Back to the Future (1991) s01e03 Episode Script
73004 - Forward to the Past
(THEME MUSIC PLAYING) MAN: (SINGING) Tell me, Doctor, where are we going this time? Is this the '50s Or 1999? All I wanted to do Was play my guitar and sing So take me away I don't mind But you better promise me I'll be back in time Gotta get back in time I'll be back in time Gotta get back in time AUTOMATED VOICE: Sub ether transmission link-up engaged.
Hello, from Hill Valley, California.
Look strange? Well, that's because it's Hill Valley in the year 3,000,000 BC.
That's smack dab in the middle of the Cretaceous Period.
I know I know what you're thinking.
Cretateous-smatateous, what does that mean to me? I'll tell you what it means.
Dinosaurs.
(ROARING) And lots of 'em! (ROARING) Looks like I've stumbled into a domestic squabble.
Maybe somebody forgot to take out the trash.
Hey! Knock it off, you two! Pfft! (ROARS) What am I thinking? You can't reason with a dinosaur.
They have a brain the size of a walnut.
One must exercise extreme caution when wandering around in prehistoric times.
Trust me, I should know.
My sons, Jules and Verne, and I almost ended up as dino-snacks the last time we were here.
It all started back in the lab as I was finishing up my latest invention.
Jules! Verne! Come quick! JULES: Yes, Father? (CLANGING) Ouch-a-ma-goucha! VERNE: Dad, Jules, look out! (YAWNS) Verne, how many times have I told you not to use the electro-glide boots in the house? I don't know.
I didn't keep count.
Brother, I'm of a mind to discard this aluminum foil I retained for you.
Thanks! I'm gonna save of this stuff, recycle it, and make a jillion dollars! at 5.
8 cents per ounce, the standard rate for the aforementioned metallic element, computes to $121,360.
Hardly a jillion.
Yeah, it's even more! Boys, I want to show you my latest innovation! VERNE: Dad, somebody already invented the vacuum cleaner.
It appears to be a homemade cyclotron.
I call it the proprietary ultrasonic sub-atomic molecular redistributor! Still looks like a vacuum cleaner to me.
Vernie, observe the Doc Black brownboard I mean the, uh, Doc Brown blackboard, and you'll see that my latest invention does more than suck up dirt.
Of course, all things are made up of atoms, and atoms combine to make molecules.
When enough different types of molecules combine, they become chairs, tables, or boys named Jules and Verne.
Father! We're not infants.
But, dad, what about your proprietary ultrasonic sub-atomic molecular The proprietary ultrasonic sub-atomic molecular redistributor.
It takes molecules apart! What's so tough about that? Father! DOC: Verne, reassemble your brother this millisecond! Okay.
Now, using the cyclotronic core, the molecular redistributor stimulates the atomic particles and applying power, it can actually pull molecules apart, basically disintegrating the object.
Eat chalk dust, alien invaders! Think what this could mean to a garbage dump or a landfill.
Hey, let's try it out on something! Woof! Einstein's right.
An untested invention can be very dangerous.
Then let us test it, Father.
I would hate to be the cause of some sort of accident.
In 1961, I inadvertently broke every window in the Greater Hill Valley-Medfield Basin! Of course, there is one place that would be barren enough to test it.
Place, Hill Valley! Time set, That ought to be barren enough! (ENGINES ROAR) (SCREAMING) Hey, Doc, you ought to honk, or use some kind of hand signal when you're taking off.
Hey, I just brought over the new music video Jennifer and I made.
Well, actually, she shot it, but I'm the star.
My apologies, Marty, but we must be off! Perhaps we can chat some other time! (EXPLODES) MARTY: Hey! That reminds me of a joke.
Why'd the nerd throw the clock out the window? (EXPLODES) Behold, Father.
Judging by the relative youth of the blooming floralindus cactolii, I would venture to guess we landed in The Cretaceous Period! The third geological phase of the Mesozoic era and the end of the dinosaur age.
I'll bet there's at least one dinosaur left.
What makes you say that? Look! (ROARING) (SCREAMING) DOC: Out of the beaker, into the Bunsen burner! It appears we are invited to dinner as the main course! (COOING) No, Dad.
This is a friendly flying lizard.
To be exact, a pteranadon.
Neato.
I'll call him Donny.
Oh! (EXPLODES) Here, boy, have a bite of my large-so-nutty-choco-cake candy bar.
(CHOMPS) Careful, Verne, or the extinction of the dinosaur will be attributed to junk food.
Goodbye, Donny! We appreciate the assistance.
Boys, I have secured a test site.
Focus your attention at the base of this hill.
Father! A shooting star! Galloping Galileo! That's no shooting star! It's a meteor headed straight towards Earth! We're all going to be killed! That meteor is on a certain collision course with Earth! Cool! Can we stay and watch? Certainly.
Until it explodes on impact and annihilates us.
I I'll go wait in the car.
Hold everything! The molecular redistributor may be able to disintegrate the meteor, but it would require additional power.
Something on the order of Rerouting mister fusion through the car battery will give us all the power we need.
Father, I calculate four minutes and 23 seconds until forcible contact of a moving body with one at rest! Then let the show commence! (EXPLODES) Wow, ring my Alexander Graham Bell! Not only have we saved our lives, but we've proven that the molecular redistributor works! Now, let's be on our way.
I wish to take some rocks back with me, Father.
It should be fascinating to carbon date them! (ENGINE SPUTTERS) Destroying the meteor must have drained the DeLorean's power source.
Impossible! I only used the car battery as a loop-through.
Something else must have drained it.
Verne Newton Brown! What are you brainiacs staring at? Father, this means With the battery drained, we're stranded in the Cretaceous Period.
Unless we are to utilize that grove of lemon trees! That's my offspring! You mean this car can run on lemon juice? Not exactly.
But if you insert copper and aluminum into a citrus compound JULES: Then connect the two with a wire DOC: The acid from the fruit can produce a small electrical current! Here's the copper, but I'm fresh out of aluminum.
Will this do? Well, we measure just shy of 12 volts.
Okay, Vernie, turn it over! Come on! Come on! (ENGINES ROARING) (VERNE SCREAMING) DOC: Great Scott! The DeLorean was in gear! Vernie! Stop The car! VERNE: Some rocks fell on the gas pedal! If the DeLorean reaches 88 miles per hour, Verne will be catapulted back to 20th-century Hill Valley, possibly leaving us stranded here for all eternity, not to mention he might get a ticket for driving without a license.
JULES: It's no use, Father! The fastest human is only able to attain speeds of 26.
95 miles per hour.
We'll never catch the car! The pteronodon! Squawk! I wonder how fast a pteronodon can fly? With a wing span of approximately seven meters, and the air displacement factor Hurry! DOC: Release! Ooomph! (EXPLODES) (TIRES SCREECH) (STAMMERING) Exhilarating! But I prefer riding coach.
Dad, what happened to Hill Valley? JULES: The landscape is identical to prehistoric times.
Only the foliage has changed.
VERNE: Hey, there's the hill where the car rolled down.
DOC: Let us investigate the surrounding territory.
Father, that appears to be a surface for motor vehicles up ahead.
DOC: What in the constantly expanding and shrinking universe is going on? JULES: Perhaps there was a malfunction in the time circuitry.
Everything seems to be okie-ma-dokie.
Father, watch out! Oh! (TIRES SCREECH) (THUMPS) DOC: I'll be a simian's uncle! (HUMMING) Ow! What's the purpose of this brutality, sibling? I wanted to make sure we weren't dreaming! DOC: I'd say it's more like some sort of bizarre nightmare! (ENGINES ROAR) JULES: This is simply colossal, phenomenal, prodigious and overwhelmingly tremendous! DOC: And that is an understatement! (THUMPING) (GRUMBLING) (HONKS) (CHATTERING) (SINGING) DOC: Great Scott! Lounge lizards! By destroying that meteor, it appears that we have prevented the extinction of the dinosaurs.
And they have managed to evolve into this fascinating new civilization! Sort of a "post-historic" world, if you will.
I'm taking some movies so we can show mom and Marty back home.
Back home? Vernie, play the musical videotape Marty fabricated.
(MUSIC PLAYING) VERNE: Who erased it? Jumping jigawatts! By preventing the extinction of the dinosaurs, we've also prevented humans from developing! Your mother, Marty, Einie, all the people we know and love don't even exist in this alternate world! (GASP) And since our ancestors weren't born in this timeline, we can't live here either! By my calculations, we will completely dissipate in 12 minutes and 17 seconds.
No way! I'm too young to be erased from existence! Father, what if we go back to the Cretaceous Period and undo what we've done? DOC: It's our only hope.
Let us depart before our intrusion is detected.
(SCREAMING) Tannasaur! Abbel sy dure! I wish I knew what they were saying.
Simple as pi r squared! The universal linguistic translator will decipher the dinosaur language.
Tsubushite-miyo! Hayaku, koroshi-cha-e, Godzilla baka! Godzilla? You programed it for Japanese! Oh, hold your Equus caballus, Verne.
There! DINOSAUR: I discovered this metallic egg near the highway.
Something appears to be inside.
Hello? Anybody home? Hey, I'm talkin' to you! There's three foreign creatures in there.
That one allosaur resembles Biff Tannen.
Only not so ugly.
Oh, we should take it to the zoo and wait for it to hatch.
When did you become such a dinotarian? I'm selling this thing to the research lab! But they'll dissect it! What do you care, tailhead? Jules, Verne, place your pedal extremities on the leather! But you always raise your vocal output when we put our feet on the seats.
Quickly! And be certain no portion of your body is touching anything metal! These two conductors will discharge the electrical energy from the battery through the DeLorean's chassis! Yeow! (SHOUTING) Whoa! (LAUGHING) Dad, my hat just faded out! We must return to the Cretaceous Period, utilize the molecular redistributor and reconstruct that meteor! It's no use, Father, the fastest human (GASPS) Look! JULES: It's us! Moments before our previous selves left! VERNE: Donny! Squawk! Donny, over here! We're back! Hurry, Father! We're about to vanish! Holy Marconi! And, jeez We're doomed again! How many times do we have to get doomed in one stinkin' day? (GASPS) Marty has reappeared! So have we! And so has my hat! Now, let's get back to the future! But Father, this means that we caused the extinction of the dinosaurs! We only caused it in the sense that we did not prevent it.
Verne, come on! I don't wanna leave Donny! We have no choice.
Now, get in the car.
The meteor is about to hit.
VERNE: Bye, Donny! I'll never forget you! (EXPLODES) Because he wanted to see time fly! (LAUGHS) (EXPLODES) Greetings, Einstein.
Marty, it's great to see ya.
Well, you only left two seconds ago, but I'm glad you're back.
I just wish we coulda brought Donny with us.
Vernie, you realize I had no choice back there.
Today's world would treat Donny the same way those Tyrannosauruses treated us, and you wouldn't want that.
Squawk! Hi, there.
Dad, do you think this could be Donny's great-great grandson? I think you need a few more "greats," Vernie.
How about great-great-great- great-great-great-great-great- great-great-great-great-great- great-great-great-great-great- great-great-great-great AUTOMATED VOICE: Commencing audio-visual functions.
Note to myself.
Next time I go back to prehistoric Hill Valley, bring my running shoes.
The Cretaceous Period is definitely lacking in the modern conveniences department.
Why, if Jules and I hadn't created a battery using lemons, aluminum foil and copper wiring, we'd still be dodging dinosaurs.
Sounds like something out of a cartoon, right? Well, for the record, it really works.
Access video encyclopedia, section L for lemon battery.
MACHINE: Section L.
Entry, lemon battery.
DOC: The procedure is as follows.
First, find three ripe lemons.
These will serve as our electrolytic cells.
Next, you'll need some copper tubing and aluminum foil.
And finally a small, battery operated digital clock.
Begin by taking the strips of aluminum foil and carefully wrapping them around small pieces of cardboard.
You'll need to do this three times, one for each lemon.
Next, cut two small holes in each of the lemons.
Since this involves a knife, get your parents to help you.
In one of the holes, we stick the aluminum foil covered cardboard.
In the other hole we stick the piece of copper tubing.
Remember, do this for all three lemons.
We then connect wires from the digital clock to each of the metal pieces.
As the copper tubing attracts electrons, the aluminum foil gives them up and an electrical current is created.
When the final wire is connected, presto! The digital clock comes to life and you've made your very own home version of a battery.
Or, if you weren't paying close attention, you may have ended up with a pretty weird glass of lemonade.
Ah! Just the way I like it! See you in the future.
(THEME SONG PLAYING) Hey! What's that on your shirt? Pfft.
(BOING) Don't be so gullible.
That joke's so old, first time I pulled it, I laughed so hard I fell off my dinosaur! (LAUGHS) - Oh! - (ROARS)
Hello, from Hill Valley, California.
Look strange? Well, that's because it's Hill Valley in the year 3,000,000 BC.
That's smack dab in the middle of the Cretaceous Period.
I know I know what you're thinking.
Cretateous-smatateous, what does that mean to me? I'll tell you what it means.
Dinosaurs.
(ROARING) And lots of 'em! (ROARING) Looks like I've stumbled into a domestic squabble.
Maybe somebody forgot to take out the trash.
Hey! Knock it off, you two! Pfft! (ROARS) What am I thinking? You can't reason with a dinosaur.
They have a brain the size of a walnut.
One must exercise extreme caution when wandering around in prehistoric times.
Trust me, I should know.
My sons, Jules and Verne, and I almost ended up as dino-snacks the last time we were here.
It all started back in the lab as I was finishing up my latest invention.
Jules! Verne! Come quick! JULES: Yes, Father? (CLANGING) Ouch-a-ma-goucha! VERNE: Dad, Jules, look out! (YAWNS) Verne, how many times have I told you not to use the electro-glide boots in the house? I don't know.
I didn't keep count.
Brother, I'm of a mind to discard this aluminum foil I retained for you.
Thanks! I'm gonna save of this stuff, recycle it, and make a jillion dollars! at 5.
8 cents per ounce, the standard rate for the aforementioned metallic element, computes to $121,360.
Hardly a jillion.
Yeah, it's even more! Boys, I want to show you my latest innovation! VERNE: Dad, somebody already invented the vacuum cleaner.
It appears to be a homemade cyclotron.
I call it the proprietary ultrasonic sub-atomic molecular redistributor! Still looks like a vacuum cleaner to me.
Vernie, observe the Doc Black brownboard I mean the, uh, Doc Brown blackboard, and you'll see that my latest invention does more than suck up dirt.
Of course, all things are made up of atoms, and atoms combine to make molecules.
When enough different types of molecules combine, they become chairs, tables, or boys named Jules and Verne.
Father! We're not infants.
But, dad, what about your proprietary ultrasonic sub-atomic molecular The proprietary ultrasonic sub-atomic molecular redistributor.
It takes molecules apart! What's so tough about that? Father! DOC: Verne, reassemble your brother this millisecond! Okay.
Now, using the cyclotronic core, the molecular redistributor stimulates the atomic particles and applying power, it can actually pull molecules apart, basically disintegrating the object.
Eat chalk dust, alien invaders! Think what this could mean to a garbage dump or a landfill.
Hey, let's try it out on something! Woof! Einstein's right.
An untested invention can be very dangerous.
Then let us test it, Father.
I would hate to be the cause of some sort of accident.
In 1961, I inadvertently broke every window in the Greater Hill Valley-Medfield Basin! Of course, there is one place that would be barren enough to test it.
Place, Hill Valley! Time set, That ought to be barren enough! (ENGINES ROAR) (SCREAMING) Hey, Doc, you ought to honk, or use some kind of hand signal when you're taking off.
Hey, I just brought over the new music video Jennifer and I made.
Well, actually, she shot it, but I'm the star.
My apologies, Marty, but we must be off! Perhaps we can chat some other time! (EXPLODES) MARTY: Hey! That reminds me of a joke.
Why'd the nerd throw the clock out the window? (EXPLODES) Behold, Father.
Judging by the relative youth of the blooming floralindus cactolii, I would venture to guess we landed in The Cretaceous Period! The third geological phase of the Mesozoic era and the end of the dinosaur age.
I'll bet there's at least one dinosaur left.
What makes you say that? Look! (ROARING) (SCREAMING) DOC: Out of the beaker, into the Bunsen burner! It appears we are invited to dinner as the main course! (COOING) No, Dad.
This is a friendly flying lizard.
To be exact, a pteranadon.
Neato.
I'll call him Donny.
Oh! (EXPLODES) Here, boy, have a bite of my large-so-nutty-choco-cake candy bar.
(CHOMPS) Careful, Verne, or the extinction of the dinosaur will be attributed to junk food.
Goodbye, Donny! We appreciate the assistance.
Boys, I have secured a test site.
Focus your attention at the base of this hill.
Father! A shooting star! Galloping Galileo! That's no shooting star! It's a meteor headed straight towards Earth! We're all going to be killed! That meteor is on a certain collision course with Earth! Cool! Can we stay and watch? Certainly.
Until it explodes on impact and annihilates us.
I I'll go wait in the car.
Hold everything! The molecular redistributor may be able to disintegrate the meteor, but it would require additional power.
Something on the order of Rerouting mister fusion through the car battery will give us all the power we need.
Father, I calculate four minutes and 23 seconds until forcible contact of a moving body with one at rest! Then let the show commence! (EXPLODES) Wow, ring my Alexander Graham Bell! Not only have we saved our lives, but we've proven that the molecular redistributor works! Now, let's be on our way.
I wish to take some rocks back with me, Father.
It should be fascinating to carbon date them! (ENGINE SPUTTERS) Destroying the meteor must have drained the DeLorean's power source.
Impossible! I only used the car battery as a loop-through.
Something else must have drained it.
Verne Newton Brown! What are you brainiacs staring at? Father, this means With the battery drained, we're stranded in the Cretaceous Period.
Unless we are to utilize that grove of lemon trees! That's my offspring! You mean this car can run on lemon juice? Not exactly.
But if you insert copper and aluminum into a citrus compound JULES: Then connect the two with a wire DOC: The acid from the fruit can produce a small electrical current! Here's the copper, but I'm fresh out of aluminum.
Will this do? Well, we measure just shy of 12 volts.
Okay, Vernie, turn it over! Come on! Come on! (ENGINES ROARING) (VERNE SCREAMING) DOC: Great Scott! The DeLorean was in gear! Vernie! Stop The car! VERNE: Some rocks fell on the gas pedal! If the DeLorean reaches 88 miles per hour, Verne will be catapulted back to 20th-century Hill Valley, possibly leaving us stranded here for all eternity, not to mention he might get a ticket for driving without a license.
JULES: It's no use, Father! The fastest human is only able to attain speeds of 26.
95 miles per hour.
We'll never catch the car! The pteronodon! Squawk! I wonder how fast a pteronodon can fly? With a wing span of approximately seven meters, and the air displacement factor Hurry! DOC: Release! Ooomph! (EXPLODES) (TIRES SCREECH) (STAMMERING) Exhilarating! But I prefer riding coach.
Dad, what happened to Hill Valley? JULES: The landscape is identical to prehistoric times.
Only the foliage has changed.
VERNE: Hey, there's the hill where the car rolled down.
DOC: Let us investigate the surrounding territory.
Father, that appears to be a surface for motor vehicles up ahead.
DOC: What in the constantly expanding and shrinking universe is going on? JULES: Perhaps there was a malfunction in the time circuitry.
Everything seems to be okie-ma-dokie.
Father, watch out! Oh! (TIRES SCREECH) (THUMPS) DOC: I'll be a simian's uncle! (HUMMING) Ow! What's the purpose of this brutality, sibling? I wanted to make sure we weren't dreaming! DOC: I'd say it's more like some sort of bizarre nightmare! (ENGINES ROAR) JULES: This is simply colossal, phenomenal, prodigious and overwhelmingly tremendous! DOC: And that is an understatement! (THUMPING) (GRUMBLING) (HONKS) (CHATTERING) (SINGING) DOC: Great Scott! Lounge lizards! By destroying that meteor, it appears that we have prevented the extinction of the dinosaurs.
And they have managed to evolve into this fascinating new civilization! Sort of a "post-historic" world, if you will.
I'm taking some movies so we can show mom and Marty back home.
Back home? Vernie, play the musical videotape Marty fabricated.
(MUSIC PLAYING) VERNE: Who erased it? Jumping jigawatts! By preventing the extinction of the dinosaurs, we've also prevented humans from developing! Your mother, Marty, Einie, all the people we know and love don't even exist in this alternate world! (GASP) And since our ancestors weren't born in this timeline, we can't live here either! By my calculations, we will completely dissipate in 12 minutes and 17 seconds.
No way! I'm too young to be erased from existence! Father, what if we go back to the Cretaceous Period and undo what we've done? DOC: It's our only hope.
Let us depart before our intrusion is detected.
(SCREAMING) Tannasaur! Abbel sy dure! I wish I knew what they were saying.
Simple as pi r squared! The universal linguistic translator will decipher the dinosaur language.
Tsubushite-miyo! Hayaku, koroshi-cha-e, Godzilla baka! Godzilla? You programed it for Japanese! Oh, hold your Equus caballus, Verne.
There! DINOSAUR: I discovered this metallic egg near the highway.
Something appears to be inside.
Hello? Anybody home? Hey, I'm talkin' to you! There's three foreign creatures in there.
That one allosaur resembles Biff Tannen.
Only not so ugly.
Oh, we should take it to the zoo and wait for it to hatch.
When did you become such a dinotarian? I'm selling this thing to the research lab! But they'll dissect it! What do you care, tailhead? Jules, Verne, place your pedal extremities on the leather! But you always raise your vocal output when we put our feet on the seats.
Quickly! And be certain no portion of your body is touching anything metal! These two conductors will discharge the electrical energy from the battery through the DeLorean's chassis! Yeow! (SHOUTING) Whoa! (LAUGHING) Dad, my hat just faded out! We must return to the Cretaceous Period, utilize the molecular redistributor and reconstruct that meteor! It's no use, Father, the fastest human (GASPS) Look! JULES: It's us! Moments before our previous selves left! VERNE: Donny! Squawk! Donny, over here! We're back! Hurry, Father! We're about to vanish! Holy Marconi! And, jeez We're doomed again! How many times do we have to get doomed in one stinkin' day? (GASPS) Marty has reappeared! So have we! And so has my hat! Now, let's get back to the future! But Father, this means that we caused the extinction of the dinosaurs! We only caused it in the sense that we did not prevent it.
Verne, come on! I don't wanna leave Donny! We have no choice.
Now, get in the car.
The meteor is about to hit.
VERNE: Bye, Donny! I'll never forget you! (EXPLODES) Because he wanted to see time fly! (LAUGHS) (EXPLODES) Greetings, Einstein.
Marty, it's great to see ya.
Well, you only left two seconds ago, but I'm glad you're back.
I just wish we coulda brought Donny with us.
Vernie, you realize I had no choice back there.
Today's world would treat Donny the same way those Tyrannosauruses treated us, and you wouldn't want that.
Squawk! Hi, there.
Dad, do you think this could be Donny's great-great grandson? I think you need a few more "greats," Vernie.
How about great-great-great- great-great-great-great-great- great-great-great-great-great- great-great-great-great-great- great-great-great-great AUTOMATED VOICE: Commencing audio-visual functions.
Note to myself.
Next time I go back to prehistoric Hill Valley, bring my running shoes.
The Cretaceous Period is definitely lacking in the modern conveniences department.
Why, if Jules and I hadn't created a battery using lemons, aluminum foil and copper wiring, we'd still be dodging dinosaurs.
Sounds like something out of a cartoon, right? Well, for the record, it really works.
Access video encyclopedia, section L for lemon battery.
MACHINE: Section L.
Entry, lemon battery.
DOC: The procedure is as follows.
First, find three ripe lemons.
These will serve as our electrolytic cells.
Next, you'll need some copper tubing and aluminum foil.
And finally a small, battery operated digital clock.
Begin by taking the strips of aluminum foil and carefully wrapping them around small pieces of cardboard.
You'll need to do this three times, one for each lemon.
Next, cut two small holes in each of the lemons.
Since this involves a knife, get your parents to help you.
In one of the holes, we stick the aluminum foil covered cardboard.
In the other hole we stick the piece of copper tubing.
Remember, do this for all three lemons.
We then connect wires from the digital clock to each of the metal pieces.
As the copper tubing attracts electrons, the aluminum foil gives them up and an electrical current is created.
When the final wire is connected, presto! The digital clock comes to life and you've made your very own home version of a battery.
Or, if you weren't paying close attention, you may have ended up with a pretty weird glass of lemonade.
Ah! Just the way I like it! See you in the future.
(THEME SONG PLAYING) Hey! What's that on your shirt? Pfft.
(BOING) Don't be so gullible.
That joke's so old, first time I pulled it, I laughed so hard I fell off my dinosaur! (LAUGHS) - Oh! - (ROARS)