Incredible Journey of Carla Cracker
Narrator
Carla Cracker
Mickey Mouth
Iggie Incisor
Chris Canine
Pauline Pre-Molar
Mary Molar
Tommy Tongue
Sally Salivary Gland
Sweet
Sour
Salty
Bitter
Eddie Epiglottis
Gus Esophagus
Steve Stomach
Sandy Small Intestine
Pat Pancreas
Louie Liver
Greasy Gary Gallbladder
Villus 1
Villus 2
Villus 3
Larry Large Intestine
NARRATOR: This is the story of a little cracker named Carla. One day Carla was on the lunch menu. Here is what happened to her.
CARLA CRACKER: Hello, everyone! Wait until you see what happens to me when you eat me for lunch. Come along with me on my incredible journey through your body.
MICKEY MOUTH: Your trip starts here. Come on in. Most people don’t think about me and my friends when they think of digestion.
IGGIE INCISOR: Hi, Carla. I’m Iggie Incisor, doorkeeper of the mouth. I’m the first thing people see when they open their mouths.
CARLA CRACKER: Oh, you’re what people see when they smile.
IGGIE INCISOR: Yeah, that’s right. There are eight of us incisors. Some people think we’re just here to make smiles, but we do a lot more than that.
CARLA CRACKER: Like what?
IGGIE INCISOR: Why, without us, people would never get corn off the cob. We’re known as the scissors of the mouth. Come on in, but watch your step. Meet my neighbors.
CHRIS CANINE: I shred food a little bit. They call me a canine tooth because I look a little like a dog’s fang. Did you know that we teeth are covered with the hardest stuff in the body?
CARLA CRACKER: No, that’s pretty cool. What is that stuff called?
CHRIS CANINE: Enamel, of course.
CARLA CRACKER: AH, I’ve heard of enamel. And who are you?
PAULINE PRE-MOLAR: Pauline Pre-Molar. I live next door to Chris Canine. I do some crushing when food visits the mouth, but it’s my sister, Mary, and her friends who really do the heavy work.
EVERYONE: Chomp, chomp, chomp.
PAULINE PRE- MOLAR: Mary, someone’s looking for you.
MARY MOLAR: Yeah, what do you want?
CARLA CRACKER: I just came here to be digested. Can you help me?
MARY MOLAR: Well, I’m just one big grinder. My pals and I get food ready to make its long trip down the esophagus.
EVERYONE: Chomp, chomp, chomp.
CARLA CRACKER: Oooooh! Is there another way out of here?
MICKEY MOUTH: Yes, but before you go, you really should learn about Tommy Tongue and Sally Salivary Gland.
CARLA CRACKER: You look like a weird spotted rug!
TOMMY TONGUE: (Laughs) Yes, I guess I look funny. Those are my taste buds. First, a little bit of saliva wets the food and then I can taste sweet, salty, sour, and bitter things.
SWEET: I help you taste ice cream, candy, and a sweet piece of pineapple.
SALTY: I am on the front of Tommy tongue. I help you taste salty pretzels or ham.
SOUR: Sour Patch Kids, lemons, and vinegar are some foods I help you taste.
BITTER: Some people do not like me very much. Coffee and spices can be pretty bitter.
ALL SPICES TOGETHER: We all work together to help people enjoy food.
CARLA CRACKER: Tommy, you seem to have a lot of muscles. Have you been working out?
TOMMY TONGUE: Yeah, I get a lot of exercise. I think you are almost ready to say good bye to the mouth. I’m going to send you down a little bit at a time.
CARLA CRACKER: Hey! Stop pushing me around!
TOMMY TONGUE: That’s my job. I have to be rough and tough. Do you know Sally Salivary Gland? Hey, Sally! Carla needs a treatment. Come on over and get to work.
SALLY SALIVARY GLAND: I am here to give you a bath.
CARLA CRACKER: But I only take showers.
SALLY SALIVARY GLAND: Tough luck, kiddo. I start working even before food comes into the mouth. A bath of saliva will help change your starch into sugar. Take me with you, and I’ll also smooth your journey.
CARLA CRACKER: Hey, this bath is all right! Where do I go from here, Sally?
SALLY SALIVARY GLAND: You are ready to go on a dangerous ride through a dark tube.
CARLA CRACKER: That sounds scary.
SALLY SALIVARY GLAND: Never fear. My friend Eddie Epiglottis will help you get where you’re going.
EDDIE EPIGLOTTIS: You bet my job is important. One wrong signal from me and you’ll end up in the windpipe or choking.
CARLA CRACKER: OK, OK you are important. Which way do I go?
EDDIE EPIGLOTTIS: Air goes this way and food goes that way to the esophagus. Have fun.
GUS ESOPHAGUS: Oh, yeah! I’m totally awesome. I squeeze you down, down, down, just like a big tube of toothpaste. I can get you from the mouth to the stomach in only seven seconds.
CARLA CRACKER: I suppose it’s a one-way trip.
GUS ESOPHAGUS: That’s the plan.
CARLA CRACKER: What’s that noise? It sounds like a hungry lion.
GUS ESOPHAGUS: (Laughs.) Not quite. But it means it’s time for you to meet Steve Stomach.
EVERYONE: Squish, squash, squish, squash.
STEVE STOMACH: (Growls) I’m Steve Stomach… and I’m hungry!
CARLA CRACKER: I don’t think I like the looks of you.
STEVE STOMACH: Stop complaining. Be brave and let me digest you. You might as well be quiet while I break you down. After four hours with me, you won’t recognize yourself, but you will be ready for the body to use you.
EVERYONE: Squish, squash, squish, squash.
CARLA CRACKER: Four hours! You mean I have to stay in here that long? Ouch! And what is that slimy stuff?
STEVE STOMACH: Oh, those are just my gastric juices. They are going to help break you down.
CARLA CRACKER: Well, I guess if it’s necessary, go ahead.
EVERYONE: Squish, squash, squish, squash.
STEVE STOMACH: Four hours have passed. Can you believe it? Anyway, it is time for you to enter the next passageway. Bye, bye Carla.
CARLA CRACKER: Hey this doesn’t look too bad. Who are you?
SANDY SMALL INTESTINE: I’m Sandy, the Small Intestine. It’s actually a funny name for someone who is the longest part of your journey, don’t you think?
CARLA CRACKER: Yes, it is. I see there are two tiny passageways leading from here. Where do they go?
SANDY SMALL INTESTINE: On the left is my friend Pat Pancreas. Pat, I’d like you to meet Carla.
PAT PANCREAS: (Shyly) Hi, Carla.
CARLA CRACKER: Gee, Pat. I’ve never heard of you until this very minute.
PAT PANCREAS: (Mysteriously) Most people don’t know my name. I go about my work very quietly.
SANDY SMALL INTESTINE: Some people think the pancreas is unimportant, but I couldn’t do my job without him. Pat, explain to Carla exactly what you do.
PAT PANCREAS: Well, Carla, when you come to visit the small intestine, I go to work. I give little squirts of these special juices to help digest you.
CARLA CRACKER: You mean like orange juice? That’s my favorite.
PAT PANCREAS: No, no. These special juices are made of enzymes that help break down food.
SANDY SMALL INTESTINE: Come on, Carla. I think it’s about time you met my other two friends. But I want to warn you ahead of time that they’re a couple of really strange characters.
LOUIE LIVER: Hi! My name is Louie Liver, and this is my friend, Greasy Gary
Gallbladder.
CARLA CRACKER: Hi, what is your job?
LOUIE LIVER: I am an organ of many talents and the largest one inside the body. People can not live without me. (Loudly) I am the guardian of people’s blood! If I see poison about to sneak into people’s blood, I take care of it.
SANDY SMALL INTESTINE: Louie, tell Carla about the amazing trick you do for digestion.
LOUIE LIVER: Well, I mix up this wonderful stuff called bile. Then I send it on over to Greasy Gary Gallbladder. Hey, Gary, are you ready for another shot of bile?
SANDY SMALL INTESTINE: (Quietly.) Gary looks a little bit crazy crazy, but French-fry lovers couldn’t do without him. Gary, tell everyone what you do.
GREASY GARY GALLBLADDER: Well, life’s pretty easy for me until greasy, food comes my way. Hamburgers and potato chips and stuff like that. Then I really go to town. I help the small intestine break down that yucky old fat.
CARLA CRACKER: Oh, I get it. I’m glad I am not a fatty food. Good-bye, Gary.
GREASY GARY GALLBLADDER: How do you like roller coaster rides?
CARLA CRACKER: They make me sick to my stomach.
EVERYONE: Ha, ha, ha.
SANDY SMALL INTESTINE: Too bad, kiddo. You’re about to take one! My villi are going to escort you through all my twists and turns.
CARLA CRACKER: Oh, please, I’m afraid of roller coasters.
EVERYONE: Calm down, Carla. Everything will come out fine.
VILLI: (All speak together.) Relax and enjoy yourself. You’re now in the small intestine, the most important part of the digestive system.
VILLUS 1: Did you know you could be in here for as long as 24 hours?
CARLA CRACKER: I’m not sure I can stand a 24-hour roller coaster ride.
VILLUS 2: We will make your ride very smooth. We work together almost like thousands of teeny, tiny fingers moving you along the small intestine.
CARLA CRACKER: Oh, you do feel soft.
VILLUS 3: The walls are around us are very thin. As you move along, we can push the nutritious parts of you right through the walls and into the bloodstream.
VILLUS 1: Yes, and can you believe that the small intestine can be twenty feet long, sometimes longer?
VILLUS 2: I love my job!
VILLUS 3: Next Stop, large intestine.
LARRY LARGE INTESTINE: After food leaves the small intestine, it heads into my world. I take all the stuff that’s left over after a person has digested some food and carry it to the dump. That’s another word for the rectum. Before I do that, I remove the water and give it back to the body of the person who ate the food. It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it.
NARRATOR: Now the body is full of the good vitamins and minerals and proteins it needs to survive. That’s the end of the incredible journey of Carla Cracker.