[crickets chirping]
[chattering]
-Who are you? -Shh.
-[man] Hey! -Hey, what's going on?
[horse neighs]
Yee-haw!
[braying]
We are trapped.
Maybe we should give up.
Ha! Block Cheddar never gives up.
Hang on, princess, time to head for the barn.
[both screaming]
[both grunt]
[Sprocket] Cut!
Ho, ho! That was perfect, Jack. How about one more take?
Eh, ready when you are, E.J.
♪ Who's the mouse who's fun and witty Scoops the news for New Mouse City ♪
♪ Geronimo ♪
♪ He's amazing, he's terrific Watch out, world, he's cheddarific ♪
♪ He's out of sight and in the know ♪
♪ Go! ♪
♪ He's the one we call Geronimo ♪
[car horns honking]
[yawns]
At last, some peace and quiet.
[Sprocket on monitor] G, baby.
How's my favorite reporter?
Bruised.
Great. So, how's about visiting me on the set of my new film?
Block Cheddar Four.
We're going to the set of BC4?
No, I never said--
-I'm Block's biggest fan. -No, I'm bigger.
Covering the BC4 set would be a great story.
Plus we'd get to meet Jack Vole, the actor who plays Block Cheddar.
[both] Could we? Please. Please. Please.
[sighs]
Looks like we're going to the movies.
Action!
[grunting]
Give it to him, Block.
-Look at him go. -There's a real mouse for you.
[scoffs] But it's all fake.
-Jealous? -Jealous?
Cut.
Jack Vole, I'd like you to meet my friend, Geronimo Stilton.
Howdy. Always happy to meet a fan.
-Sorry, no autographs. -Pleased to meet you.
I'll be in my trailer.
Whoa, Jack Vole touched to you.
-What was it like? -Painful.
Thanks for stopping by, G baby.
My pleasure. It's more a treat for them.
To think this is right where Jack Vole stood.
The lion's still warm.
-Mr. Sprocket, we have an emergency. -Oh, no, not another one.
Someone destroyed the last ten cans of film.
What? We'll have to reshoot everything for the last week.
[groans] This film has been a disaster from day one.
Really? How so?
There have been setbacks and delays.
All my Block Cheddar films seem to have something go wrong. Now this happens.
Hmm. Benjamin, ask the crew about what's been happening.
I'm on it.
[shrieks]
[laughing]
-Maybe we could help. -Good idea.
Benjamin and I will keep an eye on the set.
You and Thea go undercover as extras.
Let's get to the bottom of what's happening.
Be alert. Close observation is the key to good investigative reporting.
-[Jack] Ready when you are, E.J. -And action!
Oh, cut, cut, cut!
I didn't call for an explosion.
Rebuilding the set is gonna take days.
Uncle G, you can't just walk up and talk to Jack Vole. He's the star.
All the more reason to ask if he's seen anything.
-Howdy, partners. -Mr. Vole, I wanted to ask you
if there's been many accidents like today.
Eh, a few. All in a day's shooting.
Nothing worth getting your chaps in a bunch over.
Jack, tsk-tsk-tsk, what have you been doing?
Your nails are filthy.
Block Cheddar's always getting into scrapes.
-But doesn't Block always wear his gloves? -Acting is a dirty job.
Get more sleep. These bags under your eyes are hard to hide.
Something about Jack and his fingernails concerns me.
We should keep our eyes peeled for anything odd.
I agree.
-Would a talking donkey be considered odd? -Yes.
We're on donkey duty for the next scene. We'll keep a look out.
I'm about to give up. One more mishap could shut this production down.
[cameraman] Mister Sprocket.
[grumbles] Do I wanna know?
Someone stole the camera van.
We're gonna have to shut down production.
[groans]
-Hmm. This is where the van was parked. -Why would someone wanna take it?
Equipment is expensive.
Someone doesn't want the movie to get made.
Move aside, sodbusters. I've solved a mystery or two in my day.
Hmm. Mm-hm.
Yeah. Mm-hm.
Mm. Ooh.
Looks like some varmint done stole the camera van.
-The cameraman already told us that. -See? I was right.
Uncle G, look at this.
Whoa, that print has gold dust mixed in with it.
Gold? Real gold? It couldn't come from the movie props.
Maybe from a mine?
Are there any mines here?
Well, there's an abandoned mine up the road apiece.
We're gonna shoot there, but all these mishaps held us up.
Might be worth looking into. We will check it out.
-[Thea] Can we come? -[gasps]
No, it's better if you and Pandora keep an eye on things here.
You can count on us.
[Geronimo panting and groaning]
We've been hiking for hours.
We've only been hiking for five minutes.
Oh. But it feels like hours.
Huh. I never knew there were so many bats in mines.
[gasps] Bats?
-And snakes. -[gulps]
Snakes?
[laughs]
You're not afraid of a few critters, professor?
Oh, I'm not a professor, and no, I'm not afraid.
Good. I'll come along just in case.
Never hurts to have another hand on the trail.
[squawking]
We'll have to find another way across.
Ah, hogwash.
After you, professor.
I'm not a professor.
After me? Down there?
You're not yellow, are you?
Well, if by yellow you mean cautious, then...
I just won't look down.
Wow, what a view.
Check it out.
Not looking. Just climbing, trying not to fall.
[thudding, Jack grunting]
Jack, are you all right?
[both screaming]
[Benjamin] Grab the rope.
Wow, that was exciting. Just like a real Block Cheddar adventure, right?
Thanks, that was way too close.
I had a feeling we should help keep an eye on you two, and I was right.
Um, Geronimo,
-you can let go of the rope now. -I can?
Oh, [chuckles] I can. Any idea who cut the rope?
Nope. When we got here, all we heard was screaming.
-[muffled shouting nearby] -Like that?
-Ah. Ain't y'all a sight to see. -[Benjamin] What happened?
I was double-checking the rope when some ninja--
A ninja. Wow!
That's right, a ninja. Well, he jumped me.
We fought, but he threw dirt in my eyes and blinded me, then tied me up.
He must have cut the rope.
Just like Block Cheddar 2, Little Ninja on the Prairie.
Hmm.
Here's the mine, and the footprints lead to it.
Hey, whoa, professor.
I'm not a professor.
Why don't I go first? It looks dark in there.
Dark? [scoffs] Who's afraid of the dark?
[bats squeaking]
Jack, scout ahead of us and we'll bring up the rear.
This must be where the gold dust came from.
Oh, my, look at the size of that gold nugget.
-It must be worth-- -Nothing. That's just plain old pyrite.
Fool's gold.
It's worthless.
It looks real to me.
That's why they call it fool's gold.
[chuckling]
[Jack] Now, don't y'all go wandering off or we may not find you next time.
Hmm.
By the way, I checked with the stagehands about all the troubles with the films.
-Mm-hm. What'd you find? -During the first film, a bank was robbed.
During BC2, three jewelry stores were robbed.
-The third? -An art collection was stolen
from a museum.
Hmm. There has to be an explanation, and I think I might know what that is.
What did the ninja use to cut the rope?
-Um, an old pickaxe. Why? -You said you were blinded by the dirt.
-How could you know what the ninja used? -Now, what are you insinuating?
Well, you must have cut the rope. You didn't want us to reach the mine.
And why would I want that, professor?
I am not a professor.
You've been working this mine every night.
That's not pyrite. It's real gold.
-That explains the bags under Jack's eyes. -And his dirty fingernails.
Ha! Well, you got it right. Sprocket wanted to film up here.
But I couldn't let him, not till I got all the gold out.
So, you sabotaged the production.
[chuckles]
Yup.
Well, I'd like to jaw some more, but I gotta go.
And y'all gotta stay here for good.
[all screaming]
Ah.
There, that ought to keep them out of my business.
[all coughing]
[Thea] Is everybody okay?
-[Benjamin] I'm good. -[Pandora] Ditto.
[Benjamin] Are you okay, Uncle G?
[Geronimo] Why does the dark have to be so... dark?
[Thea] I found the lantern.
Hey, I think there are an extra set of eyes.
[all screaming]
[roaring]
[bear grumbling]
[Geronimo shrieks]
Eureka.
Hurry.
Quick, push the up button.
[all screaming]
If I can access the elevator's computer system...
Ben, this was built in 1909.
-Uncle G, we're okay. -Oh.
I knew that.
I can't believe Jack is the bad guy. I thought he was a hero.
There's a difference between someone who plays a hero and someone who is.
-Hold on. We've been this way before. -We're walking in circles?
Great. A circular mineshaft.
Let's not panic. We need to relax and think this through.
[rumbling]
Uh, that wasn't me.
Giant boulder! Giant boulder!
[all grunting, then groaning]
-There's no place to go. -Except up.
[shrieks]
[chuckles] Now that was cool.
[laughs]
Adios, amigos!
We're too late.
Maybe not.
Thea, grab that cable.
Pandora, get those rails. Benjamin, help me with this gear wheel.
That's amazing.
-I hope it works. -Where did you learn this?
-I watch a lot of cartoons. -There he is.
[Thea] Okay, let go.
[Geronimo screams]
Ugh. I said, let go.
[grunts] Professor, I'm getting a might tired of you.
I keep telling you, I am not a professor.
Why do you steal?
You're a big star. You make a lot of money.
You're right.
But I got me four ex-wives,
three houses, and a mess of dogs that eat a lot.
None of that's cheap.
Besides, I'm tired of being the hero.
It's fun to be the bad guy.
[Jack laughing]
Oh, dear.
[all gasp]
[all sigh]
Wow, Uncle G, that was better than Block Cheddar.
Ah, it weren't nothing, professor.
I'm on the set of the new Block Cheddar film,
where the big news is that its star is in for a new kind of adventure, prison.
With Jack out, it looks like this will be the last Block Cheddar movie.
Unless they can find a new Block Cheddar.
[laughs]
Yee-haw!
[roaring]
[screaming]