin'.

One thing's for certain, pullin' that big old balloon

up was mighty hard work.

To lighten my load, I pretended I was pullin'

in the biggest catfish ever caught along the Mississippi,

and that made it a little easier.

Then Huck, for all his strainin',

managed to yell at me from the other tree

saying he thought the balloon was shaped

like a funny lookin' pumpkin, and I guess I have to agree.

For me, though, that balloon was an opportunity

for the adventure of a lifetime.

I just knowed in my bones that sometime real soon

I was gonna realize what it was like to fly

as free as the birds.

And that just set my heart a-thumpin'.

- Tom, tie her down right there.

Huck, that's good.

(upbeat music)

- When you're finished, come on down.

Huck, be sure to make the knots good and tight.

Well, we're ready to fix it.

- [All] Yay!

(upbeat music)

- Whoo.

Hey Arthur, how about flying her now?

- Well we gotta fill her up with warm air first

and you can help me out.

Everybody scatter and try to find as much firewood

as you can.

- [Boy] Ben, I'll help ya.

(upbeat music)

- You're about to go up.

(upbeat music)

(upbeat music)

- You're certainly binding him up carefully.

- You really think so?

Arthur, if it's too tight, let me know.

- [Arthur] It's fine.

- How are the repairs coming on the balloon?

Is it ready to fly yet?

- I can't tell yet.

The kids just started a bonfire to fill the balloon

up with some hot air.

- I would imagine they're all extremely eager to help.

- Especially since I promised I'd take

them all up for a ride.

- There, that should do it.

Dr. Mitchell, I'm finished bandaging.

- Well let's take a look.

That's fine.

- Well thank you very much, Dr. Mitchell.

I can't tell ya how much I appreciate

everything you've done for me since I landed here.

- Not so fast.

I want to see you again tomorrow.

That wound could still get infected.

- Right.

- Very well.

'Til tomorrow.

- Well, I guess I'll see you again tomorrow.

I have to go back out to Cardiff Hill now.

- Good day.

(upbeat music)

- [Mary] Take care.

- Mary, I don't think we're gonna have

anymore patients today so why don't you take

the rest of the day off?

- Huh?

- Do it, I won't mind.

He is going away soon, you know.

(chuckling)

(upbeat music)

- [Mary] Arthur, Arthur, wait for me!

- If you think you'd enjoy it, Mary,

you can come along for a ride, too.

- [Mary] Oh I'd like to, Arthur, really, I would,

but I'm too frightened.

- There's nothing to be afraid of.

I'll ride with you in the balloon.

- But to be so high up in the air.

The very thought frightens me to death.

- Isn't there anything I can say to change your mind?

- I'm afraid not.

(fire crackling)

- Hey Huck, bring a couple more pieces of wood, will ya?

- You got it, Tom.

(upbeat music)

- Huck, careful.

If we caught the balloon on fire,

we'd really be in trouble.

- Sorry.

- [Tom] We wanna fill the balloon with hot air

so it can rise, but we don't wanna burn it up.

- [Huck] I don't get how that makes it fly.

- [Tom] Physics, remember?

- [Huck] Whatever that is.

- Hey, Huck, I got a question for ya.

If Arthur gets this thing flyin' today,

would you be afraid to go up in it?

- Hm, you're darn tootin' I'd be afraid.

Wouldn't you be, too?

- Not at all.

- Ha, listen to the big daredevil here.

- Oh yeah?

I'm not afraid.

- I bet Becky wouldn't want to go up in that thing.

- I wouldn't want to go up by myself

but if others went, I would.

- Oh?

Who do you want to go with ya?

- Well, Thomas, maybe?

(upbeat music)

(yelling)

- [Tom] Whew, that was close.

- How many people do you figure can ride in this thing, Tom?

- I don't know, would depend on how big

the people were and how much they weighed, wouldn't it?

- That makes a lot of sense.

But somehow, it just doesn't seem possible to me

that heatin' up the air inside the balloon

could lift anybody very high at all.

- Doesn't make sense, but it's true.

Let's add a little more kindling to the fire.

- Oh, that's plenty of kindling, Tom.

After all, don't you remember Arthur saying

not to make the fire too big?

- I'm not making it too big.

And didn't Arthur put me in charge?

- I reckon that's true, Ben.

Tom would be the last one to want anything

to happen to it.

You could bet the farm on that.

- Hey, look everybody.

Arthur's coming.

- Looks like your cousin's coming with him, Tom.

- Arthur look, there's a whole crowd of children

gathered around the balloon.

- And look at the fire they've started,

and alll that firewood.

It sure didn't take them long to do everything I told them.

- [Mary] Isn't it wonderful?

They all must've worked very hard to get everything

ready so quickly.

- I've got to admit, it looks like the balloon

is in very good shape.

I'd better get on over there and tell them

what to do next.

(upbeat music)

Hey everybody, how's it goin'?

From the looks of things, you've all done a great job.

- Gee thanks.

- That fire's just the right size.

- Pretty good, huh?

- How long before we get to take 'er up?

- Hm.

Doesn't look like there are any leaks or holes.

When I'm sure she's sound.

But right now, it doesn't look like there'll

be any problem at all.

- Well then, Arthur, let's take her up

for a test run right now.

- Not so fast.

Let's keep the fire going and the balloon inflated

and if everything works as well as it has so far,

we might fly her tomorrow.

- What?

We can fly tomorrow?

- Mhm.

(cheering)

Just wait a minute, everybody, hold on a second now.

You have to keep the fire burning

and also keep a close eye on the tie down ropes.

Otherwise, this balloon'll fly off and there'll

be no rides for anyone.

- Mary, Mary!

Did you hear that?

Isn't that great news?

We can go a-flyin' tomorrow.

- Just because the balloon is ready to fly

doesn't necessarily mean you'll be riding in it.

- Why not?

- [Mary] Mama won't let you.

- Then I'll just ride without telling her anything about it!

- But I wont' let you fly either.

- But why, Mary?

- You might be injured or killed.

- Arthur's going up in the balloon, too.

Don't you care whether he gets killed or not?

(sighing)

Don't worry, Mary.

Good gosh, a balloon doesn't crash land like a rock.

I know you're concerned about me,

but I just gotta.

- I will not approve of your going up in that balloon.

- Huh?

- I don't wanna hear anymore about it.

- I don't care whether you approve or not.

I'm going up anyway.

You hear me?

- Now you listen to me, young man.

Wait, Tom!

(upbeat music)

- You.

- Excuse me.

(grunting)

(upbeat music)

- Oh, Mr. O'Connor, come on in.

I know it was a far piece,

I appreciate you comin' in so quickly.

- I came as soon as I got your message, Sheriff.

What can I do for ya?

- Well, sir, the reason I called you in is this.

It's been brought to my attention

you plan on flying your balloon tomorrow.

I'd appreciate it if you'd reconsider.

- What's that?

- I'm asking you not to fly that balloon tomorrow.

I want you to keep it tied down until

the army officials arrive to take it away.

- But why?

What's wrong with flying the balloon?

- I'm ashamed to say it, but the fact of the matter is,

well, the folks in St. Pete believe

that flyin's the work of the devil.

- That's ridiculous.

- Maybe so, Mr. O'Connor.

But remember, St. Pete's a mighty small town

and the idea of a man flying around in the air

is mighty hard for people to swallow, if you catch my drift.

- But I'm just a man like anyone else.

Anybody can see that.

- Maybe not anybody.

Truth of the matter is, folks around here

aren't sure what you are, Mr. O'Connor.

- Nonsense.

- A kidnapper, that's what some folks think you are.

That you're after their children.

- Uh, sheriff, I assure you, I'm no kidnapper.

- Frankly, sir, I don't know what to think.

- But how could you even suspect me?

I haven't done anything.

- Well, didn't you tell a lot of the kids

you'd take 'em up for a ride in the balloon?

- Yes.

But I--

- Well if a strong wind comes up and you lose control,

what happens then?

- I don't believe that could happen, Sheriff Collins.

- Come on, Mr. O'Connor, you can't be sure of that.

You're the one who was blown all the way here

from Chicago 'cause you had no way of steerin'

or guidin' that balloon.

No denying that, now is there?

Besides which, I have no way of knowin'

whether or not you're tellin' the truth, do I?

- I am.

- You are not gonna fly that balloon.

And further more, sir,

you are not to allow the children to go anywhere near it.

(grunting) - That ought to hold it.

Everything's set now, we'll be ready to fly tomorrow.

- I might go along after all.

- Huck, I can't think of anyone I'd rather fly with.

- Hey, there's Arthur.

(children exclaiming)

(birds chirping)

- [Tom] She's all set to fly tomorrow, Arthur.

Huck says he wants to go, too.

- Go and fetch some buckets of water.

We have to extinguish the fire at once.

- You mean, we're all through testing it?

- We're not gonna fly it at all, that's what I mean.

- What?

- You heard me.

Put out the fire.

I won't be taking you up tomorrow, Tom.

In fact, I may never fly her again.

- But Arthur!

A couple of days ago, I'd never even seen a hot air balloon,

so I didn't know what I was missin'.

Now all I could think about was flyin' like a bird.

But it looks like I'd missed my one and only chance.

(slow, melancholy music)

(crying)

(slow, melancholy music)

I thought tomorrow, I was gonna be soarin' through the air,

higher than the highest cloud.

Instead, it looks like it's gonna be

the lowest day of my life.

(upbeat music)

♫ These are the stories of Tom Sawyer

♫ Me and Huck Finn just playin' by the river

♫ Chasin' that steamboat, teacher let me be

♫ I wanna be free, sittin' under a tree, that's me

(upbeat music)