Once Upon a Time - Recap

In the year 1890, janitor Woodroy Mulligan is walking down the streets of Harmony, New York, and bemoans noise pollution, high prices, and women's independence. Mulligan is knocked into a water trough by a bicyclist. Going home to change, Mulligan sees his employer Professor Gilbert working on a Time Helmet that lets you travel to any time period but for only thirty minutes. He leaves it on the table and Mulligan decides it to go to a future where there's peace and quiet. He sets the helmet for 1960 and it starts to spark and smoke. Mulligan runs outside and a police officer chases after him. Mulligan grabs a chicken and then there's a burst of smoke and Mulligan finds himself in 1960 in the middle of a busy street on Harmony. Everything makes noise and the prices are dozens of times higher.



A van driver passes by and snags the helmet, then throws it onto the sidewalk where a young boy on roller skates finds it. He goes off with it and Mulligan gives chase. A police officer sees him and givse chase as Mulligan goes after the boy. The boy bumps into an electronics scientist, Rollo, and drops the helmet. Mulligan crashes into Rollo and recovers the helmet, but discovers that it's broken. He only has 15 minutes left and Mulligan explains to Rollo what happened. Rollo realizes that Mulligan is telling the truth but he has no idea how the helmet works. They take it to a fix-it shop but the owner, Jack, says it'll take several days to repair. While Rollo talks to Jack, Mulligan turns on a television and mistakes it for a window and thinks the man is talking about the repairman being nuts. Rollo tries to explain about television but gives up, and Mulligan stumbles around the shop and goes outside. He finds a shop having a sale on suits and looks at a pair of pants, but doesn't have any money.



Returning to the shop, Rollo tries to show Jack how to fix the Time Helmet and realizes that Mulligan has gone off. He finds the janitor and they buy a pair of pants then return to the shop. Jack has the Time Helmet fixed and Rollo asks how it works. He takes the helmet and activates it for three minutes so that he can return back to 1890, a period he'd rather live in. Mulligan says that someone holding the helmet wearer can go with them but Rollo doesn't believe him and runs off. The police officer spots them and Mulligan and Rollo run away. The officer chases Mulligan who manages to evade him and go after Rollo. He manages to grab him in the middle of the street. They both go to 1890 and the officer there chases after Mulligan.



One week later, Mulligan is happy to be back in his own time, realizing what the future is like. Rollo has discovered the lack of modern conveniences, TV dinners, and bikinis, and is dissatisfied. Tired of his complaining, Mulligan sets the Time Helmet for 1960 and sends Rollo back to his own time.



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