A Family Vacation

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"A Family Vacation" is the second episode of the first season of Back to the Future: The Animated Series. It first aired on September 14, 1991.

Contents 1 Brief synopsis 2 Notes 3 Dramatis personae 4 New continuity 4.1 New individuals 4.2 New locations 4.3 New society and culture 4.4 New technology 5 From the episode

[edit] Brief synopsis

Without consulting the family while leaving Marty and Jennifer alone, Doc takes Clara and the boys back to medieval times (1367 A.D.) to escape the technology that he feels his family has become so reliant upon. Once there, Clara is kidnapped by the evil Lord Biffingham of Tannenshire, and Doc is thrown into a dungeon. Jules and Verne meet up with Harold McFly, whose lady love, Jennivere, has also been kidnapped by Lord Biffingham. The boys and Harold arrive at the castle in time to witness a "jousting" match between the Lord and Doc. Clara escapes from the tower and makes a hot air balloon out of silk and a tapestry loom. A true heroine, she rescues Doc and foils Biffingham's evil scheme. Doc realizes that he should consult her before making anymore decisions for the family.

[edit] Notes

• At the end of the episode, Harold McFly (in medieval England) says he and Jennivere will have to leave. Doc suggests Ireland. The McFly family stay there until the 1880s, when Seamus and Maggie McFly move from Ireland to America.
• Tannenshire, Lord Biffingham's domain, was near Stonehenge in 1367. The area is located in County Wiltshire, in southern England, west of London.
• Harold says that he is one of "the Sussex McFlys". The McFlys and their descendants appear to have liked following the setting sun, moving westwardly from Sussex to Wiltshire (where Stonehenge and Tannenshire were located); then to Ireland; then to the United States (with at least one McFly settling in Boston); then to the western U.S., stopping at Virginia City, Nevada and eventually at Hill Valley, California.
• One of Doc's inventions seems to instantly transform everyone's clothing to a form appropriate to the era. Doc explains that hologram technology creates an illusion, and that it will wear off after 8.6 hours. The device is demonstrated again in "Dickens of a Christmas"
• In the live segment, Doc (Christopher Lloyd) is sailing about ten feet above Hill Valley in a balloon. The science experiment shows how to make a hot air balloon using a plastic bag, a blow dryer, and a twist tie.

[edit] Dramatis personae

• Clara Clayton Brown
• Emmett Brown
• Jules Brown
• Verne Brown
• Marty McFly
• Jennifer Parker

[edit] New continuity

[edit] New individuals

• Lord Biffingham
• Harold McFly
• Jennivere McFly

[edit] New locations

• England
  • Tannenshire
  • Stonehenge

[edit] New society and culture

• Dungeon
• Jousting
• Tapestry

[edit] New technology

• Hot air balloon (by way of Clara)

[edit] From the episode

(Doc is facing Biffingham in an unfair jousting contest)

Lord Biffingham: "Now, peasant, prepare to meet your ancestors!"

Doc: "I do, quite often, but thanks for the invitation"

—

Doc: "Boys, it would appear that we will have the distinction of being the first humans in history to die before we were ever born!"

Jules: "What an honor."

—

Doc: Well, boys, it looks like we're short-legged, web-footed waterfowl destitute of life!

Verne: Huh?

Jules: "Dead ducks."