Horton Hatches the Egg (1942) - full transcript
Horton the elephant agrees to watch over lazy Maisie bird's egg while she vacations. Much later, after standing (and sitting) guard 100-percent faith-fully through rain and snow, Horton and the egg are captured by three hunters and put in a circus. Coincidentally, Maisie happen to fly by just as the egg is about to hatch and demands that Horton give it back to her.
NARRATOR:
Horton Hatches the Egg.
Now, once in a jungle,
or so the tale goes...
... there lived a strange bird
that most everyone knows.
Her name? It was Mayzie.
She was mean as could be...
... and never seemed happy
while up in her tree.
Sighed Mayzie,
this lazy bird hatching her egg:
I'm tired and I'm bored.
And I have kinks in my leg from sitting,
just sitting here day after day.
It's work. How I hate it.
I'd much rather play.
If I could find someone,
I'd fly away, free.
NARRATOR: Then Horton the elephant
passed by her tree.
[SINGING]
Hut-Sut Rawlson on the rillerah
And a so on, so on, so forth
Hut-Sut Rawlson on the rillerah
And a so on, uh...
I still can't get the words to that song.
Hut-Sut Rawlson on the rillerah
And a so on, so on, so forth
Hut-Sut Rawlson on the rillerah
And a so on, so on
Hut-Sut Rawlson on the rillerah
And a so on, so on, so forth
Hello.
NARRATOR:
Called the lazy bird, smiling her best.
You've nothing to do
and I do need a rest.
Would you like to sit on the egg
in my nest?
NARRATOR:
The elephant laughed.
Why, of all silly things.
I haven't feathers, and I haven't wings.
Me on your egg?
Why, it doesn't make sense.
Your egg is so small, ma'am,
and I'm so immense.
I've gotta get off for a rest...
...otherwise I'll never get rid of
these bags neath my eyes.
I'll hurry right back.
Why, I'll never be missed.
Very well. Since you insist.
I'll stay and be faithful.
I mean what I say.
Toodle-Loo.
NARRATOR: Sang out Mayzie
and fluttered away.
Ooh! Ha.
Pardon me.
NARRATOR: Then carefully,
tenderly, gently he crept...
... up the trunk to the nest
where the little egg slept.
Then Horton the elephant smiled.
[HORTON SIGHS]
Now, that's that.
And he sat and he sat and he sat
and he sat.
And he sat all that day
and he kept the egg warm.
And he sat all that night
through a terrible storm.
It poured. It lightninged.
It thundered. It rumbled.
- This isn't much fun.
- The poor elephant grumbled.
I wish she'd come back,
because I'm cold and I'm wet.
I hope that that Mayzie bird
doesn't forget.
But Mayzie, by this time,
was far beyond reach...
... enjoying the sunshine
way off in Palm Beach...
... and having such fun,
such a wonderful rest.
I think I'll never go back to my nest.
[IMITATES KATHARINE HEPBURN]
Really, I won't.
NARRATOR: And then came the winter,
the snow and the sleet.
And icicles hung from his trunk
and his feet.
I meant what I said
and I said what I meant.
An elephant's faithful 100 percent.
[SNEEZES]
[SNEEZES]
Gesundheit.
[GASPING]
[AIR SQUEALS]
[SNEEZES]
NARRATOR: So poor Horton sat there
the whole winter through...
... and then came the springtime,
with troubles anew.
His friends gathered round
and they shouted with glee:
Look, Horton the elephant's up in a tree.
They taunted, they
teased him, they yelled:
ANIMAL: How absurd.
Blimey, Horton the elephant
thinks he's a bird.
They laughed and they laughed.
Then they all ran away.
And Horton was lonely.
He wanted to play.
But he sat on the egg
and continued to say:
[SNIFFLING]
I meant what I said...
...and I said what I meant.
An elephant's faithful...
...100 percent.
But while Horton sat there,
so faithful, so kind...
... three hunters came sneaking up
softly behind.
[SHOES SQUEAKING]
He heard the mens footsteps.
He turned with a start.
A rifle was aiming
right straight at his heart.
Did he run? No, not Horton.
He stayed on that nest.
He held his head high
and he threw out his chest.
And he looked at the hunters
and he said, plain as day:
Shoot if you must, but I won't run away.
But the men didn't shoot,
much to Horton's surprise.
They lowered the gun
and they stared with wide eyes.
We'll take him alive.
Why, he's terribly funny.
- We'll sell him back home.
- To a circus, for money.
- You're coming with us...
ALL: To join a big show.
NARRATOR: But Horton just answered:
- You can't make me go.
- Oh, yes, we can.
- Oh, no, you can't.
- Oh, yes, we can.
- No, you can't.
- Oh, yes, we can.
- Oh, no, you can't. Oh, no...
Oh, yes, they can.
[HUNTERS SINGING]
NARRATOR: Then out of the
wagon and on to a ship...
... out over the ocean and, oh,
what a trip.
Well, now I've seen everything.
Rolling and tossing
and splashed with the spray...
... but Horton said,
day after day after day:
I meant what I said
and I said what I meant, but...
[GROANS]
...I am seasick...
...100 percent.
NARRATOR: Sold to a circus,
and week after week...
... they showed him to people
at 10 cents a peek.
Poor Horton grew sadder
as days came and went.
But he said as he sat
in that hot, noisy tent:
I meant what I said
and I said what I meant.
Whew. An elephant's faithful
100 percent.
But dawdling along, way up high in the sky,
who of all people should chance to fly by...
... but that old good-for-nothing bird,
runaway Mayzie.
[IMITATING HEPBURN]
I'm still on vacation.
NARRATOR:
Yeah, and still just as lazy.
Then, spying the flags
and the tents just below, she sang out:
What fun. Why, I'll go to the show.
Really, I will.
And she swooped from the clouds
through an open tent door.
[IN NORMAL VOICE]
Good gracious!
NARRATOR:
Gasped Mayzie.
I've seen you before.
Poor Horton looked up
with his face white as chalk.
He started to speak,
but before he could talk...
... there rang out the noisiest
earsplitting squeaks...
... from the egg that hed sat on
for 51 weeks.
[SQUEAKING]
- My egg.
- Horton gasped.
- My egg, why, it's hatching.
- But it's mine!
Screamed the bird
when she heard the egg crack.
[WHISPERING]
The work is all done...
...now I want it back. Ha-ha!
- It's my egg!
- She sputtered.
You stole it from me.
Get off of my nest
and get out of my tree.
Poor Horton backed down
with a sad, heavy heart.
But at that very instant,
the egg burst apart.
And Horton the elephant
saw something whiz.
It had ears and a tail
and a trunk just like his.
WOMAN: My goodness.
MAN 1: My gracious.
MAN 2: Good heavens.
MAN 3: My word.
MAN 4: It's something brand-new.
ALL: It's an elephant bird!
[CROWD CHATTERING]
NARRATOR: Yes, he meant what he said
and he said what he meant.
And they sent him home happy
100 percent.
[SINGING]
Hut-Sut Rawlson on the rillerah
And so on, so on, so forth
HORTON: Hut-Sut Rawlson on the rillerah
- La, la, la, la, la-la-la
- And a so on, so on
- And a so on, so on
[ENGLISH SDH]
Horton Hatches the Egg.
Now, once in a jungle,
or so the tale goes...
... there lived a strange bird
that most everyone knows.
Her name? It was Mayzie.
She was mean as could be...
... and never seemed happy
while up in her tree.
Sighed Mayzie,
this lazy bird hatching her egg:
I'm tired and I'm bored.
And I have kinks in my leg from sitting,
just sitting here day after day.
It's work. How I hate it.
I'd much rather play.
If I could find someone,
I'd fly away, free.
NARRATOR: Then Horton the elephant
passed by her tree.
[SINGING]
Hut-Sut Rawlson on the rillerah
And a so on, so on, so forth
Hut-Sut Rawlson on the rillerah
And a so on, uh...
I still can't get the words to that song.
Hut-Sut Rawlson on the rillerah
And a so on, so on, so forth
Hut-Sut Rawlson on the rillerah
And a so on, so on
Hut-Sut Rawlson on the rillerah
And a so on, so on, so forth
Hello.
NARRATOR:
Called the lazy bird, smiling her best.
You've nothing to do
and I do need a rest.
Would you like to sit on the egg
in my nest?
NARRATOR:
The elephant laughed.
Why, of all silly things.
I haven't feathers, and I haven't wings.
Me on your egg?
Why, it doesn't make sense.
Your egg is so small, ma'am,
and I'm so immense.
I've gotta get off for a rest...
...otherwise I'll never get rid of
these bags neath my eyes.
I'll hurry right back.
Why, I'll never be missed.
Very well. Since you insist.
I'll stay and be faithful.
I mean what I say.
Toodle-Loo.
NARRATOR: Sang out Mayzie
and fluttered away.
Ooh! Ha.
Pardon me.
NARRATOR: Then carefully,
tenderly, gently he crept...
... up the trunk to the nest
where the little egg slept.
Then Horton the elephant smiled.
[HORTON SIGHS]
Now, that's that.
And he sat and he sat and he sat
and he sat.
And he sat all that day
and he kept the egg warm.
And he sat all that night
through a terrible storm.
It poured. It lightninged.
It thundered. It rumbled.
- This isn't much fun.
- The poor elephant grumbled.
I wish she'd come back,
because I'm cold and I'm wet.
I hope that that Mayzie bird
doesn't forget.
But Mayzie, by this time,
was far beyond reach...
... enjoying the sunshine
way off in Palm Beach...
... and having such fun,
such a wonderful rest.
I think I'll never go back to my nest.
[IMITATES KATHARINE HEPBURN]
Really, I won't.
NARRATOR: And then came the winter,
the snow and the sleet.
And icicles hung from his trunk
and his feet.
I meant what I said
and I said what I meant.
An elephant's faithful 100 percent.
[SNEEZES]
[SNEEZES]
Gesundheit.
[GASPING]
[AIR SQUEALS]
[SNEEZES]
NARRATOR: So poor Horton sat there
the whole winter through...
... and then came the springtime,
with troubles anew.
His friends gathered round
and they shouted with glee:
Look, Horton the elephant's up in a tree.
They taunted, they
teased him, they yelled:
ANIMAL: How absurd.
Blimey, Horton the elephant
thinks he's a bird.
They laughed and they laughed.
Then they all ran away.
And Horton was lonely.
He wanted to play.
But he sat on the egg
and continued to say:
[SNIFFLING]
I meant what I said...
...and I said what I meant.
An elephant's faithful...
...100 percent.
But while Horton sat there,
so faithful, so kind...
... three hunters came sneaking up
softly behind.
[SHOES SQUEAKING]
He heard the mens footsteps.
He turned with a start.
A rifle was aiming
right straight at his heart.
Did he run? No, not Horton.
He stayed on that nest.
He held his head high
and he threw out his chest.
And he looked at the hunters
and he said, plain as day:
Shoot if you must, but I won't run away.
But the men didn't shoot,
much to Horton's surprise.
They lowered the gun
and they stared with wide eyes.
We'll take him alive.
Why, he's terribly funny.
- We'll sell him back home.
- To a circus, for money.
- You're coming with us...
ALL: To join a big show.
NARRATOR: But Horton just answered:
- You can't make me go.
- Oh, yes, we can.
- Oh, no, you can't.
- Oh, yes, we can.
- No, you can't.
- Oh, yes, we can.
- Oh, no, you can't. Oh, no...
Oh, yes, they can.
[HUNTERS SINGING]
NARRATOR: Then out of the
wagon and on to a ship...
... out over the ocean and, oh,
what a trip.
Well, now I've seen everything.
Rolling and tossing
and splashed with the spray...
... but Horton said,
day after day after day:
I meant what I said
and I said what I meant, but...
[GROANS]
...I am seasick...
...100 percent.
NARRATOR: Sold to a circus,
and week after week...
... they showed him to people
at 10 cents a peek.
Poor Horton grew sadder
as days came and went.
But he said as he sat
in that hot, noisy tent:
I meant what I said
and I said what I meant.
Whew. An elephant's faithful
100 percent.
But dawdling along, way up high in the sky,
who of all people should chance to fly by...
... but that old good-for-nothing bird,
runaway Mayzie.
[IMITATING HEPBURN]
I'm still on vacation.
NARRATOR:
Yeah, and still just as lazy.
Then, spying the flags
and the tents just below, she sang out:
What fun. Why, I'll go to the show.
Really, I will.
And she swooped from the clouds
through an open tent door.
[IN NORMAL VOICE]
Good gracious!
NARRATOR:
Gasped Mayzie.
I've seen you before.
Poor Horton looked up
with his face white as chalk.
He started to speak,
but before he could talk...
... there rang out the noisiest
earsplitting squeaks...
... from the egg that hed sat on
for 51 weeks.
[SQUEAKING]
- My egg.
- Horton gasped.
- My egg, why, it's hatching.
- But it's mine!
Screamed the bird
when she heard the egg crack.
[WHISPERING]
The work is all done...
...now I want it back. Ha-ha!
- It's my egg!
- She sputtered.
You stole it from me.
Get off of my nest
and get out of my tree.
Poor Horton backed down
with a sad, heavy heart.
But at that very instant,
the egg burst apart.
And Horton the elephant
saw something whiz.
It had ears and a tail
and a trunk just like his.
WOMAN: My goodness.
MAN 1: My gracious.
MAN 2: Good heavens.
MAN 3: My word.
MAN 4: It's something brand-new.
ALL: It's an elephant bird!
[CROWD CHATTERING]
NARRATOR: Yes, he meant what he said
and he said what he meant.
And they sent him home happy
100 percent.
[SINGING]
Hut-Sut Rawlson on the rillerah
And so on, so on, so forth
HORTON: Hut-Sut Rawlson on the rillerah
- La, la, la, la, la-la-la
- And a so on, so on
- And a so on, so on
[ENGLISH SDH]