Girl Daredevil

Part 1

Speed, Trixie, Spritle and Chim-Chim are on their way to compete in the Nightona Handicap in the city of Nightona (opposite of Daytona...get it??). As they enter the city, a crowd has gethered below a building. On the top of the skyscraper, an attractive girl in a circus outfit is standing on the edge. She jumps, scaring the on onlookers. On her way down she does some flips and lands on a large air bag, bounces off it, and lands on her feet in the street. The stunt is an advertisement for the Universal Circus that has come to town. The girl, Twinkle Banks, spots Speed, whose clearly impressed with her, and winks at him. Trixie's not so happy about that. As a result, when Spritle wants to go to the circus, Trixie thinks that the upcoming race will conveniently leave no time whatsoever to go. But when Spritle and Chim-Chim cry loudly, Trixie gives in.

In the circus tent, our happy foursome are impressed by the auto-oriented circus. Chimps enter the circus ring driving all sorts of old-fashioned cars (similar to the cars in the closing credits of the cartoon). One nicely dressed male chimp finishes eating his cob of corn and throws it, hitting Chim-Chim. Chim-Chim, looking to restore his injured pride, sneaks backstage and dons a tux. He comes out juggling pins, then throw a pin at the corn-eating chimp, which knocks him out. Chim-Chim hops up next to the female chimp happy as can be. But then he crashes into a gorilla cage. The female chimp is angry, but not half as much as the gorilla who grabs Chim-Chim and hits him. Ouch.

After this little monkey business, out comes the star of the circus, Twinkle Banks, driving her flashy little sports car. Speed is the only one in the entire circus clapping enthusiastically. Twinkle spots him and has a twinkle in her eye matching the Twinkle in Speed's... She heads into some sort of cylinder with banked sides. As she drives faster and faster, the sides seem to become vertical so that the centrifugal reaction -- not ``force,'' don't you know... -- keeps her aloft. A clown, Twinkle's dad and the circus owner, is at a control that lifts the cylinder high above the circus floor, but the lever is jams.

Meanwhile, Twinkle is hanging from the steering wheel, standing on the hood and doing those flashy death-defying stunts that circus people love, as her car is zipping round and round the cylinder. A bad guy, Cornpone Brotch, looking on, says accident will fit right into plans. When much time elapses, Speed realizes something must be wrong. The clown tells him that the lever is stuck. Without hesitation, Speed runs to a support pole, climbs up to the cylinder. Twinkle, exhausted, has passed out in the driver's seat. Speed hops in as the car comes round again. The cylindrical track begins shaking and eventually begins to crack. At that point, Speed picks up Twinkle and jumps to safety on a trapeze platform just as the car crashes through the cylinder.

In Twinkle's trailer, while she rests in bed, her dad thanks Speed for saving her. When Speed says the equipment was not in good repair, Mr. Banks tells the gang that the circus is not making money, so the equipment is in bad shape. He goes on that they had many animals that they loved dearly. The fed the animals only the best food and gave them the best care till the circus almost went bankrupt. Speed and Trixie feel so bad, they give Mr. Banks what money they have in their pockets. Spritle and Chim-Chim donate their candy, maybe an even bigger sacrifice! As they leave the father and daughter in the trailer, Mr. Brotch watches from a distance.

Back at the hotel garage, Sparky is changing the gears and differential so that the Mach Five will be ready for the upcoming Nightona Handicap race. However, Soeed and Trixie hop in the Mach Five and speed away to find the Universal Circus; Speed, to check on Twinkle, Trixie, to keep an eye on Speed. She's a bit annoyed at Speed's interest in the girl. At any rate, the circus has already left town, so they return to the hotel. In the garage again, Trixie turns on the Mach Five's radio where they hear a story that Twinkle Banks will cross the Niagara Falls on a tightrope in her car. As Speed and Trixie speed off again, Sparky hollers that ``You'll never make the Nightona Race.''

At the falls, Mr. Brotch is in the audience saying to himself that it'll be ``fascinating'' to watch. Nearby, Mr. Banks, dressed in his clown suit, says to Twinkle that it's 3,000 feet across the falls and 150 feet down; that there's no room for even a small mistake. Mr. Banks seems to feel guilty that his daughter is doing for publicity for his failing circus. Mr. Banks thanks Mr. Brotch then. Brotch, it turns out, came up with the idea and funded the entire thing.

Worried about potential wind, Banks listens to the radio and hears that a storm is approaching from the Canadian side. (Twinkle will leav from the US side.) When he goes to tell his daughter to call it off, Mr. Brotch won't hear of it. He has three of his men restrain Banks. Brotch then dresses in Banks' clown outfit, even fooling Twinkle. On the way to the falls, Speed, too, hears the weather forecast and rushes to get there in time to stop Twinkle. He's too late, though. She has already begun the stunt.

At the foot of the falls, we see a crane and a large pipe. Brotch and his men are standing nearby. Brotch has a treasure map showing that a secret cave exists behind the falls and indicates where treasure was hidden by the Indians centuries ago. He arranged Twinkle's stunt to keep prying eyes from his escapade.

By now, the storm has arrived, and the strong wind is causing Twinkle's car to sway on the double tightrope (one for each set of wheels). Just as Mr. Banks says he can't bear to watch, Twinkle's car plunges into the falls below. Luckily, she leaped clear and is hanging from one pf the tightropes. Speed and Sparky begin removing the Mach Five tires so that Speed can drive out on the ropes to save her.

Below, Brotch has driven into the cave via the large pipe. He says Twinkle's predicament will only further divert attention from him.

Up on the ropes, Speed has rescued Twinkle. But first one, then the other rope breaks dropping them into the water below. Speed has already closed the cockpit and started the oxygen supply going. But due to the string currents from the falls, the Mach Five keeps getting tumbled back to the same place. When the remaining 15 minutes of the oxygen supply runs down, Speed and Twinkle begin having trouble breathing (though the noises they make sound more like they're...well, listen for yourself).

Just as Speed is losing hope for survival, he recalls hearing that there's a secret cave behind the Niagara Falls. Sure enough, they find it, drive up onto dry land and take deep breaths. Walking ahead, they see old totem poles centuries old. One falls nearby and almost hits them. Brotch and his three henchmen are there laughing. They're standing by the huge pile of gold bars they located. Over the radio, one of Brotch's men warns him that the police are on their way to the foot of the falls to check on the cars that fell from the tightropes. Brotch tells him to blow up the entrance to be sure no one finds them, and that the map shows a back entrance to the cave. Speed then tries to fight his way out but is quickly subdued, at which point he and Twinkle are tied up. Even if they free themselves, Britch warns, there are hundreds of passages. On his way out, Brotch steals the Mach Five to add it to his collection of stolen cars. Hmm, who put the tires back on I wonder, and where'd they get them in the cave??

Outside of the cave, Trixie, Sparky, Spritle and Chim-Chim are at the base of the falls with the police. It occurs to Trixie that she might be able to use the police helicopter's radio to contact the Mach Five. She succeeds but only to the point of contacting Brotch. He laughs that they'll never find Speed and Twinkle.

Speed and Twinkle, though, are not so easily stumped. Twinkle uses her circus skills to escape from the ropes. Once free she and Speed follow the Mach Five tire tracks to the secret exit.

Trixie, meanwhile, is yelling at Brotch for being so mean as she flies the chopper with Spritle and Chim-Chim who are along for ride. I guess the police didn't mind! She happens to spot Brotch and his men leaving the cave and smartly assumes Speed and Twinkle will find the same exit. When they do, everyone hops in the chopper. They fly high so that Brotch won't know he's being tailed, and follow him to his hideout. In little time, they are entering South Dakota (!) and we see Brotch has a secret rock doorway to enter his fortress by Mt. Rushmore in the Black Hills. Speed, Trixie, Twinkle, Spritle and Chim-Chim search without success till nightfall for a secret door. As they are looking, Speed and the others notice a bright glint come from the eye of one of the Rushmore presidents. Twinkle and Chim-Chim scale the rock face and lower a rope for Speed. Trixie and Sparky can't climb it, so they wait behind.

Inside the eye, Speed and Twinkle discover a long hallway with walls and doors made of metal. While they begin looking for Twinkle's father, they see many stolen works of art. Then they find a room with the stolen cars and go in when they spot the Mach Five. But Brotch is waiting for them already. He has many black panthers that he sets upon Speed and Twinkle. Speed grabs a crank off an Model T style car and does his best to swat at the panthers. Twinkle jumps and tries to hang from a chandelier above the snapping jaws of the panthers.

Outside, Trixie is as resourceful as ever and lands the police chopper atop Mt. Rushmore -- Sparky must have stayed below. She and Spritle go in and are greeted by an excited Chim-Chim. He shows them where Speed and Twinkle are. Trixie and the rest get in the Mach Five, rush in and save Speed and Twinkle. Once in, Speed closes the cockpit just in time. Brotch has been laughing all the while at their predicament. The Mach Five lightly hits one panther, the Mach Five saws give one a close haircut, while the auto-jacks punch yet another. From the trunk, Spritle and Chim-Chim are doing what they can with a slingshot and hit one panther. But then Brotch releases sleeping gas into the room. The cats are knocked out, so Speed runs to open the door. As the cats begin waking up, Spritle and Chim-Chim pop a piece of candy into the mouths of each. At this gesture, the cats become fast friends with the Go Team.

Breaking free from the room, the Mach Five speeds down the hallway while Brotch's men shoot at it. Spritle and Chim-Chim are on the backs of panthers that now attack Brotch's men leaving them dazed and in need of bandaging. They manage to find Twinkle's dad, but he is in a cage joined to another housing a lion. Brotch has his handle on a lever to open the door separating the two. Speed has good intentions when he sends the homing robot after Brotch, but the robot actually bumps Brotch's arm causing the lever to be pulled. The lion wals over into Mr. Banks' cage and begins snapping at him.

Twinkle tells her father to remember when he was the best animal trainer in the world, and so on. He regains his courage, and with a whip already in the cage, tames the lion who returns to his cage.

Brotch admits defeat, but says he will kill them. Right then, the panthers come roaring in chasing Brotch. Trixie: ``For a fat man, he certainly can move fast!''

Some time later, we're back at Niagara Falls on a bright, sunny day. Twinkle is on a double car-tightrope again. One breaks and she and the clown in the car drive back with two wheels on just one rope. Everyone is happy, and the clown? Yeah, it's Speed!