The Boxtrolls Page #4

EGGS (CONT’D)

Fish?

Fish winds the music box, gurgling an explanation of how it

works. Music fills the dark nook.

Eggs giggles with delight as the gears work again. They both

close their eyes and hum along to the music.

EGGS (CONT’D)

(hums tune)

Do do doo do doo...

EGGS (CONT’D)

(hums along with music)

They stop humming when the giant clock chimes signaling the

end of the boxtroll “day”.

CUT TO:

(0400 GRU) GROWING UP BOXTROLL

INT. BOXTROLL CAVERN - CLOCK

CLOSE ON:
the clock as the large hands representing the moon

and the sun flip.

INT. BOXTROLL CAVERN - SLEEPING PILE

As the lights go out, Knickers and the other boxtrolls gather

at the center of the cavern to sleep in a big, communal stack

of boxes like one big family.

16.

The sleeping pile is stacked tight and high. Fish and Eggs

climb to the top of the pile. Fish holds Eggs up so he can

pull a chain to turn out the last light in the cavern.

Baby Eggs lies looking straight up. The ceiling of the cavern

is dotted with lots of small lights and slowly turning

machines -- it looks like the flickering of stars. Baby Eggs

happily drifts off to sleep, snuggling the head he ripped

from the teddy bear.

EXT. CHEESEBRIDGE ALLEY - NIGHT

The boxtroll clock chimes, signaling it is night above ground

and time to wake up! Eggs swings from the light bulb and

YELLS!

EGGS:

Wake up!

The box pile explodes and falls apart as all the boxtrolls

are startled awake.

- EGGS NOOK:
Fish winds up the teddy bear’s MUSIC BOX and

adds it to a MUSIC MACHINE, built out of assorted junk and

driven by the teddy bear’s music box.

Eggs pounds a hammer on a typewriter at the bottom of the

machine and Fish pulls out a saw and draws a bow across it.

Together they play a croaking music-mechanique song.

- Eggs rides on WHEELS’ shoulders. Wheels makes gurgling

sounds like he is revving his engines. They ride around the

base of the CONVEYOR BELT, watching boxtrolls roll down from

the CHUTES.

Wheels swerves to avoid boxtrolls as they tumble off of the

conveyor belt, holding Eggs out to Fish as he rolls into

view. Fish catches Eggs and runs with him held like a

football.

- Fish in the cavern nook. He pulls out a prize bit of junk -

a 78 rpm album by the QUATTRO SABATINO. Eggs’ eyes go wide.

EGGS:

OOOH! Hee hee hee.

Fish puts the record on the player and lowers the needle.

Baby Eggs holds on to the record player, shaking his bottom

to the beat and dancing, while Fish plays a MUSICAL SAW with

his BOW. Eggs dances and turns to Fish, beating his box

approvingly.

17.

-CLOSE ON:
A roiling pile of BUGS as boxtroll hands, and one

baby human’s hand, reach in and grab fists full of bugs.

Boxtrolls munch up mouthfuls of bugs and Eggs chomps away

with them, just another monster.

-Eggs and Fish play music in the nook, their music machine

is evolving. First Eggs shakes the jar of buttons, then he

strikes a beat on a cowbell.

-Eggs is chasing Oil Can. He trips on his box and falls flat

on his face, popping out of his box by mistake. Oil Can sees

Eggs empty box and FREAKS!

OIL CAN:

AAAAHHH!

Oil Can’s wailing gets all the boxtrolls in the cavern to

turn, see the empty box and SCREAM! It’s a collective

communal melt down - Fish runs up to Eggs in a panic, crams

his box back on and GURGLES the rule-

FISH:

(gurgled)

BOXTROLLS NEVER TAKE OFF THEIR

BOXES!

-Baby Eggs and Fish continue to play their music in the

nook. Eggs hit the cowbell expertly with a spoon and dances,

smiling and laughing.

DISSOLVE TO:

-11 YEAR OLD EGGS laughing absolutely rocking out to the

music machine with the Quattro Sabatino song mixed in. Eggs

plays the WASHBOARD while Fish plays his saw. The jar of

buttons and the cowbell have been added to the music machine.

-Close on several PILL BUGS crawling on the cavern floor.

Shoe pokes them and they curl into a ball. He gathers them

up and growls happily from behind a pile of junk, eyeing

Eggs.

Eggs hides behind a little barrier of corrugated metal with

his own pile of pill bug balls. Shoe hurls a bug at Eggs and

misses, hitting the metal.

EGGS:

Ha! Missed me!

Eggs tosses a bug at Shoe, and Shoe smugly laughs as the bug

flies into a tube. While he laughs, the bug shoots out from

the tube, smacking him on his nose. OOF!

18.

-Eggs and Fish are grooving along to their music machine.

Eggs transitions from the washboard to smashing light bulbs

with a SKILLET.

Outside of the nook, other boxtrolls bob their heads happily

along with the music.

- CLOSE ON:
Eggs as he slides on a “new” HELMET made out of

junk. It is fitted with lights so he can see in the dark.

PULL OUT. Eggs stands beneath the pneumatic tubes as the

boxtrolls gather around him. Specs throws the switch and

Eggs is sucked up the tubes, the boxtrolls beat their boxes

in excitement. Shoe unceremoniously steps into the tube while

the others celebrate.

-The shadowy shapes of Fish, then Shoe, then a super excited

Eggs spring out of a manhole and scamper into the night.

Soon after, Shoe finds an umbrella, Fish holds up a busted

wheel.

SHOE:

Ahh!

FISH:

Oooo!

Eggs finds his first real “treasure” in an alleyway - a

broken EGG BEATER.

EGGS:

(excitedly)

Oooh!

-Wheels zooms towards us carrying a MAIL BOX. Eggs pushes

Shoe in a wheelbarrow as Fish runs along, all cheering with

their loot. Suddenly BLAM! Wheels is hit by a BOLAS! Eggs

leaps into a barrel and the others hide as the Redhats climb

down from their truck and carry Wheels away.

MR. GRISTLE

HA HAAA!

MR. PICKLES

Another villain off the streets!

Eggs starts to move, to go after Wheels. Fish holds him

back.

EGGS:

(protesting, quietly)

Wheels!

(MORE)

19.

EGGS (CONT'D)

(as Fish holds his arm)

What?!

FISH:

(shaking his head)

Hide.

Eggs stares after his friend and slowly slips down to hide in

a barrel.

-Like monsters from a child’s nightmare the Redhats loom out

of the darkness, smash boxes and collect boxtrolls.

-The boxtroll sleeping pile dwindles as more and more

boxtrolls are kidnapped.

-Another night of scavenging as a garden gate hinge SQUEAKS!

Eggs and Fish continue running but Oil Can can’t help himself

-he stops to oil the gate.

Oil Can doesn’t realize Gristle is standing right behind him

aiming a medieval looking BLUNDERBUSS BOLAS GUN!

BLAM! He fires point blank, capturing Oil Can. The little

boxtroll’s oil can flies down the street and lands in front

of Eggs’ hiding spot. Eggs WHIMPERS.

-SLEEPING PILE:
The significantly smaller community tucks in

for the night as the now rusty water wheel squeaks in the

background. Eggs looks forlorn and holds Oil Can’s oil can.

Fish GURGLES reassuringly to him.

As Fish slips into his box to sleep, Eggs SIGHS and looks up

at the greatly reduced number of “stars” (light bulbs) in the

ceiling. The water wheel squeaks constantly in the

background.

CUT TO:

(0500 WPR) WINIFRED PORTLEY-RIND

EXT. MARKET SQUARE - NIGHT

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