Hard, Work, Bump

**Hard, Work, Bump** is the 14th episode of the second season in the series *A Little Curious,* and the 38th episode to be produced. It aired on April 3, 2000. It focuses on the subjects of the words hard, work, and bump.

## Segments

### Try Harder (CGI)

Little Cup, Mary Jane, and Lacey cheer for Bob, who is trying to make it in a basketball hoop. He tries harder and harder until he makes it in the trash can right next to the hoop. Bob jumps out and states that it wasn't so hard.

### Hard to Lift (Cel)

Doris is at a desk announcing a "heavyweight lifting contest" where weightlifters lift large weights. Plush is first in the contest, and after struggling, he manages to lift it up, even keeping it idle in the air as he spits on his paws. However, he ends up dropping it and it breaks a hole in the stage.

### A Little Reality

Some kids are trying to reach for the monkey bars the hard way but make it easy for a little boy.

### Work Your Way to the Top (Cel)

On a white background, Plush builds stairs to reach the top as a singer sings. However, he only builds two stairs and reuses them to reach the top of the screen.

### A Little Reality

In this segment, a construction crew works on a new sidewalk.

### Song: Plush (CGI)

The Plush song "The Plush Dance" is played.

### The Bump (Cel/CGI Blend)

Plush has to get the golf ball into the hole over a bump. He tries to hit it up the hill, but it comes rolling down again. The second time, he winds up and hits it over the bump, but it hits a tree and ricochets everywhere, hitting Plush on his head and giving him a "bump".

### Don't Bump into That (Stop Motion)

In an art studio where Mr. String is painting a picture, Little Cup comes toddling in to look for some crayons. Mr. String stops painting and quickly warns Little Cup about not bumping into the shelf of paint cans, but while chasing him, he bumps into it instead and drops orange paint on himself. The same thing happens to a glue bottle, and then a Plush sculpture, which knocks everything down into the studio. Little Cup finds the crayon box and easily dodges the containers of paint.

### Going to Work with Mommy (Flash)

Mrs. Shoe takes Lacey and Mary Jane to her work office. They want to work too, so Lacey answers the phone calls and Mary Jane works the copy machine, but it all starts to go awry, as many people call the office at once, and Mary Jane has trouble finding the right green button for the machine. In the end, Mrs. Shoe says they gave it their all and did a good job.

### It's Not Working (Cel)

Mary Jane and Lacey are now going to play with a sprinkler, but when Mr. Shoe turns the water on, it doesn't come shooting out. Mr. Shoe tries to find out why it's not working when he finds a tangle in the hose blocking the water. He unloosens it and the water comes out of the sprinkler. The three hop around the water while giggling.

### Song: Mary Jane and Lacey (Collage/Stop Motion)

The Mary Jane and Lacey song "Love That Shoe" is played.

### Do the Bump (Cel)

The characters do the "bump" and dance on the dance floor.

### A Little Reality

The bump song continues as real kids bump each other on the dance floor.

### Goose Bumps (Acrylic Painting)

Around a dark campfire, Lacey tells a story about a pair of princess slippers that crept down a castle hallway, when she heard a noise behind the closet door, going "thump, thump". This scares everyone, and Bob gets all bumpy. Mop explains they are goosebumps, and he gets them when he's scared. Lacey continues the story and the slippers slowly open the door, when something big and furry comes out and bumped right into her. It is a "dragon", who is actually Plush. He licks Lacey, causing everyone to laugh.

### Hard Bagel (Cel)

Plush tries to bite into a bagel on a plate, but it's too hard. Doris says it's not that hard, so he proves to her that it's hard and bangs on the table with it, which causes it to crack, then he kicks it which hurts himself. Doris says this is getting hard to believe, so he continues and pounds a nail into it, but it falls apart, then jackhammers into it. Doris asks what he's going to do with the hard bagel, and he attaches it to her knocker. Doris jokes that she's from "the school of hard knocks".

### School of Hard Knocks (Cel)

Doris sings about how she went to the School of Hard Knocks, and opens herself to a younger self singing with two other doors.

### A Little Reality

Many people knock on doors using either the knockers or with their hands, rhythmically.

### I've Been Working on the Railroad (Stop Motion/Cardboard Cutouts)

The characters sing "I've Been Working on the Railroad" while alongside train tracks.