The Weather Machine/Transcript

(Scene shows the park. Ginger and Angela are parasail-racing.)

Ginger: (laughs) I'm gonna win, Angela! Whee!

Angela: Yeah, you're gonna win at losing to me! Congratulations! Woo-hoo!

(The crowd cheers. Meanwhile, Ben is sitting by the statue using his tablet.)

Tom: (laughs) Ben, you're missing it!

Ben: No time for races, Tom. Now that I can finally use tech again, I need to make an invention that's really big, and I just don't have it yet.

Hank: How about... cellphone underpants? For style and convenience.

Ben: Nope, it has to be something that changes the world, that captures the imagination of the entire population! But what?

(Angela and Ginger continue racing, but it starts raining and the sky turns gray. A man appears on the race track.)

Race Official: Thunderstorm.

(Ben gasps. Thunder is heard.)

Race Official: Race is canceled. Everybody stop. No winners today.

Ginger: No fair! Action Weatherman Skip Flipper said it'd be sunny! See? (takes Ben's tablet)

(Skip Flipper appears on Ben's tablet.)

Skip (on tablet): Hi, fair-weather fans. This weekend'll be sunny with a touch of breeze, just the way I know you like it. Enjoy your outdoor sports, which definitely won't be canceled. That's a tip... from Skip!

Ginger: (sniffs) Did... Action Weatherman Skip Flipper... l-lie to the children?

Angela: No, Ginger, he didn't lie, but nobody can really predict the weather. It's a problem the whole world has to deal with.

Ben: (gets idea) That's it! I know what to do for my big idea! (runs away) Ben is back, baby!

(Theme song plays)

(Scene cuts to Skip Flipper's studio. Hank and Tom carry a crate.)

Hank: Whoa! The Action News TV studio!

Tom: (groans) Can we set the box down now? It is crazy heavy.

Ben: No, it's too important! We have to bring my invention directly to Action Weatherman Skip Flipper!

(Scene shows Skip Flipper talking with ladies. The ladies leave.)

Skip: I'm Skip Flipper, weather's best friend and toughest critic. Let me guess, you want my autograph? Here, I'll sign your umbrellas.

Ben: Actually, I'm here because you have a problem. You can't predict when the weather will be bad.

Hank: (gasps and lets go of box) Ben! I wouldn't have come if I knew you were gonna pick a fight!

(Tom struggles to carry the box, and the box falls on him.)

Skip: It's true. That's the weatherman's burden. That canceled kiteboard race haunts my dreams.

Ben: Well, how'd you like your reports to be correct every single time?

(Ben opens the box. A machine floats out of the box with a balloon.)

Ben: Behold... the Weather-o-Matic! With this, you'll always know the weather, because the weather will always be perfect! Observe.

(Ben uses the controls on the machine. A sun icon appears on the monitor. Outside, the sky turns clear.)

Skip: Wow, that is the greatest thing since the lightning rod! Your invention is gonna make the world a better place for everyone!

Ben: Yes! That's what I hoped you would say!

(Skip starts his forecast.)

Skip: Thanks to Ben's Weather-o-Matic, this weekend will be nothing but sunny, sunny, sunny! Perfect for sports, and drying radishes. Thanks to Ben and this little gizmo here, we'll have just enough rain to water the plants, then it's sun, sun, sun till the fun's all done!

(The friends carry the kayak out the garage. Hank leaves the TV on as he runs off.)

Skip: Blue skies, nice temperatures, the weather is perfect. Do you even need me to tell you? Perfect again... like always... hooray.

(Scene cuts to the diner. Rhonda turns off the TV when Skip was onscreen.)

Rhonda: We don't have to watch that boring old weather report anymore, and it's all thanks to Ben!

(Rhonda serves milkshakes to the friends, who are seated at their booth.)

(Scene cuts to the kiteboarding race.)

Ginger: When I get first place, I'm dedicating my trophy to you, Ben!

Angela: Yeah, it's nice that we don't have to worry about weather stopping me from beating Ginger ever again.

Ginger: Huh!

(The starting horn is heard. Ginger and Angela start the race.)

(Tom, Ben and Hank are at the statue.)

Tom: I'm really proud of you, Ben. You set out to make the world a better place, and you did it.

Hank: Yeah, not a cloud in the sky. Just that one super-dark one that's coming right for us.

(Ben: Exactly, I- wait... what?!

(The friends find, in horror, that there was a dark storm cloud. A diaper falls on Ben's face. Ben gasps.)

(Diapers fall out of the sky. The crowd starts running around in panic.)

Race Official: Diaper storm! The race is canceled! Run for your lives!

(The friends run into the garage. Hank closes the door just as diapers fall onto the door.)

Hank: There was garbage everywhere!

Ginger: I don't know if I'm mad about the race, grossed out because a diaper fell on me, or scared.

Angela: Um, could this have anything to do with the Weather-o-Matic?

Ben: It can't be! My machine only has settings for nice weather.

Hank: I know who can help us! Action News Weatherman Skip Flipper!

(Skip's weather report appears on Ben's tablet.)

Skip (on tablet): This town is under siege by weird, wild weather. We've got giant snow here, and over at the carnival, screaming clouds!

(Skip shows footage onscreen of a cloud screaming. A man screams.)

Skip (on tablet): It looks like Ben's Weather-o-Matic is out-of-control-o-matic!

Ben: (whimpers) My tech is ruining everything! Just like it always used to! I should've known this would happen.

Hank: Don't worry, Ben. Nobody's gonna think this is your fault.

Skip (on tablet): I don't wanna point fingers, but this is definitely Ben's fault.

Ben: He's absolutely right. What was I thinking? I'm a fool! (throws tablet on floor)

Skip (on tablet): But, let's not be too hard on Ben, 'cause he's dealing with bad weather, too. Where he lives, it's raining upside-down.

(The friends gasp. However, they find that it is not raining outside.)

Angela: What? That's not true. There's no rain at all, upside-down or even regular-side-down.

(The friends go to the door window. A thunderclap is heard, then it starts raining. The raindrops go up instead of down.)

Hank: Hey, it's just like Skip said. That guy knows everything!

Tom: Maybe too much everything. How did Skip know about that before it even happened?

Ben: Because he's a better weatherman than I am an inventor.

Tom: Something weird is going on, and it's not just that weird black-and-white rainbow.

(A black-and-white rainbow appears outside.)