(Opening shot: fade in to an establishing shot of Tarrytown Airport during the day and zoom in slowly. Jay Jay, Tracy and Herky can be seen standing outside the main hangar.)
Narrator: It was a crisp, clear fall morning in Tarrytown.
(On the end of this, dissolve to a close-up of the three aircrafts standing together. One by one, they make their way o.s. during the next line.)
Narrator: Jay Jay, Tracy and Herky decided to go on a fun morning flight.
(Cut to the runway; Jay Jay zooms forward and takes wing.)
Narrator: But, there was also excitement in the air for young Tracy— (Tracy enters goes down the runway as well.)—because she had a very special day ahead of her.
(She takes flight; dissolve to Jay Jay and Herky flying through the air. Tracy flies in between them, they proceed in a triangular formation.)
Light, jaunty woodwind/piano/bass melody with tambourine/bass drum accents, moderate 4 (D flat major)
Tracy: Hey, guys, I've got good news! The Tarrytown Library is celebrating the life of my hero, Amelia Earhart, the famous pilot. And I get to sing a song about her for a big party this afternoon. Do you wanna hear it?
Herky: Sur-r-re!
Jay Jay: Yeah!
Xylophone/snare drum for three bars, then out
Light percussion in, double time feel (A flat major)
(Wipe to an empty area of the sky; Tracy flies upward into view and proceeds forward.)
Tracy: When you're starting from Ground Zero
It helps to have a hero
Someone you can look up to
(Dissolve to the sky; a live action, black and white photo of Amelia Earhart floats past.)
Amelia, Amelia, the girl in the plane
(Dissolve back to Tracy; Jay Jay and Herky hover into view behind her.)
She's the one that carries me through
Full drums/clarinet in
Tracy: When I feel my engine stallin'
Suddenly I'm fallin'
(Dissolve to the sky; another black and white image floats past; this is of Amelia in front of a plane.)
I think about what she might do
(Dissolve back to the trio.)
Amelia, Amelia, the girl in the plane
She's the one that carries me through
Lighter feel
(Dissolve to the sky; a third photo floats past; Amelia in her teenage years.)
Tracy: Maybe someday
Someone will be looking up at me
(Dissolve back to the trio.)
You never know
Life is full of surprises
(Dissolve to the sky; a fourth image floats past.)
And heroes come in many shapes and sizes
Intensity builds
(Dissolve back to the trio.)
Tracy: When the winds of change are blowin'
It's comforting just knowin'
I fly the very sky she flew
(Dissolve to a black and white image of Amelia against a white background.)
Amelia, Amelia, the girl in the plane
(Dissolve back to the trio.)
She's the one that carries me through
Song ends on a stinger
(She zooms downward as she finishes, her spectators following; wipe to an empty stretch as Jay Jay backs into view.)
Jay Jay: Gee, Tracy, that was great! (Tracy and Herky join.)
Tracy: Thanks, Jay Jay. That's the song I'm gonna sing for this afternoon's big party. And guess what? I get to meet the new head of the library.
Jay Jay: Oh!
Herky: Oh!
Tracy: Now I need to practice my singing for the party, so I'm going to Echo Canyon to listen to my own echo. Bye! (She flies away.)
Herky: Wow. She's going to listen to her-r-r ver-r-ry own echo. What a gr-r-reat idea—why, that's the best idea ever-r-r! (giggles, pause) Uh...Jay Jay?
Jay Jay: Yes, Herky?
Herky: What's an echo?
Jay Jay: Well, it's um...it's kinda hard to explain. Hey, I know. Why don't you follow Tracy, and she'll show ya?
Herky: That is a gr-r-reat idea! I'll see ya later-r-r!
(The helicopter hovers off; cut to an overview of Echo Canyon as Tracy flies across.)
Narrator: So, Herky took off after Tracy— (Herky follows.) —and caught up with her just as she reached Echo Canyon.
(Long shot of the canyon; Tracy lands on the soft sand, Herky touching down next to her. Silence for a moment.)
Herky: Well? Wher-r-re's you-r-r echo? I don't see it anywher-r-re.
Tracy: Herky, you can't see an echo, you hear it. An echo is a sound. Watch this.
(The light violet jet plane lifts her head a bit and begins to shout; each sentence echos back to her deeply within the stretches of the canyon.)
Tracy: HELLO, ECHO! ARE YOU THERE?
(She flashes a smile, Herky stares on.)
Tracy: THANKS FOR SHOWING ME YOU CARE!
(That sentence echos, as well; close-up of Herky, the dark brown eyes widening with wonder.)
Herky: Wow! Wher-r-re'd that come from?
Tracy: Out there. An echo is a sound your voice makes when you send it out, and it bounces off of something, and comes right back to you.
(She sings a six note phrase; that echos back to her. Close-up of the astounded helicopter.)
Tracy: (from o.s.) Try it!
Herky: (clears throat) Hello, Mr-r-r. Echo. (Nothing happens.)
Tracy: No, you have to shout real loud.
Herky: HELLO, MR-R-R. ECHO!!!
(That echos back so loudly, the force sends the helicopter off his skids and makes him flip backward. He ends up bumping into Tracy, and she rolls out of frame before Herky gets himself straight.)
Tracy: (from o.s.) I'M ROLLING DOWN THE HILL!!!
(We hear the sound of water splashing; Herky observes.)
Herky: OOPS! SOR-R-RY!
(His sentence echos back to him.)
Herky: Gee. What a r-r-rotten tr-r-rick for an echo to play!
(Dissolve to an overview of the main hangar back at Tarrytown Airport; we hear wheezing from inside.)
Tracy: (from inside, sneezing) Ah-choo!
(Cut to inside the workshop area. Tracy jitters in place, moaning wearily; Brenda stands before her, polishing her microphone.)
Tracy: I can't believe it. That lake I rolled into was ice c-c-cold. I'm frozen to my frame. (sneezing) Ah-choo!
Brenda: Oh...Tracy, I'm afraid you're sick. Snuffy's got a cold, too—everyone's catching one this fall.
Tracy: (from o.s.) No, I can't! (Cut to her.) I've got to sing my song this afternoon!
Brenda: Well, if you're not careful, you might get even sicker. Oh, I'd better call Herky in here to warm up before he gets sick, too.
(She turns toward the microphone; cut to outside. Herky is hovering before Jay Jay and Snuffy.)
Herky: Cr-r-razy thing is, all ya have to do is say something, and this echo guy yells r-r-right back at ya.
Snuffy: Wow! (The loudspeaker beeps.)
Brenda: (over speaker) Your attention, please! Will Herky please report to Brenda Blue's workshop right away?
Herky: Whoops, gotta go. I'll see you guys later-r-r! (He flies off.)
Snuffy: Gee, Jay Jay, I wonder if I have an echo, too. (He wheezes a bit.) Uh-oh. Uh, I gotta sneeze! (He starts to.) Ah...ah...
(Cut back to Tracy and Brenda; the former wheezes, too.)
Tracy: Uh-oh! I'm gonna sneeze again! (She starts to.) Ah...ah... (Brenda covers the microphone.)
Brenda: Tracy, no!
Tracy: (from o.s.) Ah...
Brenda: Not near the microphone! (Cut back outside.)
Snuffy: (sneezes fully) Ah-choo!! (Cut to Tracy.)
Tracy: (also sneezes) Ah-CHOO!!!
(Her sneeze echos through the loudspeaker; the force causes Jay Jay and Snuffy to flip into the air, screaming before they land.)
Jay Jay: Boy, Snuffy. For such a little guy, your echo sure is loud.
(A surprised smile spreads across the buck-toothed skywriter's face. Back inside, Tracy begins to cough; Brenda takes her hands away from the microphone.)
Brenda: Tracy? What's wrong?
Tracy: (from o.s., hoarsely) My voice...i-i-i-it's gone!
(Tracy speaks this way until further notice. Dissolve to an overview of the airport and zoom in slowly.)
Narrator: Tracy had come down with a case of "airingitis"—that's what it's called when an airplane loses its voice.
(On the end of this, dissolve to the four kids inside the hangar. The hoarse-voiced jet plane sadly starts to exit, Jay Jay follows behind her.)
Narrator: Everybody felt bad for Tracy, because they knew how much wanted to sing at the party.
(Overview of the airport, Tracy slinks over to the kids' hangar with Jay Jay following.)
Narrator: But now, she couldn't.
(After both jet planes have made their way inside, cut to the two standing together in it.)
Jay Jay: Gosh, Tracy. I'm really sorry you lost your voice. Is there anything I can do for ya?
(Tracy's only response is to hang her head silently; close-up of her reassuring blue friend.)
Jay Jay: Oh, okay. Well, I'll just...um...I'll just let you get some rest, okay? (He taxis out of the hangar.)
(Dissolve to an overview of the kids' hangar and zoom in slowly.)
Voice: So, uh...
(Back inside; a sliver lockheed is standing before the ailing Tracy.)
Big Jake the Lockheed: How are you feeling, little one?
Tracy: Big Jake, I really wanted to sing my song about Amelia Earhart, and now I can't.
Big Jake: Well, singing is only one way to tell people things, you know. There are lots of other ways. Maybe you need to find a new one.
(Snuffy comes into the hangar, he too speaks with a hoarse voice until further notice.)
Snuffy: Sorry about your cold, Tracy.
Tracy: What happened to your voice?
Snuffy: Oh, I've come down with airingitis, too.
Tracy: Where are you going?
Snuffy: I thought I'd go draw a few sky pictures to cheer myself up. Heck, I don't need a voice to do that.
(He exits; something clicks into Tracy's head.)
Tracy: Sky pictures? What a great idea! Snuffy, wait! I need your help!
(She goes off, Big Jake smiling as if to say "Now she's got it." Dissolve to the Tarrytown Public Library, Snuffy flies over it with Tracy following.)
Narrator: That afternoon, above the library building— (Dissolve to a head-on view as they come forward.) —Tracy was ready to tell everyone about her admiration for Amelia Earhart. But she didn't do it in song—she couldn't. She did it another way—with a picture, a sky picture.
Tracy: All right, Snuffy, let's go! Just keep drawing, and follow me!
(Off she goes, the skywriter following; dissolve to a long shot of the sky. The jet plane flies around in various directions, the skywriter puts his smoke at work as he copies her direction while the scene dissolves/cuts from one portion to the next. First they spin around, then they fly in a curve, then do a U-turn, then another spin, and one more turn. Long shot of their masterpiece, a smoked rendition of Amelia Earhart in her pilot wear. They fly o.s. as the face fades partially into view, and it glows faintly.)
(Dissolve to outside the library; Tracy and Snuffy have landed, with Jay Jay and Herky standing by. Brenda stands on the doorstep with someone next to her.)
Jay Jay: Gosh, Tracy. That was really great!
(Close-up of Tracy; all her remaining lines are delivered in her normal voice.)
Tracy: Thanks, Jay Jay! (pauses, realizing) Hey, my voice! It's back!
Herky: Gee, that's swell.
(Close-up of Brenda; the other person is a woman.)
Brenda: Tracy, I'd like you to meet Miss Jones, the new head librarian.
Tracy: Hi, Miss Jones. It's a pleasure to meet you.
(Back to the other two; Miss Jones begins gesturing something with her hands—she is using American Sign Language. Brenda translates.)
Brenda: Miss Jones is saying, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Tracy." And she thanks you for such a wonderful celebration of Amelia Earhart.
Tracy: Uh...thanks. But what's she doing with her hands?
Brenda: (gesturing as she speaks) It's called sign language. It's for people who can't hear. It's another way people can communicate with one another. (Snuffy speaks in his normal voice again.)
Snuffy: I get it, like I draw sky pictures. Those are hand pictures.
Herky: Wow, that's r-r-really cool!
Jay Jay: Yeah!
Tracy: But you didn't mind it that I didn't sing?
(Cut to Brenda/Miss Jones on the end of this; the former gestures her words to the latter, who begins gesturing something else.)
Brenda: She says, "No, not at all." In fact, since she's a person who can't hear, your pictures were perfect for her.
Tracy: (from o.s.) Really? (Back to her.) Thanks!
Brenda: (Translating Miss Jone's gestures) She says, she hopes you two will be good friends.
(Smiles from all around.)
Narrator: So you see, this ended up being a big day for Tracy after all. (Close-up of her.) Tracy learned that there are many wonderful ways to say things— (Wide shot of the group.) —as many ways as there are friends to say them to.
(The view dissolves to an overview of the village square, then fades to black moments later.)