[Harriet] The 1964 World's Fair.
Picture a regular old carnival. Then put it in a rocket ship
and blast it straight to the future, and you're only getting close.
It was one of those field trips where you never wanted to go home.
[announcer] Welcome to the Futurama II, your passport to the world of tomorrow.
- [chuckles] Groovy. - Neato. That is cool.
[announcer] Underwater trains will bridge continents and commerce.
Ooh! I want to live underwater.
You'd have to hold your breath to get the mail.
I do that anyway. Our mailbox is right by the dumpster.
[Harriet] Look at all the tiny future people.
Hi, tiny future people!
Stay inside the ride, Harriet.
Ah! Horrible giant!
Run, tiny future people! There's a giant fun-ruiner attacking the city.
[laughs]
Mr. Horatio, Harriet and Janie are being disruptive.
Children, stop disrupting the future.
You're ruining the last glorious ride of the day.
[sighs]
Can you believe all the stuff we've seen today?
Robot maids, electric cars, satellites!
[sighs] Imagine all the stuff I could spy on from space.
Wish I could eat all the weird future food here.
I mean, what's a Belgian waffle?
My guess, it's a waffle and, stay with me, it's from Belgium.
Wow.
Okay, class. Use this time to jot down any final ideas for your assignment.
Based on what you've seen at the fair, what excites you most about the future?
[Harriet] What excited me most about the future? Oh, just everything.
Five minutes starting now, everyone. Happy writing.
[Harriet] What excites me most about the future?
[sighs] Space shuttles, the electric toothbrush.
[groans] I can't choose. Focus, Harriet.
The thing that excites me most about the future is...
I couldn't believe it.
For the first time in my life, me,
Harriet M. Welsch, future great writer, had...
writer's block.
♪ I just wanna be You just wanna be ♪
♪ We just wanna be ♪
♪ I am gonna be who I wanna be ♪
♪ My autonomy ♪
♪ No, I won't cut my hair ♪
♪ And I'll wear whatever ♪
♪ I like it when I get to be myself ♪
♪ I don't wanna be You don't wanna be ♪
♪ We don't wanna be told what to do ♪
[Harriet] If I was going to figure out the best idea for my class presentation,
I was going to need another way of looking at things.
Nice. But why stop there?
Come on, future. Show me what you got.
[jet pack firing up]
- [car honks] - Don't worry. I have a jet pack license.
Ooh! That's my exit. See ya.
[whirring]
Wow. A tomato sandwich from the future.
[chomps] Delicious. [chomps]
Robot Golly, what excites you most about the future?
[beeps]
I am programmed not to answer that question
because a good spy figures things out on her own.
[Harriet] I don't need more ideas, just one perfect one.
Everyone was writing like it was no big thing,
even Pinky Whitehead.
[Marion] Mr. Horatio.
I finished early. So if anyone is still struggling,
I can of course help them out.
[Harriet scoffs] Buzz off, Marion.
How could I be a future great writer if I couldn't write about the future
in a place that was wall-to-wall future?
[groans]
[Mr. Horatio] Time's up.
Well, class, we have a little time before we have to go back.
Who would like to try a "Belgian waffle"?
Oh, that sounds like a hoot.
Yes.
You okay, Harriet?
I'm fine.
[shutter clicks]
Hey, did you just take my picture?
Hey!
Let's go, Harriet. Future waffles await us.
Did you see that? What a snoop.
Yeah, Harriet. Who would spy on someone without asking?
Right? I'm gonna follow him and find out.
Ah, don't do it. If Mr. Horatio finds out you wandered off,
your future will be in detention.
[no audible dialogue]
You're absolutely right, Sport. So you better cover for me.
[Harriet] Ole Golly once said, "If a story leads, you follow."
[whistles]
[hoots]
- Huh? - Shh.
- [sighs] - Oh.
- Huh? - [gasps]
- [Harriet, whispering] Sorry. - Oh.
Busted!
What gives?
Why'd you take my picture without asking?
I didn't take a picture of you.
You took a picture of my crumpled notebook paper?
You see notebook paper. I see truth.
Trash, cracks, things people miss, that's art.
I'm a photographer.
You wouldn't understand. You're just a kid.
A kid? What are you, 14?
I gotta go. Bad enough I'm stuck at the fair.
I don't want to get stuck with you too.
If you hate it so much, why are you even here?
My parents work at the Kodak Pavilion. They razzle-dazzle the hayseeds,
and I try to find something real in this phony place.
What's so phony about people hoping for a better future?
I don't believe in the future.
Well, I don't believe in rudeness.
Enjoy the fair, kid.
I will.
And when I write my award-winning paper
about how amazing the future is going to be,
even someone like you will believe in it.
[groans]
If a human being and a brick wall had a baby, then I just met him.
Janie! Sport!
Yoo-hoo, Marion! Where are you?
I'm standing on a bench. Time to report me.
I didn't know what to do.
I was already lost on what to write. Now I was lost for real.
Belgian waffle stand!
How's the trash photography going?
Uh-- Wait, I didn't mean your photography is trash. I meant--
What do you want?
I was with my class, we're supposed to write a paper,
but I can't figure out what to write.
But then I saw you, and I thought, "Nobody spies on me without asking."
But then I got lost.
[sighs] Can you please just help me find my class?
No.
Has anyone ever told you that you're not a very nice human being?
But my parents can. Let's go ask.
Oh, okay. Great.
I'm Harriet, by the way.
[Chuck] Chuck. My name is Chuck.
[mouthful] Mmm. I've tasted the future, Janie.
It's from Belgium, and it's a waffle.
And it's gonna change the world. [sighs]
Focus, Sport. We gotta find Harriet.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. [chomps, chews]
[mouthful] Mmm. Focus. Gotta find her.
I wrote Harriet's name with whipped cream on a waffle and left it at the booth.
There's a note on a napkin underneath that says, "Meet us at the--"
Is that my napkin note?
[groans]
Sport, how is Harriet gonna find us now?
[woman] Up there you may recognize
the world's most famous circus clown.
Turn that frown upside down, mister clown.
You're in the largest photo ever developed.
[crowd laughs]
The only thing taller at the fair is the Royal Tire Ferris Wheel.
Chuck.
Hey, sweetie.
We didn't expect you until dinner.
And certainly not with a friend. Great.
The name is Harriet M. Welsch, and I am pretty great. Thank you.
She's also lost. Can you help her?
Oh, dear.
Well, uh, we're right in the middle of a tour.
But not to worry, young lady. Chuck knows this place better than we do.
Chuck, dear, just take her to the security station.
[groans] Fine.
You're in very good hands.
Aw. Bye, sweetie. [kisses]
Take it easy out there, son. Don't, you know, overdo it.
Dad, stop. I know what I'm doing.
Come on, Harriet. We've got a long way to go.
It's at the other end of the fair.
Sure. [sighs] Maybe one last look around will get my noggin nogglin'.
[chuckles] You really are a weird kid, Harriet.
Maybe there's hope for you yet.
Now stick close. You might learn something.
Lesson one. What do you think this fair is all about?
- World peace? - Wrong!
The fair is about suckers from around the world trying to make a buck.
Every pavilion is stamped
with a brand to sell you junk.
This is deep, heavy stuff, Harriet.
You should write this down.
If I wrote that down, it would be stamped with an F
for "forget about being a writer forever!"
You don't know that. Just like these brainiacs don't know
if any of this future stuff is gonna happen.
And you know better?
I know that living in the present takes the worry out of
not knowing what's next. What are you feeling right now?
Doom! If I can't come up with an idea for my paper,
Mr. Horatio's gonna make me wear a dunce cap
until my head turns into a cone.
That's in the future. What are you experiencing right now, now?
Well,
right now, now,
it's sunny.
People are smiling.
[sniffs] My hair smells like pretzels. [sighs]
Isn't that better than worrying about what's gonna happen next?
Let's keep moving, okay?
Yeah, yeah. We will.
Man, look at all this junk.
You'd have to be some kind of chump to wear this.
[laughs]
Now, let's see if you've all been paying attention.
I'm always paying attention.
Miss Hawthorne, can you be a dear and carry some of my precious things?
[grunts]
Can anyone tell me the name of one of the designers of this exhibit?
How about Miss Welsch?
[whispering] Doomed. We're all doomed.
I'm waiting, Miss Welsch.
[in female voice] Charles Eames, Mr. H. [giggles]
Correct. Great work, Miss Welsch. I'm glad someone is fully present here.
[whispering] I didn't know you did a Harriet impression.
[whispering] Well, neither did I.
I think my voice just gets higher when I'm scared.
Security's just up there.
Whoa, what's that?
How can you see this and not be excited about the future?
Ugh.
Picture phones?
You really think people will want to look at other people while they talk?
Of course!
I'd love to see Janie laugh at my jokes
instead of just hearing her snort over the line.
[snorting, laughs]
So, got any ideas yet?
No.
This is the most futuristically futurific place in the world.
How hard could it be?
When you're a real writer, your ideas can't just be about anything.
You gotta find stuff other people can't see.
Yeah.
It's like you have to capture the world from just the right angle,
and only you can do it, okay?
Sometimes it feels like a lot of pressure to get it right.
[scoffs] Writing words down is easy. It's just talking on paper.
Well, if you think it's so easy,
how about you write about what excites you about the future,
and I'll take pictures of the fair?
Whoever does the best art wins.
All right then. You're on.
[both straining, grunts]
- Be careful with that. - Be careful with that.
[laughs]
Can I take a picture of you?
A portrait? That's so pedestrian.
Harriet.
Finger slipped.
[Harriet] Time's up. [sighs] Read 'em and weep.
They have a lot of life in them. Not bad for an amateur.
Thanks. Your turn, wise guy.
"The future is trash"?
That's all you got from this place?
Think about it, Harriet.
No matter what is happening in the future, there's always going to be trash.
[scatting]
[gasps]
That means there's always gonna be janitors to clean it up.
[scatting]
Wait. So you're saying...
The future is definitely janitors.
No way. The future is definitely trash.
- Janitors. - Trash.
- [whistling] - Why can't it be both?
The future is trash and janitors?
I like it. It's the truth.
The future is trash and janitors! The future is trash and janitors!
Did you hear that? The future is trash and janitors!
- What time is it? - Half past four.
[gasps] I'm not gonna make it. Are we close to the security station?
It's up ahead, but why call the coppers when we can find your class ourselves?
We just have to get higher up.
Didn't your dad say that the only thing higher than the Kodak Pavilion is...
[both] The Ferris wheel!
Come on, Chuck! I'll race you there.
- Hey, look. Isn't that your teacher? - Huh?
- [chuckles] - Hey!
Hey, no running!
Yeah, no running!
We sure showed them.
We sure did.
[panting]
[laughing, breathing heavily]
You okay?
Fine. Just a little out of breath. Can we sit down?
I know just the place.
Enjoy.
You-- You feeling better?
I said I'm fine.
Okay.
If you're not okay, that's okay too.
Let's just keep an eye out for your class.
Isn't that what we're supposed to be doing?
It is, but--
Stop worrying about me. I hate when people worry about me.
I'm fine!
[Harriet] I knew that kind of "I'm fine."
It's code for "I'm the least fine a person can be."
I wanted to help Chuck,
but just like with my paper I couldn't find the words. [sighs]
[gasps] That's my class.
If I don't get there before roll call, I'm dead.
No, this can't be happening. I need to get off this ride!
I haven't even started my assignment!
You seem worried.
You don't know Mr. Horatio. He'll call my parents.
Maybe he will.
And maybe you'll get in trouble, or flunk, or get sent to military school.
But worrying doesn't make it better.
Worrying just hurts. Believe me. I know.
How?
Because--
Because sometimes I worry about what the future holds for me.
I thought you said you don't even believe in the future.
[groans] Don't make me say it. It sounds so overdramatic, but...
[sighs deeply]
I have a heart condition.
So sometimes I worry about the future.
The only thing that I can trust is what's happening right now.
And this-- this keeps me inspired.
[Harriet] So that's the reason Chuck's parents were so worried,
why he was so out of breath, and--
and why he seemed so lonely.
Just him and his camera. He was scared of getting hurt.
I can't believe today is over.
[crying]
Is he crying?
[breathes shakily] Roll call.
Who will help read the names while I check everybody off?
I think you should have Sport read the names, Mr. Horatio.
All the names.
[gasps] I can't be Harriet and do roll call.
Talk slowly, Sport.
Talk slower than you have in your whole dang life.
You know, I've never been on this ride.
The fair looks not so bad from up here, I guess.
All you needed was to see it in a different way.
Or so I've been told.
It's good advice.
I'm sorry we didn't find your class in time.
Well, I can't know the future, but you taught me that that's okay.
So no more worrying.
Time to live in the now, now!
With you.
[Sport] Okay, um, [slowly] Thompson?
[student 1] Here.
[Sport] We got here. We got [slowly] Tanaka?
- [slurps] - [student 2] Here.
[slowly] Walden?
Hurry, Sport. The bus is almost here.
What's the matter, Sport? The next name is Welsch, as in Harriet M.
[slurps, yelling] Oh, wow! Brain freeze. Whoo!
Just say it.
Um.
Uh.
[sighs] Welsch, Harriet.
[Harriet laughing]
- Is on the Ferris wheel? - She's what?
Mr. Horatio-- Look, I don't want to speak for Harriet.
But you did speak for Harriet.
But she told me she wasn't done with the World's Fair,
and, well, I guess Janie and I aren't either.
You've got my attention.
Well, considering we never went on the world's tallest Ferris wheel,
how can we say we did the World's Fair if we don't, you know, check it out?
Class, to the Ferris wheel!
What about the bus?
Good idea, Miss Hawthorne.
If you could please take my precious things on board,
we will be right back.
Wait. I'm coming too.
Wow! This thing really sways.
Harriet, is that your class?
[Harriet, whimpering] I can't look.
Are they getting on the bus? Are they driving away?
Not exactly.
[gasps]
Great idea, Harriet. Wish I'd thought of it myself. [laughs]
Thank you. I think.
[laughing, snorting]
Hi, guys! I don't know how you did it, but you saved my life.
Pay me back in Belgian waffles!
Your friends really care a lot about you.
I told you I was great.
[chuckles] But you're great too, Chuck.
Harriet, can I take your photo?
You sure you're all right? You want to take a picture of a person?
I want to take a picture of a real one.
I'll call it "Harriet, the Writer."
All you had to do was ask.
[grunts, laughs]
[Harriet] I finally knew what to write my paper on.
What excites me most about the future? That was the question.
But after my day at the fair, I discovered something even more exciting,
a little something called the present.
With the future, there's so much possibility,
but there's also so much you don't know.
And a lot of fear comes from not knowing.
What if my dreams don't come true? What if something bad happens?
What if I'm all alone?
But if you live in the now, right now,
you might stop and meet a friend who challenges you to be better.
"To think differently. To create something true.
Someone who changes how you look at the whole picture.
Because the future is a guess until it's not.
And because you didn't wait for it to be made by someone else,
you can make it something better.
Together."