19x01 - The Tin Forest

[bunniefuu]

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

♪ Butterfly in the sky ♪

♪ I can go twice as high ♪

♪ Take a look,
it's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can go ♪

♪ Anywhere ♪

♪ Friends to know ♪

♪ And ways to grow ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can be ♪

♪ Anything ♪

♪ Take a look ♪

♪ It's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

♪ Ooh ♪

Levar burton, voice-over:
it's a beautiful morning

In downtown new york city.

From the way things look,
it's a typical day

In a typical neighborhood,

But this neighborhood
isn't typical at all,

Because right behind me
is what they called ground zero.

It was here
that on september , ,

A terrible tragedy happened.

Planes crashed
into the world trade towers

That used to be right there.

But the buildings
aren't there anymore
because they collapsed.

And it was a very dangerous
and a very rightening time

For everybody.

The world trade center

Used to tower
over this neighborhood,

But after september ,

All that was left
was dust and debris.

So much was lost that day.

Rescue teams
worked day and night

To help people
that were in trouble

And get everyone back home.

It takes a long time to recover

From something so terrible,

But as you can see,
people are working hard

To put their neighborhood
and lives back together.

They're focusing
on the future,

And they're determined
to fill that future with hope.

Here's a book that's
all about the message of hope.

It's about a man who lives
in a dark and gloomy place,

Which is how
this neighborhood seemed
right after the tragedy.

But he has hope in his heart,

And he discovers that that hope
changes his world.

His story is found

In the tin forest.

Narrator: and read by me--
jeff bridges.

[Thunder]

There was once
a wide, wind-swept place

Near nowhere
and close to forgotten

That was filled
with all the things
that no one wanted.

Right in the middle
was a small house

With small windows

That looked out

On other people's garbage
and bad weather.

In the house lived an old man.

Every day, he tried
to clear away the garbage--

Sifting and sorting,
burning and burying.

And every night,
e old man dreamed.

[Roar]

He dreamed
he lived in a forest

Full of wild animals.

There were colorful birds,

Tropial trees,

Exotic flowers,

Toucans,

Tree frogs,

And tigers.

[Growls]

But when he awoke,

The world outside
was still the same.

[Wind blowing]

One day, something
caught the old man's eye,

And an idea planted itself
in his mind.

The idea grew roots
and sprouted.

It grew leaves.

It grew branches.

It grew bigger and bigger.

Under the old man's hand,

A forest emerged--

A forest made of garbage--

A forest made of tin.

It was not the forest
of his dreams,

But it was a forest
just the same.

[Wings flapping]

Then one day
across the barren plain,

The wind swept a small bird.

[Chirping]

The old man spilled crumbs

From his sandwich
onto the ground.

The bird ate the crumbs

And perched to sing
in the branches of a tin tree.

[Chirping]

But the next morning,

The visitor was gone.

All day, the old man
walked through the silence,

And his heart ached

With emptiness.

That night by moonlight,

He made a wish.

In the morning,

The old man woke
to the sound of birdsong.

[Birds chirping]

The visitor had returned,

And his mate
had come with him.

The birds carried seeds
in their beaks.

They dropped them
to the dry ground.

Green sh**t broke
through the earth.

Soon the song of birds
mingled

With the buzzing of insects

And the rustle of leaves.

[Insect buzzing]

Time passed.

Small creatures appeared,

Creeping among the forest
of trees.

Wild animals slipped
through the green shadows.

[Chirping]

There was once a forest

Near nowhere
and close to forgotten

That was filled

With all the things
that everyone wanted.

Right in the middle was
a small house

With small windows.

And in the house

Lived an old man

Who never stopped dreaming.

With hope and a dream,

The man in the tin forest
turned a gray wasteland

Into a beautiful forest.

And just as he brought life
into a place that was empty,

So, too, have the people
in this neighborhood done

After september th.

Another place that's thriving

Is this elementary school--

P.s. .

The kids were just a few days

Into a new school year
on that morning,

And just like everyone else
in this neighborhood,

They had to leave quickly

And stay away
until it was safe to return.

Soon after they had arrived
for school that day,

The kids at p.s. Had to rush
from their classrooms

And go to safety.

They left their school
and neighborhood

And didn't return
until months later.

During that time,
they went to another school

In a building far away
from the danger.

This school, st. Bernard's,
hadn't been used for years.

It didn't have
many desks or chairs.

It was uncomfortable.

But the students
were determined to be brave

And make the best
of the situation.

But now, after many months,

The kids of p.s.
Are finally back home.

Come on.

Burton: hi, you guys.

Class: hi.

How you doing?

Good.

If it's
all right with you,

I wanted to talk
a little bit

About what happened
on september .

Is that all right
with you guys?

Yes.

Because for me--
I live in california,

Which is , miles away.

And it was incredibly scary

For me watching it
on television,

But I can't even imagine

What it would have been like
being this close.

I mean, right out
the window there,

You could see the towers.

What was it like
for you guys

On that day?

My friend's dad
all of a sudden came
running, saying,

"Oh, my god!
Something happened--
really scary.

"And there's
this plane

That crashed into
the twin towers."

It was just scary
because I saw, like,

Lots of debris
coming out,
and I saw the fire.

I kept saying to myself
that it's going
to fall down,

It's going to fall down.

And he kept saying,
"no, it's not,"

And then, like,
a few seconds later,
it just fell right down,

And I was stuck
in a whole crowd
of people.

I was also worried
about my mom,

And, so, I just was
really stressed.

I'm going to talk
for a second

About some of the things
that are on the table here.

I find it extraordinary
that you guys received

Thousands of gifts from
people all over the world.

My favorite gift
that I got

Was a little
stuffed animal.

We got so many things.

We didn't even just
get cards and stuff.

We also got books, toys,

And people also
put on shows for us.

It really makes
me feel good

That all
the people
around the world

Really care
about us.

What is it that you guys
would like to say

To the world?

Thank you.

Because they're
really being
nice to us,

Sending us
everything,

And making us
cheer up
and stuff.

Mm-hmm.

Even if--you people
out there--

If you speak chinese
or australian--

If you don't know
what I'm saying,

I still want to say
thank you so much

For giving us support

And helping us
feel better.

So, tell me
about what it's like

Being back here now.

It feels good to be
back in our school.

We're here
a lot,

Like, hours
on weekdays,

And, so, this
is like half
of our house.

When I was
at st. Bernard's,

I really, like,
thought about how much
I really loved p.s. ,

And--it made me
realize how much
I took for granted,

For all the good things
that we had in p.s. .

And because of
just so many people
trying to help us,

We're ok. And now
we're even better
than we were before.

I think that even
though september th
was a bad day,

It also sort of,
like, was a good day

Because it
brought us together.

So, tell me about
what you guys
have decided to do

In order to say thanks.

Um...

We've decided
to make
a music video

Of a song that says
thank you.

And I think that it's
not just like,

When somebody
makes up a song,

They're just making up
a song to earn money.

I think we're
really making it
to tell people--

Burton: to tell them what?

Thank you. And we're
back where we belong.

[Burton laughing]

Kind of exactly what
the song says, huh? Yes?

You know, I think
this music video project

Is going to be incredible.
The kids are writing a song.

They're taking pictures,
creating artwork,

Even choreographing steps.

Everyone's contributing
in order to make sure

That this is a project

That comes directly
from their hearts.

Come on in.
It's time to go.

Burton, voice-over:
the kids are recording the song

With steve,
the music composer.

All of the ideas
for the lyrics came

From the children themselves.

You made us feel
like we were at home,

Because we were
at all those places.

And then if, like, we
were coming back here,

And all the things
that people gave us

Made us feel
like we were here
the whole time.

♪ When we
were feeling low ♪

♪ Suddenly... ♪

Now we know that
we're safe or, like,

You've made us
feel we're safe.

It's kind of made us
more of a family.

♪ Da da dee
da da dum ♪

♪ ...belong ♪

♪ We are really
thankful ♪

We could say we're ok.

We never really knew
we were this strong

To pull through it.

We're really happy
we're back where
we belong.

Kids: ♪ we're back
where we belong ♪

♪ From our hearts
we sing out ♪

♪ And like a bell
that rings out ♪

You helped us
be brave

While what we were
going through.

The end of it--
it sounds like
we could say,

"For all the things
that you've done."

♪ ...now ♪

♪ Our hearts
are feeling free now ♪

♪ And with our smiles
we show ♪

♪ Back where we ♪

♪ Belong ♪

Burton, voice-over:
when the song is finished,

It will really be
a powerful part of
their music video.

[Kids talking indistinctly]

Burton: the kids
are creating a mural

That will be the title
for the music video.

The mural will be feet wide

And show the countries
from where all the gifts
and good wishes were sent.

Of course, I had
to stop by and help.

Woman: is that it?

Hey, guys.
Hi.

How we doing?
Fine.

Your part of the project
is just the tracing
and the cutting.

Yeah.
Yeah.

So, we just start
anywhere?

Yeah.
Yeah.

This has
water.

Mine does, too,
but no fishes.

Burton: thin blue paper
is pasted down to make
the ocean background.

It's kind of like glue,
but it just sticks
on this kind.

[Class talking at once]

How's that? Good?
Ok.

Ok.

Burton, voice-over:
each group traces out
a continent on a foam board

And then carefully
cuts it out.

Woman: ta-da!

Material is placed over
the continents and cut
to match the shape.

There's a different fabric
for each continent.

Now all we
have to do is cut.

Since the mural will be
the title for the video,

Letters are created
to spell out, "we're
back where we belong."

Woman: there we go.
We've got our "h".

Nice!

So, sam and chris are
the official gluers, right?

And then carson and I
will be the official pressers.

How's that?

Ok.
Ok.

Meanwhile, the fabric is glued
onto the foam board.

Burton: here we go--asia.

Asia.

I think we did
a pretty good job.

Burton, voice-over:
finally, all the pieces
are hurried together.

Hi, you guys.

Hi.
Hello.

Hi. This is a really
interesting part
of the project.

I want you to tell me
all about it.

You guys actually went
out into the neighborhood
with cameras,

And then
what did you do?

We took pictures all
around the neighborhood.

And what did you
take pictures of?

Different places
that helped us

And that were

Really
thankful and
supported us.

Mm-hmm. And, so,
who did you end up

Coming back
with pictures of?

Who are these guys?
This is fire company what?

Ladder .
Ladder .

They're
on church street.

On church street.

[Sirens]

Boy, voice-over:
they filmed ghostbusters
in the building,

And it's really famous.
They all came to the rescue.

I want to take photos
of them and thank them.

How are you?

What's up,
buddy?

There's a lot of nice
firefighters there.

Man: all right?

Say cheese.

Men: cheese.

Burton: wow. They're
going to be a part
of the project.

These are friends
of yours, jack?

These
are the people

From tribeca
grand,

And they
helped everyone

When
september th
happened.

Uh-huh.

And tribeca grand
is a...

A hotel.

It's a hotel.

Jack:
it was important to me

To get the photo
for the tribeca grand

Because my family stayed there
while we were displaced.

I think that it could
have been a lot worse.

Like, a lot of more buildings
could have fell down,

So I think I'm lucky.

Who else did you come
back with a photograph
of? Who is that?

That's the owner
of a shop
called alpha's,

And they stayed
opened during
september .

Boy, voice-over: they let
firemen and policemen

Stay there and eat there

And be there every time

That they needed to be.

I do think

It was better to share
this time with other people

Than to go through it alone

Because if I went
through it alone,

It would be pretty hard,
because I could be thinking...

Smile.

Maybe I'm the only person
who's feeling like this.

I wonder if they're
feeling like this.

Wave now?

And where
are we here, jack?

This is a grocery store
on the inside,

And they helped by
staying open...

They stayed open
so the people could
get the things

That they needed
to keep going.

Very important.
A great way to help.

Boy: a lot of my friends
tried to comfort me,

And I tried to comfort them,
so we felt better.

I...i changed a little bit.

Now when people
are, like, sad

Or something happened,

I try to help them even
more than I did before.

I feel proud of that.

Can we have
a picture?

Man: oh, sure.
No problem. Ok.

Go ahead.

Boy: you ready?
Smile.
Smile.

Burton: cool.

Tell me what it was like
going to another
school for a while.

Did you ever really
get completely
comfortable there,

Do you think?

Not really.

I think we
always really
missed--

When we
were there--

I think
always really
missed p.s. .

Did you ever think
you'd hear yourself
say that--

That you really
missed your school?

No.

[Laughs]

As we've seen, the kids
are making a tremendous effort

To say thanks to everyone
who's helped them.

They've learned what
a huge difference it makes

When people reach out
and let you know
that you're not alone.

These , paper cranes
were made

By school children
in japan by hand.

They symbolize hope
and the possibility

Of fulfilling
all of your dreams.

This gift and all these others

Were sent from around the world
as messages of love.

They lifted the kids' spirits

And were an important part
of their process of healing.

If you're ever going
through a rough time,

The students at p.s.
Would like to help you out

By suggesting some books
that will make you feel better,

But you don't have to take
my word for it.

Hi. I'm austin.

Have you ever felt sad
when something bad happened?

If you have, then I
recommend reading this book.

It's called
on that day.

This book made me
feel better
after september .

It explains what
happened on that day.

I really liked
the illustrations.

They look
like color tissue paper

And jump off the page.

My favorite picture is

When they show friends
playing together.

It's nice to read a book
that makes you feel good.

This book helped me a lot,

And that's why I
recommend it.

Have you ever done
something good

And thought
that no one noticed?

That's what
happens to mole

In this book--
mole music.

It's a wonderful story

Of a mole who plays
his violin underground

In his mole hole.

He only plays at night

And thinks
that no e hears him,

But his music floats up
through a tree

And his mole music
touches many people.

Mole is so talented.

My favorite part is the end,

Because it's a happy one.

I'm molly, and if you're looking
for a little inspiration,

Then mole music
is the book for you.

You'll love it.

Hi. I'm meghan.

Did you know
that good

And wonderful things
happen every day?

Well, that's
the title

Of this book,

The wonderful
happens.

If you think
about it,

Special things
happen every day--

Things like
bread baking,

Birds flying,

And roses growing.

We sometimes
take these things
for granted

And don't
notice them,

But they happen
every day.

Just look at these
beautiful pictures.

They really make
you appreciate

All the stuff
around you.

If you want
to feel safe
and comfortable,

You should really
read this book.

It will
definitely help.

I'm glad I looked
for this book
in my library

Because I found
that the wonderful
happens every day.

And now, here
are the students of p.s.

To say thanks to the people
of the neighborhood

And all over the world

Who were there
when they needed you most.

Because of you,

They're back
where they belong.

[Kids laughing
and talking excitedly]

♪ You gave us hope
when we felt helpless ♪

♪ Held our hands
when we were scared ♪

♪ You gave us strength ♪

♪ When we were feeling low ♪

♪ Suddenly ♪

♪ Our lives
have changed ♪

♪ It was a day
we can't forget ♪

Kids: ♪ you opened up
your hearts to us ♪

♪ And we want you
to know ♪

♪ We are
really thankful ♪

♪ To be back
where we belong ♪

♪ We're feeling
so much better ♪

♪ Day by day ♪

♪ We are
really thankful ♪

♪ To be happy ♪

♪ Feeling strong ♪

♪ And we thank everyone ♪

♪ For showing us the way ♪

♪ We're back
where we belong ♪

♪ From our hearts
we sing out ♪

♪ And like a bell
that rings out ♪

♪ We want everyone
to know ♪

♪ We're back
where we belong ♪

♪ It's where we want
to be now ♪

♪ Our hearts
are feeling free now ♪

♪ And with our smiles
we show ♪

♪ We're back
where we belong ♪

♪ You helped us
through the rough times ♪

♪ With friendship
and a prayer ♪

♪ You opened up
your hearts to us ♪

♪ And we'll always know
you're there ♪

♪ You care ♪
♪ you care ♪

♪ You care ♪

♪ We're back
where we belong ♪

♪ From our hearts
we sing out ♪

♪ And like a bell
that rings out ♪

♪ We want everyone
to know ♪

♪ We're back
where we belong ♪

♪ It's where we want
to be now ♪

♪ Our hearts
are feeling free now ♪

♪ And with our smiles
we show ♪

♪ We're back
where we belong ♪

♪ Back where
we belong ♪

♪ Happy to be
back where we belong ♪

♪ Back where
we belong ♪

♪ Happy to be
back where we belong ♪

♪ Back where
we belong ♪

♪ Happy to be
back where we ♪

♪ Belong ♪

[Kids laughing
and talking excitedly]

I knew that everybody

Was afraid, confused,

And all that,

But we all knew

That it can't last
that way forever.

Everybody had to be
nice to each other

And tried to help--
help people.

It was a terrible day,

But I think we
can come back together.

We all wish we lived
in a perfect world,

And if we could make it
that way, we would.

But the world
is not perfect.

Sometimes bad things
do happen,

And occasionally, the world
can be a scary place to be.

But when we have each other,

Kindness, generosity
of the human spirit,

And love
will always triumph.

And then, we can get through
even the toughest of times.

Right, guys?

Right!
Right!

We'll see you next time.