1. INT ARI’s LIVING ROOm / DAY We open on a wooden toy block being held under another block. As we pull out, we see that it’s being held up by ARI. The camera pulls out further and rotates to reveal that he’s hanging upside down from the door jam, holding a block with one hand while trying to place another one on top of a teetering tower of ~10 blocks. (If the height still doesn’t work, we could put the block tower on top of the coffee table?). Ari narrates to himself like a golf commentator. ARI (comically loud WHisper) Here we go folks. If Ari can place these last two blocks... He slowly readies to place the first block. ARI (CONT’D) ... this will officially be the tallest block tower... (forgets and yells) ...IN THE WORLD! (remembers) Oh shhhh , right, need to whisper and concentrate. He gingerly places the block. ARI (CONT’D) Stay right there, little block. No falling. The tower teeters for a moment. ARI (CONT’D) Uh oh. But the tower doesn’t fall. ARI (CONT’D) Phew! One more block for the WORLD RECORD. He reaches out to place the next block. <SFX: MIRI OFFSCREEEN BABY COOING> Ari reacts, pulling back his arm as Miri crawls into the room (safely away from the tower). ARI (CONT’D) Hi Miri. Be careful, I’m trying to build the tallest block tower in the world. Miri gestures that she wants to play too. ARI (CONT’D) Oh, I know you want to help, but this is really important. It’s for the world record. Ari reaches out and puts the last block on the unstable looking tower. The tower teeters. ARI (CONT’D) Uh oh. The tower starts to lean one way. <SFX: GASP!> Ari flies down. He hovers on the side that’s falling and blows desperately on the tower to keep it up. The tower teeters the other way. Ari flies to the other side and blows on it again. It sort of looks like it works, but then: PLOP. The tower falls on him, showering him comically with blocks. Miri <SFX: GIGGLES>. ARI (CONT’D) Yeah, I know. It’s kinda fun when it falls down. He gets up and assesses the fallen blocks. ARI (CONT’D) I guess I’ll have to keep trying! MR. BAT (OS) Ari, are you ready for school? It’s time to go. Mr. Bat appears in the doorway. ARI Aww , can I build one more tower? Pleaaaase ? MR. BAT You can’t be late. Remember, today is a special day: it’s your class field trip! Ari gets very excited, does a little celebration dance as Miri crawls over to Mr. Bat. ARI Oh, YES! Field trip! Wooo hoo ! Ari flies over to the kitchen table, where Mr. Bat has Ari’s hat and is packing his lunch. He puts the hat on Ari’s head. ARI (CONT’D) Did you pack my extra snacks? Field trips make me extra hungry. MR. BAT I know. I’ve been your dad for like...your entire life. Mr. Bat calls out the snacks as he packs them. MR. BAT (CONT’D) Here’s your morning snack, your bus ride snack. The mid-morning snack. The lunch snack and... The afternoon snack. ARI Wait, what about the emergency back-up snack?! MR. BAT On it. He puts one last snack in. ARI Thanks, Dad! You’re the best. Bye Miri! He grabs the lunchbox with his feet and flies towards the door. The over-stuffed lunchbox pulls him to the floor as it goes over the edge of the table. ARI (CONT’D) Don’t worry. I got this. He comically drags it out of the kitchen. 2. EXT SCHOOL YARD / BUS - DAY The class kids are gathered outside the school where a school bus sits waiting for everyone to arrive. Ari arrives carrying his lunchbox . His friends ELINOR and OLIVE are already there, hanging out by a nearby tree. The two girls have their arms wrapped around the tree, linking hands and <SFX: GIGGLING> as Ari walks up to them, eating his morning snack. Ari Hi, Elinor! Hi, Olive! Uh, what are you doing? Olive ( giggles ) We’re hugging a tree! I really love trees, so I wanted to give this one a hug, but my arms couldn’t reach all the way around. Elinor So I helped her! And now we’re playing ring around the tree. The girls do a turn around the tree and let go, <SFX: GIGGLING> as they dust themselves off. olive Ari, are you excited for our field trip today? Ari Yeah! Although... it did keep me from getting a world record this morning. Elinor A world record? ARI Yup , I’m trying to build the TALLEST block tower in the world. Ari raises one arm up as high as he can. ELINOR Ooooh . Olive Oh! Mz. Mole said we are going to see some TALL trees today for our field trip. Ari Really? I love tall things. How tall do you think the trees will be? The kids think for a moment. Olive points to a nearby tree. OLIVE The trees in the playground are already pretty tall. They’re taller than the school. ELINOR Maybe the trees on our field trip will be even taller. Taller than my house! We see a thought bubble with the tree from the schoolyard, compared to the school. Elinor’s house appears and the tree pops and stretches to surpass its height. Ari That’s pretty tall. Olive Or maybe, they’ll be as tall as the town hall tower! In the thought bubble, we see the tree stretch up and the town hall tower appears next to it. ARI Whoa, now that would be TALL. Elinor looks puzzled. ELINOR Hmmm , I never thought about it before. I wonder how tall a tree can get? At that moment, the bus gets started, and Mz. Mole calls them in. MZ. MoLE Alright , class! Who’s excited about going on a field trip?? The kids all shout positively <SFX: YEAH! WOO HOO ! WALLA>. Mz. Mole (CONT’D) Well, hop on board! The kids excitedly pile into the bus. As they climb up, they say hi to the conductor, DEPUTY MOUSE. Deputy mouse Good morning, kids! ELINOR/ARI/OLIVE Hi, Deputy Mouse!/ Good morning deputy mouse! / Hello! 3. School BUS - DAY Inside, the three kids find their seats. Ari immediately opens his lunchbox . Ari Yes! Time for my bus snack! MZ. MOLE Ok , Deputy Mouse, are you ready to drive us... back to school? The kids react in outrage. ARI/OLIVE/ELINOR No!/We’re already at school!/Mz. Mole! Deputy Mouse and Mz. Mole <SFX: CHUCKLES>. MZ. MOLE Just kidding! Deputy Mouse, please drive us to... the dentist! More outrage. <SFX: NO!/NOT THE DENTIST!/MZ. MOLE! WALLA>. ELINOR Mz. Mole! Field trips are supposed to be fun! MZ. MOLE Ha ha. Just some old teacher silliness. No, today we are going to see something VERY SPECIAL. It’s a very tall kind of tree, called a Sequoia. OLIVE Sequoia. I like that word! ARI How tall is a Sequoia, Mz. Mole? Is it taller than the town hall tower? MZ. MOLE Why it’s the tallest tree IN THE WORLD! The kids <SFX: OOH / AHH /YAY!>. DEPUTY MOUSE One Sequoia forest, coming right up! Deputy Mouse gets the bus going (SOUND NOTE: it purrs quietly, as it runs on green energy). 4. EXT. ANIMAL TOWN AND BEYOND -- DAY We see the bus roll out of Animal Town and over different landscapes. Slowly, the vegetation starts to look slightly different and more like Northern California, near the Sequoia forest. As the bus rolls along, we have a musical montage of the kids playing (while staying seated), eating their snacks, reading, looking out the window, etc. 5. EXT SEQUOIA GROVE -- DAY The bus pulls up amid a grove of tall, thick trees (~1.5 times the height of the trees from their school, not giants yet). Elinor, Olive and Ari (polishing off an apple) get out and <SFX: OOH and AHH> . OLIVE Wow, these trees are so tall! ari They are much taller than our trees at home. They’re soooooo tall. Mz. mole Alright everyone. Who is ready to see some tall trees? ELINOR Huh? Aren’t these the tall trees we came to see? MZ. MOLE Ha! These are pretty tall, but they are just BABY Sequoia trees. The really tall trees are the ones in the forest! The kids <SFX: WHOA, OOH and AHH> . ari If these are the baby trees, how tall are the grown-up trees? MZ. MOLE Follow me to the giant Sequoias! They go for a little walk through the sequoias, enjoying the cool ferny climate, which is foresty but also different from home. We see Elinor and other kids happily looking around. They arrive at a small clearing, where there are some tall trees bigger than the first trees they saw. They have wide trunks, but the kids can see the tops of them from where they are. Olive Mz. Mole, are these the tall sequoia trees? ARI They must be! Look how tall they are. ELINOR Whoa... I think they’re taller than the town hall tower. On a wide view, we see that the trees are indeed several storeys high. Mz. Mole Nope! These are still young Sequoia trees. Let’s keep going! The kids <SFX: WHOA... WALLA> as they keep walking. Finally, they arrive at the main clearing. At first, the kids (in the show and at home), can’t tell they are next to a giant sequoia because it’s SO big that the base of it fills a whole side of the screen on a medium shot. Mz. Mole stretches her arms out. MZ. MOLE (CONT’D) Here we are, kids! What do you think? Pretty tall, right? The kids look around, a bit confused <SFX: HUH?/WHERE ARE THE TREES? WALLA>. ELINOR Where are the big trees, Mz Mole? MZ. MOLE Right here! You’re standing right next to one of them! The camera pulls out to reveal that they are at the base of a giant sequoia. ARI That’s a tree? I thought it was part of the mountain. ElinoR No, it is a tree. Look up! The kids look up. The tree is SO tall, they can’t even see the top. OLIVE SO... MUCH... TREE! Olive is in love. The kids are all astonished. ArI Now THAT is a tall tree! Elinor looks curious. ELINOR Mz. Mole, I have a question. MZ. MOLE Yes, Elinor? ELINOR How tall is this tree? I can’t even see the top. Olive Yeah, without seeing the top, we can’t tell how tall it is. ARI That sounds like a job for everyone’s favorite bat. <pause> I’m talking about me. I’ll fly up there and check out the top! Ari takes off flying. MZ. MOLE Be careful up there, Ari! We see Ari fly up... And up... And up. He passes some birds and keeps going... Up... and up... He goes through a small cloud... and keeps going! Finally, he gets to the very top. ARI (out of breath) Wowwwwww . THOUGHT BUBBLE: we see Ari up close then TRUCK OUT to this one tree at full scale and in doing so we see how tiny Ari is in comparison as he flaps his wings near the top. Ari (CONT’D) My hat! We follow the hat down, down, down... The hat lands on Mz. Mole, followed shortly by Ari. ELINOR How tall was it, Ari? ARI (OUT OF BREATH) It’s so tall! It wasn’t as wide at the top, though. It got thinner. OLIVE It took your hat FOREVER to fall down. ELINOR Is it higher than the town hall tower? ARI (STILL OUT OF BREATH) Way higher! I passed some birds on the way up! OLIVE Is it taller than the clouds? ARI (CATCHING HIS BREATH) I had to fly THROUGH a cloud to get to the top. The class kids all <SFX: OOOH WALLA>. OLIVE What was it like? ARI ( thinks for a beat) Mmm ... cloudy . The kids <SFX: GIGGLE>. Elinor looks up, curious. ELINOR I wonder... Why is this sequoia tree so tall? OLIVE Maybe it was planted by a giant? (Thought bubble of giant Olive planting a giant tree). ARI Or maybe it got stretched out by some birds? (Thought bubble of birds pulling on a tree). ELINOR Those are interesting ideas. I know, maybe it drank a lot of water. ARI Wow. I don’t think I could eat THAT many snacks. MZ. MOLE Actually, you’re right, Elinor! This forest is perfect for these trees to grow in. They have just the right amount of air, water, sun and food so they just keep growing and growing. OLIVE Forever? MZ. MOLE Some of these trees, like this one, are THOUSANDS of years old. General <SFX: WHOAAA> . OLIVE Wow, that’s super-old. MZ. MOLE Ha! Yes, by quite a bit. ELINOR Mz. Mole, does that mean that WE will also keep growing and get really tall like these trees? MZ. MOLE Don’t I wish! No, animals like you and me stop growing at some point. Olive goes up to the tree. OLIVE Look how wide the tree is here at the bottom. I wish I could hug it like I do our trees at home. Olive tries hugging the tree. Elinor I’ll help you, Olive! Ari Me too! One by one, the class joins in, linking arms and making a circle around the tree <SFX: ME TOO! YEAH! WALLA JUST ARI, OLIVE, and ELINOR?>. MZ. MOLE Ha ha, I love it! The kids form a circle, linking hands. Finally it takes the whole class including Mz. Mole. All the kids <SFX: GIGGLE> and enjoy this magical moment. ELINOR Wow, all of us can barely reach around. Why is the bottom of the tree so WIDE, Mz. Mole? MZ. MOLE Hmmm , good question, Elinor. What do you think would happen if the tree was thin from the very bottom to the top? The kids think about that for a beat <SFX: HMMM> . Ari leans back against a little sapling, which bends under his weight. ARI Woah ! This little tree is really bendy . Elinor curiously tries bending the tree a little. Then she has an idea. She runs over to the base of the giant tree, pushes on it. It’s rock solid. ELINOR I know! If the tree was thin at the bottom and all the way up, it would be really bendy . And then it wouldn’t be able to stay up so tall. On a thought bubble, she imagines a really thin tall tree. The tree bends completely over. ARI It would fall over, just like my block tower! OlIVE I get it. So the tree has to be wide at the bottom so that it can grow really tall. Mz. Mole That’s exactly right, clever scientists! Being really wide at the bottom helps trees be really tall without falling over. On their realization, the kids sing a song to recap: ELINOR/ARI/OLIVE Sequoias grow up, up Into the sky Sequoias grow big, big We wonder why How do those trees Grow so tall When the wind blows Why don’t they fall? These trees are wide down on the ground That really helps them not fall down! Sequoias grow up, up Into the sky Sequoias grow big, big We wonder why Se-quo-ias ! As the song ends, the kids marvel at the tree and run around the base of it <SFX: GIGGLING and LAUGHING WALLA>. We fade out. 6. INT ARI’s KITCHEN -- DAY Ari comes in the door, bubbling with excitement. ARI I’m home! His father is feeding Miri. Mr. BAT How was your field trip? ARI Oh wow, it was awesome. We saw the tallest trees in the WORLD. MR. BAT Wow. Taller than me? ARI SO much taller than you. And it was also really wide at the bottom. And that gave me an idea for how to build my block tower. Miri, wanna help me? 7. INT ARI’s LIVING ROOM / KITCHEN In a call back to the opening scene, we see Ari holding up Miri as she places the last block carefully. We pull out and see that Ari is also being held up by Mr. Bat. Miri places the block on a VERY TALL (~20 blocks) tower that is wider at the base. ARI Just like the tree, if you want something to be tall, it helps to be wide at the bottom. Miri <SFX: GIGGLES>. ARI (CONT’D) Thank you, Miri! They stand back and admire the tower. Mr. BAT Nice job, Ari. But you know, the most fun thing about building a tall tower is... ARI Making it fall down! Miri knocks the tower over and they all <SFX: LAUGH>. SEGMENT 2. 1. EXT FOREST -- WINTER DAY Open on Señor Tapir, with his guitar, standing in the snow next to Elinor, Ari and Olive. Everyone is wearing winter coats and hats. They all marvel at a youngish pine tree (not much taller than Sr. Tapir) that is bent over to the ground by the weight of the snow covering it. OLIVE Señor Tapir, look at that little tree bent over by the snow. ARI It looks like it's going to break. SEÑOR TAPIR Oh, don't worry. These trees can bend without breaking. An explorer named John Muir once climbed a very tall tree in a storm, to feel how much it could bend. Señor Tapir starts to strum his guitar and sings. After a few words, we transition to a simpler style of animation that describes what he is singing. [Note to composers: if possible, reuse music from Stephen Bishop interstitial, this is written to match the rhythm and rhyming scheme of that song] SEÑOR TAPIR (CONT’D) John Muir was a man who loved to explore, 2. EXT CALIFORNIA MOUNTAIN FOREST -- DAY We see John Muir (depicted as a black bear with a beard and wearing a traveler's hat, brown slacks, a brown vest over a white long-sleeve collared shirt) hiking through a California mountain forest full of very tall pine trees. SEÑOR TAPIR He felt right at home in the great outdoors. So he went for a walk where the trees grew wild and free. The wind begins to blow very strong. John Muir's hat blows off and his beard blows sideways. Bits of twigs, leaves and pine needles fly through the air. He looks up at the trees which begin to sway wildly. SEÑOR TAPIR (CONT’D) And whoah the wind really started to blow, And that's when John wanted to know How it feels at the top of a swaying tree. John climbs up a 100 foot tall Douglas Fir (Douglas Spruce) tree to the very top. A rope around his waist is tied to the tree trunk at the top for safety. The tree sways back and forth, nearly half way to the ground, taking John for a very wild ride. Back and forth, back and forth - John is loving it. SEÑOR TAPIR (CONT’D) He climbed a tree to the tippity top. And didn't come down til the wind had stopped. Just holding on tight and loving the way, The tree would bend…but would not break. As he sways, John looks out over the mountain slopes as the wind rolls over the forests. It looks like a grand field of wheat swaying in the wind, only it's trees. One hundred feet high swinging in the breeze, John Muir was amazed by the other trees, He watched them move and bend and sway. Trees are strong but can bend too. And only John Muir really knew, What it was like to be a tree on that stormy day. The tree sways back and forth, nearly half way to the ground, taking John for a very wild ride. John is loving it. SEÑOR TAPIR (CONT’D) He climbed a tree to the tippity top, And didn't come down til the wind had stopped. Just holding on tight and loving the way, The tree would bend…but would not break. 3. EXT FOREST -- WINTER DAY The kids <SFX: CHEER> as Señor Tapir finishes his song. ELINOR Trees are amazing! SEÑOR TAPIR Si. Gracias amigos . Señor Tapir brushes the snow off the pine tree, and it suddenly springs upright, showering Señor Tapir with snow <SFX: WHAAA!> . Everyone <SFX: LAUGHS>. END.

EWW126A "Big Trees" RECORD 17Dec19 .

.

ELINOR WONDERS WHY EWW126A: Big trees Written by Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson Question: Why are sequoia trees so tall? Logline: Ari wants to build as big a block tower as he can, but it keeps falling down until he gets some building inspiration from the sequoia trees. Curriculum: LS2 . Understand that animals have different body parts that are used in different ways to meet their needs, and that plants have different parts that help them survive and grow: b. Identify the basic parts of plants and their function c. Compare how the external body parts of animals and plants are the same and/or different d. Explore how different external features of a plant or animal help it survive in its environment.(Elinor and her friends observe the size of the sequoia tree, especially the circumference of the base.) ND3 . ( RTL Crosscutting concept ‘Structure and Function’): Under-stand that structures and materials in the natural world can be used or can inspire the engineering of structures with similar function in the designed world. (Ari decides to copy the structure of the big tree to help him build a more stable block tower at home). ET1 . Begin to understand that asking questions, making observations, and gathering information are helpful in thinking about problems, and that it is important to clearly understand the problem before beginning to design a solution b. Define a simple problem that can be solved through the design of a new or improved tool or technology (Ari defines the problem of his unstable block tower and designs a new and more stable way to build it, with a larger base). SEP1 . Asking questions (science) and defining problems ( engineer-ing ) a. Demonstrate curiosity about the greater world outside of their local environment b. Ask more complex questions about observable phenomena c. Ask and/or identify cause and effect questions that can be answered by an investigation d. Identify a problem that can be solved by the design a new or improved object or tool (engineering) (Elinor and her friends go on a field trip and observe the structure of the Sequoia, which Ari relates to the problem of his unstable block tower). SEP5 . Using mathematics and computational thinking d. Use measurement tools to measure and quantify properties of observable phenomena and objects (Elinor and her friends measure the base of the tree by counting the number of kids it takes to encircle it) SEP6 . Constructing explanations (science) and Designing Solutions (engineering) a. Use background knowledge experiences, and data to construct reasonable explanations and theories of natural phenomena (science) b. Look for and describe patterns and relationships in natural phenomena (science) c. Use and apply productive science discourse to support an explanation d. Use evidence to support a theory or solution to a problem (engineering) (Elinor and her friends observe that the Sequoia is more stable be-cause of it’s wide base, and Ari used that idea to make his block tower more stable). FIRST DRAFT: October 18, 2019 SECOND DRAFT: November 13, 2019 POLISH: December 9, 2019 RECORD DRAFT: December 17, 2019 ARI MIRI MR BAT ELINOR OLive MZ. MoLE Mz mole Mr. BAT Deputy mouse Class ELINOR/ARI/OLIVE (V.O.) (O.S.) (O.C.) (CONT'D) (SUBTITLE) (comically loud WHisper) (to olive) (WHISPERING) INT EXT I/E 1 3 INT ARI'S LIVING ROOM / DAY EXT FOREST AND ANIMAL TOWN SCHOOL BUS SEGMENT 2. DAY NIGHT AFTERNOON MORNING EVENING LATER MOMENTS LATER CONTINUOUS THE NEXT DAY CUT TO: FADE IN: FADE OUT. FADE TO: DISSOLVE TO: BACK TO: MATCH CUT TO: JUMP CUT TO: FADE TO BLACK. END