Original subtitles

[instrumental "Yankee Doodle"]

(male narrator) July 4, 1776, the city, Philadelphia.

The place, the home of Thomas Jefferson

and his cat, who coincidentally is also named Thomas.

The event, one that will go down in history.

(Thomas) At long last, it is finished.

A declaration of our colony's independence.

'Oh-ho! I shall not be swayed by your laziness, Tom.'

'Today is a momentous day.'

And I, Thomas Jefferson, must make ready.

[instrumental music]

thud

thud thud thud

[laughing]

thwack

[instrumental music]

click click click

[laughing]

poink

'There you are. Have you seen the document on my desk?'

'It is of the utmost importance.'

'You threw it out the window?'

'The future of the republic depends on you getting it back.'

Hurry, you dolt!

[dramatic music]

thwack

klopp klopp klopp

[instrumental music]

[sawing]

creak

swish swish

meow

[instrumental music]

splosh splosh

[dog snoring]

Huh?

"When in the course of human events

this is a Declaration of Independence!"

Why, this is treason!

Who's gonna do the taxation...

...without... representation?

Whoa!

crash

[grunts]

[dramatic music]

screech

[growling]

crunch

So, you're the treasonous dog.

Wait a minute. I'm a dog.

I mean, you're the rebellious pussycat!

Now, hand it over.

[instrumental music]

slurp slurp

chomp chomp

Huh?

[dramatic music]

You... tricky...

...traitor!

[instrumental music]

Now, what would be better to clobber that cat with bone

or cannonball?

Definitely the bone.

clang

[dramatic music]

Aah!

thwack

[music continues]

♪ Yankee kitty came to town ♪

♪ Treasonous and phony ♪

♪ Offered me a ham on rye ♪

♪ But I prefer boloney ♪

[dramatic music]

[laughing]

clang

(Thomas) 'Brothers, rest assured'

'my cat will bring the document posthaste.'

'Ah, look! I knew he would not fail me. Well done, Thomas.'

Gentlemen, I give you the Declaration of Independence!

[crowd gasping]

This is an outrage!

(male #1) 'Look! Hither comes a true patriot.'

Thank you, wee sir.

(crowd) 'Huzzah!'

So, on that day, July 4, 1776

the Declaration of Independence was signed by Congress.

And if you look very closely

you'll see it was also signed by a mouse.

[instrumental music]

(male #1) 'Alright, kids, let's all stay together.'

'Now, we've seen lots of amazing things from'

'the history of aviation.'

'But I've saved the best for last.'

Kind of ironic, because this was a great first.

There was a time when only birds had the power of flight.

But then the Wright Brothers came along and invented

the very first airplane.

This is the Wright Flyer of 1903.

The plane that gave us the first moused flight.

Um, don't you mean manned flight?

No, son, the first moused flight.

Would you like to hear the story of that courageous mouse?

- Oh, yes! - Tell us, too!

Well, it all started in the Wright Brothers

bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio.

[instrumental music]

click click

Wilbur, do you see what this bold little mouse is doing?

How rude!

(Wilbur) 'No need to be alarmed, Orville.'

'I'll call your worthless cat.'

'Thomas! Please attend to that meddlesome mouse.'

[dramatic music]

[burps]

[growls]

splosh

crash

honk

(Wilbur) 'Get that mouse, Thomas!'

flap flap flap

- 'Did you see that, Orville?' - 'I did, Wilbur. I did.'

I think that mouse knows something of aerodynamics.

And he's terrifically good at outsmarting Thomas.

The combination of those skills will help with our experiments.

(Orville) 'Let's begin right away.'

(Wilbur) 'I hope the mouse finds our box kite useful.'

(Orville) 'Look. Here he comes.'

(Wilbur) 'And your cat is close behind.'

[growls]

[dramatic music]

(Orville) 'Look, Wilbur! The kite's working.'

(Wilbur) 'Let's just hope your cat doesn't create too much drag.'

[gasps]

thwack thwack

thwack

(Wilbur) 'The mouse caught a thermal updraft.'

splatt

crackle

[instrumental music]

(Orville) 'A perfect landing.'

What excellent flying!

'Quick, brother, let's return to the shop.'

(Wilbur) 'Thomas, pick up that kite.'

(Jerry) From kites, the Wright Brothers moved up to full-size gliders

big enough to carry a man.

Huh-hmm.

As well as pull a cat.

thwack

Now, the Wrights were ready to make a plane

that could take off under its own power.

But before they built a full-size version

they tested models in a device they called a wind tunnel.

(Orville) 'I simply cannot figure out what is wrong with the flyer.'

Don't worry, Wilbur. We can run more tests after lunch.

I've made bouillabaisse.

clang clang clang

screech

[instrumental music]

whirr whirr

clang

whirr whirr

clang clang

ppfbt

clang clang clang

whirr

clang

(Orville) 'Oh, dear. Something's wrong with the wind tunnel.'

Wilbur, is our plane alright?

Great Scott! The model's flying and with only two wings!

'Oh, goody! A biplane!'

- 'Whoa!' - 'I got yo...'

[indistinct shouting]

(Jerry) With the design of the Wright Flyer completed

the crew packed up and traveled to the testing fields

in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

(Orville) 'This propeller is broken and we need two to fly the plane.'

(Wilbur) 'Well, then, we just need to figure out how to fix it.'

[dramatic music]

wherr wherr

[music continues]

(Wilbur) It's flying!

(Orville) 'Where did the mouse find another propeller?'

It's wonderful!

It's thrilling!

It's, it's coming right at us!

[both screaming]

(Orville and Wilbur) 'Whoa-a-a!'

[Orville grunts]

Don't just stand there, Wilbur. Take my picture!

click

And that's just how it happened on December 17, 1903.

Well, the humans will get all the credit

but it was a mouse who made the first flight.

But don't you have any proof? Some corroboration?

Isn't that the way it happened, Tom?

Yep. That's pretty much it, Jer.

Everybody will meet back here in 15 minutes.

[instrumental music]

[instrumental music]

Does you see that, Tom?

Looks like our little mousey friend has struck gold.

What do you say you and I go help

ourselves to his good fortune?

clank

clang clang clang

clang

Gold! Gold!

We're gonna be rich!

'Yee-haw! Gold! Financial liquidity! Woo-hoo!'

[growling]

[laughing]

clang

If I catch you crooked kittens jumpin' anyone else's claim

I'll hauls your carcasses to jail!

'Does ya understand?'

[laughing]

Well, that takes care of that.

Don't worry, little guy.

'I'm sure they won't be bothering you anymore.'

[instrumental music]

(cat #1) 'We gotta find a way to steal that gold so nobody sees us.'

After all, just because that mouse earned it

doesn't mean he deserves it.

[instrumental music]

Oh, I get it.

'We start a tunnel from our claim'

'and dig under the river to his gold deposits.'

I'll start us off.

[instrumental music]

slurp slurp

Did youse find any gold to steal?

Ahem. Lemonade?

Humph!

[rumbling]

splash

Tom?

whoosh

[both screaming]

[dramatic music]

[screaming]

(Spike) So, youse got the claim downstream from the mouse, too.

Seems all legal-like. Make sure you keep it that way.

[instrumental music]

clank

whirr whirr

A wave that size should do nicely. Heh heh!

Yahoo! We're rich!

crash

[dramatic music]

[both screaming]

[dramatic music]

crash

[instrumental music]

(Butch) 'Well, that's the last of it.'

'The rodent's mined out all the gold.'

If we're gonna get any we'll have to stop him

before he makes it to town.

You in?

Okay, Tom, that's plenty of rocks.

I'll mark the spot on the road

and when the mouse gets to it, you pull the rope.

[rumbling]

X marks... the spot?

crash

[instrumental music]

wherr wherr

[instrumental music]

creak creak

[both gasp]

(Butch) 'Well, what do you know? He made it.'

We better not let him get away.

You first, termite wrangler.

Ugh.

Leaving our financial futures up to

a bunch of lazy loafing insects...

[Butch screams]

[rumbling]

Alright, let's get these doggies moving!

(Butch) 'I mean the cattle, Tom. The cattle!'

Phew.

[bellowing]

(Butch) 'Stampede!'

[dramatic music]

We did it, pal. Heh. Now let's get this loot to town.

(male #1) 'Greetings, boys. Seems you have quite a haul.'

'Let's take a look. Hmm.'

(male #1) 'Sorry, but this is pyrite, fool's gold.'

'And this is one of those chocolate coins'

'wrapped in gold foil.'

And this is a gold record. Huh!

And this is nothing more than a turkey leg painted gold.

'You fools are wasting my time.'

I got the real gold right here.

'Using your cart as a decoy was a great idea, Jerry.'

That way, I could keep the real stuff safe and sound.

(male #1) 'You are going to be a very wealthy mouse.'

And youse claim jumpers

will be very comfortable in your new home.

'In jail!'

I knew this was a lousy idea.

bam bam

[theme music]