Original subtitles

♪ What would you do if I sang out of tune? ♪

♪ Would you stand up and walk out on me? ♪

♪ Lend me your ears, and I'll sing you a song ♪

♪ I will try not to sing out of key, yeah ♪

♪ Oh, baby, I get by ♪ ♪ By with a little help from my friends ♪

♪ All I need is my buddies ♪

♪ High with a little help from my friends ♪

♪ I'm sayin' I'm gonna get higher ♪ -♪ Try with a little help from my friends ♪

♪ Whoa-oa-oa-oa ♪

♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪

♪ Somebody who knows quite sure ♪

♪ Baby ♪

♪ By with a little help from my friends ♪

♪ Said I'm gonna make it with my friends ♪

♪ Try with a little help from my friends ♪

♪ Oh, I'm gonna keep on trying ♪

♪ High with a little help from my friends ♪

♪ I'm gonna keep on trying now, baby ♪

♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪

Once upon a time life was simple,

evolutionarily speaking.

Then...

Things began to change.

The competition got tougher.

There were winners...

And losers.

The struggle continued.

Then in the fall of 1970, a new creature appeared,

the likes of which had never been seen before.

[ Strauss' "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" plays ] Noble, upright, virtuous...

9th-grade man...

Master of all he surveyed.

Which in this case was Woody's pizza barn,

where the elite went to meet.

Yep, by the last week of summer,

I was feeling pretty good about myself.

Life seemed full of promise,

full of hope,

full of...

Patchy dry spots.

I'm getting patchy dry spots.

Relax, Paul.

You're just having back-to-school jitters.

By tomorrow, you'll be fine.

Sure.

Only...

What if something goes wrong?

What if I wear the wrong clothes?

What if I forget...

Paul!

I gotta go put on some ointment.

Okay, so not everyone shared my sense of well-being.

That was understandable.

Not everyone had a steady girl like mine...

Winnie Cooper.

So long as we had each other, we had nothing to fear.

I'm scared.

What?

Well, I am.

Winnie, stop worrying. Everybody's gonna like ya.

That's easy for you to say.

You're not starting in a new school.

All the strange classrooms.

The strange people.

And you'll be so far away.

You won't forget about me, will you?

What?!

Will you think about me?

Of course I'll think about you.

Think about me every hour, on the hour.

And I'll think about you.

Winnie...

Promise? Every hour?

[ Sighs ] I promise.

Sure. I'd promise her the world.

Why not? I was 9th-grade man.

And I was ready... for anything.

This is mine.

Make that almost anything.

Tony?

Barbella?

Welcome back.

I thought he graduated.

I graduate every year.

Oh.

And this is my locker.

Great.

Three minutes into the new year,

and the first face I see

belongs on the wall at the post office.

Still, I could handle this.

No. I-I-I don't think so, Tony.

See, that's your locker.

Over there.

Remember?

Oh. Yeah.

Yeah.

There. Simple reasoning. Solid logic.

So, I guess I got two now, huh?

Lucky me.

Yeah, but...

do you think you could deal with that?

Because if you can't,

I'm gonna have to take your thumb

and bend it back to your elbow.

Seemed Tony had a logic of his own.

Help yourself.

After all, no sense letting one gorilla ruin my whole day.

[ School bell rings ]

I had places to go, things to do,

lockers to find...

people to meet.

This is my locker.

Becky! Hi!

Becky Slater... once my Nemesis,

but now just a good friend.

I hate you, Kevin!

What? Why?

As if you didn't know.

- But... - Don't play dumb with me, Kevin.

You introduced us.

And that answered that.

With just one little question...

What's she talking about?

Craig Hobson.

Didn't you hear?

He dumped her.

Then he left for military school.

[ Locker slams ]

This is your fault!

But I don't get mad.

I get even!

Kind a like having your own personal welcome wagon

waiting at the door.

I pledge allegiance to the flag

of the United States of America...

Okay, so things were starting off a little bumpy.

I wasn't worried.

I had more important things to do... ...One nation under God...

like think about Winnie.

With liberty and justice for all.

Yep, in two minutes, she'd be thinking about me.

Poor kid, all alone at a new school.

I can only hope someone would be nice enough to say...

[ Chimes tinkle ]

Huh-uh-uh...

Uh-huh-huh...

Huh-unnnnh!

[ Pencil rattles ]

Gulp!

Excuse me.

You, uh...

D-dropped this.

And I... Uh,

um...

Uh, pick... picked it up.

For you.

Thank you.

Kevin.

[ Electricity buzzes ]

Fact... lead conducts electricity.

[ Buzzing continues ]

I wonder if you could help me.

Is this class on the other side of the quad?

Uh...

Y-yeah.

Yeah... yeah, just... Down and to the left.

Thank you.

You bet.

[ School bell rings ]

[ Indistinct talking ]

Darn it!

Okay, so I dropped the ball.

Just being hospitable.

Winnie would understand.

I don't understand this!

Huh?

My schedule!

Look what they gave me.

Chemistry!

So, what's wrong with that?

Are you kidding?

You know what happens when I get near chemicals.

I'm allergic to soap!

[ Sighs ] Paul...

I knew this year was gonna be a disaster.

Well, what'd you get?

Uh, let me see.

I bet you got something neat,

like astronomy, or physics!

Sure, something neat, like, say...

[ Power saw buzzing ] ...industrial arts?

Shop?!

[ Hammering ]

It was encouraging to know the board of education

had such confidence in my intellectual prowess.

Hey.

Hey, don't stand next to that machine.

What?

Why?

That baby ate ray spike's index finger.

It's kind of a shrine.

You're new here, aren't ya?

Yeah. But it's a mistake.

[ Chuckles ] That's what they all say.

No. Really.

See, there's been a mistake on my schedule.

If it had been a blueprint,

this kid might have been able to read it.

But since it was in English,

it was pretty obvious he didn't have a clue.

Is there a teacher here?

Ah, yeah, Nestor.

But, uh, you don't want to talk to Nestor.

Of course I did.

After all, he was a teacher,

an employee of the public-school system.

Where is he?

Over there.

All right! Let's go!

I got it.

[ Students cheering ]

It's up.

[ Grunts ]

It's clear!

[ Grunts ]

[ Students cheering ]

All right, bulletheads. Get back to it.

Uh, Mr. Nestor?

Yo!

Hi. I'm Kevin Arnold.

- That so? - Yeah.

I was wondering if I could speak to you about my schedule?

Schedule? Huh?

[ Clatter ] - Uh...

Yes, sir. About this class?!

This class? Huh?

Well, I think possibly there's been a mistake!

Mistake?! Huh?!

Okay. So far, so good...

So far as I could tell.

Yeah. Well...

The fact is, I'm not very good in industrial arts!

I think I'd be better at something like, uh,

chemistry, or, uh...

Masha!

Your eyes!

Watch your eyes!

Bullethead.

Oh, where were we?

Well, as silly as it sounds,

uh, I think they've got the wrong Arnold.

Wrong Arnold?

Huh?!

Uh, right.

So...

Ferber, no, no.

Not the screwdriver. The chisel.

Idiot.

So you want out? Is that it?

Kinda.

I mean, if that'd be all right with you.

Okay.

I'll let you out.

- [ Sighs ] - There. Finally!

There's only one thing, though.

You gotta arm-wrestle me for it.

Uh-huh.

Things were starting off with a bang.

And it wasn't even lunch yet.

If misery loves company...

I tell you, Kev, this is great!

I was hanging out with the wrong guy.

Chemistry is such a fascinating science.

The wonder of water. The mystery of fire.

Uh-huh.

Not to mention the remains of ray spike's finger.

If fact, even that seemingly ordinary fish stick

is in reality a miraculous latticework of...

Paul.

Huh?

Will you cut it out? I'm trying to eat here!

Well, sorry.

[ Sighs ]

I need a locker.

Well, there's got to be an empty one somewhere.

I know.

Maybe I could share yours.

Mine?

Yeah, sure. Why not?

Well, I-I guess I can make some room...

Great.

In the back, in the corner.

Exactly how long are you gonna be staying?

[ Sighs ] Never mind.

Come on, Kev. I-it's not so bad.

Things will work out.

Yeah, that's easy for you to say.

Still, maybe Paul had a point.

The day was only half over.

Maybe it was just a matter of seeing the glass half full...

Or half empty.

Or completely empty.

I hate men.

Répétez après moi!

Bonjour, la classe!

Bonjour, madame.

Bonjour, la classe.

Bonjour, madame.

Now, here was something hopeful.

Shop was foreign to me.

French was simply a language I didn't understand.

Bonjour, madame.

Class, this year we're going to try something new.

From now on, we're only going to speak en Français.

C'est bien?

[ Scattered groans ]

All right. Who would like to go first?

Guillaume.

Comment allez-vous aujourd'hui?

Frère Jacques?

[ Laughter ]

[ Chuckles ]

Uh-huh. Things were getting back to normal.

And I wasn't gonna miss

my 1:00 "think about Winnie" promise.

Mademoiselle.

Dites-moi votre nom, s'il vous plaît.

Je m'appelle Madeleine.

C'est excellent, mademoiselle.

Merci beaucoup.

[ Speaking French ]

[ Speaking French ]

And suddenly I understood

why French was the language of diplomacy,

of poetry, of romance, of...

Amore!

Suddenly I understood every single word.

[ Speaking French ]

[ Speaking French ]

Hey, it was the only thing I knew in French.

Kevin.

Madeline.

Kevin!

[ Children snickering ]

En Français, s'il vous plaît!

[ Laughter ]

[ School bell rings ]

Darn it!

This much was clear... in any language...

I needed help.

I had to take action, seek answers.

Come in.

Yep, this is what I needed...

a man of wisdom, a man of vision,

a man...

Who taught gym.

Ah, Arnold.

Mr. Cutlip?

What can I do for you?

I, uh...

I came to see the guidance counselor.

Is he in?

Mrs. Dalla Betta is the regular guidance man.

I'm just filling in.

Temporarily.

Till December.

Can it wait?

Well... Um...

Relax, Arnold.

Take a load off.

Have a seat.

Right.

I understand your hesitation.

You're thinking, "Ed Cutlip",

"a crack physical education instructor.

What's a man of action like him doing in a... Swivel chair?"

Am I right?

Well...

Unusual?

Maybe.

Unexpected?

Certainly.

But think of it this way, Arnold.

There might be more in this old bean... [ Tink, tink ]

Than meets the eye.

Maybe I can even help.

And the way he said it, for one moment,

I actually wondered if he could help.

Peanut?

No.

No. Thanks.

Come on, son. What is it?

[ Sighs ]

It's 9th grade.

Ah.

It's not turning out the way I thought it would.

I-I don't have a locker,

and my classes are all wrong and...

I see.

You do?

It's a complex problem, but there's a simple solution.

There is?

Maybe I had him wrong.

Maybe there was more to Ed Cutlip than met the eye.

So, what do we do now?

Laps!

[ Whistle blows ]

Well, think of it this way.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

The way this day was going,

I was probably better off being alone.

And suddenly I knew what ouster felt like.

Great... sitting bull herself.

And she was gaining on me.

Instinctively I knew... this was a challenge, a test...

And I was up to it.

[ Panting ]

Sure, it was dumb,

but at that moment, all I knew was...

I had to win.

[ Girls cheering ]

I pulled up even.

I pulled ahead.

[ Cheering ]

As we rounded that final turn, I felt like I had wings.

Sure, maybe I couldn't find a locker.

Maybe I was stuck in shop.

But I was gonna beat this girl.

I was gonna win this race.

This was gonna be a massacre.

[ Strauss' "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" plays ]

Heh heh.

No hard feelings, huh, slates?

Ugh!

Ugh. Ohh.

[ Breathing heavily ]

And that about did it.

The perfect end to a perfect day.

Kevin?

[ Chimes tinkling ]

Madeline?

She'd seen the whole thing.

The whole humiliating episode!

[ Groans ]

It was pretty clear she'd come over to laugh at me.

I just came over to thank you.

Huh?

For being nice to me.

You don't know how hard it is to be the new girl in school.

[ Exhales ]

And then it happened.

Something inside of me snapped.

- Kev? - Later!

I'd had enough. I'd been pushed too far.

And I knew what I had to do.

Hey! Barbella!

I want my locker back.

Now!

[ Scoffs ]

9th-grade man...

noble, upright, virtuous.

I went into my last year of junior high

thinking I knew all the answers.

And suddenly all I had were questions.

Plus a dislocated thumb.

It's funny.

I remembered a time when I knew who I was.

But that was eight hours ago.

Suddenly I felt on the outside, looking in.

Looking for...

Winnie.

Hi.

How was your day?

I wanted to tell her everything,

every bit of it.

All the setbacks, all the screw-ups.

Fine.

Heck. I knew she'd understand.

How about yours?

Okay.

After all, when you're 14,

you can't always put words to life.

♪ Be my baby now ♪

All I knew was... I felt home again.

♪ Be my, be my baby ♪

♪ Be my little baby ♪

♪ My one and only baby ♪

♪ Oh oh oh oh ♪

♪ Be my, be my baby ♪

♪ Oh oh oh oh ♪

You don't know how hard it is to be the new girl in school.

♪ Be my, be my baby ♪

♪ Be my little baby ♪

♪ My one and only baby ♪

♪ Oh oh oh oh ♪

♪ Be my, be my baby ♪

♪ Oh oh oh oh ♪