Rise of the Guardians

Written by

David Lindsay-Abaire

Screening script 9/6/12

SEQ. 125 - ALONE IN THE WORLD

DARKNESS

The silhouette of a body appears as it drifts into a ray of light, refracted through water, which turns into...

A MOON - SEEN IN REFLECTION ON A SHEET OF ICE

The moonlight intensifies almost magically, and the ice above begins to spider-web and crack.

EXT. FROZEN POND - NIGHT

Snow-covered trees in every direction. The ice in the pond continues to crack, until finally a hole splinters open. A young man floats out of the water, bathed in the intense moonlight. This is JACK FROST - thin, pale, barefoot, his tousled hair frosted white.

Jack floats back down onto the ice as the hole closes up underneath him. JACK (V.O.) Why I was there, and what I was meant to do - that I've never known. And a part of me wonders if I ever will.

Jack looks around, confused, then turns toward the moonlight as it dims a bit.

Jack carefully treads across the ice until he hits something with his feet. He looks down, and at his feet is a wooden staff. Curious, he picks it up. Almost immediately the staff begins to glow a cold blue in his hands. Odd. Guardians Screening Script 9/6/12 Avid 2.

Jack almost drops it as the base of the staff comes in contact with the ground. Frost shoots out and spreads across the ice. Jack is visibly confused.

He touches a few trees with his staff sending frost up their trunks. Then he swings the staff again, more confident, as he begins to run across the frozen pond.

Another swing, and a gust of wind swirls him high up into the air. Jack floats for a moment only to fall back down to earth and into the trees. Jack grabs hold of a tree branch and pulls himself up to see a small town off in the distance.

EXT. BURGESS SETTLEMENT - TOWN CENTER - CONTINUOUS

A collection of simple timber houses with thatched roofs. Jack comes in for a landing, and it's a rocky one. He stands up, still elated, and brushes himself off.

As Jack makes his way into town, settlers are warming their hands by campfire. Jack doesn't recognize anyone.

The settlers walk past Jack, not noticing him. Jack crouches down as a YOUNG BOY runs toward him.

The boy runs right through Jack, as if he were a ghost. Jack staggers back in shock. He's speechless, as if the wind had been knocked out him. His emotions causing it to snow.

Townsfolk continue to pass through Jack, unaware of his presence. Shaken, Jack turns and retreats into the forest.

We pan up as the moon shines down over the snow covered trees.

CUT TO:

SEQ. 175 - INTRO TO NORTH

EXT. NORTH POLE - DUSK

FIERY GYPSY VIOLIN MUSIC as we move through clouds to reveal a MASSIVE ICE CANYON, and just around a bend, the incredible hidden fortress of NORTH, aka SANTA CLAUS.

INT. NORTH'S WORKSHOP - DUSK

We glimpse a familiar-looking RED JACKET and CAP with white trim on a coat hanger just as a pair of tongs SLAM a block of ice onto a stone work table--

IN QUICK CUTS: A CHAINSAW shears the block in half, spraying ice. North lifts up the chainsaw revealing a massive tatoo on his arm, the word NAUGHTY clearly visible.

Three ELVES huddle in a doorway around a plate of cookies, each licking their own tasty morsel.

As North crosses the background, the elves lower the cookies from their mouths, their faces frozen in fear.

The elves duck out of the way as North launches himself across the floor on his rolling chair -- CLOSE as his huge HAND gropes furiously among his WORK TOOLS, finally grabbing a miniature HAMMER. As North's humming along with his music, delicately CHISELING into the ice, we see a second arm sleeve tatoo, the word NICE clearly visible--

His INTENSE BLUE EYE magnified in a JEWELER'S EYEPIECE -- a delicate SCULPTING TOOL cuts fine details into the ice--

His hands place the finished piece on a curving ICE TRACK: An ice LOCOMOTIVE. It belches ice vapor and chugs down the track, picking up speed--

North's hand grabs a cookie from a plate held up by the two Elves. Guardians Screening Script 9/6/12 Avid 4.

One of the elves gives his cohort a look and points to the plate as it chews with a mouth full of food, to which it then unfurls its tongue and lets the half eaten morsels spill out onto the plate.

He takes a bite and leans toward the ice track. He chuckles as the train hits a loop, and launches off a ramp into midair -- then WINGS unfold -- JET ENGINES sprout and ignite and the train lifts off the track--

Suddenly, the DOOR is thrown open by one of North's concerned YETIS, sending the flying ice locomotive skidding across the floor in pieces.

The yeti cries out covering his mouth in shame. North cries out, devastated. The yeti, equally emotional, lets out another whimper. North looks down at the broken toy and takes a moment to collect himself.

North leaps up -- draws a HUGE SCIMITAR from its sheath and HEADS OUT--

INT. NORTH'S GLOBE ROOM - CONTINUOUS

A sea of tiny BELLS on the heads of panicking elves part as North's huge boots stomp through.

He pushes his way past a couple of his YETI WORKERS -- they're looking up in fear at - Guardians Screening Script 9/6/12 Avid 5.

THE GLOBE OF BELIEF

Covered with LIGHTS blanketing the continents. But North notices that all at once, HUNDREDS OF LIGHTS suddenly go out.

Now MORE LIGHTS, in GREATER NUMBERS, as if something is snuffing them out by the thousands. North's concern grows.

Before the Yeti can finish, a WIND whips up from out of nowhere -- North stares in outrage as a blanket of SWIRLING BLACK SAND, crawls over the lights, and shrouds the ENTIRE GLOBE in inky DARKNESS--

The elves scurry in a panic, then all at once the BLACK SAND WHOOSHES UP off the Globe -- rushes up through the ceiling as the remaining sand bursts into a puff of smoke and dissipates into the air --

As the wind dies, the scattered pieces of debris settle to the ground, and the globes lights come back on, North whirls to see a HUGE SHADOW flash across the floors and curving walls of his fortress. It quickly disappears, leaving nothing but the distant ECHO of...LAUGHTER?

North is frozen, looking up into the darkness, gravely:

A group of elves step forward gleefully pointing to themselves, as if they're all "Dingle". The excitement quickly turns to confusion.

North reaches out for a large EMERGENCY LEVER, TWISTS and PRESSES IT-- Guardians Screening Script 9/6/12 Avid 6.

The Globe pulses with ENERGY, which lights up and ZOOMS UP the AXIS SHAFT toward the roof--

EXT. NORTH POLE - CONTINUOUS

From the tallest spire of North's fortress, NORTHERN LIGHT ENERGY radiates outward: for the first time in decades, the GUARDIANS' CALL GOES OUT!

CUT TO:

SEQ. 225 - GUARDIANS GATHER

INT. CHILD'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

A little fairy, carrying a coin, flies above the head of a sleeping child. She quickly ducks under the pillow and comes out the other side with a tooth in hand.

EXT. TOOTH'S PALACE - DAY

Hundreds of fairies fly toward a hollowed out mountain, this is Tooth's palace and it's a majestic site.

INT. TOOTH'S PALACE

Dozens of tiny FAIRIES flit about. Teeth are filed away in tiny wooden drawers. Coins are handed out.

A hive of activity, and at the center a winged figure barks out orders like a harried air-traffic controller. This is TOOTH. A Mini Tooth Fairy flies up to Tooth as thousands of tiny MINI TOOTH FAIRIES continue their work behind them.

And suddenly everything stops. Tooth whips around, and we finally see her beautiful FACE. Guardians Screening Script 9/6/12 Avid 7.

She's holding up a little tooth, and gazing at it with dreamy adoration. The surrounding fairies tweet with excitement.

The fairies' tweets turn to concern, turning Tooth's attention to North's AURORA SIGNAL stretching across the sky. She gasps, and flies off like a rocket toward the source of the signal, accompanied by a few of her ranking fairies.

Much of this we hear over the following...

EXT./INT. CHILD'S BEDROOM

We pull out from the face of a sleeping child to reveal a stream of sand swirling overhead. It's a dream and it's taken the shape of a child playing soccer.

We FOLLOW the Dreamsand stream out his window and up into the sky where we see DOZENS of strands of sand descending to earth. Keep following up, through majestic CLOUDS...

...to reveal a small, GLOWING GOLDEN CLOUD of Dreamsand shimmering among the clouds, trailing the golden threads.

The strands are being controlled by a small portly figure, THE SANDMAN. Suddenly, North's emergency signal zips by. The Sandman turns to look and his eyes narrow, visibly concerned.

Sandy closes his eyes and in an instant the Dreamsand cloud suddenly SWIRLS around him, changing form into a small BIPLANE, with Sandy in the cockpit. He BARREL ROLLS the plane into a dizzying dive through the spectacular cloudscape and flies off into the distance. Guardians Screening Script 9/6/12 Avid 8.

Much of this we hear over the following...

INT. EGG TUNNEL

A few EASTER EGGS pop up out of the ground; their little legs carry them out of the way of a fast approaching object.

Speeding along through a subterranean tunnel, we can barely keep up with a DIMLY-LIT FIGURE as it races at blinding speed, leaping and zigzagging through a series of TUNNELS --

EXT. A SNOWY EXPANSE IN THE NORTH POLE

A hole opens in the snow, and a pair of rabbit ears pops out. A huge rabbit climbs out and brushes off the snow, annoyed. The six foot tall figure is BUNNYMUND.

He shivers with cold, then goes slogging through the snow.

In the distance is North's ornately decorated and dimly lit palace built into the side of a mountain of ice.

CUT TO:

SEQ. 250 - THE CEREMONY

INT. GLOBE ROOM - NIGHT

Sandy's biplane circles the massive chamber, leaving trails of Dreamsand.

Sandy descends from the plane and floats to the ground. He joins North, Bunny and Tooth as they walk through the Globe Room. Sand glyphs appear above Sandy's head communicating that he is busy and has a lot of work to do.

North, Bunny, Tooth and Sandy reach the center of the room. Tooth does her best to shush her mini-fairies.

North points to the globe. The other Guardians turn to look.

Bunny turns to Sandy, who shrugs while forming a Dreamsand question mark above his head.

Bunny goes back to painting one of his Easter eggs.

North grabs Bunny's painted egg, casually juggling it in his hand as he walks off. Meanwhile Sandy, who is being served eggnog by a yeti, suddenly notices something high above.

The moon rises into view, high up in the ceiling; its rays of light begin to shine brightly through as they cascade down the walls of the globe room.

Sandy points to the moon unsuccessfully to get the others' attention.

Sandy puts his fingers in his mouth to whistle, a silent musical note forming above his head.

Sandy waves a sand flag above his head, pointing and jumping up and down as the moonlight continues to fill the room.

Sandy tries to signal with a golden arrow, pointing toward the ceiling, but to no avail as the others continue their bickering. Sandy thinks Tooth has noticed for a split second, but then -

Sandy can't take it anymore, grabs an elf by his hat, and vigorously shakes it's bell. The other Guardians are finally silenced and all turn to look at Sandy, who points up, a sand crescent moon forming above his head. The dizzy elf staggers away. Finally the others turn to see the shaft of moonlight as it concentrates on the circle between them.

Sandy gives him a deadpan stare, Dreamsand smoke shoots out his ears.

Everyone looks to the center of the intense spot of moonlight, the light ebbs away, leaving a dark spot --

-- which resolves into the shadowed silhouette of PITCH. The Guardians look on, stunned.