- Friendly: Once upon a time, not long ago, and not far away,
there was a barn.
And beside the barn, there was a windmill.
And beside the windmill, there was a house.
And beyond the house, there were hills.
And in the hills, there was an echo.
Can you see the echo?
No.
No, you can't see an echo.
Now, look back across the farm and find the boot.
You can see the boot, but you can't see an echo.
Because an echo is a sound that bounces.
Now, look up, look way up.
Yes, an echo is a sound that bounces.
Would you like to hear an echo?
Listen, I'll shout loudly to the hills
and see if the echo comes back.
Hello-oh!
[echoes] Hello-oh
Did you hear it?
That was an echo coming from the hills.
Now, listen, once again.
Who are you?
[echoes] Who are you?
That's an echo.
There's a story about an echo and a small boy named Peter.
Shall we go to the castle?
I'll hurry over first and go in the back door
so that I can let the drawbridge down
and open the big front doors for you.
Are you ready?
Here's my castle.
[whimsical music]
Here we are, inside.
And here's one little chair for one of you,
and a bigger chair for two more to curl up in,
and a rocking chair for someone who likes to rock.
Now, look up, and I'll call Jerome
because Jerome is going to help tell the story.
He doesn't know what the story is, but he can do it, I think.
He has to be the echo.
I'll whistle for him.
[whistles]
[answering whistle]
Is that an echo, or is it Jerome whistling back?
What do you think?
[whistles] It was Jerome.
- Hello, Friendly. - Hello, Jerome.
I wasn't sure that that was you or an echo.
- Oh, I see. - We were talking about echoes.
- Mm-hmm. - There's an echo in the hills
behind the farm. - Oh.
- We heard it. - Mm-hmm.
- And the story is about an echo too.
- Oh, a story about an echo.
- You know what an echo is.
- Well, no, I don't.
- Oh, you don't know what an echo is?
- No. - Well, an echo is a sound
like your voice or a loud sound of any kind.
A sound that bounces.
- Bounces? - Yes, like a ball
thrown against a wall bounces back.
- Really? - Well, in some places,
the sound will bounce back. - Well.
- And the story is about a shepherd boy named Peter.
- Mm-hmm. - And his echo.
- Oh. - He played a shepherd's pipe.
And the echo sounded just like a shepherd's pipe.
- Mm-hmm.
- And you're going to help tell the story.
- Oh, good. - You're going to be the echo.
- An echo. - Yes.
So, to be an echo, you go outside, you see,
and get out of sight where no one can hear you,
and the echo isn't quite as loud as the sound.
- All right. - All right?
Now, we'll just practice once.
Hello, Jerome!
- Hello, Friendly.
I thought we were going to tell a story.
- Oh, no, Jerome.
The echo, you see, says the same thing.
I was just making a sound to bounce, to make an echo.
- Oh. - So, when I say,
"Hello, Jerome," the echo would say, "Hello, Jerome."
- Oh, I see. - You want to try it just once?
- All right. - All right.
Hello, Jerome!
- Jerome: Hello, Jerome!
- That's very good. - Was that better?
- Yes, now, let me help you with that ear.
- Thank you. - Here.
- Now, whenever you're an echo, you just get outside the window.
- All right. - And I need the giant's pipe,
because this is like Peter's shepherd's pipe.
- Oh. - You see,
this shepherd took care of sheep up in the mountains.
He was all alone, except for the sheep.
And he had no one to play with.
- That's too bad. - Just an echo.
- Oh! - But that was fun,
because whatever he played on his shepherd's pipe
came back from the mountains. - Oh!
- And he found that the echo and the shepherd's pipe
sounded good together.
- I see. - Like this.
Now, you'll be the echo. - All right.
- Jerome can whistle.
[bright recorder music]
[Jerome imitates recorder music]
[bright recorder music]
[Jerome imitates recorder music]
[bright recorder music] [Jerome imitates recorder music]
[Friendly playing and Jerome whistling together]
Come in.
- Was that all right? - Very, very fine.
Well, that was the tune
that Peter liked to play with his echo best.
And he played it all day long too.
[Friendly sings tune]
[Jerome whistles tune] Like that.
All day long.
Until the end of the afternoon,
he was just getting a little bit sleepy.
So, he thought that a lullaby would be a good thing to play.
- Mm-hmm. - Now, go outside.
- All right.
- Jerome. - Jerome: Yes?
- Come here a minute.
[whispers] For this part... - Yes?
- [whispers indistinctly]
- Oh, all right, Friendly.
- That was part of the story.
He played a lullaby. [plays "Rock-a-bye Baby"]
[Jerome whistles "Rock-a-Bye Baby"]
And the echo played back. [plays "Rock-a-bye Baby"]
[Jerome whistles "Rock-a-Bye Baby"]
[plays "Rock-a-bye Baby"]
[Jerome whistles "Rock-a-Bye Baby"]
[plays "Rock-a-bye Baby"]
[Jerome whistles "Rock-a-Bye Baby"]
[plays "Rock-a-bye Baby"]
The echo didn't answer.
[plays "Rock-a-bye Baby"]
He played it over and over again and louder and louder.
And the echo was sound asleep.
The lullaby had put the echo to sleep.
Come in, Jerome.
- All right. - This is the part of the story
where the shepherd goes down the mountain back to his farm.
And he was very unhappy
because he no longer had an echo to play with.
- This is fun. - The echo was sound asleep.
Well, on the farm, sleeping in the door of the barn,
was a kitten. - Oh!
- When Peter woke the kitten up
and told the kitten what had happened, and the kitten said,
"Maybe I can wake the echo." - Oh!
- Now, this is where you get to be all the animals.
But first, you'll be a kitten.
So, the kitten said very loudly...
- [meows]
- And Peter listened,
but the echo didn't wake up. - No.
- Sleeping on the front porch of the farmhouse was a dog.
And the dog said, "I am bigger than the kitten.
I can wake the echo."
So, the dog tried to wake the echo.
Now, you can be a dog.
Now. - [growls and barks]
- Mm-hmm.
And Peter listened.
But the echo didn't wake up. - No.
- In the barnyard was a big cow.
And the cow said, "I am bigger than the kitten,
"and I am bigger than the dog.
And I can wake up the echo."
Now, be a cow.
So, the cow said... - [moos]
- And everyone listened.
But the echo didn't wake up. - Oh.
- Sitting on a fence post, there was a rooster.
And the rooster said, "I am no bigger than the kitten,
"and I am smaller than the dog.
"And I am not anywhere near as big as a cow.
But I can wake up that echo." - Oh?
- And so, the rooster stood straight up on the fence post.
And said... - [crows]
[crowing echoes]
- And everyone listened, and they heard the echo.
And the rooster said again... - [crows]
- And the echo said again... [crowing echoes]
And the rooster had waked up the echo.
And so, Peter ran up the mountain,
playing his shepherd's pipe.
[bright recorder music] [whistles]
And the echo was wide awake,
and Peter was always careful after that,
late in the afternoon, to not play a lullaby.
- Oh!
- He didn't want the echo to fall asleep again.
- I see. - Mm-hmm.
Sometimes, it's nice to have a lullaby
if you want to fall asleep, isn't it?
- That's right. - Like the sleepy music.
- [yawns] That puts me to sleep.
- Mm-hmm.
[gentle recorder music]
[Jerome yawns]
Thank you for helping tell the story, Jerome.
- It was fun, Friendly.
- You were very good echo.
It is late now, though.
So, good night. - Jerome: Good night.
- Friendly: This little chair will be waiting for one of you,
and the rocking chair for another who likes to rock,
and the big armchair for two more to curl up in
when you come again to our castle.
Now, I'll close the big front doors and pull up the drawbridge
after you're gone.
Good night.
[gentle music]
- Announcer: The Friendly Giant is Bob Homme.
Jerome, the giant giraffe, is Ken Ohst.
Ed Sprague is the director.
The Friendly Giant is created and produced
for Wisconsin's educational television station
WHA-TV by Bob Homme.