["One Step Closer" playing]
[Jane] "Danaus plexippus."
Are you seeing this, David? It's the Danaus plexippus.
[David] Is that the scientific name for monarch butterfl--
- [device beeps] - David?
Hold on, Jane. I have an intruder.
[chattering]
[Millie] David?
Don't come on my side. I'm a little busy right now, Millie.
Doing what?
Saving something.
Saving what?
[Jane] Monarch butterflies.
Yeah. And, uh--
It's really important work, so I better get back to it.
[sighs]
- What is she doing? - [Greybeard chattering]
Being annoying.
- Oh, you meant the butterfly? - [Jane] Yes.
Eating?
No. Butterflies have a long tongue that they use to eat.
Look at how it curls up. I wonder if mine can do that.
- [groaning] - [Jane chuckles]
Hold on, she's on the move.
Plotting intercept course.
How are you going to save them?
- [sighs] Carefully. - [walkie clicks]
[Jane] Monarch butterflies travel all the way from Mexico to the US
and even Canada to have their babies.
- Baby caterpillars. - Right.
But every year there's less and less of them.
We're going to tag one so we can follow it
to see where they need help along their journey.
That's a long way for such a small thing.
Like I said, it's really important work.
I've lost her.
Maybe try going higher.
Good idea.
Hold on, Greybeard.
[Greybeard chatters]
[Millie] David?
What is it, Millie?
Have you seen my key chain?
No.
- Can I borrow yours? - No.
- Why? - 'Cause it's mine.
Oh.
And besides, you aren't allowed to go outside on your own.
[Jane] David, you're going to want to take a look at this.
Ask Dad or Pop to help you find it.
Wait, what are those?
[Jane] Zoom in.
Whoa.
"Whoa" is right. Preparing to tag.
- Ready, Greybeard? - [groaning, chattering]
David?
[sighs]
What is it, Millie? We're trying to save the world here.
I lost my key chain.
Does Dad or Pop know?
I'm gonna be in so much trouble.
[walkie clicks]
[Jane] And tag!
- You did it, Greybeard! - [Greybeard cheers]
[Jane] Oh, no. They're coming right at us.
[grunts]
We got a situation here!
[David] So do I.
- [Greybeard shrieking] - [Jane] Hang on, Greybeard!
Greybeard!
Chimpanzee down. I repeat, chimpanzee down.
What happened, Amala?
Greybeard happened.
- Let me help you. - No! I've got it.
You really should be more careful, Jane, especially around other people's gardens.
Greybeard's sorry, Mr. Patel.
We were trying to figure out how to help monarch butterflies when he fell.
Yeah, well, fall elsewhere. There aren't any butterflies here.
But there could be.
[sighs] I can't deal with this right now, Millie.
Jane and Greybeard need my help.
But I need your help too.
Yeah, but Jane's problem's bigger.
If we don't do something to help butterflies,
there won't be any around anymore.
But what if I won't be around anymore?
And there should be.
Butterflies help flowers pollinate. More butterflies, more flowers.
- Like Amala. - No, no, don't touch.
[Jane] Sorry.
Your butterflies may like flowers,
but their babies-- caterpillars-- only like milkweed.
You should plant some milkweed.
I don't plant weeds.
It isn't actually a weed. It just has the word in its name.
Like a whale shark isn't actually a whale.
Like a chatterbox isn't really a box.
It's just a little girl with a flying chimpanzee.
Please take your butterfly rescue mission elsewhere.
[dings]
- [David] Jane. - [chattering]
What happened?
Mr. Patel doesn't want to plant milkweed in his garden.
That's terrible?
He said it's the only thing caterpillars eat.
[chattering]
No caterpillars, no butterflies. That's right, Greybeard.
Did you tell Mr. Patel that butterflies help make more flowers?
Obviously. But he didn't wanna listen. Grown-ups never wanna listen.
Grown-ups and little sisters.
[sighs]
Maybe our butterfly wasn't eating because she was laying her eggs.
There's only one way to find out. Back to our mission?
[elevator dings]
I've located the tracker. Sending you the information now.
She's already traveled that far?
Yeah. It says here butterflies use wind to help them travel long distances.
- Wind, huh? - Why flap when you can glide?
Hey, Greybeard, that cloud kinda looks like you.
[chattering]
And look how fast it's moving. Do you know why?
[chatters, blows]
Exactly. Time to fly like the wind.
Activating glide mode.
Speed increasing. Keep riding that wind and it'll bring us right to our butterfly.
What did Millie want?
She lost her key chain.
Key chain?
When we got adopted,
our dads gave us each a key chain for our new home.
Oh, that's so nice.
I wanted a toy truck, but, yeah.
Is Millie upset?
She loses things all the time.
It'll turn up.
- But you know what we didn't lose? - Our butterfly?
- Hold on, Greybeard. - [chattering]
She stopped moving. Maybe she's resting or asleep?
Butterflies fly during the day and rest at night.
It's daytime, so she shouldn't be sleeping.
Maybe she's eating.
I don't see any plants here. How are they supposed to eat?
They don't.
- [Greybeard whines] - [David] What is it?
She didn't make it.
Hello.
Everything okay in here?
Need a hug?
Yeah.
Okay. Both of you.
What happened?
We tagged a butterfly so we could track its journey from Mexico to Canada.
But it couldn't finish the trip.
- Sorry to hear that. - Yeah.
Do you have any snacks in there
- to make us feel better? - [chuckles] Okay.
It probably died because it didn't have enough food.
There were barely any flowers in that city.
[Jane] And I didn't see any milkweed.
It's the only plant baby caterpillars can eat,
so it's where monarch butterflies lay their eggs.
If we're going to help butterflies like they help us
by pollinating food and flowers,
we need more people to plant it in their gardens.
People like Mr. Patel.
Good luck with that one. He's very particular with his garden.
[walkie clicks]
[Millie] David? David?
Millie, what did I say about using my stuff?
Don't.
And what are you doing?
Using it. But I need your help.
I'm coming down to get my walkie, and that's it.
Can I get that snack to go, please?
Here you go.
[David] Thank you.
Be right back, Jane.
Maybe a Jane Goodall quote will help you.
Hmm. Here's one.
"Compromise is all right as long as your values don't change."
Uh...
Okay. [chuckles] What about this one?
"If people don't agree with you, the important thing is to listen to them."
What about them listening to me?
Continue.
"But if you've listened to them carefully and you still think you're right,
then have the courage of your convictions."
You're right, Mom. Mr. Patel just needs to listen.
Uh-- What? Huh? I don't think you understood that quote.
Thank you.
[groans]
[sighs] You okay?
No.
[sighs]
It's just a key chain, Millie.
It says when we became a family...
when we became us.
I'm not going anywhere.
But what if Dad and Pop get so mad that they don't want me anymore?
I sometimes worry Dad and Pop might leave too,
but it's not going to happen.
Promise?
A hundred thousand times promise.
Let me finish up with Jane, and then I'll help you find your key chain.
Okay.
[sighs]
[sighs] You can borrow my walkie for a while if it'll make you feel better.
Thank you, David.
Just remember, you're borrowing it. Not for keeps.
[footsteps approaching]
[gasps] Mr. Patel! Wait up.
[Mr. Patel sighs]
I figured it out. You just need to listen.
[stammers] I'm-I'm sorry. I-- I need to listen?
Well, you, me. We all do.
If we're going to give animals and insects and plants--
Don't touch.
Sorry. If we're going to give them a chance to survive,
- we all need to listen to each other. - Hmm.
Butterflies fly through three whole countries
just so their kid caterpillars have a chance to become butterflies too.
If they can do all that, can't we learn to listen? Just a little?
Do you know why I like these plants so much?
- Their smell? - No.
- Their look? - No.
- Their color? - N-No. Stop guessing.
I like them because they remind me of my family.
Especially the ones that are gone.
Who's Amala supposed to be?
Amala's named after my dadi. My grandmother.
She was like the lotus flower,
able to stand strong when the rivers swirled around her.
[Jane] Your dadi sounds amazing.
Did your family ever make big journeys?
My tata came here from Mexico and my lola's from the Philippines.
[chuckles] Your tata traveled as far as your butterflies.
Yeah, you're right.
Except, the butterfly I tagged died.
Oh... Well, I'm sorry to hear that.
But that journey she took allowed her caterpillars to live, right?
You're right.
You know, you would give a kid caterpillar a chance to live
if you planted some milkweed.
David?
- He's not here. - Millie, where's David?
I thought he was with you.
I'll be right back, Mr. Patel.
Of course you will.
[chattering]
I think our butterfly was part of something bigger.
- It was? - Let me show you.
Can I butter-fly with you this time?
You'll have to check with Greybeard.
[Greybeard chattering]
Let's go.
This is safe, right?
Mostly. Hold on tight. We've got baby butterflies to find.
[both] Whoo-hoo!
Scan for caterpillars, David.
[David] Scanning. No caterpillars.
That doesn't make sense.
If she didn't have babies, what's the point of flying all this way?
She did it all for nothing.
No caterpillars, but the scanner detects some sort of life.
Setting course.
- Jane, look there. Is-- Is that a-- - A chrysalis.
Butterflies start as caterpillars
who eventually make a chrysalis around themselves
to transform into a butterfly.
Incredible.
And weird.
- Incredibly weird. - [chuckles]
Look, there's more.
We have to tag another one.
I'm not going out there. Didn't Greybeard fall last time?
[chattering]
Give me a tagger.
They keep moving around.
Shouldn't have had that snack.
There's one up ahead.
This is gonna be fun.
What? What's gonna be fun?
[David screaming]
[beeping]
[David] Not fun!
Yes!
We did it.
[sighs]
[chattering]
- [Jane] Mr. Patel! - [gasps]
Sorry, but you were right.
- About? - The butterflies.
They don't make the whole trip on their own.
- They start it, but their kids finish it. - Huh, that's fascinating.
You know, my grandparents traveled from halfway around the world
so that my parents, and then me and my brother and my sisters,
could have more opportunities here.
They sacrificed a great deal along the way.
It sounds like your butterflies do the exact same thing.
We just needed to listen to each other to figure it out.
[chuckles]
Look.
What a beautiful pot?
No. It's not about the pot. It's what's inside it.
I expect them to bloom in the spring.
- Did you plant a milkweed seed? - A few.
I'm looking forward to entertaining some international travelers and their babies.
Thank you.
What are you gonna name it?
Amish, after my little brother who is very annoying,
but, like the milkweed, is something I didn't think I wanted,
but now I know I can't live without.
That's really nice, Mr. Patel. Thank you.
Come on, David.
We need to see if our butterfly made it to the end of their journey.
I'll catch up with you.
- Are we close? - [chattering]
Okay. But let's prepare ourselves.
[sighs] She might not have...
made it.
[Greybeard whimpers]
It's sad, but I don't think she did it for nothing.
[chattering]
Wait, what if I zoom in?
Is that what I think it is?
Butterfly eggs. And look...
[chattering]
...hundreds of baby caterpillars.
They're beautiful.
All butterflies need is a little milkweed help along their journey.
[chattering]
I can't wait for David to see these.
Any luck?
Not yet.
Why don't you hold onto my key chain until we find yours?
- Really? - Really.
Thank you, David.
No problem.
- Here you go. - Thanks.
Where do you think you're going?
Wow. This is so cool.
Just wait.
Now you try.
[Jane] Millie?
Hi, Jane.
Thought I'd bring her along to see the end of our mission.
Good thinking. Check this out, Millie.
- Weird. - And incredible, right?
Incredibly weird.
[chuckles]
[Jane] Help save the monarch butterflies.
[Greybeard chatters]
David, can I talk to the butterfly guy too?
- You mean Dr. Patrick Guerra? - Yeah, I want to hear about butterflies.
You're gonna have to ask Jane.
- Ask Jane what? - Can I talk to Patrick too?
Sure, he knows all about monarch butterflies.
But first, check this out.
Dirt?
Let me guess. Are there milkweed seeds in there?
Yep. Mr. Patel gave me some seeds he had left over.
I knew it.
I'll bring it outside once it starts to grow.
We can get butterfly visitors, so we can learn more, just like Patrick.
I can't wait.
- [tablet chimes] - He's here.
[all] Hi, Patrick!
[no audible dialogue]
Uh, you're on mute.
[chimes]
- Sorry, that always happens. - Don't worry about it.
Hi, Jane. Hi, David. Hi...
- I'm Millie. - She's my little sister.
We're all so excited to talk to you about monarch butterflies.
First question,
when caterpillars turn into butterflies, how do they know where to go?
Monarchs, when they're born, have all the information in their brain.
And what's really cool is their brain is so small,
it's about the size of a small pinhead.
What we're trying to understand is how that all works.
Let me see if I have photo to share with you.
[David] What are you doing in that picture?
[Patrick] We're testing a monarch butterfly that's tethered.
It gives us information of which direction it's trying to fly.
For example, is it going north, south, east or west?
Really cool.
Did you always know you wanted to work with butterflies?
Not really.
When I was growing up, I wanted to be a detective.
As you can see, I kind of do the same thing now.
I solve problems and I'm doing detective work,
trying to understand how to help monarchs and what they're doing.
Their whole migratory journey kind of reminds me of my family's journey.
My mom and dad immigrated from the Philippines
and went all the way to Canada.
And once I was an adult,
I moved from Canada all the way to the United States of America,
where I now live.
That sounds hard. Is it hard for monarchs too?
It's actually slightly getting harder for the monarchs nowadays.
A long time ago, when monarchs started migrating,
they were migrating through open fields.
But nowadays, with cities, all of a sudden the habitat has changed.
Now there are big buildings, things that were never there before.
We're trying to understand how we can build these cities
such that it doesn't interfere with the monarch's migration.
What can we do to help them?
What's really cool is that everyone can do their part.
Let me share my screen.
My name is Geneviéve Leroux,
and I'm a 16-year-old monarch butterfly conservationist
from Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.
I've been working with monarch butterfly conservation for seven years now.
[Patrick] She's been helping researchers collect data
for their tiny backpack computers,
which allows researchers to keep track of the monarchs
when they're flying, in real time.
That's amazing.
Well, there's also Aiden Wang.
He is 14 years old and lives in New Jersey, United States of America.
I've been planting milkweed for eight years,
and I started when I was six.
[Patrick] He's helping monarchs
by building more habitat, as well as providing food
- during their journey. - That's such a cool way to help.
Let me show you a video of someone in Mexico who's helping.
Hi, my name is Joel Moreno.
We're in the monarch butterfly sanctuary.
We started a nonprofit called "Butterflies and Their People",
trying to help to protect the borders.
I wish I worked at a butterfly reserve.
Me too.
[Patrick] Everyone works together
to finish this epic relay race to help the monarchs.
And you know what? It connects us all as a global community.
We're starting by growing milkweed with our neighbors.
- Well, that's awesome. - Thanks, Patrick.
It was nice talking to you.
Remember, it doesn't matter what you do, whether it's really small or really large,
it all adds up.
- Thank you. Bye. - See ya. Bye.
- Bye, Patrick. - Bye.
Can we see if Mr. Patel has any leftover seeds for us?
Yeah, I'm sure he'd love another visit from us. Let's go.
[sighs]
["One Step Closer" playing]