♪ HEY, WOW... ♪

♪ HERE'S HOW ♪

♪ COME AND READ ♪

♪ BETWEEN THE LIONS ♪

Chorus: ♪ COME ON ♪

♪ COME IN ♪

♪ BEGIN ♪

♪ THE WORLD AWAITS ♪

Woman: ♪ BETWEEN THE LIONS ♪

♪ BETWEEN THE COVERS OF A BOOK ♪

♪ IT'S TIME TO LOOK BETWEEN THE LIONS ♪

♪ BEHOLD THE TALES BEYOND THE TAILS ♪

Chorus: ♪ BEHIND THE DOOR ♪

♪ BECOME, EXPLORE ♪

♪ COME IN BETWEEN THE LIONS ♪

♪ BEGIN BETWEEN THE LIONS ♪

♪ BE HERE BETWEEN THE LIONS! ♪

Theo: DIP.

DIP-DIP-DIP.

( humming to himself )

DIPPITY-DIP.

DIP, DIP, DIP...

OH, COREY!

HERE YOU GO.

THANK YOU.

DIP, DIP

DIPPITY, DIP, DIP, DIP.

DIP, DIP...

( chuckling )

OH, HEY, DR. NITWIT!

WHITE!

THAT'S DR. NIT... OH!

( laughs )

NITWHITE!

OF COURSE-- SORRY.

LET THE WORD GO FORTH

THAT AFTER YEARS AND YEARS OF WORK

AND AFTER SQUANDERING...

I MEAN, UH, SPENDING MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS

DR. NITWHITE AND HIS DEDICATED, BRILLIANT TEAM HAVE...

Theo: OH!

AT THE DUNDERHEAD LABS.

THAT'S DUNDERHEED.

DUNDERHEED-- OF COURSE.

WE HAVE DISCOVERED

THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE WORD IN THE ENTIRE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

THAT HAS THE I-P "IP" SOUND AT THE END

AND THAT WORD IS...

"LIP."

LIP?

UM...

HI, DAD!

HI, DR. NITWIT.

UH... THAT'S NITWHITE.

OH, YEAH, SORRY, SORRY.

OH, HEY, WHAT DO YOU HAVE THERE, LIONEL?

AH! THE ADVENTURES

OF MISSISSIPPI SKIP AND HIS PIRATE SHIP.

WHOO! YO-HO, YUMMY!

THE PIRATE SHIP?

YEAH.

SHIP.

IT'S ALL ABOUT A PIRATE WHO TAKES A TRIP ON A SHIP.

CATCH YOU LATER.

BYE, LIONEL.

LIP...

TRIP...

SHIP?

( groans )

I'VE GOT TO GET BACK TO THE LAB.

UH, RIGHT YOU ARE.

BYE, DR. NITWIT!

THAT'S NITWHITE!

RIGHT.

OOH! OH, MY TEA.

I THINK I'LL HAVE A...

SIP!

( Nitwúe shrieks )

( chuckles )

SIP, SIP, SIPPITY, SIP.

( slurps loudly )

AHH! SIPPITY, SIP, SIP, SIP.

Pigeons: BOING, BOING

BOING, BOING, BOING.

HEY, WHAT YOU GOT THERE?

A BOOK ABOUT BIRDS, I HOPE.

IT'S A BOOK ABOUT PIRATES.

( gasps )

)A)A)e)e!$'■)Y)Y)ó)ó)A)A)u)uH...

BIRDS!

BIRDS!

UH-UH, NOT PARROTS...

PIRATES.

NO PARROTS?

BYE-BYE!

BYE-BYE.

WELL, THERE'S PARROTS IN IT.

HELLO!

HELLO!

( Leona screeches )

LEONA!

LEONA!

I WANT TO READ A BOOK ABOUT PARROTS.

IT'S A PIRATE BOOK, NOT A PARROT BOOK.

BUT THERE'S A PARROT IN IT...

RIGHT?

RIGHT?

PIRATE, PARROT, PARROT, PIRATE.

JUST READ THE BOOK, ALREADY!

"THE ADVENTURES OF MISSISSIPPI SKIP AND HIS PIRATE SHIP

WRITTEN BY IPSWICH CLIPSPRINGER THE FIFTH."

WOW!

( reading aloud )

THEY CALL ME MISSISSIPPI SKIP.

BUT DON'T CALL ME "MISS"...

( growls )

AND DON'T CALL ME LATE FOR DINNER, EITHER.

( growls again )

HEY! YAY, CHIP!

YEAH, CHIP IS HIP!

( squawks )

( whistles )

( squawks )

( whistles )

ARRGH!

BURIED TREASURE!

ME GREATEST PLEASURE!

( squawks )

( whistles )

( thunder )

SHIVER ME TIMBERS!

HANG ON, ME HEARTIES!

( squawks )

( whistles )

( plays wailing guitar riff )

ARRGH!

IT'S HIPPO ROCK ISLAND WE'RE ON.

LET'S GO!

( squawks and whistles )

( squawks )

( whistles )

"X"! "X"!

HEY, "X"!

ARRGH, YIPPEE!

LET'S HEAR IT FOR PIP!

HIP, HIP, HOORAY FOR PIP!

( squawks )

( whistles )

WOW! THAT WAS A GREAT BOOK.

YEAH! OH, THE PARROT WAS SO, UH...

SO BRAVE-- SUCH COURAGE, SUCH...

SPIRIT, SUCH...

STRENGTH.

YEAH.

YEAH.

SUCH NONSENSE.

OH... WELL, READ IT AGAIN, LIONEL.

READ IT AGAIN, OKAY?

I'VE GOT A BETTER IDEA.

WHAT?

LET'S PLAY PIRATE!

YEAH!

OH, BOY!

I'M GOING TO BE MISSISSIPPI SKIP.

ARRGH.

YOU CAN'T BE SKIP.

WH... OKAY.

THEN I WILL BE KIP

WITH A KIPPER NAMED CHIP ON MY SHOULDER.

( chuckles )

I COULDN'T FIND A PARROT.

YOU CAN'T BE KIP, EITHER.

UH... WELL, OKAY.

I AM PIP, READY TO SWAB THE SHIP.

UM, YOU CAN'T BE ANY OF THEM.

HUH?

WHY NOT?

THEY'RE ALL BOYS.

YOU'RE A GIRL.

B-B-B-BUT I WANT TO PLAY, TOO!

I'M SORRY, LEONA, BUT IT WOULDN'T BE RIGHT.

WALTER, YOU CAN PLAY CHIP.

AYE-AYE!

OH, I WANTED TO BE CHIP.

SORRY, CHIP WAS A BOY PARROT.

RIGHT, LET'S PLAY PIRATE!

Lionel: THEY CALL ME MISSISSIPPI SKIP.

Walter: SWAB THE DECK!

( whimpering )

"SHIP."

"IP."

URP, EEP, URP, EEP, URP...

OH!

AH!

IP.

IP.

IP.

( chuckles )

R... R... R... IP.

RIP, RIP.

RIP.

Announcer: AND NOW, LOVERS OF THE VOWELS "A," "E," "I," "O," "U"

AND SOMETIMES "Y"

MARTHA READER AND THE VOWELLES

ARE KICKING THE SHORT "I" SOUND

IN THEIR ZIPPY BIG HIT, "LIP."

( upbeat music playing !

( singing repeated short "i" sound to soul tune )

( song ends; cheering and applause )

( crowd cheering )

GAWAIN HERE ONCE AGAIN AT BLENDING FIELDS

WHERE TWO BRAVE KNIGHTS IN ARMOR

WILL CHARGE TOGETHER AT HIGH SPEED AND MAKE A WORD.

COMPETING TODAY, WE HAVE SIR "SL"...

ON YOUR RIGHT, SIR "IP."

BLEND ON, DUDES.

( crowd cheering )

Gawain: "SLIP"!

THAT'S GAWAIN'S WORD FOR TODAY

AND THIS IS GAWAIN SAYING, "BE HIP, DON'T SLIP."

SEE YOU NEXT TIME ON...

DR. BERTICE BERRY WITH THE "I" IN "SHIP"!

( yelling short "i" sound )

( stops yelling; audience applauding and cheering )

THANK YOU.

THANK YOU.

THANK YOU.

Commentator: WELCOME BACK TO THE NATIONAL WORD CLUB MASTERS.

WE'RE WATCHING WORD-WRITING ACE TIGER WORDS

AS HE APPROACHES THE FINAL "T" OF THE TOURNAMENT.

'S GOT TO WRITE THE WORD "TRIP."

THERE'S THE TRICKY "TR" AT THE BEGINNING

THEN THE ( makes short "i" sound ) IN THE MIDDLE

AND THE "P" SOUND AT THE END.

TR... I... P.

IF HE MAKES IT, HE WILL WIN A TRIP TO TRIPOLI.

HE'S CHOOSING A WRITING IMPLEMENT FROM HIS PENCIL CASE

AND IT'S A PURPLE MARKER--

A BOLD MOVE FOR THIS WRITING WONDER KID.

TIGER STEPS UP TO THE "T" AND BEGINS THAT FAMOUS STROKE.

HE MAKES THE LETTER "R" A CONSONANT THAT SOUNDS

LIKE ( makes "r" sound )-- PURE POETRY.

WITH THE LETTER "T," THAT MAKES THE SOUND "T"-"R"-- "TR"--

THE FIRST SOUND OF THE WORD "TRIP."

TIGER NOW RAISES HIS PURPLE MARKER, LINES UP HIS STROKE

AND, YES, IT'S A PERFECT LETTER "P"

WHICH SOUNDS LIKE ( makes "p" sound )

THE LAST SOUND IN THE WORD "TRIP."

BUT HE STILL HAS TO ADD A VOWEL

TO MAKE THE ( makes short "i" sound ) IN THE MIDDLE.

LET'S /]

( crowd gasps )

OH, TOO BAD.

HE WROTE THE LETTER "A," WHICH MAKES THE "AAH" SOUND.

HE'S WRITTEN THE WORD "TRAP."

WHAT A SETBACK FOR TIGER.

AND THE WORD IS IN MARKER-- HE CAN'T ERASE IT.

WAIT-- THIS KID IS NEVER OUT OF IDEAS.

HE'S USING A LAWNMOWER TO ERASE THE LETTER "A."

AND... HE'S DONE IT!

YES, HE'S WRITTEN THE LETTER "I."

HE'S WRITTEN THE WORD "TRIP."

WHAT A TRIUMPH FOR TIGER WORDS!

HE WINS THAT TRIP TO TRIPOLI.

( crowd cheering )

( giggling )

"TRIP."

( giggling )

"RIP."

( giggling )

"IP."

"SH..."

"SHIP."

"SHIP."

Lionel: ARRGH!

Walter: YEAH, ARK!

NO, NO, NO-- ARRGH.

OH, SORRY.

SHIVER ME TIMBERS, MATIES!

YEAH, SHIVER ME THIMBLES, MATIES.

( humming to herself )

HI, LEONA... HI, CLAY.

( sadly ): HI, MOM.

HI.

OH, WHAT'S THE MATTER, YOU TWO?

Walter: DON'T MAKE ME WALK THE BLANK!

Lionel: PLANK! YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE

TO WALK THE PLANK.

Walter: OH, RIGHT, RIGHT.

OH...

LIONEL WON'T LET US PLAY

BECAUSE WE'RE GIRLS

AND THERE WERE NO GIRL PIRATES.

OR GIRL PIRATE PARROTS, NEITHER.

YEAH.

IS THAT SO?

Lionel: SHIVER ME TIMBERS.

HANG ON, ME MATEYS.

Walter: OH-OH, CAPTAIN.

Lionel: IT'S AYE-AYE.

Walter OH, DARN.

Lionel: HEY! IT BE A TIDAL WAVE!

ARRGH! ARRGH! ARRGH!

HOLD ON THERE, LIONEL.

NOT NOW, MOTHER.

I BE MISSISSIPPI SKIP

CAPTAIN OF A PIRATE SHIP

AND THE SEAS BE ROUGH.

ROUGHER THAN YOU THINK, SKIP.

UH-OH.

DID YOU TELL LEONA AND CLAY

THAT THEY COULDN'T PLAY WITH YOU?