Willow

FADE IN:

EXT.. NOCKMAAR CASTLE - DAY

Under gloomy sky a huge fortress looms on a volcanic

mountainside. From within WE HEAR the agonizing scream

of a woman giving birth.

INT.. NOCKMAAR CASTLE - DAY

The scream continues as WE MOVE THROUGH the grim corri-

dors of the castle TOWARD stairs leading down to a

dungeon.

INT.. DUNGEON - DAY

Silhouetted in sadows, three Nockmaar MINIONS stand

guard. In a jail cell, sex fully pregnant WOMEN watch

from behind iron bars. The screaming stops. There's a

moment of silence. As WE MOVE INTO another jail cell

WE HEAR a slap and the first cry of a newborn BABY.

In the cell a black-robed DRUID watches intensely as

ETHNA, a midwife, leans over the MOTHER and wraps the

baby in swaddling.

DRUID:

Is it a girl?

ETHNA:

It is a girl.

DRUID:

Show me its arm.

Ethna peels back the swaddling. On the baby's arm is a

small marking.

DRUID:

It's true then. I must tell Queen

Bavmorda.

With great urgency the druid hurries up the dungeon

stairs. Ethna gently places the baby on the mother's

breast. The mother comforst the baby lovingly until it

stops crying. Then she reaches out and clasps the

midwife's wrist.

MOTHER:

Ethna, please. Help me. They're

going to kill my baby.

Ethna nervously looks out at the guards, then shakes

her head at the mother.

ETHNA:

They'll kill you.

MOTHER:

Please save my baby.

Ethna hesitates. Then decides. She quickly wraps to-

gether some rags and gives them to the mother.

ETHNA:

Pretend this is the child.

MOTHER:

Thank you, Ethna. Thank you.

The mother kisses her baby and hands it to Ethna, who

hides the baby inside the basket of rags. Ethna car-

ries the basket past the guards and up the stairs.

The mother lies back and sighs with relief. Then she

hears clinking bootsteps and her eyes widen with fear.

QUEEN BAVMORDA sweeps down the dungeon stairs, her

black robes flowing behind her. The druid hurries

alongside.

BAVMORDA:

We will start the ritual at dusk.

You're certain this is the one?

DRUID:

It bears the markings.

BAVMORDA:

I must see for myself! Just as the

omen foretold!

The guards fearfully move aside as Bavmorda enters the

cell.

BAVMORDA:

So. You *were* the one.

MOTHER:

Yes. But nothing you can do will

stop the prophecy.

BAVMORDA:

This child will have no power over

me....

Bavmorda grabs the rags away from the mother and anxi-

ously tears them apart.

BAVMORDA:

(furiously)

Where's the baby!

One of the guards looks up the stairs.

GUARD:

The midwife!

Bavmorda flies into a rage.

BAVMORDA:

Find that baby! Use the dogs!

Sorsha!

Two guards draw swords and charge upstairs. Bavmorda

grabs the third guard and nods toward the mother.

BAVMORDA:

Kill her.

Bavmorda storms away with the druid. WE SEE the shadow

of the guard move over the terrified mother. War drums

begin to beat out an alarm.

EXT. SNOWY MOUNTAINSIDE - DAY

TITLES BEGIN. The midwife hurries through swirling

show, clutching the baby.

EXT. VILLAGE - DAY

Nockmaar troops on horseback charge into a desolate

village, driving ferocious DEATH DOGS into huts,

violently searching for the baby. The oppressed, poor

VILLAGERS are yanked into the street. Some of them are

beaten. One is killed.

The midwife hides behind a hut, still holding the baby,

then runs away from the village.

EXT. GRASSLAND - DAY

Ethna treks across an open grass field.

EXT. WOODS - NIGHT

She huddles by a fire, exhausted and hungry, her

clothes filthy and torn, and she rocks the crying baby.

She hears dogs howling in the distance. She clutches

the baby, kicks out the fire, and runs.

EXT. OCEAN CLIFFSIDE - DAY

She scrambles over rocks on a windswept coastline.

EXT. FOREST - DAWN

Ethna runs desperately for her life. Chasing her are

two vicious DEATH DOGS. She scrambles across a shallow

river. She claws at rock and tears away sticks and

driftwood matted together with weeds. Into this she

places the baby and sets it afloat downstream.

DEATH DOG:

Bordak!

The dogs lunge from the woods and splash across the

river. The midwife claws her way up a steep bank, lur-

ing the dogs. As they attack her:

MIDWIFE:

I don't have her! No! No!

She grabs a stick and tries to defend herself, thrash-

ing at the snarling dogs.

From the baby's view, as it floats down the river, WE

SEE the dogs kill the midwife beyond the distant trees.

EXT. DOWNRIVER - DAY - MONTAGE

The little raft of sticks swirls precariously in the

current. It glances off jutting rocks, tumbles over

rapids, and scrapes under overhanging trees.

EXT. RIVERBANK - DAY

At last the raft catches in some weeks, almost dumping

the baby.

TITLE SEQUENCE ENDS

Suddenly WE HEAR rustling leaves, possibly another

Death Dog. Then WE HEAR giggling. Two children, RANON

and MIMS, watch in amazement from the riverbank.

EXT. UFGOOD FARM - DAY

Holding onto a plow, WILLOW UFGOOD struggles behind a

huge hog. From a heavy sack slung over his shoulder he

tosses seeds.

RANON:

Dada! We found something in the

river!

Willow beams with joy as his son and daughter race to-

ward him. They grab his sleeves and tug him away from

his plow.

WILLOW:

I can't run off and play with you

now. I've got work to do.

RANON/MIMS

But Dada, you gotta see it! Hurry!

Willow drops his sack of seeds. The ugly hog glares at

him like a guilty conscience. The children squeal with

excitement as their father runs toward the river with

them.

EXT. RIVERBANK - DAY

WE SEE Willow from the baby's view. His eyes pop open.

He quickly backs his children away.

WILLOW:

Back! Don't go near it. We don't

know where it's been. It could be

diseased.

MIMS:

It's a baby!

RANON:

It's not a Nelwyn baby.

WILLOW:

No, it's too big to be a Nelwyn

baby. It looks like a daikini...

MIMS:

Ooh, it's so cute...

WILLOW:

Mims! Get back here! It might

bite you.

Willow drags Mims away. Then the baby starts crying.

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