Can you believe that Fixies are Such itty-bitty creatures?
Even when they're magnified It's hard to see their features.
They’re tiny, infinitesimal, So small it makes you doubt.
But if you meet a Fixie, please, Don’t let their secret out!
The Balloon
No way! You’ll miss for sure!
No problem!
Anybody can do that!
But I bet you can't do it if you try bouncing the ball off the floor first!
Just look!
Oh, what are my parents gonna do to me!
Maybe we should call Simka?
Simka!
And what is Simka going to do to us when she sees this?!
So, got yourself in trouble, ah?
You shouldn't be playing with a ball inside!
And now we have your lamp to fix!
But how?
Only my dad can reach all the way up there.
Why just your dad?
You have a hot air balloon over there!
That doesn’t fly, it’s just a toy. See?
It might be just a toy to you, but for us, Fixies, it’s absolutely real!
If an object is lighter than water,
it floats up to the surface.
And in the same way, if something is lighter than air it floats upward.
Did you know that hot air is lighter than cold air?
Well, it is!
And that means, if you warm up the air in a balloon, it will float up.
Hot air balloons use special gas-burners to heat up the air inside of them
so they will get lighter.
And the bigger the balloon, the more people it can take up into the air.
I know what you're saying,
but where do we get a burner?
You think Fixies don't have their own burners?
Sure we've got them.
Bring it down here, and I'll go talk to our parents.
No, no, and no!
The human child must never see us!
Listen now, Simka.
We already don't approve of him seeing you and Nolik.
He won’t look!
Papus, please!
You're the one who told us how you dreamed of flying since you trained to go into space!
Yeah…
For two years I waited on standby,
but I never went up.
And you've never flown on a hot air balloon either, Honey.
So, let's call it a deal!
I talked them into it!
There's just one condition – you can’t watch.
OK.
You can come in now!
Now prepare the burner!
Coming right up!
Permission for take off?
Permission is granted!
And off we go!
Hurray!
It’s flying!
Don’t you peak! Turn around!
Oh, it was an accident.
I’m going to evaluate the damage!
Minding proper altitude!
So, they've reached the spot!
Air balloons are really awesome!
I wonder who figured out how to do that?
It was the Montgolfiers.
The hot air balloon was invented in the 18th century
by the Montgolfier Brothers from France.
In those days there were no gas-burners,
so they heated the air inside the balloon by burning straw.
At first there were no passengers on their balloon,
not counting the Fixies, of course,
I mean, how else could a balloon get up in the air without them?
Unfortunately, the names of the first Fixies who took that flight were not recorded in the annuls of history.
Following the Fixies flight, the next passengers were animals:
a ram, a rooster, and a duck.
And it was not until those three safely landed after flying a full four kilometers,
that humans dared to fly in hot air balloons themselves.
Ever since their invention, hot air balloons have also gone by another name:
montgolfiers.
Hurrah!
Tideesh!
All right!
Simka, please let your parents know that I'm so very thankful!
OK! By the way, now you can turn around.
You know, Simka? Let's fly the balloon just like them!
There's no way, Nolik.
We would need to use the burner, and kids aren't allowed to play with fire!
I'll give you a ride!
Look, I still need to put it back up on the shelve.
So climb in and let's do it!
Oh yeah!
This is great, Simka!
Look at us!
We’re flying just like the Montgolfier Brothers!
What do you mean like brothers?
OK then, like brother and sister Montgolfier!
Fixies go to Fixie schools And study to be masters.
There's so much they need to learn To save us from disasters!
There isn't one appliance That they don't know about.
But if you meet a Fixie, please, Don't let their secret out!
Batteries
Oh, my little lemon, just you wait!
One day you'll be a strong and splendid tree!
She’s talking with a flowerpot!
You scared me!
Do you like it?
Like what?
My seedling, don't you see?
It will grow into a huge tree!
And there, amongst the green leaves...
will be beautiful yellow lemons.
Class!
From that thing? Lemons?
Oh yeah! It will grow into a tree!
All it needs for that is to gather energy.
Get energy? From where?
From our Sun!
The Sun? It'll be so slow.
Batteries would be faster than the sun!
Batteries?
I really don’t think so.
Toola!
Do you know how much energy they have?!
Let’s just bury a bunch of those batteries in here
and you'll be watching your lemon plant shoot up into a tree!
Are you... positive?
Absolutely!
And where can we get the batteries?
Over there!
Professor Eugenius has a whole box full of them!
Batteries, batteries!
We use them every day and need them by the ton.
Batteries, batteries!
They give power to appliances so they can run.
That does it!
We'll be seeing the first lemons before the week's over!
The first battery in the world was made in Italy
more than two hundred years ago.
When two different kinds of metal were placed in salty water,
electricity started flowing through a wire from one piece of metal to the other.
Many years have passed since then, but batteries still work in pretty much the same way.
Today you can find batteries being used for electricity just about everywhere.
Tiny batteries are used inside of wristwatches.
While big batteries can power cars and even ships.
With new batteries being produced by the millions, we have to think, how should we get rid of the old ones?
You can’t just throw away batteries because they'll poison our soil and water.
The best way to dispose of batteries is to take them to a special collection station
that sends them to factories for recycling.
Yes-yes! It's a terrible idea to bury batteries!
You can kill any plants that are growing there.
And this is the very reason why Professor Eugenius puts all of his used batteries in that box over there
so he can dispose of them properly.
Hey, where are they?
Oh, my seedling! We harmed you!
What? Where are the batteries?
They're in... the flowerpot.
How come?
So the lemons would grow faster.
From the batteries?
Who came up with that idea? It will die!
Hurry, we've got to go save it!
The soil is contaminated! We've got to find a new home for this seedling.
But where?
Over there! There’s a pot with healthy soil.
Let's do it!
Batteries, batteries!
They come in different sizes, shapes and colors too.
Batteries, batteries
Could be yellow, might be green, or maybe red and blue.
Don’t cry, Toola!
The seedling will be perfectly fine.
It will grow big and strong
with branches full of beautiful lemons!
And oranges!
And watermelons!
It's a lemon tree, Fire.
Will you ever stop going too far, like with the batteries?
Well, anyhow, batteries are cool, right?
Look how many appliances can't work without them!
You're right! APPLIANCES can't work!
Look! The seedling is coming back to life!
It really is!
Toola, tell us. Isn’t it splendid?
Splendid!