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Tuttle Twins - Flying Through Failure (S3E9)
The twins learn the value of failure from the Wright brothers and a world afraid to fail.
| Runtime (min) | 25 |
|---|---|
| Air Date | 2025-02-04 |
| Genres | Animation, Kids, War & Politics |
| TV Rating | TV-PG |
| Network(s) | Angel |
Storyline
In this episode, the Tuttle twins explore the concept of failure as a necessary step toward success by examining the story of the Wright brothers. The episode draws parallels between Orville and Wilbur Wright's persistent experimentation with flight—despite countless crashes, setbacks, and public skepticism—and the twins' own challenges when facing obstacles in their lives. Through historical vignettes and present-day scenarios, the episode illustrates how the Wright brothers embraced each failure as a learning opportunity rather than a reason to quit.
The episode also addresses a broader cultural theme: a world that has become increasingly afraid to fail. The twins discover that many people avoid trying new things or taking risks because they fear making mistakes or looking foolish. By contrasting this mindset with the Wright brothers' willingness to fail repeatedly on their path to inventing powered flight, the episode encourages viewers to reframe failure as valuable feedback rather than something to be ashamed of.
What kids learn
Children learn that failure is not the opposite of success but rather an essential part of the journey toward achieving goals. By studying the Wright brothers' story, kids see that even groundbreaking inventors experienced repeated setbacks and that persistence in the face of failure leads to innovation and progress. The episode teaches that each mistake provides information about what doesn't work, helping to refine ideas and approaches until a solution is found.
The episode also helps children understand the importance of courage and resilience when trying something new. Kids learn that avoiding challenges out of fear of failure prevents growth and discovery, while embracing the possibility of making mistakes opens the door to learning and improvement. This message encourages a growth mindset, where effort and learning from errors are valued over immediate perfection.
Additionally, the episode illustrates how societal attitudes toward failure can either encourage or discourage innovation. Children gain insight into how a culture that punishes mistakes can stifle creativity and risk-taking, while one that views failure as a natural part of experimentation fosters progress and achievement.
Parents' top 5 questions
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| How can I help my child become more comfortable with making mistakes? | This episode provides a natural starting point for conversations about reframing failure. After watching, discuss specific examples from your child's life where a mistake led to learning something new. Praise effort and problem-solving rather than only outcomes, and share your own stories of failures that eventually led to success. The Wright brothers' example shows that even experts fail repeatedly, which can help normalize the experience for children. |
| What age group is this episode most appropriate for? | The episode's themes about failure, persistence, and the Wright brothers' story are accessible to elementary and middle-school-aged children, roughly ages six through thirteen. Younger children will grasp the basic concept that mistakes help us learn, while older kids can engage with the deeper ideas about innovation, risk-taking, and how cultural attitudes shape our willingness to try new things. The historical content is presented in an engaging, age-appropriate manner. |
| Does the episode provide practical examples of how to learn from failure? | The episode uses the Wright brothers' methodical approach to experimentation as a model, showing how they analyzed each failed flight attempt to understand what went wrong and how to improve. This historical framework helps children see that learning from failure involves observation, adjustment, and trying again with new information. The twins' own experiences in the episode reinforce these practical steps in relatable, contemporary contexts. |
| How does the episode address fear of judgment when failing? | The episode acknowledges that one reason people avoid failure is the fear of looking foolish or being criticized by others. By highlighting how the Wright brothers faced public skepticism and ridicule yet continued their work, the episode shows that external judgment shouldn't prevent someone from pursuing their goals. This helps children understand that what others think matters less than what they learn and accomplish through persistent effort. |
| Can this episode help a child who gives up easily when things get hard? | Yes, the episode directly addresses the tendency to quit when faced with difficulty. The Wright brothers' story demonstrates that success often requires many attempts and that giving up after early failures means missing out on eventual breakthroughs. Watching this episode together can open a dialogue about specific situations where your child feels like quitting, helping them see challenges as opportunities to practice persistence rather than as signs they should stop trying. |
Writing
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Directing
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| Season # | Episode # | Episode Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | When Grandma Gabby moves in with the Tuttle Twins, she takes her twin grandkids on a wheelchair time machine to France and the Old West to learn about laws and try to save their lemonade stand. By learning about the principles Frédéric Bastiat writes in his groundbreaking book, The Law, the twins are able to save their stand! |
| 1 | 2 | A science camp rivalry threatens to destroy Emily’s dreams. Grandma takes the twins to India and a worm battlefield to learn about the golden rule before it’s too late. By learning about the golden rule of fiscal policy, the twins are able to save Emily’s dreams! |
| 1 | 3 | Argh! The twins encounter space pirates, a Scotsman, and ice cream people as they learn about free trade and why no one can make a pencil by themselves. |
| 1 | 4 | With the help of Ben Franklin, the Twins learn what it means to be an entrepreneur and start their own corndog stand. By learning about entrepreneurship, the twins are able to grow a business… Too bad Karinnie has some business plans of her own. |
| 1 | 5 | The Twins learn that big businesses like Big Bob's BBQ can sometimes produce laws that keep smaller businesses like Food Trucks from being able to survive. They visit Atlantis and try to stop the protectionism there before things get too wet. |
| 1 | 6 | Why does your money increasingly lose its value? With their eyes set on a big carnival prize, Ethan and Emily learn that printing more tickets causes prices to rise. They visit Ancient Rome and Modern Zimbabwe to see the Inflation Monster at work then rush back to save the carnival. |
| 1 | 7 | Even though everyone learned a lot and some people got delicious desserts, Derek is the real winner of this episode, because he found love. |
| 1 | 8 | Why doesn't everyone get equal pay? Join Ethan and Emily as they travel back in time to visit people like Babe Ruth and learn about the economic value that people provide. |
| 1 | 9 | Ethan and Emily’s film set gets shut down because of a dumb regulation. The twins learn about civilly disobeying unjust laws with the help of Rosa Parks and a funny Boat-Dweller named Doug. This Episode features Dark Dumpster Derek. |
| 1 | 10 | The Twins learn how surrendering powers to the government during times of calamity almost always results in long-term loss of freedoms. They play a fantastical game "Crisis & Creatures" and learn how to rely on the community rather than the government to help each other through challenging times. |
| 1 | 11 | Karinne is back to causing trouble and this time she’s spreading lies about Ethan. But, with the help of James Madison, the Twins learn what happens when you restrict free speech even if it’s mean or deceptive. This is a hip-hoppin’ episode so start warming up your voice for some Free Speech Freestyle! |
| 1 | 12 | Desperate to save Grandma Gabby, Ethan and Emily are thrust into a future world where the government runs every part of daily life. Tune in for the epic finale of season 1, an adventure about persuasion vs force as the twins fight for the future. |
| Season # | Episode # | Episode Name |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | When a field trip goes wrong, the twins question if needs are actually rights. They learn about natural rights from John Locke and fight for their lives on an island of ferocious flamingos. |
| 2 | 2 | When the twins hit the jackpot with a trash can cleaning business, Karinne makes them question if success is selfish. They learn about true entrepreneurship from Joyce Chen and the grumpy Gurmbledons of Grumbletown! |
| 2 | 3 | Holy Satoshi! When the twins are forced to choose between accepting dollars and bitcoin at a garage sale, they travel through the internet and a retro video game to learn what makes money well…good. |
| 2 | 4 | After their softball team starts bending the rules, the twins jump through famous paintings, meet George Washington, and try to save a divided farm from a big bad wolf and dangerous tribalism! |
| 2 | 5 | After a T-rex destroys their treehouse, the twins struggle to save Rapunzel’s cramped kingdom and discover that good ideas can come from imperfect people. |
| 2 | 6 | When the twins are unfairly cut from a talent show, Grandma takes them to meet Frederick Douglass and an itsy bitsy spider to learn how to conquer victim mentality. |
| 2 | 7 | |
| 2 | 8 | |
| 2 | 9 | LUCHA! After a failed kids club fundraiser, the gang runs into William Bradford, the pilgrims, and Karl Marx as they wrestle with socialism and its consequences. |
| 2 | 10 | After Emily fails a test, the twins wonder whether school is the best way to learn--prompting Grandma to whisk them off to a familiar place in the past, before stopping by the most famous mind in history, and then a rumble in the jungle... |
| 2 | 11 | Invaders from another world kidnap Derek, launching Grandma and the twins on a dangerous rescue mission. On a dark planet, the twins encounter mysterious clues, cyborgs and spy gadgets as they solve the mystery of why capitalism is failing. |
| 2 | 12 | When the twins argue about saving money versus spending it, Grandma Gabby introduces them to a board game that unleashes creatures and chaos into the Tuttle's home. |
| Season # | Episode # | Episode Name |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1 | The twins discover a crucial life lesson when they meet the legendary Mike Rowe, who emphasizes that not all careers require a college degree. |
| 3 | 2 | The twins travel to a magical island with Dr. Ben Carson to learn about the fatherless epidemic. |
| 3 | 3 | GUEST STARRING Ashley St. Clair and Seamus Coughlin - When field day is mysteriously canceled, conspiracies abound! Ethan and Emily visit JFK to learn about critical thinking and then crack the conspiracy about what really happened to Humpty Dumpty. |
| 3 | 4 | The cul-de-sac kids discover Karinne has gained access to their private digital lives! The Twins get a lesson in digital privacy from a mysterious guide, then rush to rescue Prince Charming from the Not-Evil Queen's digital control! |
| 3 | 5 | When inflation wrecks movie night, Grandma takes the twins—and stowaway Karinne—back to the Bitcoinverse. There, they learn about the risks of controlled money, CBDCs, and the freedom of Bitcoin. Plus, rocks. Lots of rocks. |
| 3 | 6 | GUEST STARRING Adassa - The cul-de-sac kids are ready for a big soccer game, but when Kevin can’t play due to a religious holiday, Karinne votes to kick him off. With guidance from unexpected sources, the twins learn the value of religious freedom. |
| 3 | 7 | During a gym class dodgeball game, a new kid creates chaos by judging others on appearance. Emily and Ethan turn to Grandma, who introduces them to Martin Luther King Jr., teaching them the value of character over judgment. |
| 3 | 8 | The twins visit President Eisenhower to learn about the military industrial complex. |
| 3 | 9 | The twins learn the value of failure from the Wright brothers and a world afraid to fail. |
| 3 | 10 | Sep transforms into a monster and sends the twins to a ruined alternate world, where they uncover the dangers of irresponsibility. With help from their not-grandmother, they inspire change and prove that true freedom comes from taking responsibility. |
| Season # | Episode # | Episode Name |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 1 | When the twins earn a trip to Bird Land Amusement Park, they discover that some charities do more harm than good. With help from friends, they must learn to give better—before the park shuts down forever! |
| 4 | 2 | When the Tuttle family debates buying a fancy new fridge, the twins meet John Maynard Keynes, Saifedean Ammous, and a world of quirky food. Together, they discover the hidden risks of melting money and thinking only in the short term. |
| 4 | 3 | After a machine threatens the twins’ jobs, they travel to 1920s Michigan to learn from Henry Ford about creative destruction. But when they return home, nothing is quite as they left it. |
| 4 | 4 | After Emily unfairly loses a pie bake-off, the twins turn to Thomas Sowell to learn the dangers of equity, only to be swept into a fantastical world of elves, orcs, and basketball! |
| 4 | 5 | After a price hike puts a new board game out of reach, the twins travel to Russia to learn about price controls. With economist Ludwig von Mises and a very persistent Copernicus, they discover why controlling prices can backfire. |
| 4 | 6 | After a suspicious news story airs, Grandma and the twins rescue Benjamin Franklin Bache but become trapped in a world where speaking out leads to deadly consequences. They must use journalism and the power of truth to fight back and survive. |
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