The Clown Fish Syndrome

[ Theme Song ]

Ella: Faster, John, we're gonna be late! (Ricky and Ella both jump out of John and land in the water) Bye! (Ricky and Ella both swim to the shell school)

Lulu: So, children, today you are going to spend the whole day with an adult. Hmm? (Ricky and Ella both arrive and they did a nervous laugh) You're going to observe what he does and get to know what his role in the reef is. Pipo: Wow! Too cool! Annabel: That sounds great. Ricky: I can't wait! Lulu: Pipo and Annabel with César the Squid. (César waves at Pipo and Annabel) Pipo and Annabel: Yes! (both high-fins each other) Lulu: Glitz and Babbles with Theo the Crab. Ricky and Ella with Billy. (Billy laughs) Ricky: How lucky! We're with the clownfish! Lulu: And Mika and Crudd with me. All right, now, get into your groups. Mika and Crudd: Huh? (both sigh) Lulu: Hurry up instead of chit-chattering! Billy: Hi there, kids! Ready to have some fun? (Billy laughs. The kids and their respective group all swim away) Yeah, you'll see. Being a clownfish is a super-important job. Without me, the village couldn't function. Ricky; It's as important as that? Billy: Yes, and-- (Jimbo swims by) Huh? (Pipo's father bumps into Jimbo) Pipo's father: Oh, excuse me. Billy: Stop! Target in sight. Jimbo: Go right ahead. Billy: Hang onto your scales, because there's gonna be waves! Ella: But we don't have scales. Billy: Oh, that's right! Ha ha ha! Ricky: That's a good one! (Ricky and Ella both giggle) Billy: My dear Jimbo! Do you know the spot where there's the most fish? Jimbo: Hmm. Uh, I don't know. I give up. Billy: It's... between the head and the tail! Ta-da! Ha ha! Jimbo: (laughs) Between the head and the tail. But of course. There is fish there. Excellent. Ha ha ha! Hey, Ray! Listen to this! Billy: There you have it. Phew! That's it for today. Ricky: What? That's all? Billy: Yeah! Every day I pick a fish to tell a joke to. Then they tell it to another fish, who tell it to another, and so on, right up until... bam! Explosion of humor throughout the whole village! Ella: Just with that joke? Billy: Yeah, listen. Ella: Huh? (Ricky, Ella, and Billy all watch as Jimbo and Ray both laugh at the joke. Rita arrives) Ray: Rita, I gotta tell you this one. Billy: Mission accomplished. So, then, did you enjoy that? Ricky: Uh, yeah. A lot. Ella: It was very, um... instructive. (Ricky and Ella both see Ray and Rita laughing) Ricky: (to Ella) But that joke was horrible. Billy: You coming, kids? (Ricky and Ella both follow Billy. They then heard laughter nearby) Ha ha! Yet another one. Nothing stops humor. Ella: Um, Billy, is there really nothing else we can do today? Billy: Of course there is. We're gonna hang out here and try to come up with a joke for tomorrow. (Ricky and Ella both sigh. Pipo swims past them, chasing after the luminous planktons) Pipo: Whoo-hoo! Ricky and Ella: Huh? (César and Annabel are following Pipo. César is holding a shell on his tentacles) César: Don't let them get away! Annabel: Yay! Ricky and Ella: Huh? (Ricky and Ella both follow César, Pipo, and Annabel to a crab cave) César: Shh. You're going to scare them. Ella: Scare who? César: Them! Over there! (Pipo chases the planktons into making them get inside the shell César's holding. César closes the shell, trapping the planktons) And three more! Annabel: Bravo, Pipo! Pipo: Yeah! Ricky and Ella: Wow! Billy: Ricky! Ella! I'm waiting for you! (César, Pipo, and Annabel all swim away) Ricky: Billy, can we go home now? (He hears laughters nearby. Ricky sees Babbles and Glitz coming out of the crab cave) You guys were in there, too? Glitz: Yeah. Theo's showing us all kinds of super-cool hiding spots. Babbles: They could come in handy for when we're playing hooky. (laughs) Ricky: (sighs) Everybody's having fun. Billy: And it's all thanks to me, the spreader of good humor! Ricky: We're completely bored! We;ve done nothing for hours, and what's more-- Ella: Ricky, no! Ricky: And what's more, your joke wasn't funny! Billy: Perhaps you didn't get it. You want me to explain it to you? (Ricky groans) Oh, right. Well... I'm sorry. The observation day is over. You can go home now. (swims away) Ella: You were a bit hard on him.

Annabel: It's a shame the observation day is finished. We really had a ball yesterday. Ricky: Speak for yourself. Annabel: Why do you say that? Ricky: Well... for us, it was awful. Pipo: Aren't you exaggerating a little? Ricky: No, I'm not. Billy's the least funny fish I know. We were super-bored with him. Anybody could do what he does, even better. Billy: Good morning. The kids: Good morning, Billy. Ricky: Think he heard me?

Billy: Uh, hi there, Theo. You know what's red, and it floats in-- No, wait, that's not it. I got it wrong. You know what's red, and it floats with-- No, no, wait! Pull yourself together, Billy. You know you're funny. You know what's--what's-- (sees Theo walks away) Aah! Wait! Don't go! I got a tap dance number for you? The kids: (hiding behind the shell school) Huh? Billy: Do you see this? (claps his fins) Pretty funny, huh? (Ricky's friends all swim away. Billy clears his throat) Uh... (Theo walks away) Hmm? (sees Ricky) Anybody can be funnier than me, huh? Ricky: Huh? Billy: Well, then you can take my place! (Billy swims away) Ricky: Ohh!

Ricky: Can you believe it? I'm the new clown of the reef. It's--It's great. (Sammy arrives) Sammy: You shouldn't be so overjoyed, Ricky. Billy plays a very important role in the life of the reef. His departure is a great loss for us all. Ricky: Don't worry about it, Sammy. If Billy entrusted me with this mission, it's because he knows I'm the king of laughs. Ella: Oh, yeah? Then go ahead and tell us a joke. Ricky: Uh, okay. What's orange and white and not funny? Heh. So? It's Billy! (laughs) (Sammy swims away) Annabel: But that's not funny. Ella: And it's mean. Ricky: Yeah, well, that's true. But I wasn't ready. You'll see. I am super-funny.

(Ricky is making armpit farting noise in front of Ella, but she isn't amuse) Ricky: Pblblblblbl! (Ricky laughs. Later outside the school, he swims around his friends as he continues making armpit farting noise) Pblblblblblbl!

(Ricky swims in circles to make the Rockfish laugh, but they all swim away) Ricky: (chuckles) Pblblblblbl! Huh? Huh?

Ricky: Okay, it's harder than I thought. In fact, maybe it's not for me. Ella: You see? I told you so. Sammy: Ricky, maybe you should tell Billy you're sorry and ask him to come back. Ricky: But what if he refuses? Villager: (to Jimbo) What do you mean, priority to the right? Couldn't you just pay more attention? Jimbo: You're the one who ran into me, I'll have you know. Theo: Hey there, that's not a reason to disturb the whole reef. Sammy: You see? Ricky: Hmm. Wait, I have a better idea. We'll find somebody else to replace him. Hmm. Yes! Listen up, everybody. Who wants to become the new clown of the reef? Which one of you is funny enough to make all the inhabitants laugh? Villager 2: Hey! Me! I'm super-funny! Villager: You? Funny? Don't make me laugh. I'll bet you it's me. Mika: Stop talking nonsense. Both of you are about as funny as a school of mussels. Me, on the other hand... Ricky: Boy, oh, boy. We're not out of the woods yet. Annabel: What if we organized a contest? Ricky: Hmm. Yeah.

Sea Snake: So I say... freshwater fish. (laughs) Annabel: Heh heh. Ricky: Sorry. Next! (The sea snake sighs and he slithers away. Babbles is next) Babbles: P.U.! It smells like stale fish over there. My name's Babbles, the king of wisecracks. When I crack a joke, everybody step back, because my sense of humor of devastating! What do you think, sweetheart? Ella: Huh? Uhh! Next! Babbles: Uh... hey! I'm not done yet. (Babbles swims away when Ray is next) Ray: Hmm. (Rita also appears. Ray pulls out a jellyfish corpse) Her favorite dish! (The fish audience all gasp. Ray places the jellyfish onto Rita's face) Ta-da! (Ray laughs, but no one is amuse. Ricky did a facepalm) Uh, I guess that's a no. Heh heh heh. (Ray and Rita both swim away) Mika: Well, there you have it. We'll never have another clownfish ever again. Villager 3: Boy, we want to laugh. We're fed up. (Sammy arrives) Sammy: Now, now. Are we fighting again, my friends? Ricky: All this is my fault. I haven't managed to find a replacement for Billy, and now everybody is in a bad mood. Sammy: Well, then, you know what you have to do. (Ricky groans)

Ricky: Ahem. Billy? Billy... would you please come back to the village to your jokes? Everybody misses your good sense of humor, you know. And I--I want to say I'm sorry. I shouldn't have criticized you. (chuckles) (Billy sighs, but he and Ricky both swim back to the village)

Ricky: (chuckles) Hear ye, hear ye! Billy has returned! It's the great comeback of our clownfish! (The villagers all cheer) Sammy: Billy, we really missed you. Without you, the reef is no longer the little paradise we know so well. Well, we're all ears. Billy: Uh... there's this fish that goes into the ocean and, uh, well... splash! Ray: Uh... and after? Billy: See? There was no reason to say you were sorry. I'm not funny. I never was. Jimbo: Pblblblbl! What? Are you joking? You made me scream with laughter with that last joke of yours. Billy: Yeah. It was a pretty good one. Ray: And the one about the lobster who says, "Don't pinch me too hard". Rita: And the other one that says, "All right, no need to start seeing red". Villager 2: And what about the mute fish? Mika: And remember the one about the shark and the screwdriver? Billy: And wait! You know what's funnier than a clownfish? Two clownfishes! (The villagers all laugh) Ray: Good old Billy. It's great to have you back. (Billy winks at Ricky and Ella, who both wink back) Ricky and Ella: (high-flippers) Yeah! Sammy: It just goes to show you, being a clownfish is a real job.

Lulu: Right, I hope this day of observation has proved useful. (Ricky chuckles) Ricky, instead of fooling around, would you please like to tell us what you learned? Ricky: Yes! I learned three things. First, you should never be too quick to judge somebody. And then, that everybody in the reef has an important role. Lulu: Ah, that's good. And the third thing? Ricky: That being a clownfish is great! When I grow up, I want to spend all my time telling jokes! Ella: Oh, yeah! Babbles: Me, too! Annabel: That's so cool! Pipo: Same here! Crudd: I want to be a clownfish, too! Glitz: Me, too! Lulu: Ha ha ha! (sighs)