Frankenweenie Page #4

Victor heads upstairs with a box of the appliances he has

just collected.

EXT. PET CEMETERY - NIGHT

A full moon. HOOTING owls.

Over the top of the fence, we see a shovel blade moving

past.

The shovel digs into the soft earth. Again. And again.

Victor is digging up Sparky's grave. It's tough work,

especially because he's trying to be quiet.

A black cat perches on a nearby gravestone. SCREECHES.

Spooked, Victor waves him off.

He's uncovered the box. He opens it and gingerly loads

the wrapped bundle into shoulder.

INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Victor’s parents are sitting on the couch watching a

movie. Though the movie isn’t really scary, Mom looks for

any excuse to snuggle closer to her husband. He

playfully encourages it and puts his arm around her to

pull her closer.

As Victor sneaks behind them, carrying the wrapped

corpse, he inadvertently knocks into a lamp causing it to

flicker.

Dad turns and sees what’s back there but can’t see Victor

who is hiding, frozen, just out of sight.

Dad turns back to the TV.

Relieved, Victor tiptoes past them, heading for the

stairs.

INT. ATTIC LABORATORY - NIGHT

EXTREMELY CLOSE ON the eye of a needle. Thread pushes

through.

Victor is making repairs to Sparky's corpse. We don't

see any of it directly, just shadows on the wall.

He rummages through a bucket of nuts and screws, picking

two oversized bolts.

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Final Shooting Script_2012_01_18_v2 20

He places Sparky onto Mom’s ironing board and pushes it

directly under the skylight. The storm is just reaching a

fever pitch.

As HOPEFUL MUSIC rises, Victor climbs a ladder out the

window where we see that he has attached his metal swing

set to the roof. Victor checks the wind direction and

lets fly two balloons attached to the umbrella and

fastens the ends to the swing set. This will serve as the

conductor.

EXT. BURGEMEISTER’S HOUSE - NIGHT

Burgemeister is drawing his drapes shut when he sees the

movement on the Frankenstein roof. He can’t make out

Victor, but it’s enough to make him suspicious.

INT. ATTIC LABORATORY - NIGHT

Victor climbs down and checks his notes and his

equipment.

We see a whole host of household items that Victor has re-

purposed to become part of his elaborate apparatus.

- A series of Mom’s colanders and pans and appliances,

-an old fish tank,

-some bobbing Christmas reindeer

all serve as unlikely components of his grand experiment.

He has also erected a series of pulleys so that he can

hoist Sparky up through the sky light.

Victor can hear the storm raging and knows that it is now

or never. He pets Sparky’s lifeless form one last time

for courage.

He turns to an old Schwinn bicycle mounted on a stand and

starts the wheels spinning. One by one the appliances

start to whir and come alive.

Victor then begins to hoist Sparky up through the sky

light. The rain is beating down and the lightning is

getting more intense.

The metal table finally reaches his resting spot under

the swing set.

Now all he can do is wait. He watches the storm intently,

silently urging Zeus' thunderbolts to strike.

And then...

January 2012

Final Shooting Script_2012_01_18_v2 21

CRACK!

A jagged finger of light touches the top of the balloons,

racing down the cord and into the attic -

Zapping Sparky with a thousand volts.

Victor removes his goggles, and springs right to action

cranking down the metal table, eager to see if it worked.

All of the appliances power down and grind to a halt. The

room goes silent.

He swings the table over to the workbench.

Wearing a stethoscope, he listens for a heartbeat.

Hearing nothing, he keeps checking. But he eventually

realizes it has all been for naught.

He lays his head down on the workbench, letting out

exhausted, sniffly tears.

VICTOR:

I'm sorry, boy.

A beat.

As a single tear drips onto Sparky’s lifeless form, we

hear a final spark and then...

His TAIL starts to move and

His TONGUE licks Victor face.

Victor sits up, bewildered. It's Sparky, still half-

wrapped in the blanket.

VICTOR:

You're alive! You're alive!

Sparky! You’re Alive! I can’t

believe it you’re alive!

Sparky can’t control how happy he is and knocks Victor to

the group. He enthusiastically licks his face and wags

his tail so excitedly that it flies clear across the

room. For a moment, he looks worried but Victor just

laughs.

VICTOR:

I can fix that.

Victor and Sparky play on the attic floor excited to be

back together.

VICTOR:

It worked. It really worked.

January 2012

Final Shooting Script_2012_01_18_v2 22

INT. ATTIC WORKSHOP - DAY

Victor is sleeping on the floor, sharing a blanket with

Sparky.

MOM (O.S.)

Victor!

INT. BEDROOM - DAY

Victor's Mom opens the door to find Victor's bed empty.

Pretty sure where he must be...

MOM:

Victor! Breakfast!

INT. ATTIC WORKSHOP - DAY

Sparky licks Victor’s face waking him up. He sits up,

rubbing his eyes.

INT. ATTIC STAIRS- DAY

Mom is walking up the stairs to the attic looking for

Victor.

MOM:

Victor? Are you up here?

INT. ATTIC WORKSHOP - DAY

Victor hears his Mom climbing the steps and panics.

VICTOR:

Ssssh! Quiet down boy! Ssssh!

MOM (O.S.)

Victor?

Victor picks up Sparky and carries him around a curtain

to the back of the attic.

VICTOR:

Sparky! Sssh! Quiet.

Mom enters but can’t see Victor and Sparky behind the

curtain.

MOM (O.S.)

Victor?

Looking around for somewhere to hide Sparky, Victor

finally grabs a big tin bucket and puts it over Sparky

just as

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Final Shooting Script_2012_01_18_v2 23

Mom pulls the curtain back.

MOM:

French toast or waffles?

VICTOR:

Waffles.

MOM:

Then I'll need my waffle iron

back, Mr. Director.

Spotting her waffle iron amid the leftover set

decoration, she heads right for Sparky. The bucket

suddenly moves, shifting away.

She looks at Victor. Thinking quick:

VICTOR:

It's my science project. It's a

robot.

MOM:

A robotic bucket?

VICTOR:

Yes.

MOM:

For mopping, I suppose.

VICTOR:

Yes.

MOM:

Then maybe when you’re finished,

you’ll let me use it.

She takes her waffle iron and heads back downstairs.

Victor closes the curtain, then lifts the bucket off

Sparky.

VICTOR:

Sorry, boy, but I can't let anyone

know about you. They may not

understand. So you need to stay

here today.

Victor kisses Sparky and heads out of the attic.

Sparky rests his head on his paws, dejected.

January 2012

Final Shooting Script_2012_01_18_v2 24

EXT. HOUSE - DAY

Victor walks down the sidewalk to school. He looks up at

the open attic window, nervous to be leaving Sparky

alone.

BURGEMEISTER:

Watch it, there!

Victor stops, realizing he's stepped off the sidewalk,

and has almost nudged the edge of one of Burgemeister's

tulips.

VICTOR:

I'm sorry. I’m really sorry.

Burgemeister glares at him suspiciously. He doesn’t trust

this kid and suspects that something weird is going on.

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