Corpse Bride Page #6

The little DOG jumps around in Victor's lap, wagging his tail and BARKING cheerfully.

CORPSE BRIDE:

What a cutie.

VICTOR:

You should have seen him with fur.

Victor pets the skeleton dog fondly.

VICTOR:

Mother never approved of Scraps jumping up like this.

(sotto)

But, then again, she never approved of anything.

CORPSE BRIDE:

Do you think she would have approved of me?

VICTOR:

You're lucky you'll never have to meet her.

Victor suddenly has an INSPIRATION.

VICTOR:

(false brightness)

Well, actually... now that you mention it... I think she would. Yes. I do believe she would. In fact, since we're, you know, m... married... you should definitely meet her. And my father too. You should meet both my parents!

Victor waits nervously for her reaction.

Slowly, a big smile comes over Corpse Bride's face.

CORPSE BRIDE:

What a fantastic idea! Let's go find them. Where are they buried?

VICTOR:

Oh, there is one slight problem...

CORPSE BRIDE:

What is it?

VICTOR:

They're not from around here.

CORPSE BRIDE:

Where are they?

Victor points toward the ceiling.

CORPSE BRIDE:

They're still alive?

VICTOR:

I'm afraid so.

CORPSE BRIDE:

(crushed)

That is a problem.

CUT TO:

EXT. VAN DORT HOUSE (LAND OF THE LIVING) - NIGHT

Mayhew sits on the carriage, SNEEZING, COUGHING in the pouring rain.

CUT TO:

INT. VAN DORT DRAWING ROOM - NIGHT

RAIN HAMMERS on the WINDOW. Nell WHIMPERS into a big handkerchief.

NELL:

They're the best family for miles and we were going to marry into them. Their manners and breeding -- were going to be our manners and breeding! They're related to a Duke.

(her voice breaks)

A Duke!

WILLIAM:

And we've lost a son, of course.

NELL:

(dismissive)

Oh yes. That too.

WILLIAM:

But we haven't lost all hope.

NELL:

How so?

WILLIAM:

The Everglots agreed to have their daughter marry our son.

NELL:

Yes, I recall!

WILLIAM:

But we never specified which son.

Nell looks at him, perplexed. Has he lost his mind?

NELL:

We only have one son!

WILLIAM:

Or do we?

NELL:

We do!

With a wait-one-moment finger, William leaves the room.

He returns a beat later, holding a broom dressed in a dinner jacket, complete with a top hat perched on the straw.

WILLIAM:

May I introduce Reginald Van Dort!

NELL:

He's a broom!

WILLIAM:

He's tidy!

NELL:

He's flammable!

WILLIAM:

And Victor isn't? Dear wife, with the proper flame, we all burn to cinders.

NELL:

And we will burn to cinders if we don't find Victor! Ooooh!

She storms out of the room.

WILLIAM:

(to the broom)

Your mother's very fragile.

CUT TO:

INT. VICTORIA'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Victoria is alone. She is sewing her quilt -- it now covers an entire armchair and is looking slightly more unhinged. She seems sadder and lonelier than ever.

Finally, she stands up and throws on a heavy shawl. With great effort, she pushes up the window and leans on the sill, looking out into the rainy night.

CUT TO:

INT. ELDER'S STUDY (LAND OF THE DEAD) - LATER

The study is stacked ceiling to floor with crumbling * books, scrolls, charts and strange, medieval, scientific instruments. Rickety shelves bend under the weight of mysterious jars and boxes. Crows perch in the rafters. The whole place is frosted with bird droppings, and the dust of untold centuries. It's Leonardo Da Vinci meets Sanford and Son.

ELDER GUTKNECHT is an ANCIENT, GNARLED SKELETON, as bent and twisted as a tree root. He wears a scholarly cap and wire-rimmed glasses.

Victor and Corpse Bride plead with him as he wanders between the stacks, removing something from one pile and carefully placing it on another.

CORPSE BRIDE:

...please, Elder Gutknecht, surely there must be something you can do?

ELDER GUTKNECHT:

Why go up when you can stay down here? People are dying to get in.

Victor and Corpse Bride exchange a look.

VICTOR:

It's very important she meet my family. Just a quick hello and we'll be right back.

CORPSE BRIDE:

(to Victor)

I'm so glad you thought of this.

A twinge of guilt comes across Victor's face.

Elder Gutknecht rubs his head in thought, causing a shower of dust to drift off him. Suddenly, inspiration!

ELDER GUTKNECHT:

I have it! A Ukranian haunting spell!

VICTOR:

A what?

CORPSE BRIDE:

Of course!

Elder Gutknecht shuffles to a stepladder affixed to his bookshelf.

Corpse Bride and Victor watch as he hoists himself up each step, knocking books off the shelf as he goes.

At the top of the ladder he struggles to reach for a particularly large book.

VICTOR:

(hastily)

Allow me, sir.

Victor retrieves the book and drops it on Elder Gutknecht's desk.

ELDER GUTKNECHT:

(climbing down from ladder)

It's just the thing for these quick trips. None of the fuss of corporeal travel.

VICTOR:

Such a thing is possible?

ELDER GUTKNECHT:

Certainly. But not needed here. Now, let's see...

He flips through the pages. Corpse Bride and Victor lean closer, slightly touching one another. They are so intent on the book they don't notice.

ELDER GUTKNECHT:

It certainly is dusty.

What Gutknecht doesn't realize is that most of the dust comes from him.

ELDER GUTKNECHT:

Ahh! Here. And we have everything we need.

He takes a strange speckled egg from a bowl on his desk. He begins MUMBLINGa spell, then suddenly looks up.

ELDER GUTKNECHT:

Ready?

VICTOR:

No! I don't understand how...

ELDER GUTKNECHT:

Just remember, when you want to come back, just say 'hopscotch.'

VICTOR:

Hopscotch?

ELDER GUTKNECHT:

That's it.

Elder Gutknecht suddenly CRACKS the egg above their heads. Instead of a yolk, a strange, sparkling powder falls out.

The moment it touches Victor and Corpse Bride, they instantly collapse.

TRANSITION TO:

EXT. ABANDONED CEMETERY (LAND OF THE LIVING) - NIGHT

Victor blinks, bewildered. As the sparkling dust clears, he finds himself standing in the middle of a graveyard, Corpse Bride at his side.

CORPSE BRIDE:

I had forgotten how beautiful the moonlight is...

She leans over to a tree, trying to gather a branch in her hand. But her fingers pass right through it.

Confused, Victor reaches out. His fingers pass through it too.

VICTOR:

Is this a dream?

CORPSE BRIDE:

No, it's real. Everything's real except us. You and I are just phantoms.

Laughing, she glides around the trunk. She dances around the clearing, disappearing behind the black columns and reappearing again.

Victor is transfixed by the vision of her dancing, her dress flowing around her like smoke in the cold light of the moon.

She comes back to him.

CORPSE BRIDE:

Which house is yours?

Victor looks around. To the left, he sees his own house, with one gable. To the right, he sees the Everglots' two-gabled mansion.

After a beat of hesitation, he points to the Everglots.

VICTOR:

It's right up there. (quickly improvising) Why don't I sort of go first, and... prepare them. You wait here.

CORPSE BRIDE:

Perfect!

Victor runs toward the house atop the hill.

We STAY BEHIND with the Bride as she dances on gravestones. After a few beats, Black Widow and Maggot crawl out.

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote