Original subtitles

[theme music]

[indistinct chatter]

Come on, everybody! Give him some air.

Will you move back? Give him some room!

- Come on! - It's silly.

He doesn't like the feeling of being crowded.

- He's mildly claustrophobic. - Oh!

[indistinct chatter]

[girls laughing]

(Sarah) 'Arvid, it's an animal.'

(Alan) 'If he's claustrophobic here'

he oughta love the space shuttle.

- 'I know.' - Hey, hey, hey.

Babaloo will be fine.

He won't have you guys around to bug him.

Alright, Babaloo, time to pump some iron.

- 'Let's go!' - 'Watch this.'

(Arvid) 'Relax, big boy. That's right.'

'Here's your barbell.'

- No way. - 'Oh!'

- Oh, that's cool. - He's really lifting weights!

(Sarah) 'Arvid!'

[indistinct chatter]

- 'That's amazing!' - That's horrible.

Arvid, he's hot for you.

(Arvid) 'One more. Come on, come on. A two..'

- 'That's great!' - 'Yeah!'

- 'There you go!' - 'Okay.'

(Arvid) 'Great. That's great. Okay.'

Okay. Okay, that was very good, Babaloo.

Yes, it was!

What'd you call him?

Babaloo. Babaloo Farigno.

Oh, Arvid!

Isn't that right? You're so cute. Yes, you are!

Arvid, people are watching. Alright, everybody.

- Show's over! - 'Aw!'

Arvid, enough kissy face with the frog!

- We got work to do! - You call this work?

- This is stupid pet tricks. - 'I know.'

Yeah, Arvid, this is horrible.

All you're doing is abusing a poor helpless little creature.

Abusing?

I personally feed Babaloo his flies.

Oh, so now you're abusing flies?

Hey, we are making this frog a star!

He'll be getting TV spots

he'll be getting magazine covers, he'll be getting--

Death threats from French chefs.

[laughing]

Aren't you guys jumping the gun here?

You're only gonna be finalists

and that's if NASA chooses your experiment

for the space shuttle contest.

- Uh-huh. - "If?"

- Yeah. - This is major!

We are studying the effects of exercise

to counter the atrophy of long-term weightlessness

by using Amphibia Anura, Rana catesbeiana.

- A what? - A bullfrog to you.

How'd you guys come up with this idea, anyway?

Well, I was sick in bed with the mumps

and I started thinking I'm not getting any exercise.

And then I started thinking about space

and it-it-it just came to me.

T-t-the math, the concept, the frog, the machines.

So why'd you bring Dennis in on it?

- Yeah. - Yeah, why?

"Why?" You have to ask "Why?"

- Yeah. - 'Yeah.'

Tell them why.

Well, Dennis helped out with all the electrical stuff.

And you know I love working with him.

- We're a team. - That's right.

Well, it's all a joke, anyway.

I mean, what are the odds of their project

being picked to go to Houston?

About the same as me being struck by lightning.

Dennis, Arvid, we just got the word.

You made it. You're in the finals!

- What? - Ah!

Whoo! Whoo! Whoo!

[thunder rumbling]

[instrumental music]

[instrumental music]

And, uh, in honor of Fillmore's astronauts

who will be leaving for Houston in a couple of days

today's lesson, with the help of a little modern technology

will concern itself with this book

by Colonel Buzz Aldrin

one of the first two men on the moon.

- Wow. - Hey, hey, there he is.

"July 20th, 1969."

(Charlie) 'Right, now here's a question.'

Who can name the scientists who were monitoring this mission

at 3:00 in the morning?

Mm-hm. One of the points the book makes.

We don't often credit the thousands of scientists

and technicians who got the astronauts up there

'people who represented for all of us'

'what was once known as the Space Effort.'

Excuse me, Mr. Moore, we have a major problem

in our Student Shuttle Involvement Program.

- What? - What? What's the problem?

Tell me.

How do you feel about the boys' project?

- I think it's terrific. - 'Good.'

Our science teacher, Mr. Klaufner, refuses to fly.

He understands the principles of flight.

He just doesn't believe it.

[laughs] He won't go to Houston.

Well, a, a man should take risks in his life.

Uh...if Buzz Aldrin can walk on the moon

I suppose I can spend a couple of days in Houston

with these two. I'll do it.

[chuckling] Great.

- Thanks, Mr. Moore. - Thank you.

(Dennis) 'Hello, Houston.'

'Yee-haw!'

- You okay, Arvid? - Uh..

Your face is about the same color as your frog.

Yeah, I shouldn't have eaten the chicken vesuvius.

I think it's about to erupt.

- Oh! - Here we are!

(Arvid) 'Gosh, Mr. Moore, the first stop on the way to the moon'

'the planets and beyond. Do you feel something?'

(Moore) 'Well, it's starting to get to me.'

'This is pretty exciting.'

(Dennis) Ah, it fell over!

I'll probably get blamed for that.

(Arvid) 'That's the Saturn V rocket, the biggest one ever built.'

'They would've used for Apollo 18'

'if there'd been another mission.'

(Charlie) 'Very impressive, Arvid.'

(Dennis) 'I knew that.'

(Arvid) 'Yeah, I know you did, but I knew it first.'

Wow!

Wow!

Wow!

(Dennis) 'Arvid, not yet, these are just buildings.'

Okay, we'll be back in about five minutes.

You wait here. Thanks.

Okay, guys, let's go.

[instrumental music]

This is it, Arv, the very center of the space center.

- Now. - Wow!

Hi.

I bet y'all are here for the Student Shuttle Program.

Well, didn't pass for astronauts.

[chuckling]

I'm Nancy Cole, your NASA representative.

- Well, I'm Charlie Moore. - Hi.

Uh, these are my students.

- Arvid Engen. - Hi.

- Dennis Blunden. - Hi.

This must be the Lunar Module, huh?

Looks just like a big old spider, doesn't it?

Oh, I got everything you need right here.

Your orientation package, your hotel vouchers

and your NASA badges.

- Wow! - Mr. Moore.

Could you handle that stuff, please?

- Arvid, let's go! - It's a NASA badge.

I'm gonna wear these right next

to my Junior Flight Attendant Wing.

Very nice. Come on.

They have a lot of nervous energy, don't they?

Yeah, well, they're New Yorkers.

You see, Babaloo

a module just like this was on the moon.

Yes, it was!

You know the moon, don't you? That big lily pad in the sky.

- Yes! - Alright, alright!

Hey, isn't that an Apollo command module?

Apollo 17, 1972.

Last manned voyage to the moon.

- Eugene Cernan, commander. - Wait a minute.

You can tell these things apart just by looking at 'em?

- Sure. Can't you? - Sure.

- Arvid, look. - What?

Do you know who that is?

- That's Dr. George Milnor. - The George Milnor?

- You know who George Milnor is? - Of course I do.

He's one of the top space physicists in the country!

He's here consulting on the Hubble Space Telescope

that let us see to the edge of the universe.

Well, who cares? He is one of the top guys at MIT.

I bet he's one of the judges. This is great!

If he likes my project, I am a shoe-in to get into MIT.

[clears throat] "If he likes my project?"

Here, here, get a shot of me

with Dr. Milnor in the background.

Excuse me?

"If he likes my project?"

I-I didn't say that.

Uh, actually, I think that's what I heard.

Well, it's probably the acoustics in here.

- I said our and you heard my. - You said it.

- I did not. - You did.

- Did not. - You did!

- Not, not, not! - Did, did, did!

You-you said it. Now listen.

Five minutes.

We haven't been in the space center five minutes

and you guys are already doing Moe and Curly.

[clears throat] Excuse me, Mr. Moore, I just have to say--

Excuse me, Arvid, I-I'm just suggesting

that you focus your energy on your project.

After all, you're due to present it first thing in the morning.

- Right. - Right, but..

Yeah.

- Right. - Right.

- Did not. - Did.

- Not. - Did.

[instrumental music]

Arvid, come on! Get him ready. What's taking so long?

Babaloo knows today is the big day.

Look how nervous he is.

Arvid, he's a frog. How can you tell he's nervous?

Just look at the expression on his face!

[croaking]

You boys, uh, excuse me for a minute.

I feel I need to talk to an adult.

Babaloo is an adult. Aren't you?

Yes, you are!

Take a deep breath, now exhale slowly

and count to ten.

That's how to relax, green guy.

- Well, why can't I do that? - Arvid, just relax.

Nobody can beat Blunden and Engen.

- Uh, Engen and Blunden. - I'm going alphabetically.

- I made up the experiment. - You are so petty.

Oh, Charlie, you mentioned yesterday

that you'd like to meet an astronaut.

Well, there's Buzz Aldrin.

- Buzz? - Oh, you know him?

Oh, no. Yeah, I-I would like to meet him..

Oh, okay. Come here.

Excuse me?

- Buzz? - Yes, Nancy.

Hi. I would very much like for you to meet Mr. Charlie Moore.

He's a teacher here with the science competition.

It's a great pleasure to meet you, colonel.

Pleasure, indeed.

- Pleasure, real pleasure. - 'Ha-ha.'

It's nice to meet you, too, Charlie.

Uh, forgive me, I'm probably talking

as though you're carved on the side of Mount Rushmore.

It's just because you were once on the moon.

[chuckles]

I know. I remember.

Good. Well, I mean, I do, too.

Summer of 1969, really, only two things happened.

I have never forgotten the sight of you and Neil Armstrong

walking across the surface of the moon.

And what was the other thing?

Woodstock.

You know, reading your book, though

I was struck by your admission of fear when you were..

- Planting the flag. - Planting the flag. Yes.

Well, we were hoping that it, uh, wouldn't fall over.

We could only get the flag pole in a couple of inches..

...but it stood up and I saluted it.

Mm-hm.

Look who's with Mr. Moore! Buzz Aldrin!

Hey, hey, hey! Look who's behind Buzz Aldrin, George Milnor.

[sighs] Dennis, I'm warning you.

Arvid, we got nothing to worry about.

Okay.

They're, they're looking this way!

- Ah. Just be cool. - Right.

Yeah.

Fellas, I think we've got a real treat for you here.

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

Colonel Aldrin, these are my students

Arvid Engen and Dennis Blunden.

You walked on the moon!

[mumbling] I-I-I'm actually standing with someone

who-who put footprints in the moon dust.

You walked on the moon!

Colonel Aldrin, I'll never forget

the feeling of exhilaration, the pride, the lump in my throat

that I felt when I first saw you set foot on the moon.

But that was 1969.

You weren't born yet.

Well, it was a rerun, but I still went lumpy.

Uh, boys, this is Dr. George Milnor from MIT.

MIT? No kidding! What a surprise!

Dr. Milnor, it's an honor to meet you.

My name is Dennis Blunden.

And your work with the Hubble Telescope is

what can I say, sir, it's inspiring.

Oh! You know about the Hubble?

Know about it? I-I love the Hubble.

In fact, you want a coincidence?

- Hubble, is my middle name. - I thought it was Clarence.

Why don't we start the presentation?

[clears throat] I thought we'd begin--

Ladies and gentlemen

I'd like to present Babaloo Farigno

'our Amphibia Anura, Rana catesbeiana'

better known as a bullfrog

who can actually bench press his own body weight.

The way I see it, sir, the elasticity of a muscle fiber

can be compared much to that of a rubber band.

At zero gravity, I feel that muscle fibers might..

[instrumental music]

And so

I give you Frog In Space

a clinical evaluation of regulated muscular activity

by Amphibia Anura, Rana catesbeiana

in a weightless environment and its implication

for the future of homo sapiens.

The mathematics here is quite sophisticated.

Thank you, sir. We're especially proud of that.

(Buzz) 'Well, good luck.'

We need more young scientists like you in the program.

Thank you, Colonel Aldrin.

- Blunden, Dennis Blunden. - And Engen. Arvid Engen.

- 'Yeah.' - Thank you.

Well, why don't we move on to the next experiment?

Oh, yeah, you should. It's a cute one.

MIT, great school!

[sighs] God, I was nervous! That went great, huh?

Aren't you gonna say something?

Dennis, I hate you.

What are you talking about? I gave a killer presentation!

You pushed me aside! You don't even understand the math I did.

You did it again, Dennis. You took credit for everything.

O-okay, okay, okay.

I-I realize I did talk a little more--

A-a little more?

I'll straighten this out, okay? I-I promise.

[sighs] You promise?

You know, Dennis, your promises

have a tendency to be broken before you make them.

[sighs] Not this time.

I swear.

[sighs] Okay.

I'll give it another try. Uh, not for me, but for Babaloo.

I don't want him to come from a broken home.

(Charlie) 'Tell you what, guys, instead of just hanging out'

'waiting for the judges to make the decision'

'we could join Ms. Cole.'

'She's giving a tour of the space station mock-up.'

'You wanna do that?'

- 'Sure.' - 'Sure.'

[instrumental music]

Here it is.

Space Station Freedom

a permanent space research laboratory

with modules provided by Japan

Europe, Canada and the USA.

It'll take up to 20 shuttle trips to complete it

starting in 1995.

Arvid! You know quite a bit about this, don't you?

More than some people are willing to admit.

(Nancy) 'Ready to go in?'

- Arvid? - Yes, we, uh..

Yeah-yeah.

[instrumental music]

Watch your heads.

Okay. Well, excuse me. Excuse me.

Everybody, let's gather around here.

These are the living quarters known as the HM.

The habitation module.

Yes. Thank you, Arvid.

As you can see, each crew compartment

is only about the size of a telephone booth.

Here we have the telephone, the personal stereo

with a radio and a VCR

and the intercom system within the laboratory.

And of course, in space there's no up or down

so they sleep on the floors, the walls and the ceiling.

So can flies, Arvid.

Bet y'all can't guess what this one is.

That's the PHF with WMS.

[clears throat] Everybody..

...this is the PHF with WMS.

Oh, really, Dennis? What does that mean?

Hm?

I say, what does that stand for?

What are you trying to do? Show me up?

Uh, me? No.

But you maybe interested to know

that that stands for Personal Hygiene Facility

with Waste Management System.

Uh, better known as P-O-T-T-Y.

- Dennis, you're an infant. - Well, if I am, what about you?

- Oh, come on. - Why don't you come on?

Hey, hey, boys.

[instrumental music]

Thank you.

So, uh, what's the NASA designation for this area?

- The galley. - The galley?

What is this, a submarine? Come on, Mr. NASA, speak.

What are the fancy initials for this?

This is the galley.

You'll notice there are no chairs.

You have to hook your feet under those little loops

under the table in order to stay in place.

So in the dinning room, I guess

you have to hook your feet to the chandelier.

No?

Now, this is the lookout cupola.

You'll see on the model how it fits atop the Freedom.

You float up to the top of the cupola

and you have a 360-degree view.

It'll be used every day for many different purposes

such as controlling traffic on a day

when a shuttle arrives and you have EVAs going on.

And you get to see the sun rise and set every 45 minutes.

Right.

Well, the judges must've made their decision by now.

Let's get back to the PCMPSR. Arvid?

The press conference multi-purpose support room.

[instrumental music]

[indistinct chatter]

This is it, Babaloo. Cross your little webbed fingers.

[indistinct chatter]

[clears throat] And now to announce the winner

of our Student Shuttle Involvement Program

it is my honor to introduce to you Astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

[audience applauding]

Thank you, Nancy.

Congratulations to all our young scientists.

Unfortunately, there's only room for one experiment

on the space shuttle.

And that one will be

"Frog In Space."

'Dennis Blunden and Arvid Engen.'

[laughing]

[audience applauding]

Thank you very much.

'Well, what can I say?'

What an honor. I-I am speechless.

I'd like to thank NASA for selecting me and my frog

as finalists.

'Uh, I would, of course, like to thank Colonel Aldrin.'

Thank you.

Uh, a very, very special thanks

'to my personal scientific hero'

'Dr. George Milnor!'

How about a big hand for Dr. Milnor, huh?

[applauding]

'George Milnor!'

- 'Okay.' - 'Uh, oh.'

(Dennis) 'Of course, I have to thank someone without whom'

there would have been no experiment at all.

My frog, Babaloo Farigno.

'And, uh..'

Oh! Arvid! Come on up here, Arv!

You bet I'll come up there. Now just a minute. Whoa! Oh!

[woman screaming]

[screaming]

Remain calm!

You're in no personal danger!

'Return to your seats!'

Remain calm. Please remain calm!

[screaming]

I can't take him anywhere.

[chuckles]

- Come here, Babaloo! - There he is! There he is!

[indistinct chatter]

[instrumental music]

[upbeat music]

- Sarah, you can-- - 'Girls, girls!'

- I will cut the.. - Do you hear me?

Up, up with the sign. Up! Get it up, up! Up, up.

Come on, Simone. Get in the spirit.

How often do two of your fellow students

get their science project on the shuttle?

I'm thrilled for them, really.

I'm just not a hat person.

Hey, I'll wear it, Dr. Samuels. I think it looks funky fresh.

Funky? I don't like funky. That's not funky.

[chuckles]

What about stupid?

- 'Oh!' - 'Oh!'

The eagle has landed.

[all cheering]

Hey, don't you mean the toads have landed?

Everybody, take their cue from me!

Okay, Dr. Samuels.

- Must we sing this? - Yeah. Come on!

Yes! Yes, you do.

♪ Up we go into the wild blue Fillmore ♪

♪ Fly high into the stars ♪♪

Congratulations, Dennis and Arvid!

[all cheering]

- Great job. - Boys! Boys!

I'm proud of you.

In a few weeks you'll return to Houston

where you'll place your experiment aboard the shuttle.

Now what do ya say to that?

I say, we're not going back to Houston

and there isn't going to be any experiment.

- What? - Why?

Arvid and Dennis..

...are having a problem.

- 'Oh, great.' - No! No! No problem!

Is that understood?

You are happy, y-you are honored.

You will both go to Houston together!

One small step for mankind, one giant leap for frogs.

We're not going back.

Hey, he's kidding.

Come on, Arvid. We'll work this out later.

I'm not kidding.

- 'Aw, Arvid!' - Come on.

(Dennis) 'Everybody, this is just a big misunderstanding.'

- 'What'd you do, Dennis?' - 'Yeah, what happened?'

Alright, Blunden, let's hear it.

One of the judges was from MIT.

And I-I gotta go there!

So maybe I over-emphasized me

a little bit and I sort of forgot--

And all but forgot to mention Arvid.

- Oh, Dennis. - Oh, Dennis.

You guys have to understand.

Arvid has his whole life mapped out for him.

He's just gonna follow in his father's footsteps to Caltech.

MIT is so important to me.

And it doesn't mean anything to Arvid.

- 'Anybody buying this?' - 'No way.'

- No. - Well, I am sorry.

I-I've said it for the last 24 hours, Arvid, I'll say it again

in front of you, in front of the class

in front of everybody!

- I am sorry! - No, Dennis.

- I'm the one who's sorry. - Why?

Because we're not friends anymore.

Arvid, we won!

- Think about this. - Dennis, it's over!

I'm not going back to Houston.

I'm taking my frog and I'm-I'm going home.

[instrumental music]

[theme music]