The Nightmare Before Christmas Page #7

JACK (CONT'D)

There's frost on every window,

Oh, I can't believe my eyes,

And in my bones I feel a warmth

That's coming from inside...

Jack peeks into warmly-lighted homes... Jack uses his consummate

Halloween trickster skills to see without being seen...

JACK (CONT'D)

Oh, look, what's this?

They're hanging mistletoe... They kiss --

Why that looks so unique... Inspired!

They're gathering around to hear a story,

Roasting chestnuts on a fire... What's this?

What's this? In here

They've got a little tree... how queer!

And who would ever think... and why?

They're covering it with

Tiny little things, they've got

Electric lights on strings, and there's a

Smile on everyone, so now

Correct me if I'm wrong...

This looks like fun,

This looks like fun,

Oh, could it be I got my wish...? What's this?

Jack enters the CHILDRENS' cozy BEDROOM in one house...

JACK (CONT'D)

Oh my, what now?

The children are asleep... But look --

There's nothing underneath... No ghouls

No witches here to scream and scare them

... or ensnare them...

Only cozy little things

Secure inside their dreamland... What's this?

Distracted, Jack goes off to leave the child at whom he has been

peering suddenly wide awake and terrified...

Jack is back outside...

JACK (CONT'D)

The monsters are all missing

And the nightmares can't be found

And in their place there seems to be

Good feeling all around...

Instead of screams I swear I can hear

Music in the air.

The smell of cakes and pies

Is absolutely everywhere...

The sights, the sounds,

They're everywhere and all around...

I've never felt so good before...

The empty place inside of me is filling up

I simply cannot get enough.

I want it, oh, I want it...

Oh, I want it for my own.

I've got to know

I've got to know

What is this place that I have found?

WHAT IS THIS???

Jack darts this way and that and runs and runs, trying to get his

fill of this strange new wonderful place.

He trips and falls and starts to roll and as he rolls he gathers

snow -- he becomes a gigantic snowball barrelling through

Christmas town, stopping only when he SLAMS INTO

ONE OF TWO GIGANTIC CANDY CANES...

between which spans a sign. Jack bursts out of his snow ball

only to have fresh snow dumped on him which falls from the sign

between the two tall candy canes.

Jack shakes himself free of this fresh heap of snow, looks up at

the wide welcoming sign:

CHRISTMASTOWN:

And thoughtfully reads...

JACK:

.... Christmastown? Hmmmmmmmm.

Jack studies the town from this distance -- the lights glow

heart-warmingly.

JACK:

Incredible. I'll need proof...

On his feet again, he slinks quietly back toward Christmastown.

CUT TO:

EXT. HALLOWEEN TOWN SQUARE. DAY.

A number of the worried citizens of Halloweenland have gathered.

They chatter among themselves. The MAYOR addresses them from the

top of his hearse.

MAYOR:

Quiet. Quiet now. We all

agree that two days is far too

long for Jack to have been gone

without warning... Is there

anywhere we've forgotten to

check?

MONSTER WITH THE TEAR-AWAY FACE

I looked in every mausoleum.

TWO WITCHES:

(in unison)

We opened the sarcophagi.

BLIND-FOLDED, EXECUTED MAN

I tromped through the Pumpkin

Patch.

VAMPIRE:

I peeked behind the Cyclops'

eye.

The other citizens wheel around to look at him disbelievingly.

VAMPIRE:

(defensively)

I did!...

(then adds sadly)

But he wasn't there...

Everyone sighs.

MAYOR:

It's time to sound the

alarms...

CUT TO:

INT. EVIL SCIENTIST'S KITCHEN. DAY/LATER

Outside, the alarms wail in the distance while, inside, Sally

speedily whips up a pot of sleeping-potion soup.

She keeps looking out the window, hoping for a hint of what's

going on, but nothing -- not a clue. Eager to find out, she

hurries the soup along...

Various spice jars are out on the counter -- among them, the one

labelled "Deadly Night Shade," the entire contents of which she

dumps into the pot.

SALLY:

(to herself)

Regular dose... Double dose...

Double, double dose. He'll be

able to smell a double, double

dose of Deadly Night Shade...

Anybody could.

She studies the other jars and picks the one labelled "Frog's

Breath."

SALLY (CONT'D)

Frog's Breath will overpower

any smell.

She opens the jar. Recoiling from the odor, she turns aside,

trying to escape the fumes as she pours some of the Frog's Breath

into the soup -- but it starts to overwhelm her anyway. She

swoons. Her knees buckle.

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