THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (Continue)
Sally heaves a big sigh.
SALLY
That's all....
She looks off tragically. Outside, it's sunrise.
CUT TO:
EXT. FOREST. DAWN.
Still bowed by the depth of his despair, unaware of time, or
distance, or anything, Jack wanders through the gloom of the
forest. Zero floats protectively at his side.
Suddenly, Jack is stabbed by a ray of light from the rising sun.
JACK
Ow!
Cringing, he stops in his tracks. When he dares to look around
him, it is as though he has just been woken up from a dream.
JACK
Where am I?
Zero barks his haunted ghost bark. Jack seems to notice the dog.
JACK
Zero! Where are we? We've
never been here, have we, boy?
Jack takes a few steps one direction and looks curiously, then
a
few steps in another direction and looks -- and looks.
JACK
It's some place new.
Zero circles Jack, whirling him around, trying to aim him back
toward home. But Jack resists. He wants to see whatever there
is to see.
He proceeds deeper into the woods.
CUT TO:
EXT. JACK'S TOWER. DAY.
The Mayor's hearse pulls up in front of Jack's tower. The Mayor
climbs out, arms brimming with blueprints and plans. He struts
to Jack's door -- his self-confident face on -- and bangs the
knocker.
MAYOR
Jack?!
He waits for an answer. There isn't any. Even this little bit
of suspense brings out the Mayor's other face -- this one is
scared, self-doubting.
MAYOR
Jack?! You home?!
There's still no answer.
The mayor squints out into the street. Clearing his throat, he
barks confidently at PASSERS-BY:
MAYOR
(to various passers-
by)
Have you seen Jack?... Have
you seen Jack?...
But nobody has. He doesn't bother to ask the Street Band set up
across the street.
The mayor's bravado face evaporates and the whiny one takes over.
MAYOR
Where is he? We had an
appointment.
His blustery face back on, the Mayor shouts up to Jack's room
at
the top of the tower.
MAYOR
Jack?! I've got the plans for
next year! See?!
He holds up the blueprints and plans he carries.
MAYOR
I need to go over them with you
so we can get started!
Halloween'll be here again in
no time! Three hundred and
sixty odd days fly by too fast!
The Mayor's faces alternate in progressively rapid succession
as
panic sets in.
MAYOR
(shouts desperately)
Jack! Please! I'm only an
elected official here! I can't
make decisions! Jack! Answer
me!
Ruined, the Mayor crumples.
The ACCORDION PLAYER of the Street Band says quietly from across
the street:
ACCORDION PLAYER
He can't.
The Mayor looks up.
MAYOR
Why not?
ACCORDION PLAYER
He's not home.
MAYOR
Where is he?
ACCORDION PLAYER
He hasn't been home all night.
The Mayor tries to rouse himself, but he's shorted out,
exhausted...
MAYOR
(feebly)
Oh...
He drops again to the sidewalk.
CUT TO:
EXT. EVIL SCIENTIST'S HOUSE. DAY/LATER.
Sally peers out of an upper-storey window -- expression eager
and
despairing at once.
CUT TO:
INT. FOREST. DUSK.
It is just before night. Jack strides forward toward a
DISTANT PUMPKIN SHAPE
that seems to be carved out of the dark and outlined by glowing
light.
Jack can't wait to find out what it means, but Zero, warier than
his master and far less enthusiastic about this adventure, lags
behind.
Arriving at the Pumpkin shape, Jack eagerly reaches out to it.
When he touches it, it gives -- CREAKING OPEN to more woods
beyond. It's a DOOR.
Zero hurries to catch up as Jack steps through the Pumpkin-shaped
Door and out into a
CLEARING
in this next forest. Awed, Jack stops dead in the middle of the
clearing and gapes at what he sees -- there are
MORE DOORWAYS
etched into the trunks of the trees that ring the clearing. To
us, these doorways make sense -- one is shaped like an EASTER
EGG, another like a FIRECRACKER, another like a VALENTINE,
another like a SHAMROCK, and another like a CHRISTMAS TREE. To
Jack, who's never heard of the other holidays, these doorways are
a total mystery.
He is especially TRANSFIXED by the
CHRISTMAS TREE-SHAPED DOOR.
It rattles invitingly on its hinges. Gusts of cold air blow out
from behind it. Snow oozes out beneath. The drama of it draws
Jack closer.
Zero hesitates in the Pumpkin-shaped doorway, uneasy about
crossing through it to the other side -- but the sight of Jack,
striding resolutely toward the Christmas Tree-shaped door, makes
him swoop quickly after.
Using all his strength, Jack wrenches open the Christmas Tree-
shaped door. There is a moment's delay -- darkness, stillness,
silence -- then the instantaneous fury of a
HOWLING BLIZZARD.
A quick blast of snow knocks Zero clear back through the Pumpkin-
shaped doorway.
The whipping winter wind curls around Jack's frail bones and
SUCKS HIM IN THROUGH THE OPEN DOOR. Jack disappears. The
Christmas Tree-shaped door SLAMS SHUT.
After a beat:
Zero pokes his head up over the lintel of the Pumpkin-shaped
doorway and sees that Jack has vanished. Panic-stricken, he
streaks across the clearing to the closed Christmas Tree door.
Crying, he scratches on the door, tries to squeeze under it (his
vaporous body is easy, but his head and jack o'lantern nose are
another matter), circles the tree, investigates for another
entrance (above, below, every which way). He tries everything in
his ghost-dog powers to get in -- but all in vain. He has no
choice but to wait. Ears cocked, he settles down to stare and
stare at the strange door that swallowed his master....
CUT TO:
THE WHIRLING, SNOW-SWIRLING TUNNEL OF BLACKNESS
through which Jack FALLS. The fall abruptly ends. BLACK.
CUT TO:
EXT. CHRISTMASTOWN. NIGHT.
Jack sits up in the snow bank where he has landed. He looks
excitedly around. He marvels first at the miracle of snow.
>>>>> WHAT'S THIS?
JACK
What's this? What's this?
There's color everywhere... What's this?
There's white things in the air... What's this?
I can't believe my eyes I must be dreaming,
Wake up, Jack, this isn't fair... What's this?
He cavorts excitedly in the snow, slipping and sliding and
finally tumbling down a hill into the center of Christmastown.
He springs up, shakes himself off, and enthusiastically explores
the snow-blanketed village.
JACK (CONT'D)
What's this? What's this?
There's something very wrong... What's this?
There're people singing songs... What's this?
The streets are lined with
Little creatures laughing,
Everybody seems so happy,
Have I possibly gone daffy...?
What is this...? What's this?
There're children throwing snowballs
Here instead of throwing heads.
They're busy building toys
And absolutely no one's dead.
Here in Christmastown, every tree is a Christmas tree and each
house is shinier and more beautifully decorated than the next.
JACK (CONT'D)
There's frost on every window,
Oh, I can't believe my eyes,
And in my bones I feel a warmth
That's coming from inside...
Jack peeks into warmly-lighted homes... Jack uses his consummate
Halloween trickster skills to see without being seen...
JACK (CONT'D)
Oh, look, what's this?
They're hanging mistletoe... They kiss --
Why that looks so unique... Inspired!
They're gathering around to hear a story,
Roasting chestnuts on a fire... What's this?
What's this? In here
They've got a little tree... how queer!
And who would ever think... and why?
They're covering it with
Tiny little things, they've got
Electric lights on strings, and there's a
Smile on everyone, so now
Correct me if I'm wrong...
This looks like fun,
This looks like fun,
Oh, could it be I got my wish...? What's this?
Jack enters the CHILDRENS' cozy BEDROOM in one house...
JACK (CONT'D)
Oh my, what now?
The children are asleep... But look --
There's nothing underneath... No ghouls
No witches here to scream and scare them
... or ensnare them...
Only cozy little things
Secure inside their dreamland... What's this?
Distracted, Jack goes off to leave the child at whom he has been
peering suddenly wide awake and terrified...
Jack is back outside...
JACK (CONT'D)
The monsters are all missing
And the nightmares can't be found
And in their place there seems to be
Good feeling all around...
Instead of screams I swear I can hear
Music in the air.
The smell of cakes and pies
Is absolutely everywhere...
The sights, the sounds,
They're everywhere and all around...
I've never felt so good before...
The empty place inside of me is filling up
I simply cannot get enough.
I want it, oh, I want it...
Oh, I want it for my own.
I've got to know
I've got to know
What is this place that I have found?
WHAT IS THIS???
Jack darts this way and that and runs and runs, trying to get
his
fill of this strange new wonderful place.
He trips and falls and starts to roll and as he rolls he gathers
snow -- he becomes a gigantic snowball barrelling through
Christmas town, stopping only when he SLAMS INTO
ONE OF TWO GIGANTIC CANDY CANES...
between which spans a sign. Jack bursts out of his snow ball
only to have fresh snow dumped on him which falls from the sign
between the two tall candy canes.
Jack shakes himself free of this fresh heap of snow, looks up
at
the wide welcoming sign:
CHRISTMASTOWN
And thoughtfully reads...
JACK
.... Christmastown? Hmmmmmmmm.
Jack studies the town from this distance -- the lights glow
heart-warmingly.
JACK
Incredible. I'll need proof...
On his feet again, he slinks quietly back toward Christmastown.
CUT TO:
EXT. HALLOWEEN TOWN SQUARE. DAY.
A number of the worried citizens of Halloweenland have gathered.
They chatter among themselves. The MAYOR addresses them from the
top of his hearse.
MAYOR
Quiet. Quiet now. We all
agree that two days is far too
long for Jack to have been gone
without warning... Is there
anywhere we've forgotten to
check?
MONSTER WITH THE TEAR-AWAY FACE
I looked in every mausoleum.
TWO WITCHES
(in unison)
We opened the sarcophagi.
BLIND-FOLDED, EXECUTED MAN
I tromped through the Pumpkin
Patch.
VAMPIRE
I peeked behind the Cyclops'
eye.
The other citizens wheel around to look at him disbelievingly.
VAMPIRE
(defensively)
I did!...
(then adds sadly)
But he wasn't there...
Everyone sighs.
MAYOR
It's time to sound the
alarms...
CUT TO:
INT. EVIL SCIENTIST'S KITCHEN. DAY/LATER
Outside, the alarms wail in the distance while, inside, Sally
speedily whips up a pot of sleeping-potion soup.
She keeps looking out the window, hoping for a hint of what's
going on, but nothing -- not a clue. Eager to find out, she
hurries the soup along...
Various spice jars are out on the counter -- among them, the one
labelled "Deadly Night Shade," the entire contents of
which she
dumps into the pot.
SALLY
(to herself)
Regular dose... Double dose...
Double, double dose. He'll be
able to smell a double, double
dose of Deadly Night Shade...
Anybody could.
She studies the other jars and picks the one labelled "Frog's
Breath."
SALLY (CONT'D)
Frog's Breath will overpower
any smell.
She opens the jar. Recoiling from the odor, she turns aside,
trying to escape the fumes as she pours some of the Frog's Breath
into the soup -- but it starts to overwhelm her anyway. She
swoons. Her knees buckle.
In her swoon, she fumbles blindly among the other jars.
SALLY
(choking)
Sweet Pea... Where's that
Sweet Pea... Too bitter...
Too bitter...
Her hand finally locates the jar labelled, "Sweet Pea."
The Evil Scientist calls from another room:
EVIL SCIENTIST (O.S.)
Sally?
Still choking, hardly able even to squeak out an answer, Sally
struggles to open the Sweet Pea jar.
EVIL SCIENTIST (O.S.)
Where's my soup?
Sally finally gets the jar open. As fast as she can, she empties
it into the soup and hovers above the pot. In a moment, the
Sweet Pea takes effect and Sally's strength begins to return.
SALLY
(gasps)
Coming...
EVIL SCIENTIST (O.S.)
Good. I'm hungry.
Still a bit shaky, Sally reaches for one more jar. The label on
this one reads, "Worm's Wart."
SALLY
(hoarsely)
A handful of Worm's Wart just
for distraction. It'll throw
him off the trail for sure...
She drops in some Worm's Wart, stirs the soup, then ladles out
a
bowlful.
CUT TO:
INT. EVIL SCIENTIST'S LABORATORY. DAY.
The Evil Scientist is at his lab table, peering into a microscope
and thinking -- which, for him, involves lifting off the top of
his skull and tickling and scrambling the brains inside.
Sally carries in a tray holding his bowl of soup.
SALLY
Lunch.
The scientist impatiently gestures her over. He replaces the top
of his skull...
EVIL SCIENTIST
Excellent. Over here. Over
here. Set it down.
She gingerly sets the tray in front of him.
The scientist inhales a deep sniff of the steam curling off the
soup.
EVIL SCIENTIST
Ah... What's that?... Worm's
Wart!
He glances suspiciously at Sally.
EVIL SCIENTIST
What trail are you trying to
throw me off now?
SALLY
(stammers; feigns
innocence)
Nothing. W-w-what are you
talking about?
The scientist pushes the bowl of soup toward Sally.
EVIL SCIENTIST
Taste it.
SALLY
But why? It's your lunch.
There isn't much there in the
first place.
EVIL SCIENTIST
Taste it.
SALLY
No.
EVIL SCIENTIST
Why not?
SALLY
I'm not hungry.
(acts all hurt)
What's wrong? I spent all
morning on that soup. I
thought you liked Worm's Wart.
EVIL SCIENTIST
There's nothing more suspicious
than Worm's Wart -- it
distracts one from every other
taste and smell.
He dips a spoon into the soup then holds it up to Sally.
EVIL SCIENTIST
Until you taste it, I won't eat
a bite.
Sally crumples.
SALLY
But I have to go out.
Something's happening out
there.
EVIL SCIENTIST
Whatever it is, it's none of
your concern.
He waves the spoon at her.
EVIL SCIENTIST
Eat.
She keeps her lips closed tight.
EVIL SCIENTIST
(lapses into self-pity
mode)
Then we'll both starve... An
old man like me, who hardly has
strength as it is -- me,
without whom... me, your own
father...
SALLY
Can't you make other creations?
EVIL SCIENTIST
I could. Of course I could.
But no one would be like you...
(pours it on again)
I'll never understand how you
can be so cold-hearted, how you
can treat me this way,
discarding me like--
It works. He wears Sally down:
SALLY
(interrupts)
All right... All right...
I'll eat it.
She closes her eyes and sips the soup off the spoon.
CUT TO:
EXT. TOWN SQUARE. DUSK.
The Mayor lies sprawled on top of his hearse, staring up at the
sky for ideas. He's exhausted, as are the assembled citizens of
Halloweenland, exhausted from exhausting their alternatives when
it comes to seeking Jack.
The Mayor lifts his heavy head and feebly asks:
MAYOR
Did anybody think to dredge the
lake?
A recumbent corpse sits up and nods:
CORPSE
This morning.
The corpse flops down again.
The mayor lets his head fall back.
IN THE DISTANCE,
there's a BARK (O.S.)
WITCH #1
Hear that?
WITCH #2
What?
Now a DEEP RUMBLING (O.S.) can just be heard -- punctuated by
another sharp BARK (O.S.)
WITCH #3
Ssh!
They listen. More RUMBLING. DEFINITE BARKS NOW.
VAMPIRE
(excited)
Zero?!
The sounds get louder, closer...
The group revives. The mayor sits up. Before long...
AROUND THE CORNER
comes an ecstatic Jack driving a jaunty, Christmasland SNOW
MOBILE, heavily laden with Christmasland memorabilia. A joyous
Zero loops-the-loop around his master.
MAYOR AND VARIOUS CITIZENS
Look! It's Jack!
JACK
I'M BACK!
The Halloweenland citizens gape.
VAMPIRE
Where've you been?
JACK
I can't wait to tell all of you
all about it!
(to the Mayor)
Mayor! Call us a town meeting!
CUT TO:
EXT. HALLOWEEN STREETS. EVENING.
The Mayor's hearse glides through town, p.a. system blaring:
MAYOR'S AMPLIFIED VOICE
Town meeting! Town meeting
tonight!
The hearse passes the
DESERTED GOTHIC MANSE.
Out stream the Creatures, Corpses, and other Vampires.
CUT TO:
EXT. CEMETERY. EVENING.
As the hearse passes and the announcement is heard, the
GRAVESTONES open.
CUT TO:
EXT. MORE HALLOWEEN STREETS. EVENING.
The hearse threads through town past the EVIL SCIENTIST'S HOUSE.
CUT TO:
INT. EVIL SCIENTIST'S LABORATORY. EVENING/SAME TIME.
Sally and the Evil Scientist are both asleep -- the Evil
scientist snores, his head on the lab table beside the now empty
bowl; Sally has fallen asleep on her way through the doorway --
hat on, arm half-way into the sleeve of her coat.
MAYOR'S AMPLIFIED VOICE (O.S.)
Town meeting! Town meeting
tonight!
Neither of them hears the announcement. Neither of them stirs.
Their deep sleep goes on undisturbed.
CUT TO:
EXT. TOWN HALL. NIGHT.
The town hall is a tilted Chautauqua meetinghouse. We HEAR the
noise of the crowd inside and see a few Halloweenland latecomers
hurry in.
CUT TO:
INT. TOWN HALL. NIGHT.
Jack stands at a podium on a stage at the end of the big meeting
hall. Set up beside him is a table piled high with (at this
point) non-descripit objects.
The murmuring crowd presses close to the stage. Of course, Sally
and the Evil Scientist are absent.
Jack holds up his hands for attention.
JACK
Listen everyone. I want to
tell you about where I've been!
He sings:
>>>>> THE TOWN MEETING SONG
JACK
There were objects so peculiar
They were not to be believed
All around things to tantalize my brain.
It's a world unlike anything I've ever seen
And as hard as I try...
I can't seem to describe
Like a most improbable dream...
But you must believe when I tell you this
It's as real as my skull, and it does exist.
Turning to sort through the objects on the table, Jack speaks:
JACK
Here... Let me show you.
The people press even closer.
PEOPLE
Ohhhh....
Jack holds up a wrapped gift:
JACK
This is a thing called a present.
The whole thing starts with a box...
VARIOUS PEOPLE
-- A box?
-- Is it steel?
-- Are there locks?
-- Is it filled with a pox?
-- A pox!
-- How delightful, a pox!
Jack interrupts their excited babbling:
JACK
If you please!!!
He sings on:
JACK
Just a box with bright colored paper
And the whole thing topped with a bow.
VARIOUS PEOPLE
-- A bow?
-- But why?
-- How ugly!
-- What's in it?
-- What's in it?
JACK
That's the point of the thing, not to know!
VARIOUS PEOPLE
-- It's a bat.
-- Will it bend?
-- It's a rat.
-- Will it break?
-- Perhaps it's the head that I found in the lake.
JACK
Listen now, you don't understand.
That's not the point of Christmasland.
Jack shakes his finger at them:
JACK
Now, pay attention.
He takes a Christmas stocking off his display table and sings
again:
JACK
Now we pick up an oversized sock...
And bang it like this on the wall.
The irrepressible crowd bubbles over again:
VARIOUS PEOPLE
-- Oh yes, does it still have a foot?
-- Let me see...
-- Let me look...
-- Is it rotted and covered with gook?
Jack is getting very frustrated:
JACK
Let me explain.
But to no avail...
VARIOUS PEOPLE
-- Small toys?
-- Do they bite?
-- Do they snap?
-- Or perhaps they just spring out and
Scare girls and boys.
The Mayor struts to the front of the audience.
MAYOR
What a splendid idea --
This Christmas sounds fun.
Why I fully endorse it!
Let's try it at once!
But doubt immediately overtakes the Mayor as Jack expresses his
exasperation with the way things are going...
JACK
Everyone, please, now not so fast.
There's something here that you don't quite grasp.
Confident face evaporating, the Mayor skulks off.
Jack looks down at the faces tipped up toward him -- in the
expressions, puzzlement replaces eagerness.
JACK
(to himself)
Well, I may as well give them
what they want.
Jack picks up his song again -- the showman once more:
JACK
And the best, I must confess,
I have saved for the last
For the ruler of this Christmasland...
Is a fearsome king with a deep mighty voice
Least, that is what I've come to understand.
And I've also heard it told
That he's something to behold
Like a lobster, huge and red...
And sets out to slay with his raingear on,
Carting bulging sacks with his big great arms...
That is, so I've heard it said.
Listening to this, the people of Halloweenland are absolutely
spellbound, rapt, and quiet for a change.
JACK (CONT'D)
And on a dark, cold night
Under full moonlight
He flies off into a fog
Like a vulture in the sky...
And they call him -- Sandy Claws.
At this conclusion, a delightful shudder runs through the
audience.
CROWD
OOOOH....
They erupt into giddy chatter.
Jack watches them from the stage, then turns to his display table
and begins gathering up his many Christmasland souvenirs.
JACK
(sings wistfully to
himself)
Well, at least they're excited,
But they don't understand
That special kind of feeling
... In Christmasland.
Jack shakes a Frosty the Snowman paper weight and dreamily
watches the little snowflakes drift down.
JACK
Oh well....
Sighing, he packs his treasures.
CUT TO:
INT. JACK'S TOWER. NIGHT.
Jack happily decorates his room with the Christmasland souvenirs.
-- He festoons the electric chair with boughs of holly and a
sprig of mistletoe atop the confining head cap.
-- He tosses wreaths around the necks of the gargoyles that leer
down from corners of the ceiling.
-- He ties a red bow on Zero.
LATER,
in bed, snuggled down, wearing a nightcap, his pile of Christmas
books beside him, Jack gazes critically around his room. It is
over-bright with electric lights -- they're strung everywhere
they can be strung. Tinsel sparkles glaringly.
Lips pursed, Jack climbs out of bed to pull a string of lights
out behind an obscuring cobweb, then isn't satisfied just to see
them, but traces the intricate pattern of the cobweb with them.
He steps back for perspective, comes forward to make an
adjustment, steps back to look again... He frowns. He scratches
his head.
JACK
It's not quite right;
something's wrong... But
what?...
He paces and looks, paces and looks -- but the mystery remains
a
mystery.
CUT TO:
INT. EVIL SCIENTIST'S HOUSE. DAY.
Still suffering the effects of her own sleeping potion, a
disheveled Sally drags through the house.
The DOORBELL RINGS (O.S.).
Sally turns sluggishly.
SALLY
(slowly)
Who could that be?
She shuffles toward it.
CUT TO:
INT. EVIL SCIENTIST'S FRONT DOOR. DAY/MOMENTS LATER.
Sally drags open the front door. There, on the front stoop, to
her utter astonishment stands
JACK.
He has on a cheery face, but it is obvious to her that he is
disturbed.
JACK
Good morning.
SALLY
(voice little)
Y-you don't have to say that.
You don't need to pretend. Not
with me.
He looks quizzically at her.
JACK
Is the doctor in?
EVIL SCIENTIST (O.S.)
(calls)
Who is it, Sally?
Answering for her, Jack strides right in:
JACK
(calls to the doctor)
It's Jack Skellington.
EVIL SCIENTIST (O.S.)
(calls)
Jack! What a surprise, my boy,
a rare pleasure indeed. Come
on back... I'm in the
laboratory.
Jack heads back. Sally looks tragically after.
CUT TO:
INT. JACK'S TOWER. DUSK.
Jack intently sets up a make-shift laboratory with equipment
borrowed from the Evil Scientist -- a microscope, mortar and
pestle, petri dishes, a centrifuge, test tubes, beakers already
filled with steaming liquid.
CUT TO:
INT. EVIL SCIENTIST'S LABORATORY. NIGHT.
As Sally shuffles timidly into the room, the scientist doesn't
look up from his reading.
SALLY
(blurts)
Jack Skellington was here this
morning.
The scientist nods without looking up:
EVIL SCIENTIST
Uh-huh.
SALLY
He stayed a long time.
The scientist nods again.
SALLY
When he left, he took a lot of
equipment with him.
EVIL SCIENTIST
He's conducting experiments of
his own.
SALLY
Experiments?
Suddenly afraid for Jack, Sally wheels around and stumbles OUT
INTO THE
HALL
and UP THE
RICKETY STAIRS.
CUT TO:
INT. SALLY'S ROOM. NIGHT/MOMENTS LATER.
Sally rushes in and hurries across to her window. She stands on
tip-toe and strains to peer out. In the distance, between two
other buildings, she can just MAKE OUT A CORNER OF
JACK'S TOWER.
A strange glow emanates from there.
Sally stares for a long time, biting her lip with worry, then
decisively:
Sally turns to her desk. She takes out a piece of paper and a
pen and writes, reading aloud as she goes:
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