The Boxtrolls Page #5

Eggs scampers through thick fog across a large Market Square

encircled by regal buildings. At the far end stands the

impressive CHEESE GUILD.

Fish and Shoe lag behind.

EGGS:

(whispered)

This way.

20.

Shoe runs face first into a STREET LAMP - BOOM! - sending

gears and baubles clattering to the cobbles.

EGGS (CONT’D)

(louder)

Shoe! Come on.

SHOE:

(gurgles angrily)

Eggs and the boxtrolls’ silhouettes skitter across the

square, over to a small side alley. There is a LOUD CLANG! as

Eggs and the boxtrolls run into a trash barrel, sending the

trash can lid noisily rolling across the square.

PAN UP the Cheese Guild... a LIGHT COMES ON IN A WINDOW.

EXT. MARKET SQUARE - WINNIE’S BALCONY - CONTINUOUS

IN THE WINDOW, peeking from behind an ornate curtain, a young

girl watches the trash can lid fall over and wobble to a

stop.

The young girl, WINNIE (12, red-hair, nightgown) GASPS with

fear -- and fascination -- then whips the curtains closed.

WINNIE:

(excited whisper)

Boxtrolls! (SHUDDER) They could

come eat my face off at any moment.

(excited)

I’d better warn father.

INT. CHEESE GUILD - MEZZANINE

Winnie runs down a staircase towards a set of double doors.

The SOUND of LAUGHTER and WAFFLING VOICES grows as Winnie

approaches the door.

Winnie knocks gently. No response. She knocks harder. Still

no response. She impetuously pushes the door open.

INT. CHEESE GUILD - TASTING ROOM

It’s a Victorian MAN CAVE. A dark, ornate rotunda with walls

lined with cases of RARE CHEESES. At a table stacked with

FINE CHEESES, four men are seated, wearing gleaming WHITE

HATS.

21.

BOULANGER, an old man in a STEAM-POWERED WHEEL CHAIR, snoozes

at one end of the table while the short, rotund LANGSDALE and

tall, thin, beak-nosed BRODERICK roar with laughter at the

other end. Standing imperiously in the middle, and wearing

the most ornate white hat, is LORD PORTLEY-RIND.

LORD PORTLEY-RIND

Settle down, men, settle down.

Important town business to discuss.

First on the docket: more

complaints of crumbling bridges.

LANGSDALE:

Speaking of crumbling... is that a

new blue cheese I see?

Broderick stands and leans into the cheese, breathing deeply.

BRODERICK:

Does smell delicious.

LORD PORTLEY-RIND

I suppose we could do with a nibble

first.

They taste cheeses like snobs tasting fine wines -- sniffing,

rolling it on their tongues, spitting in buckets, etc.

BRODERICK:

Mmm... Pungent...

LANGSDALE:

Complex...

BRODERICK:

I’m tasting notes of... plum!

Boulanger snores.

LORD PORTLEY-RIND

(mouth full, reading

docket)

All good fun, but we do have this

school funding initiative to vote

on. Been sitting here for months.

All in favor of-

BRODERICK:

--Cutting open the Roquefort next?

ALL:

AYE!!

Lord Portley-Rind tosses the docket behind him, giving in.

22.

LORD PORTLEY-RIND

Well, okay, okay. A quick reminder,

tomorrow is Trubshaw Baby

Remembrance Day.

(pervy)

And we all know what that means...

a performance by Madame Frou Frou.

A burst of STEAM shoots out of Boulanger’s wheelchair.

BOULANGER:

A VISION!

BRODERICK:

Now there’s a woman...

LANGSDALE:

... With some cheese on her bones!

Portley-Rind leans in like he has a secret, and slowly

caresses a piece of brie as he says:

LORD PORTLEY-RIND

A lady like that is like a fine

brie. Raw. Dangerous.

(deep sniff)

Maybe a little stinky, but one

taste and you’ll be begging for…

mmm . . .

Lord Portley-Rind nuzzles the brie and kisses its crust.

WINNIE (O.S.)

Father!

Suddenly, he looks up he sees:

LORD PORTLEY-RIND

WINIFRED!

He SQUEEZES the cheese in his hand, which EXPLODES all over.

A hunk of the brie lands on his hat. He jumps up and storms

over to the door. The White hats murmur and gasp.

LORD PORTLEY-RIND (CONT’D)

Winifred go on. Off to bed. Off to

bed! Come on, come on.

WINNIE:

But Father! I saw boxtrolls again!

LORD PORTLEY-RIND

Shoo. Shoo. Shoo.

23.

Portley-Rind’s eyes keep sliding back toward the room behind

him, where the others are tasting another fine cheese.

WINNIE:

They’re right outside. They could

come rip the flesh off my bones any

moment!

Behind them:
LOUD grunts of satisfied tasting.

WHITE HATS (O.S.)

(in unison)

Would be a shame to miss this,

Portley-Rind!

LORD PORTLEY-RIND

(calling back)

Yes, yes one moment!

(to Winnie, distracted)

Winifred, proper girls should not

be obsessing over grotesque

monsters.

Portley-Rind’s attention is directed to the shenanigans going

on behind him.

WINNIE:

I’m not obsessed! I just can’t stop

imagining them gnawing off my toes

and stringing them together as a

necklace! Father? Father.

LORD PORTLEY-RIND

(not listening)

Mmm hmm. Yes.

Portley-Rind turns back and pats Winnie on the head like she

is a little dog.

WINNIE:

(testing him)

If they kidnapped me and slurped up

my intestines like noodles, would

you give up your white hat to save

me?

LORD PORTLEY-RIND

(still not listening)

Hmm? Um. Yes, Winifred.

WINNIE:

Father!

24.

LORD PORTLEY-RIND

What? Uh... White Hat? Right.

(looks at his hat)

What.. Oh, seems to have been

smudged by a bit of brie. Be a dear

and have the butler give it a wash,

would you?

He hands a stunned Winnie his White Hat and turns her toward

the stairs.

WINNIE:

But-

He closes the door on her before she can finish her thought.

INT. CHEESE GUILD - MEZZANINE

LORD PORTLEY-RIND (O.S.)

Now gentlemen, I apologize...

sorry! Back to important White Hat

business... Pass the Camembert!

Winnie is hurt and frustrated. She looks down at the White

Hat in her hands. Her eyes narrow.

WINNIE:

I’ll give your hat a wash all

right.

EXT. MARKET SQUARE - WINNIE’S BALCONY - NIGHT

High on the front of the Guild, Winnie bursts through a set

of french doors and onto a balcony holding the white hat, her

face an angry scowl.

She tosses Lord Portley-Rind’s hat, frisbee style, out into

the night sky. The hat glows in the moonlight as it sails

across the Market Square.

EXT. MARKET SQUARE

The white hat hits the ground in the middle of the square.

EXT. MARKET SQUARE - WINNIE’S BALCONY - CONTINUOUS

She smiles, satisfied, dusts her hands.

WINNIE:

Ha!

25.

Then, her smile slowly melts as she realizes this was not her

brightest move. She hears raucous laughter from the Tasting

Room.

WINNIE (CONT’D)

Uh oh.

INT. CHEESE GUILD - ENTRANCE HALL

CLOSE ON DOOR as Winnie quickly unbolts the locks and cracks

the door.

(0550 TWH) THE WHITE HAT

EXT. MARKET SQUARE - NIGHT

Winnie cautiously peeks out of the Guild. The light behind

her casts a long strip across the empty Market Square.

Mist swells in the small pools of light from streets lights.

The rest is swathed in dark shadows. The hat is clear across

the square.

Steeling herself, Winnie creeps out and down the stairs, her

fancy satin slippers are silent. She gets to the bottom of

the stairs and looks around. Nobody there.

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