"The Sleepover" is an episode of The Busy World of Richard Scarry.
Synopsis[]
Dennis Elephant is among those going to Sprout Goat's farm for a sleepover, but he is scared and doesn't seem to be having fun.
Plot[]
Dennis gets a call from Sprout, the latter of whose mom wants to speak to the former's, as the purpose is a surprise. She is in the middle of a shower, as she is in her bathrobe with some suds on her scalp. When she finds out about games and a cookout, and more, she figures Dennis will be thrilled. He is at first, but when he finds out it is a sleepover (and she herself won't be attending), he is no longer excited. In fact, he is now afraid because it means he'll be sleeping anywhere except his own bed... worse, it will be in a barn. Going for a walk, he has trouble deciding how he'll tell Sprout, but the latter (accompanied by Huckle and Lowly, all three of whom are carrying groceries) questions him. Dennis says his mother says he can't go, but Sprout, skeptical of this, says that his own mother told Dennis's that Dennis could. Sprout decides to ask Mrs. Elephant, and suddenly, she comes after a shopping trip of her own. Dennis, fearful of the following questioning and knowing she'll find out about the lie, starts to leave, but his mother stops him. Sprout asks her why Dennis can't go to his sleepover. She denies this, saying of course he can, so he says that he guesses that he was wrong, so Sprout, Huckle, and Lowly leave to get some ice cream (one of their groceries) home before it melts. In an attempt to make Dennis feel better, she decides to take him out for ice cream of their own and talk.
Inside Mr. Raccoon's restaurant, as he gives the elephants each a (probably strawberry) ice cream cone, Mrs. Elephant asks Dennis why he doesn't want to go. He says it will be dark, spooky, that there will be bugs, no bed for him, and he'll miss her. (In the process, he accidentally gets his scoop of ice cream onto a lady pig's fruit hat as she exits the restaurant, and Mr. Raccoon replaces that scoop with a new one during Mrs. Elephant's following feedback.) She admits that she will also miss him, but says it's for one night, and asks him if he wants to be with his friends. Dennis guesses he does. So she tells him that if he is really not happy, Sprout's mother can call her, and she will pick him up. So he promises to give it a try. She gives him an ice-cream-covered kiss on his forehead.
Dissolve to the scene where Mrs. Elephant drops Dennis off at Sprout's. The latter tells Dennis to put his backpack and sleeping bag in the barn. He is about to, but nobody is there, except for a spider, which scares him and makes him drop his things and run away.
The first game is a game of soccer, but before Dennis can kick the ball, he trips on a stone and falls onto a pumpkin and gets its contents on his shirt. Lowly decides that's why it's called squash. Dennis is not having fun. Sprout says it's time for hide-and-seek anyway.
After Sprout, the seeker, has counted to 30, and everyone has hidden. However, Dennis, having trouble finding a good hiding place, is the first to be found in the cornfield, so he's not having fun this time either.
That night comes a cookout at an (apple) orchard. Dennis worries about this idea because they are cooking and eating outside. Turnip tells him that they are all together, and so there is nothing to be afraid of, and that additionally, the food tastes better outside. As they are roasting marshmallows, Dennis agrees about the better taste, but wishes that they didn't happen outside, especially at night. Dennis burns his after fearfully looking at trees with some bad faces, so Huckle shares one of his own. However, the marshmallow sticks to his front hooves (or hands) and he expresses his wish to go home.
However, then comes the main part: sleeping in the barn. Dennis asks to sleep between Hilda and Bananas. Bananas agrees on the condition that Dennis not snore, as the former is a light sleeper. As Dennis puts his sleeping bag down between theirs, a lot of things spill out. Bananas takes one of them: a flashlight, and he uses it to tell ghost stories, scaring Dennis. Lowly apologizes for making him afraid, as his nightcap appeared to be the "banana ghost" that Bananas was telling about in his story. Dennis denies being afraid and just lies down in his bag, but he can never get to sleep. Suddenly, he hears a strange sound, looks around, and gets frightened by a bat and by the door opening, but its opener turns out to be Turnip. She asks if anything is wrong, and offers to phone his mother. Respectively, after hesitations both times, he says no to both. She tells him good night and leaves.
Back outside, there is still smoke from the campfire, and wind blows, so it makes any embers turn into a real fire. Back inside, Dennis smells a burn, and he tries to wake Bananas. Because Bananas is asleep and dreaming, he was thinking of "banana soup" when Dennis tries to warn him. Taking a flashlight, Dennis worries about pulling a false alarm and making everyone else think he is a big sissy, but goes outside to see if his sense of smell is right. Unfortunately, he actually sees the fire going, and so he dumps onto it a whole bucket of water, but some remains and gets onto wood (and trees) outside of the site from the wind blowing. For this, he wakes the Goats and tries to get more water to put it out. The guests are awake, and upon his father's command, Sprout enlists the other guests to get more buckets of water and form a bucket line. They altogether put out the fire on the tree, but after this, another flame appears on the grass near it, and Dennis sprays water onto it from his trunk. Sprout and his father (and the others) commend him for his brave heroism. Farmer Soybeans tells the others it's time to go back and hit the hay, and Dennis decides it sound fine even in a barn or by himself.
Trivia[]
Although both of Hadley Kay's characters appear, Kay doesn't voice Sprout in this episode. Instead, it is likely that Michael Caloz did.
Goofs[]
When Sprout protests to Dennis saying that the latter's mom said the latter can't attend the former's sleepover by saying that the former's mom told the latter's he (Dennis) could, Sprout is wearing an azure (cyan-blue) shirt.
After Dennis trips during soccer and falls during practice, Sprout's pants and bare feet look like Mr. Frumble's when the rest of him is off-screen, but it is proven otherwise when he comes.