The Nightmare Before Christmas Page #20

The Mayor climbs aboard his hearse and is driven off.

CUT TO:

EXT. STARRY, STARRY NIGHT. CHRISTMAS EVE/SAME TIME.

Clutching a burning bag of toys, Jack falls. He holds onto

Zero -- who turns into a whimpering parachute.

Jack, voice choked, cries out in anguished sincerity:

JACK:

Merry Christmas to all and to

all a good night!

Jack lets go of Zero and plummets toward earth.

EXT. CEMETERY. CHRISTMAS EVE/CONTINUOUS TIME.

Jack lands hard, bones clattering. Zero floats down beside him.

CUT TO:

INT. OOGIE BOOGIE'S JAIL. CHRISTMAS EVE/A LITTLE LATER.

Santa and Sally (more or less stuck together again) are cornered

by Oogie Boogie -- he is in the process of snatching the escaped

parts of himself out of the air and stuffing them back in.

OOGIE BOOGIE:

Now what am I going to do with

you two?

SALLY:

You try anything and you just

wait 'til Jack gets back.

THE MAYOR'S HEARSE passes (O.S.) -- blaring the announcement.

MAYOR'S AMPLIFIED VOICE (O.S.)

Jack has been blown to

smithereens. Christmas is

over. Skeleton Jack is no

more...

Oogie Boogie chuckles. He leers at Sally.

OOGIE BOOGIE:

You were saying?

He grabs a squiggly something and shoves it back into his sack.

CUT TO:

EXT. CEMETERY. CHRISTMAS EVE/CONTINUOUS ACTION.

For a long time, Jack doesn't move. He lies flat, sprawled face

down across a couple of tombstones. Finally, he hauls himself up

on a large stone cross.

JACK:

(voice weak)

I thought I could be Santa. I

thought I could be better than

Santa. And what did I do

instead? Instead I killed

Christmas.

Crumpling, Jack weeps. Zero, ever faithful, makes himself a

hankie and wipes Jack's wet eyes.

>>>>> JACK'S SADDEST OF SAD SONGS.

Jack sings as if his heart had broken in two. He is at his

lowest of lows. Yet, being Jack, being irrepressibly buoyant, by

the end of the song, he has completely worked himself back up

from grief very nearly to exuberance -- he must save Santa! He

must restore Christmas as it should be!

He opens a tombstone, lifting it up as easily as if it were the

door to a storm cellar and, filled with determination, runs back

down toward Halloweenland.

CUT TO:

INT. OOGIE BOOGIE'S JAIL. CHRISTMAS EVE/LATER.

Santa and Sally dangle perilously above a PIT. They've been

bound and gagged and they writhe in terror.

From the murky depths below, SKELETON CROCODILES leap up at them,

jaws snapping hungrily. Watching, Oogie Boogie snickers. He

lowers Santa and Sally closer.

OOGIE BOOGIE:

Scrawny ol' things -- they

haven't eaten in centuries.

I'd say it's about time we put

some meat on their bones, don't

you?

Suddenly, there's a

CRASH:

behind him -- the crash of the door being kicked in.

And there stands

JACK.

JACK:

I should say so.

Jack sweeps Boogie off his feet and holds him above the pit

himself. Immediately, the terrorizer is terrified.

OOGIE BOOGIE:

Jack! How great to see you.

We were all worried about you.

I was just giving our guests

here a... a tour of the place.

I told them it was dangerous,

but they insisted on a closer

look. What could I do?

He smiles sheepishly.

JACK:

How about the whole show?

He dumps Oogie Boogie over the edge, but delicately keeps ahold

of a choice thread.

AS HE FALLS, OOGIE BOOGIE UNRAVELS COMPLETELY.

His insides escape into the dark -- with the sounds of wings

flapping and feet skittering -- and, IN THE END, ALL THAT'S LEFT

OF HIS SHAPELESS SACK OF A BODY IS ONE LONG THREAD.

In the pit below, the crocodile skeletons scoot around, jaws

clapping, having themselves a feast.

LATER,

Jack finishes untying Santa and Sally. He works quickly. He

ungags Sally.

SALLY:

(with glad relief)

We heard you'd been pulverized

to bone dust.

JACK:

For what I did, I deserve to be

bone dust.

Jack looks away from Santa's angry gaze. He takes off Santa's

cap and replaces it on Santa's head...

JACK:

This is where it belongs... I

was only trying to do a good

job, but I made a real mess of

everything. I'm sorry.

Cringing, he unties Santa's gag. Santa scowls and straightens

his cap but, rather than chastise Jack, immediately makes for the

door.

SANTA:

No time to talk now... I've

got to go fix Christmas!

Santa charges off.

CUT TO:

EXT. HALLOWEENLAND STREET. CHRISTMAS EVE/LATER.

Various townspeople duck out of the way to avoid Jack -- who has

stopped to gaze up into the empty night sky. Zero floats beside

him.

JACK:

I hope it's not too late for

him to set Christmas right.

Jack sighs and drags himself up the deserted street.

JACK:

Well, Zero... I guess it's just

you and me...

(the thought dawns)

...And Sally. She sure stuck

by us, didn't she?

Downcast as he stalks along, Jack doesn't notice when it begins

to

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