Dolphin Talk

*Dolphin Talk* is the Part A of the Season 1 Episode 10 of *Stanley*. It is paired in broadcast with *Whole Lotta Snakin' Going On**.*

## Plot

Stanley, is playing an animal themed board game with Mimi and Marci. Suddenly Elsie rushes down the stairs and messes up their game, excitedly telling everyone that Harry's asleep. Dennis points out Harry is almost always asleep. Elsie explains it's Harry's birthday and they need to plan it before he wakes up. As they brainstorm ideas, Harry comes downstairs, much to their surprise. They try to cover by just saying they're playing a board game (And Elsie saying she's just sitting on top of it). Harry is suspicious but heads to the kitchen. They try to think of what kind of cake to make for Harry when he comes back in. Mimi and Marci head off and tell Stanley to meet them in the backyard. Stanley waits on the swing and asks Dennis if he thinks Harry knows they're planning his party. Dennis doesn't think so, but says to be careful so they don't hurt Harry's feelings due to any misunderstandings about what's going on. Mimi and Marci come over again but get caught by Harry who looks puzzled. In Stanley's bedroom, Elsie warns Stanley that Harry suspects something is up. Stanley suggests they use a carrier pigeon to send messages back and forth. Dennis reminds Stanley they don't have a pigeon and it would take time to train them to exchange messages, and instead suggests they find a way to communicate without words. Stanley gets an idea to communicate like dolphins instead. He grabs The Great Big Book of Everything as Mimi and Marci come in. Stanley, Mimi, Marci, and Dennis head into the book while Elsie keeps Harry distracted. The dolphins communicate and Dennis translates, telling them the dolphins are looking for a missing member of their pod, and explains echolocation. The dolphin pod finds the mother dolphin with her new calf. They rise to the surface and Dennis explains that dolphins are mammals so they breathe air like humans do. The dolphins come across two humans on the dock who do hand signals to tell them to do tricks. Dennis explains that they were once living in the aquarium and taught the signals. Stanley thinks hand signals are a great idea to plan Harry's party without him knowing. While Harry is taking a nap, Mimi and Marci bring the dog food cake over for Harry. Elsie whistles to Harry and urges him to come into the kitchen. They wish Harry a happy birthday and Elsie asks if he's surprised. Harry says he is, having not remembered it was his birthday. Dennis asks what Harry wants to do to celebrate. He says he wants to play the dolphin game from earlier and they admit it wasn't a game, and that that they were using it to plan his party. Mimi and Marci show some American Sign Language to everyone. That night Stanley and Dennis talk about all the facts they learned about dolphins.

## Goofs\Trivia

* Dennis says they don't have a pigeon, even though they could easily get one from The Great Big Book of Everything.
* The female dolphins have lipstick which is an art style choice used throughout the series. Although it's not used in the first few episodes such as the tiger in Tiger Hunt.
* It's not explained why the dolphins were released or why the zoo keepers are checking up on them, but in modern day less and less zoos and aquariums host dolphins due to health and safety concerns for the dolphins.

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