( lively drum intro ) ♪ You never do know what's around the bend ♪ ♪ Big adventure or a brand-new friend ♪ ♪ When you're curious like Curious George ♪ ♪ Swing!

♪ ♪ Well, every day ♪ ♪ Every day ♪ ♪ Is so glorious ♪ ♪ Glorious ♪ George!

♪ And everything ♪ ♪ Everything ♪ ♪ Is so wondrous ♪ ♪ Wondrous ♪ ♪ There's more to explore when you open the door ♪ ♪ And meet friends like this, you just can't miss ♪ ♪ I know you're curious ♪ ♪ Curious ♪ ♪ And that's marvelous ♪ ♪ Marvelous ♪ ♪ And that's your reward ♪ ♪ You'll never be bored ♪ ♪ If you ask yourself, "What is this?"

♪ ♪ Like curious... ♪ ♪ Like curious...

Curious George.

♪ Oh... Captioning sponsored by UNIVERSAL ANIMATION ( sighs ) NARRATOR: One thing George liked about Lake Wannasink Lake was that he never felt alone.

( frog croaking ) Even when he couldn't see other animals, he could tell they were out there.

( bird honking ) ( wings flapping ) George, hi, how about a hand?

( agreeable chattering ) I'm preparing an exhibit on local wildlife for the Town Nature Society, and the baby alligator lizard I was studying just disappeared.

Thanks!

Have fun at the lake?

( imitates frog and bird ) Wow!

You saw all those animals?

Uh-uh.

You only heard them?

Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh.

Hey!

Animal sounds would be great in the exhibit.

You want to help me again?

Okay, just point the microphone toward the sound till you hear it nice and loud in the headphones, then push this red button to record it.

Remember, the closer you are to an animal, the louder it gets.

But don't get too close.

( frog croaking ) This was simple for a smart monkey.

( croaking grows louder ) All he had to do was follow the sound as it got louder and... ( loud croak ) ( yelling ) ( tapping ) He tracked one woodpecker and thought he heard a second one.

( tapping ) But maybe sounds aren't as simple as they sound.

( tapping ) ( buzzing ) ( buzzing ) George was collecting pictures of all the sounds he had heard outside.

( cricket chirping ) Then he heard a new one inside.

Huh?

George knew how to track a sound, but this was different.

It got louder... ( chirping stops ) ...then went silent.

Then it was far away again.

This called for a second opinion.

151, 152...

Wait... Hi, George.

Can you wait till I'm done with the moth census?

( excited chattering ) Okay, I'm coming.

( beeping ) Oh, that's just the smoke detector, George.

It needs a new battery.

Oh.

George wasn't sure this was the same sound he'd heard before... ( beeping stops ) And now... back to my moths.

( cricket chirping ) There it was again-- and it didn't come from the smoke detector.

Aha.

That thing was here somewhere and he knew he could find it.

( groans ) Of course!

It must have gone out the window.

It was loud.

It was soft.

It was here.

It was gone.

( chirping ) Ah... ( echoing chirps ) Only one room had an echo like that.

Aha!

( chirping ) ( chirping ) Aha!

( chirping ) He thought he had it, but all he found was a tiny insect that couldn't possibly make such a big sound.

Ooh.

Huh?

Outside, the Man with the Yellow Hat and green night-vision goggles was having his own problems with elusive creatures... Let's see, where are those rascals?

( chittering ) I'm trying to study the nocturnal feeding habits of raccoons, but I can't find any around here.

( excited chattering ) ( cricket chirping ) Oh, that's a nice recording of a cricket.

Was it one of these?

You know, hundreds of crickets chirping together can make a soothing, peaceful sound... ...but one little cricket in a quiet house can drive you bananas.

Is there one in our house?

Well, he probably wants to get out and go home.

Here, catch him and free him outside.

And here's a tip, George: crickets are attracted to light.

Now that the mystery was solved and George knew what he was looking for, this was gonna be easy.

( cricket chirping ) ( excited chattering ) George was already smarter than a cricket and he knew how to be faster.

( cricket chirping ) ( cricket chirping ) ( cricket chirping ) ( cricket chirping ) ( cricket chirping ) NARRATOR: Then, a strange new sound.

( thumping ) And then, George set the cricket free to happily hop back to his cricket home.

( cricket chirping ) ( George chattering, cricket chirping ) Did you free that cricket?

Good work!

I am sure that's one happy cricket.

( George chattering ) Okay... Um, that cricket left us some clean-up work, don't you think, George?

Whew!

All done.

( yawning ) Sleep tight, George.

( cricket begins chirping, George begins wailing ) Oh... Are you sure you put it outside?

You know, George, if we don't catch that cricket, we'll never get any sleep.

( cricket chirping ) ( cricket chirping, objects crashing ) ( cricket chirping ) I've got it!

NARRATOR: The Man with the Yellow Hat didn't have the cricket... but he did have a solution.

( cricket chirps ) NARRATOR: Watching for the Man with the Yellow Hat to come home was easy for a sharp-eyed monkey like George-- because nobody else was that yellow.

Well, almost no one.

Seeing the man was great, but seeing him with a present was even better.

Well, hello.

How was your morning?

Were you a good little monkey?

That's my monkey.

Hold on, George.

That present's not for you.

It's for Professor Wiseman's birthday.

You can see what's inside when she opens it.

Eh, tonight at dinner.

NARRATOR: Dinner was years away.

Maybe just one peek now.

If you really want to unwrap something, come in the kitchen.

Here, you can pretend the orange peel is gift wrap.

You'll be helping me and unwrapping, too.

NARRATOR: Orange skin didn't feel like gift wrap... but there was something good inside.

Mmm... NARRATOR: Maybe that thick skin was there to hold back squirts.

Now, the onion had skin that felt like gift wrap.

( sniffing ) But it didn't smell like any present.

( sniffing ) And no wonder they keep cheese wrapped up.

These coverings were all different, but they hid the same thing.

Yech!

Something smelly.

But that couldn't be the same reason the present was wrapped, could it?

George, could you please peel me one apple?

This was much better; the apple smelled good.

George, after you've done one apple, leave the bowl of unpeeled fruit out, 'kay?

Those are Professor Wiseman's favorites that I bought especially for her birthday.

Um, George?

Could you pick up my pants for me?

They're being altered at the department store.

( laughs ) Don't worry.

We won't open it without you.

Phew!

( George chittering ) Have a seat.

I'll be back in one moment with the pants.

The Man with the Yellow Hat was right.

This errand had completely taken George's mind off the... fancy, beautiful, wrapped present.

Nothing to eat, nothing to smell.

Nothing.

All George uncovered was a mystery: Why just wrap empty boxes?

Give me your honest opinion.

I'm very proud of this display.

( gasps ) This is not a display.

It's... it's a story: Remains of the Birthday!

Brilliant!

I love it!

Why... well...

I, uh...

Thank you.

Wrapping always hid surprises.

So why wrap these if everyone could see right through it?

George decided that some wrapping was there just to keep monkeys out.

People sure are buying a lot of coffee makers.

I just wrapped 15 in a row.

There you are.

I've been looking all over for you.

George wanted to play with the wrapper people some more, but he had to get these pants home.

George hadn't been gone very long but when he got back, the present had disappeared.

Thanks for picking up my pants, George.

I know how curious a little monkey can be, so I put the present away.

That should take your mind off of it.

But hiding the present only made George more curious.

This was the first time George no ticed the walls were wrapped.

It looked like wrapping on top of more wrapping.

Maybe there were a hundred la yers of wallpaper under here.

Or not.

Since he reached the end, George tried to put it all back, but it didn't want to go.

Then he thought of a way to make this the perfect bathroom for the professor's birthday.

( door closes ) Uh... Is that you, George?

Make sure you wash up before Professor Wiseman gets here.

And would you make sure that bowl of her favorite fresh fruit is out where she'll see it?

You can't get away with that.

You didn't wash.

This hand is all sticky.

Okay, now, wa... wa... wa... What happened in here?

( doorbell buzzing ) Professor Wiseman!

Help me hide this mess!

( doorbell buzzing ) Hello, George.

Everything okay?

I'll be right out.

I got your favorite fruit!

Help yourself.

Is this a banangerine?

You can't put skins on fruit, George.

Only nature can do that.

On the other hand, nature doesn't make banangerines.

Sorry.

I'm...

Happy birthday from George and me.

Oh, you didn't have to.

Would you like to help me open it, George?

I never would have guessed that's what was in this big box!

That's... that's why it was wrapped that way.

Oh!

My favorite symphony!

You remembered.

Thanks.

Let's listen to it during dinner.

Oh, here.

I'll get that.

George figured he'd better eat something... because this was going take a while.

ANNOUNCER: Can't get enough monkey?

To find Curious George and his friends every day online, swing by pbskids.org to play fun games and watch your favorite videos.

You can also read more Curious George adventures by visiting your local library.