Gortimer, narrating: I've lived my whole life on Normal Street.
There's a lake at one end,
and a forest of shady trees at the other.
But what lies in between is anything but normal.
Sometimes in life, we want things to go a certain way.
We worry about finding the best look.
[camera shutter clicks]
Or having the perfect smile.
[camera shutter clicks]
But can we ever achieve perfection?
And, uh, what is this supposed to be?
Self portrait.
This is a photo of a foot.
Oh, you know what they say.
Feet are the new faces.
[chuckles] I'll be in touch.
Bad day?
[sighs] Stanley was the ninth photographer I've interviewed,
and this is the best photo I've seen all day.
A foot?
A foot.
No one gets it.
I want the Spyglass to be the perfect year book.
Well, you're the editor. How could it not be?
I can't do everything.
Well, did you ask Abigail? She's got a great eye.
She's really talented, but...
I don't even know if she likes me.
- What? - I don't know.
She's just so quiet,
and sometimes I feel like she's just...
judging me.
Come on. Not everyone has to talk all the time.
I know for a fact that she likes you.
[sighs] She does?
Who knows? Maybe you guys could become better friends.
Okay, fine. I'll give her a shot.
How did you do this?
On the computer.
Yeah, but how?
I don't want to get too technical.
I live for technical.
It's called Image Bender Pro.
I've read about that. Seems really awesome.
It is, but I just got something better.
What is it?
The answer key to the math final.
Excuse me?
[chuckles] Kidding.
It's Image Bender Pro 2.0.
My aunt is an editor at a fashion magazine.
She gave me this beta version to play around with.
Whoa.
But it expires in a couple days.
Talent plus cutting-edge technology.
Where have you been all my life?
[chuckles] In the art room.
I'm not sure about this look.
I want to be remembered.
Says the guy with grandma glasses.
Grandma glasses now,
but in 20 years when you look at the picture,
you'll say that guy was ahead of his time.
[chuckling]
[camera shutter clicking]
Keep it real.
Where are your eyebrows?
Chemistry lab gone wrong.
Look, I don't want to talk about it.
Good timing for picture day.
Totally. My mom is going to kill me.
You guys can fix this, right?
I don't see why not.
Sure.
[camera shutter clicking]
- Wow. - Amazing, right?
This software can do anything.
Ooh. That looks painful.
We can probably even it out.
I don't know.
The ethics of trying to improve someone's appearance by--
Oh, that looks so much better.
Jane would want us to. Right?
Definitely.
You're welcome, Stanley.
[chuckles]
Abigail: Why does Gortimer look like he's about to cry?
That's his "smile for the camera" smile.
Right. Not to be confused with his
"I don't get that joke but I'll pretend to" smile.
Do it.
Mm, maybe a little more?
Perfect.
- Good first day. - Good first day.
So, for the Normal spirit section,
we could create a collage
combining all the sports teams.
And maybe line the perimeter
with all the different trophies.
Exactly what I was thinking.
Um, can sunburns disappear over night?
Well, they can fade, but--
Ladies.
His skin really cleared up fast.
Did we do this?
It's just software.
Hey, guys.
What's wrong with your face?
I don't know. I've been like this since yesterday.
I just can't stop smiling.
Are you just in a really good mood?
[laughs] I wish. In five minutes I have to
introduce this guy at assembly.
I can't go like this.
It's probably just nerves.
Sometimes I smile when I'm nervous.
Why am I still smiling?
You're going to be fine. Just take deep breaths.
[breathing heavily]
You don't really smile when you're nervous, do you?
Not like that.
Mel: Do you think by altering his smile,
we've somehow affected Gortimer's emotions?
Or what if it's just a physical response?
What are the implications?
What does this mean for his future?
I-- I'm gonna need you to take it down a notch.
[sighs] Can't you just undo the changes we've made?
You don't think that was the first thing I tried?
This is a beta version. Undo is limited.
In that case, can you please work faster?
He'll be on stage any minute.
Do you want speed or quality?
Both.
[sighs] I'm sorry. You just do your thing.
[applause]
[clears throat]
As we all know, the plight of the Panamanian hermit crab
is no laughing matter.
[laughter]
I think you're just, uh, making is worse.
It's not me. This program is really glitchy.
It's hard to control.
I'm sorry, I just--
[laughter]
This boy has no respect
for the gravity of the situation.
I really think his smile is more like this.
With all due respect, I've know Gortimer since pre-school.
I think I know what his smile looks like.
And I know how to draw it, since I've drawn it.
- But you need to-- - Don't!
[sighs] Now he's not smiling at all.
Better than smiling all the time.
So, without further ado,
let me introduce a man who lacks so little,
Professor Yanic Laakso.
[applause]
Ladies and gentlemen,
crabs are my life.
[sighs] I'm gonna go find him.
I'll come, too.
It's okay. You really don't have to.
I'm coming.
That was the saddest thing I've ever seen.
Gortimer, quick question.
Why are you acting so weird?
Didn't know I was.
So, just to get you guys caught up,
we were fixing Gortimer's year book photo, and...
We sort of erased his smile in the photo,
and it erased his smile in real life.
You did what?
But we can fix it.
Gortimer, you're gonna be okay.
- Don't worry. - I'm not worried.
Why are you still standing here? Go fix it.
Stay with him. Keep his spirits up.
Come on, buddy.
I have a box of fake moustaches with your name on it.
Why would my name be on a box of fake moustaches?
[sighs]
What is this?
Electronica Club. My worst nightmare.
Why are you here, Mel Fuller?
Haven't you already done enough damage?
Haven't you already destroyed enough dreams?
Yoshi, I don't want a fight.
Good.
Because you can't kill this party,
Mel Fuller.
[amplified] Neither can your mysterious friend.
Um, I don't know what this is,
but I'm just gonna go use that computer over--
Mm-mm-mm.
Reserved.
[sighs]
What was that?
Yoshi's just mad because I gave their album
a bad review in the school newspaper.
Why would you give someone a bad review
in a middle school newspaper?
Because they're bad.
Look, if everyone got a good review,
readers would begin to question our integrity.
[chuckles] I don't even know how to respond to that statement.
Stand back. I'll handle this.
[scoffs] This is pointless.
There's gotta be another way.
Like, what if we pull the fire alarm?
No. Let's just go talk to Principal Jiminez.
She'll get us in.
If they reserved the lab,
she's just gonna tell us to wait until they're done.
I have a way with teachers. Watch and learn.
They reserved the lab.
Well, you'll just have to wait until they're done.
[whispering] See? You should have let me do it my way.
What was that, Miss Arroyo?
Your way?
This is the Fall Fling all over again.
You need to respect the rules.
You need to respect your peers.
Good afternoon, ladies.
- The Fall Fling? - It's not a big deal.
I was on the decorations committee,
but I snuck in the night before,
and did them all myself.
Let me guess. You prefer to work alone?
And the dance looked great.
So now what?
Let's head back to the lab and wait.
They've gotta be done soon.
[humming]
[growling]
Those look uncomfortable.
[door closes]
How's it going?
Nothing's working.
We need to be way funnier.
No problem. I've been holding back.
[sighs] Hopefully, Mel and Abigail are having more luck.
[sighs] He locked it.
[sighs]
"Review this, Mel Fuller."
[sighs]
Just curious,
but do all your ideas involve criminal activity?
Oh, I'm sorry.
It's just that when you said that you cared about Gortimer,
I sort of thought you meant it.
I always mean what I say.
Like, if I say I know how to use a certain software,
it means I know how to use it.
so I wouldn't expect anything less from you.
[gasps]
Sorry. Muscle spasm.
Okay...
now!
Don't worry, Gortimer. Mel and Abigail
are gonna walk through that door
any second now.
Any second now.
Abigail: There. Done.
Is there a problem?
No, no. It's fine. Let's just go.
But the picture's back to normal.
Well, obviously, Gortimer isn't.
None of this makes sense.
We fixed the photo.
Come on, Gortimer.
There's not much time until the software expires.
- Help us out. - I don't understand the problem.
Really? You're just gonna sit there,
and act like a robot?
We're your friends and we're trying. Okay?
Why are you yelling at Gortimer?
It's not his fault.
I'm just trying to clean up the mess that you made.
I never should have let you talk me into using that software.
Talked you into it?
You were excited about it.
You wanted to make the year book "cutting-edge."
I wanted it to be the best. So what?
You're obsessed with being the best, Mel. It's weird.
It's why you write a bad review in the school newspaper,
just so everyone can see for themselves
that Mel Fuller is perfect.
I know.
She's amazing.
Well, that's awfully judgmental
coming from the girl who wouldn't even let her classmates
help decorate a school dance.
You just think you're so much better than everyone else.
No, that's not it, I--
You just work better alone?
That doesn't make you cool. It makes you antisocial.
And what could be worse than being antisocial?
In a society? Nothing.
You can finish the year book yourself.
I'm glad we finally agree on something!
Where are you going?
To my room.
Why?
Why not?
As we saw in yesterday's lecture,
the destruction of the Panamanian hermit crab's habitat
has made this already solitary creature
even more endangered.
We have tried relocation, tide pool farms and more.
No matter how authentic the habitat seemed,
the crabs knew it had been altered.
I can't believe he won't even sit with us.
I can't believe he's actually eating that meatloaf.
I mean, look at it. It's neither meat nor loaf.
Guys, I think I figured it out.
I might know how to get Gortimer's smile back.
Hmm. Just as I suspected.
I don't understand any of this.
[sighs] But I do.
When we tried to fix Gortimer's smile,
we shifted the original pixels,
and changed the algorithm.
You kept adding new pixels and moving the old ones around.
The result looked the same, but it wasn't.
Stanley: I still don't understand.
Mel: Picture a sand castle that got washed away.
You could build a new one that looks identical,
but all the grains of sand
would be in completely different places.
Catherine: Exactly.
We can't re-create the original,
but if we dig deep enough,
we could find that it still exists.
Ranger: How?
Mel: Some programs have a secret folder.
A recovery cache,
but we'll have to go deep into the program
through thousands of lines of code
to find the original photograph we took.
But we won't have much time.
- I'm in. - I'm in.
Both: We're in.
[sighs] Get Gortimer to the lab as soon as you can.
We won't be able to tell if it's working
unless he's there.
I'll try.
Type this.
1S-A/IBB2/cache.
It's working.
[typing]
Great.
Where's Gortimer?
We need to keep an eye on him.
Gortimer, Mel and Abigail really need you.
Come on, please.
Come on, Gortimer.
Let me handle this.
They have candy.
Gortimer, at least respond to me.
Say something. Just say something.
Don't make me poke you.
You're really not gonna go?
Like the gentle Panamanian hermit crab,
I would like to be alone.
Catherine: Um, it's going up.
You did hundreds of versions?
[sighs] We might not have enough time.
Don't look at me. She's the perfectionist.
Someone has to have standards.
Good. Where's Gortimer?
I couldn't bring him.
Look, I've been thinking about it,
and if Gortimer can't smile, then neither should I.
Can you just erase my smile, too?
I feel terrible.
Me, too.
We really messed up.
I didn't mean what I said yesterday.
Yes, you did. And you're right.
I am a perfectionist,
which means I can be kind of a control freak sometimes.
And I guess it's true that I can be a little...
judgmental.
Maybe I'm just jealous because you actually do seem perfect.
Not even close.
I'm sorry.
Me, too.
Friends?
Friends.
I got it.
It's speeding up.
We're burning out the cooling fans.
Mel: Oh, no. It's slowing down.
It's frozen.
He's going to look like this forever.
- [electricity crackling] - [gasping]
Just lost the fans. We're gonna overheat.
Mel: Just one picture left. Come on, come on, come on.
11, 10, 9, 8,
- 7-- - 6, 5, 4--
- Come on, come on. - Three--
[electricity crackling]
Mel: Two--
[screaming]
Gortimer. You're smiling.
Well, how could I not? You guys are friends now.
Gortimer: Everyone sees the world differently.
And everyone has a different idea
of what makes something good.
What makes something beautiful.
What makes something right.
But when we can accept each other's differences,
and learn to work together,
then the result can be...
Perfect.
♪♪ .