Kubo and the Two Strings Page #6

MONKEY:

KUBO! KUBO! CAN YOU HEAR ME, KUBO?

Kubo stares at the monkey, blinking. He immediately shuffles

backward through snow.

MONKEY (CONT’D)

I SAID, YOUR MOTHER IS GONE! YOUR

VILLAGE IS DESTROYED! BURNED TO THE

GROUND! *

Monkey advances slowly.

MONKEY (CONT’D)

WE LANDED HERE IN THE FARLANDS.

YOUR ENEMIES AREN’T FAR BEHIND! WE *

MUST SEARCH FOR SHELTER BEFORE YOUR *

GRANDFATHER COMES. *

He backs right into his shamisen. He looks around, dazed and *

disoriented. *

As Monkey delivers this rather glum state of the union, Kubo

happens to look down and realizes he is actually sitting on a

giant sheet of snow-covered ice. *

MONKEY (CONT’D)

We need to go, now. *

She turns, offering Kubo her back. *

MONKEY (CONT’D) *

COME ON. GET UP. LET’S GO. *

Kubo stands for a second, still in shock, then gathers up his

shamisen and climbs onto Monkey’s back.

And as Monkey races through the snow with Kubo on her back, *

we PULL WIDER and WIDER and it becomes clear that shelter

might not be so easy to find, because all we can see is ice

and snow for hundreds of miles in every direction.

DRAFT:
01.05.16

KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS

26/92

(1500 SFS) SHELTER FROM THE STORM

EXT. GLACIER’S EDGE - DUSK

Monkey and Kubo stand in the snow, staring at something.

MONKEY:

Once we’re inside, you might be

tempted to complain about the odor.

CUT TO a giant whale carcass, lying ahead of them on the ice.

MONKEY (CONT’D)

Keep in mind, my sense of smell is

ten times stronger than yours.

With that, as the sun begins to set behind distant mountains

of ice, Monkey motions for Kubo to follow her inside.

INT. WHALE CARCASS - NIGHT

Night has long since fallen, and they’ve made camp inside the

whale’s belly, lit by a shaft of moonlight and a small fire.

Kubo looks less than thrilled as he huddles amidst frozen

innards. *

With a knitted brow, Kubo sits and watches Monkey as she *

tends to a large conch shell balanced over a small cooking

fire. She uses a splinter of bone to stir at a cloudy liquid

simmering inside.

MONKEY:

You have questions. I can tell.

Kubo nods his head. He opens his mouth to speak and Monkey

puts her hand up, interrupting him.

KUBO:

Who-

She holds up three fingers.

MONKEY:

You get three.

KUBO:

I think I have more.

MONKEY:

Three. But first you’re gonna eat. *

DRAFT:
01.05.16

KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS

27/92

KUBO:

Why only three?

She holds up one finger.

MONKEY:

Okay, that was your first question.

KUBO:

What?! I don’t understand what’s

happening. Who are you?!

MONKEY:

You don’t recognize me.

Kubo stares. She stops stirring and turns to assume a pose,

exactly like his netsuke.

MONKEY (CONT’D)

All these years you had to keep me

in your pack. Now you know why.

KUBO:

But you were a wooden charm!

(gesturing)

You were this big!

He scowls suspiciously.

KUBO (CONT’D)

I called that charm Mr. Monkey.

MONKEY:

If I were alive at that point, I

might have found that insulting.

Look, your mother used the last of

her magic to save you and bring me

to life.

For a moment, Kubo doesn’t have anything to say. He simply

stares down at the ground with his one eye, glassy in the

moonlight. Whatever thoughts are running through his head, he

keeps them in. Whatever emotions might be at work, he buries.

Monkey watches him thoughtfully and then returns to the fire

and pours some of the mystery stew into a scavenged clam

shell. She holds it in front of Kubo.

MONKEY (CONT’D)

Here. Drink.

Kubo stares at the murky liquid.

*

*

*

*

*

DRAFT:
01.05.16

KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS

28/92

KUBO:

It smells. *

MONKEY:

Everything in here smells. Drink

it. *

KUBO:

I don’t want it.

Monkey moves in closer.

MONKEY:

I said drink it.

Kubo stares right back at her.

KUBO:

You’re a mean monkey, aren’t you?

MONKEY:

Yes. Yes, I am. And that’s three. *

You’re out of questions now, so

just listen. I’m here to protect

you, Kubo, and that means you have

to do as I say. So, if you don’t *

eat you’ll be weak. If you’re weak, *

you’ll be slow. If you’re slow, *

you’ll die. *

Kubo seems to accept this. She holds the shell out to Kubo *

again. This time he takes it from her. He sips from the bowl. *

KUBO *

It’s too hot.

A little annoyed, Monkey takes the conch from Kubo. Blows on

it pointedly. Hands it back to him.

MONKEY:

Drink. *

Kubo takes another sip of the soup, SLURPING it loudly,

provoking a peeved look from Monkey.

He feigns innocence.

KUBO:

Oh, excuse me. *

Kubo takes another sip, deliberately SLURPING louder, and

Monkey full on glares at him. Daggers.

DRAFT:
01.05.16

KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS

29/92

MONKEY *

Okay, You better start taking this *

seriously, Kubo. This is real. This *

is not a story. Those things, your *

aunts, they never get hungry. They *

never sleep. They will find you and *

if we’re not prepared... they’ll *

kill me and take your other eye. *

Kubo speaks, but more timidly now.

KUBO:

What are we going to do?

Monkey is silent for a second.

MONKEY:

We’re going to find the armor.

It’s the only thing that can

protect you.

KUBO:

So it’s real. Really real. *

Monkey nods.

Kubo notices a strand of hair from his mother on his robe and *

picks it off. Monkey crosses over to Kubo and tries to grab *

it. He instinctively jerks away.

Monkey holds her hand out.

MONKEY:

Don’t worry. I’m not going to keep

it.

Kubo hands it to her.

KUBO:

I pulled that from her head. I *

didn’t mean to.

Monkey nimbly twists and knots the hair into a beautiful

woven bracelet. *

MONKEY:

Your mother was very powerful. She

blessed your robes so that when the

need was most they would fly you

away. She used the last of that

power to bring me to life. This

bracelet, her hair, it’s a memory.

Memories are powerful things, Kubo. *

Never lose it.

DRAFT:
01.05.16

KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS

30/92

She begins tying it around Kubo’s wrist and looks right into *

his eye. *

She crosses to the other side of the fire as Kubo stares at

the woven hair.

They sit there, silent silhouettes, shadows flickering off

the sides of their strange shelter.

KUBO:

One more question?

Monkey shakes her head, admiring Kubo’s guts.

MONKEY:

Last one.

KUBO:

Do you know where it is? The armor?

Monkey pokes at the fire with a splinter of whalebone.

MONKEY:

No. No I don’t.

Kubo finally realizes the severity of their situation. The

uncertainty on his face betrays his age and vulnerability.

MONKEY (CONT’D)

Now go to sleep. *

With a SIGH, Kubo lies down and rolls away from the fire. *

KUBO:

(softly)

Good night, Monkey.

Monkey watches him for a moment, her stern face finally

softening now that Kubo can’t see her. *

FADE TO BLACK.

(1600 WHE) WHALE ESCAPE

INT. WHALE CARCASS - DAWN *

Kubo’s eye blinks open to see Monkey through the first *

strains of sunlight, filtering in through the blow hole.

Rate this script:4.5 / 2 votes