Return to Nim's Island

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[ARBIE CHIRPING]

Arbie!

Not again!

Don't even think about it!

[SQUAWKS MOCKINGLY]

Not cool!

- Those are for Jack.

- [CHIRPING]

I know where you nest and you're

so grounded when we get home.

Careful, Arbie.

You know how cranky my dad gets

about his protozoa samples!

Surrender the goods

or it's into the volcano with ya!

You know, Arbie, it'd be great

if you could be like Selkie

and actually help once in a while.

Fred! That's no place for

a cold-blooded guy like you.

Mr Rusoe, your table is ready.

Oh, well, I hope there's no dress code.

I've come straight from the office.

- Traffic?

- Brutal.

Please tell me you

have the macadamia nut

- and mealworm sandwich on special today?

- But of course.

So, I think Arbie's been stashing

all the shiny things he keeps swiping

at the Cormorant Cliffs.

I know just where he'd nest.

- If you'd just...

- Uh-uh. There's no way.

You're not scaling those

cliffs by yourself.

If you fell to your death,

who would make my lunch?

Come with me.

I saw some brilliant lizards there.

I don't think Felix would

let me play hooky.

Hey, Felix! Take a break.

Nim brought lunch.

Oh, I'm uh... I'm good.

I got some dehydrated beef stroganoff

back at the lab.

But who can think about lunch

in the midst of Jack M. Rusoe's

ground-breaking quest

to find new classes of protozoa?

- You've got a, uh...

- Food?

- Nim!

- Did I get it?

- Don't move.

- What? Why?

You have a Chimera sea

slug on your face.

Chimera? I'm not familiar with it.

- Don't they release a deadly poison?

- You're going to be fine.

Whatever you do,

- don't freak out!

- [BOTH SCREAM]

Call poison control!

And if I don't make it, tell Susan H,

the one from my chemistry symposium,

that I've always...

[NIM LAUGHING]

We wouldn't prank you,

if we didn't love you, buddy.

Nice.

NIM:
Come, sit.

I made a mealworm-free

sandwich just for you.

[ON ANSWERING MACHINE] Jack, it's Grant,

your favourite and only father-in-law.

Look, I wish I had better news,

but those scoundrels at

the Buccaneer Resort Company

will stop at nothing

to get their hands on your island.

They've even hired this hotshot lawyer

from Melbourne, who argued that, legally,

you're nothing more

than a well-respected squatter.

Which means the government's

going to allow the Buccaneers

to build one of their ghastly resorts

right on top of you.

Those swindlers are sending surveyors

out at the end of the week.

So if you have any tricks left, son,

now is the time.

- [ANSWERING MACHINE BEEPS]

- The end of the week?

You said they'd never get permission.

It's not over yet.

It's time I brought the fight to them.

I want those bureaucrats

to look me in the eye

and tell me they'd rather have

the money from some resort

than finding protozoa,

which could cure disease.

They've heard all this before.

What if they still don't listen?

What if they let them buy the island?

What if we have to leave?

I'm not going to lie.

It's a long shot, but sometimes

those are the ones worth taking.

SKATEBOARDER:
Watch it, bro!

[MIMICKING MUM] You never

do the dishes any more!

[MIMICKING DAD] I bought those dishes.

You don't appreciate me.

[MIMICKING MUM] What's going to happen

to all our nice things?

Find a new job!

[MIMICKING DAD] I can't.

[PARENTS ARGUING IN DISTANCE]

No one's hiring Gummies.

DAD:
The bank wouldn't

give me another loan!

MUM:
What's Edmund supposed to think

of a father who doesn't even try?

You want us out on the streets, then?

Your family?

DAD:
I don't want any of this!

MUM:
And I do?

That's what you're saying?

- I can't keep having this argument.

- DAD:
Well, too bad!

We had it yesterday, we're having it now,

we're going to have it tomorrow.

MUM:
Not if I take Edmund

and move to my mum's.

EDMUND:
Here's the rest of my deposit.

Can I book you for tomorrow?

[COMPUTER BEEPS]

"Slip 12. We push off by 8:00."

Here goes.

DAD:
So that's it? You're just giving up?

MUM:
Why not? You have.

What kind of an example is this setting?

DAD:
What do you want me to do?

MUM:
Something! Anything!

Things can't go on like this.

You're useless.

DAD:
So that's it? You're just giving up?

MUM:
Why not? You have.

What kind of an example is this setting?

DAD:
What do you want me to do?

MUM:
Something! Anything!

Things can't go on like this.

You're useless.

NIM:
"Habitat destruction is the biggest

threat to rare and endangered species

"by constantly developing or destroying

entire ecosystems in the name of progress."

I don't think tacky pirate resorts

can be called progress, Selk.

"Some scientists believe we lose

"one endangered species an hour

to extinction,

"which could be why biodiversity

is on the decline on every continent."

I've been up all night looking

for something bigger than protozoa.

[SNUFFLING]

Right. We need something more

Selkie-sized to save our home.

This could be it!

[BARKS EXCITEDLY]

Current endangered species list.

Bilby Bandicoots, Southern Cassowaries,

Bulmer's Fruit Bats,

Fijian Crested Iguanas,

Mahogany Gliders.

There's so many.

NIM:
It used to be impossible

to protect our island,

but the law changed two years ago.

So all we have to do is prove there are

three or more endangered species

on the island

and no one can build anything on it.

It becomes a protected habitat.

Look, it's a great idea.

I just don't think we can afford

pushing this trip off.

You should come with me.

They heard about my

research from you.

A 14-year-old?

A voice from the generation

that's going to have to

deal with what we've

done to the ocean.

We need a backup plan.

- This is our island we're talking about.

- We don't have time.

We don't have time to find

one endangered animal, let alone three.

I can rhyme off a half dozen

I've already seen around the island

and I know all of the

best places to look.

You have to let me try.

Okay.

You have to promise to be careful.

- And you have to watch out for Felix.

- I won't have time.

I'll be too busy looking

for Southern Cassowary,

Bilby Bandicoots, Rock Rats.

I swear I've seen Bulmer's Fruit Bats

in the caves near Fire Mountain.

This is the last of it, sir.

Can I just say that if anyone can

single-handedly mount a brilliant campaign

to preserve this treasure trove

of biological samples and data points...

Your crush on my dad is so embarrassing.

Do me a favour, Felix. Get out of the lab.

Do some field work.

It's just that there are

so many variables in the field.

That's the point.

Look, you are fantastic at cataloguing

and scheduling.

But science is the study of life

and life is chaotic.

Embrace the chaos. Have a little fun.

Get outside. Get your feet wet.

Yes, sir. I won't let you down.

"Embrace the chaos."

And while you're at it, prank Nim back.

The fact you haven't done it yet

is embarrassing.

NIM:
Hey, Jack!

[FISHERMEN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS]

FRANKIE:
Are you the Edmund

who chartered our boat?

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