[Sam] The Chinatown Benevolent Society.
That's where Gizmo is?
That's where my father's office was,
so if that thing's calling himself Boss,
that's where it will be.
Gizmo must be so scared.
What if he freaks out again? Or if Noggin forces him to eat after midnight?
Or kills him.
[gasps]
He killed my dad, why stop there?
We've got to rescue Gizmo.
Unfortunately, it won't be easy.
Even if you took out the monsters,
we'd also have to get past Chinatown's toughest gangsters.
Then there's the barbed windows.
And roof spikes.
So many building code violations.
We're not making it in or out without some serious help.
I bet Elle could. She's the best thief I know.
And how many do you know?
I think I'm up to four, counting you.
But she's busy. So maybe, there's another way.
Magical help, magical help.
-Ooh! -Hey!
Sorry, recipe calls for something "stick-like."
Are you gonna make fog again?
No, it's a spell for locating magical allies.
Neat trick, but aside from those green, scaly guys,
there aren't any magical creatures in Chinatown.
Whoa!
[sighs in exasperation] In the slammer for a year,
and everything changes in this town.
-[thumps] -[Noggin] Bad goons!
-Bad, bad, bad goons! -[grunting in pain]
[whimpering]
Who told you to feed the little fuzzy ones?
Not I. And in case you lunkheads forgot,
-I. Am. The. Boss! -[thumping emphatically]
[mogwai muttering]
Gizmo, you know how very uncooperative
-mogwai spawn can be. -[Gizmo mewling]
Can't live with us,
yet can't live without getting wet sometimes, yes?
[whimpering, gasps]
[cackling menacingly]
-[whimpering] -What I'm saying is,
I know what you're thinking, father-brother.
[whimpers]
What does he have planned for me?
No, no, no!
Fun! We are going to have fun! [laughs exultantly]
[all laughing]
Huh?
[theme music playing]
It was the worst mid-autumn festival of our lives.
Your father said it would be easy.
Grab floating lanterns, sell them,
and score enough money to do anything.
Even buy your freedom.
So, you were trying to free me from Greene?
I was. But your father got greedy.
He took too many lanterns and we floated up, up, up.
We flew so far.
Soon, your father couldn't hang on any longer, and...
...down he went.
The only thing more horrible than his screams,
was the echoing crunch when his screams stopped.
But I flew on.
I was somewhere over the Pacific,
when my fingers finally slipped.
I'll never forget the chill when I hit the water.
And then, a passing ship scooped me up,
and brought me right here to San Francisco.
Quelle chance, no?
Wait, really?
[Margot] The next couple of years were hard,
figuring out my new existence.
But then, something truly incredible happened.
One year ago, I started dreaming about you coming here.
I've been having the same dream for the last year, too.
They started right after I kind of died.
You what?
But I'm fine now, because... Okay.
This is never not weird to say out loud,
but magic is real, Maman.
Oh, of course! Magical forces must be what brought you to me.
And now that you're here, my little magpie,
we'll never be apart again.
Why didn't you come back for me?
You deserve to know everything.
Uh, sorry! Watch out!
-Hey! -Ah, really sorry!
Whoa!
-[exclaims, grunts] -[thumps]
Golden Lion Dim Sum?
They don't even have clean chopsticks,
-you think they have magic? -[Sam yells]
[door rattling]
-[man] Chang, what's going on? -[panting]
[Chang] Health inspection, surprise!
We're just gonna take a look around,
make sure everything's in tip-top shape, and then we'll be out of your hair...
-[man] Inspection? -[Chang inaudible]
[man] Third one this week!
Everything here is extremely non-magical.
When I first met Gizmo, people said he was a cat-dog.
But Grandpa could tell he was magical.
-[squeaking] -[both yell]
-[exclaiming] -[clattering]
[mystical chiming]
[squeaking]
[sighing] I can't believe I'm doing this.
Hi, there, this magical toothpick
told us who you really are.
So, we're gonna need your help breaking into... a situation.
Don't worry. I can pay you in cheese.
[cracking, rumbling]
-[roaring] -Ah!
-[grunts, thuds] -[Sam yelps]
I am not a mercenary!
I do not consort with unlawful ruffians.
I'm gonna let you take this one, monster hunter.
[growling]
-Uh... -Hey, this is America.
You can be anybody you wanna be.
[chuckling nervously] Hi, there.
An enchanted toothpick led me to you.
You do not stink of vice like the other fur-less one.
What are you?
I am a monster h... Hero. A monster hero.
[smacks, grunts]
A what? Is this a new thing?
Yes! A monster hero helps good creatures, and fights bad ones.
They call me the Kid...
...in the Hat.
Hmm.
The, uh, most famous monster hero of them all! [chuckles nervously]
You should hear the songs they sing about him in Shanghai.
And as the Kid in the Hat,
I would like you, great Guardian Lion, to join me
-on a heroic rescue mission. -[growls]
For many years, I have sat here, doing nothing,
as dim sum steam soaked into my stony paws.
No one cares about a lone Guardian Lion,
much less, a damaged one.
Your offer is appreciated.
-Yet, I must decline. -[chain rattling]
[softly] Psst. Ask me again.
Please help us?
I accept!
I had to refuse your first request due to magic etiquette.
Lead on, monster hero.
[triumphant music playing]
I wanted you here, more than anything.
But I also didn't want us to keep living like we had been,
grifting day after day for scraps.
That's why I've been building a new life here,
for our fresh start.
You deserve nothing but the best, my sweet magpie.
But for this new life to truly begin, there's...
...something I'm going to need you to do.
You want me to do something?
I would do it myself, but, well...
[exclaims] Stop.
You almost got me.
"Hey, Elle, it's your long lost mom.
Love you more than anything. I just need a tiny favor."
Not happening!
Magpie, it's not what you think. Just let me explain.
Find another mark.
[Margot] Elle-Marie.
You need to listen.
Or did you come all this way to yell at me and storm off?
No. I came here to help my friends.
And I need to get back to them.
Unlike some people, I don't ditch the people who need me.
Elle, wait! [grunts]
[grunts]
[Noggin] Gizmo, allow me to give you a tour of my mogwai betterment project.
-[yelps] -Inside,
you'll find the finest instructors money can bribe,
teaching manners.
[mogwai muttering]
-[grunting] -[objects clattering]
-[mogwai roaring] -[crashes]
-[laughing] -[man gasps]
I also offer elocution classes, so they may sound as melodious as moi.
[voice shaking] Where is the library?
[all chattering]
Not, exactly.
Let's try... Oh!
[cackling]
-[Gizmo exclaims] -It's a work in progress.
-[Gizmo yelps] -And staff retention
is a problem.
But we do offer an elective in Chinese black magic.
-[mogwai muttering] -[zapping]
[grunts]
-[explosion] -[splashes]
[gasps] Thank you. You okay?
Style and substance.
The elicul ring protects me from all magic.
Hence why I'm here with you
and not with my now sadly furred siblings.
Poor saps.
They're in the valley of who cares,
while we're here in Chinatown.
Culture, fashion, take out!
I'm keeping Boss Chang's legacy alive,
by evolving this town for a new kind of mogwai.
-Yeah! -Whoo!
Mogwai who won't tear Chinatown apart for sport.
Yeah!
Oh, Gizmo, your cheer makes my heart soar.
You're just like me, civilized,
which doesn't come naturally to our siblings.
-Out! -[thumps]
-[mogwai muttering]
-[panting] -[thuds]
[thumping down stairs]
[grunting, gasps]
As I was saying, with Boss Chang, I had a true friend.
Someone I could joke with, dream with.
Discuss contemporary art with.
Without him, I have no one except these numskulls,
who do nothing but... [mimicking mogwai cackling] ...all day.
-I can't take it anymore. -Huh?
They're not like us, Gizmo.
So, what do you say?
Care to be best friends?
Forever?
And ever?
-Hmm? -[chuckling nervously]
Assuming Chang's map is up to date--
[pants] Found you. I've been asking around everywhere.
Why were you running with a teacup? Where's Gizmo?
Wait. What's on your head?
Silence! Interloper!
[hesitating] Uh, it's Elle! [chuckles nervously]
Uh, assistant to The Kid in the Hat.
-The Kid in the what now? -Great hero of Shanghai.
Mmm, she does look like an assistant.
Listen, buddy--
Elle, did you find your mom?
Yeah, I did. But I wish I hadn't.
She just wants something from me.
What was it? And why?
Did she have a good reason for asking you?
There's nothing she can say, Sam. She's still the same
pickpocketing, daughter-ditching disappointment she always was.
End of story. Now, where's Giz?
-But what if-- -Your assistant is right,
monster hero. Disappointing relations do not deserve your time.
When I was carved, I was part of a pair.
My sister sat on the left, and I on the right.
We were the picture of guardian lion perfection.
That was all destroyed the night she showed her true colors.
The night before we were sold to a new owner,
she said she wanted to go alone.
So she made sure of it.
When the buyer saw my paw, he refused to take me.
I was left behind, doomed to a life of back rooms,
while my sister got her wish.
Nothing could ever justify what she did.
Nothing! [growling]
See? He gets it. Moving on.
I gotta assume something really bad happened to Giz,
if we're hanging with the super intense, talking lion.
That big-headed, back-stabbing, ugly mogwai Noggin's got him.
But we're getting him back. And the little guys, too.
Because the legendary Kid in the Hat has a plan.
Step one, everyone get on the lion.
[lively music playing]
Over there!
The next building.
[all] Whoa!
There's the guesthouse where your friends will be.
Guests are what my dad called hostages.
Mobsters love euphemisms.
[all] Whoa!
-[mogwai muttering] -Gizmo!
[grunting]
[singing Gershwin's Fascinating Rhythm]
That's not Gizmo, right?
-[thuds] -[The Lioness] Brother?
Is that really you?
I'll kill you, sister! [roars]
No, wait!
[smashes]
If they don't stop, every ugly thug in the place,
human and monster, is gonna come running.
[man grunting, screaming]
Exhibit A.
[grunts]
-[thuds] -[Elle] Take cover.
No. Stop.
As Kid in the Hat, I kindly ask you to stop, please.
-[crashes] -Hear me, brother.
[straining] Let me speak!
You can speak when you are dead!
-[The Lioness grunts] -[thuds]
Brother, please.
If you'll let me explain.
She's trying to tell him something.
-I've gotta get him to listen. -Why should he?
She betrayed him. There's nothing she can say
that can explain not coming back.
-[crashes] -[grunts painfully]
[growling, roaring]
This ends now!
I am your monster hero, and you will hear her out.
If you don't, you'll always wonder.
Brother, all I did was for you.
-You damaged my paw! -But I protected your heart.
Years ago, when I met our buyer,
I looked into his soul, and I saw a man
living outside the law.
A boss of ruffians.
I knew your spirit would crumble, serving such a man.
I told Boss Chang to leave you behind,
because with your injury, you would be too weak to serve him.
You... [sighs heavily] ...may have been right, sister.
Being around ruffians, all day and night,
I would rather be crushed into dust.
I always was the sensitive one.
But you cannot sacrifice yourself any longer.
Leave this place and join me
in assisting the legendary Kid in the Hat on his quest!
No.
I cannot.
What if we asked you a second time?
I accept!
[triumphant music playing]
Great. Let's find Gizmo.
-[movie reel rattling] -[sentimental music playing]
Here's my favorite part. Gets me every time.
And this is the 50th time I've screened it.
[Noggin sniffles]
[sobs softly]
-[sniffles] -Oh.
[grunts comfortingly]
[cackling]
-[thuds] -[mogwai yelping]
Sam!
Give us Gizmo!
And his two spawn, too!
What are you waiting for?
-Get them! -[mogwai grunting]
-[Elle grunting] -[mogwai cackling]
[Chang, Elle grunting]
[The Lioness growling] What are these things? [roaring]
[grunting]
You're gonna pay for what you did to my father, you monster scum.
Father? Oh, Boss Chang's son. You're alive. Good for you.
-[Elle grunting] -My...
My father talked about me?
No, no, you killed him. You don't even get to say his name.
Killed him? Why would I kill the one human who respected me?
Treated me like a son.
I was supposed to be the next Boss!
-[roars] -[grunts]
-[thumps] -[grunts]
-[thuds] -[grunts]
Your father passed Chinatown's leadership to me,
-on his deathbed. -[grunts]
-[Noggin growls] -[grunting in pain]
Where, it should be noted,
that he took time out of dying, to specify very clearly
that you would never be made Boss.
-[fighting continuing] -No, that... That can't...
You're lying!
-[thudding] -Humans.
Always so sure they're right, yet always so wrong.
Gizmo is in no need of rescue, isn't that so, best chum?
Um, it's not you, it's me.
-No! -[grunts]
No, you can't!
Oh! [laughing] You got me!
What a hilarious joke between friends. [chuckles]
-Gizmo, he's not your friend. -[grunts]
Gizmo, we gotta get out of here before more of them come.
[Elle grunts]
[sighs] No, sorry. Come with me?
Go with you? And what?
Share your cage as a pet?
-[Noggin growls] -[Gizmo yelps]
-Ah! -[Noggin] No.
When it comes to humans or mogwai,
I made my choice.
You're staying here with me!
You made me! You will love me, or you will die!
[grunting]
-[gasps] -[thuds]
-[crashes] -[Noggin groans]
[groaning]
-[grunts] -[mogwai screams]
Gizmo!
Where are the little guys?
They gone. We go.
Ugh, again?
-[menacing music plays] -[mogwai muttering]
[growling]
[muffled sounds inside cocoon]
[The Lion grunts]
-[The Lion grunts] -[The Lioness growls]
[mogwai screams]
Nice, I think we got 'em all.
[mogwai cackling]
Never mind. There's too many!
You go! We shall stay!
What? No! Come with us.
Never.
Running is not our way.
Besides, nothing can truly hurt me now
that I'm reunited with my brother.
[sentimental music plays]
[mogwai cackling]
Now, go! We shall tell the world
about our adventure with the Kid in the Hat!
[both roaring]
This way, come on.
-[Elle grunts] -[mogwai yelps]
[crashes]
I can't believe my dad made that thing Boss.
[Sam] Uh-huh, terrible. But right now, where is our escape?
[door opens]
Here, our way into the tunnels.
[exclaims]
Chang, you know the way?
Does a centerfielder have a strong arm?
[all] Uh...
Never mind, another American thing.
But, yeah, we're home clear.
Ah, damn it.
-[thuds] -[growling]
-[mogwai yelping]
Follow me.
How predictable.
Junior went straight to the smuggling tunnels
where there's nothing but dead ends for miles.
They said I was just punishing the dissidents with hard labor,
when I ordered them all to barricade the tunnels.
And I was! But who's laughing now, huh?
[laughing maniacally]
[all laughing]
[Noggin] No!
Can't have you spawning all willy-nilly.
Human thugs. Bring him to me.
This city's only big enough for one smart mogwai.
[Sam panting]
[all panting]
[grunting in exasperation] This whole place is locked down.
-[water bubbling] -[groans, gasps]
Thing in water! Thing!
[magical chiming]
-[all gasp] -He's right.
Something's down here.
Oh, great.
[chuckling maliciously]
Into the water, into the water!
-[water bubbling] -[magical chiming]
[all gasp]
My magpie.
Perhaps you should have stayed for the rest of my story.
Now, let Maman handle this.
[water splashing]
Huh?
[theme music playing]