Dr. Seuss' The Lorax Screenplay by Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio ..., Study Guides, Projects, Research of Marketing

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Dr. Seuss' The Lorax Screenplay by Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio Based on the Book by Dr. Seuss

INT: THEATER - DAY

The Lorax steps onto the stage in front of a large curtain and addresses the camera. LORAX Hello, everybody. Thanks for coming. The Lorax CLEARS his throat and reads from a card he holds. LORAX (CONT’D) I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. And I’d like to say a few words, if you please, Regarding the story that you’re ‘bout to see-- It actually happened--just take it from me. But there’s more to this story than what’s on the page, So please pay attention while I set the stage. The Lorax tosses the card at the audience and walks off as the curtain opens, revealing Thneedville. EXT. THNEEDVILLE - DAY TWO MAINTENANCE WORKERS work on a large “Welcome to Thneedville” sign. The slogan below it reads, “Fantastic! Made of plastic! 100% Inorganic.” The camera pushes past them and flies through the town, down to a suburban street. LORAX (V.O.) We open in Thneedville, a city, they say, That was plastic and fake, and they liked it that way. A Town Without Nature. Not one living tree. So what happened to them? Cue the music! Let’s see... EXT. THNEEDVILLE - PRESENT - MORNING SONG: “THNEEDVILLE” The MUSIC starts up on a LONG SHOT down the street of Thneedville suburbs.

A MAN uses a bike pump to inflate his flaccid plastic bush. He’s not paying attention and pumps the bush until it POPS, knocking him over. EXT: ROAD INTO TOWN - PRESENT - SAME The people of Thneedville sing as they commute to work past rows of FAKE TREES. EVERYONE In Thneedville we manufacture our trees A little Girl, MARIE, uses a tire swing hanging from a metal tree. EVERYONE (CONT’D) Each one is made in factories. MAINTENANCE MEN opens up a PANEL in the electric tree revealing it’s filled with BATTERIES. MAINTENANCE MAN And uses 96 batteries! The lights on the tree go out as the batteries fall out. One of the Maintenance Men quickly tries to pick them up. Ted rides by on his scooter. The Singing Delivery Man walks up to an apartment, carrying a large O’HARE AIR BOTTLE. EVERYONE In Thneedville the air’s not so clean The Singing Delivery Man walks into a WOMAN’S APARTMENT. INT: APARTMENT - PRESENT - SAME A WOMAN opens the door and lets the Singing Delivery Man in. He replaces the large bottle of O’Hare Air hooked to her Fresh Air System. WOMAN So we buy it fresh! The Singing Delivery Man PLOPS the bottle into the machine in time with the beat. She hands him money for the delivery.

SINGING DELIVERY MAN

It comes out this machine! She takes a whiff of the fresh air. He takes a whiff of the money. WOMAN & SINGING DELIVERY MAN Aaaaah! EVERYONE In satisfaction’s guaranteed-ville! EXT: DOWNTOWN - PRESENT - SAME Downtown a group of BUSINESSPEOPLE sing and dance as they head for work. The Maintenance Workers sweep garbage towards an open manhole. EVERYONE In Thneedville The Singing Delivery Man jumps in front of the Maintenance Works and starts dancing. SINGING DELIVERY MAN We don’t want to knoooow! He does a spin and accidentally disappears down a MANHOLE. EVERYONE Where the smog and trash and chemicals go A LITTLE BOY swims through the Thneedville River (which is unnaturally blue) wearing a big smile. His parents happily help him out of the river and give him a big hug. LITTLE BOY I just went swimming, and now I glow! He glows and smiles even more. Ted zips by him on the scooter. EXT: MIDDLE OF TOWN - PRESENT - SAME We see a CHUBBY SURFER surfing on the fake ocean. A SNOWBOARDING TEEN zips down the snowy mountain next to him. EVERYONE In Thneedville we have fun year- round!

EXT: THNEEDVILLE - PRESENT - SAME

O’Hare stands on Mooney’s hands outside the door. O’HARE And became a zillionaire! He dives off and falls down toward the ground. His parachute opens revealing an ad for O’Hare Air. EVERYONE Hip-hooray, hip-hooray! As they celebrate we catch up with Ted, who is excitedly buying a REMOTE CONTROL AIRPLANE from a VENDOR at his kiosk. He gives the vendor his money and takes the new airplane, ecstatic. EVERYONE (CONT’D) Hip-hip-hooray! We're in the center of town. Here comes the elaborately choreographed big finish, reminiscent of “Consider Yourself” from Oliver. The huge mob engulfs Ted at the toy kiosk. People dance with their shopping bags, tossing them to each other. Businesspeople dance with their briefcases. EVERYONE (CONT’D) In Thneedville We love living this way! Suddenly the Singing Delivery Man reappears in frame, pushes the BAND LEADER aside, grabs his baton, and leads the MARCHING BAND down the street. SINGING DELIVERY MAN It’s like living in paradise! EVERYONE It’s perfect! And that’s how it will stay! SINGING DELIVERY MAN Oh yeah! Fireworks go off above the town. O’Hare walks up the steps of his oversized limo waving to the people like a politician before he gets in. The Singing Delivery Man dances on top of O’Hare’s limo while spinning cheer-leading batons.

EVERYONE

Here in love the life we lead-ville Destined to succeed-ville We are all agreed-ville We’re happy here in CLOSE-UPS on various MOUTHS making the “thhh” sound. EVERYONE (CONT’D) Thhhh-- Back to the wide shot showing the entire center of town. EVERYONE (CONT’D) --needville! As soon as the song's over, everyone immediately goes back to what they were doing. Mooney and McGurk help the frozen Singing Delivery Man off the roof of the limo. And out of the crowd zips Ted on his scooter, carrying the bag with the airplane in it. EXT: THNEEDVILLE - PRESENT - SAME Ted rides his scooter through town with the confidence of someone who knows the place like the back of his hand. EXT: AUDREY’S HOUSE - PRESENT - CONTINUOUS He ends up suburbia. Stops in front of a house. Gets off of his scooter. Reaches into the bag and pulls out the REMOTE- CONTROLLED AIRPLANE. Ted smiles as he admires it. Ted places it on the ground. Operates the remote control, and it TAKES OFF. Ted then flies the plane in a series of loop-dee-loops and then straight into someone’s backyard. But instead of being upset, he smiles. TED Yes. He runs up to the front door of the house. RINGS the doorbell. Multiple times. As the door opens, Ted goes into a slow-mo fantasy, revealing-- AUDREY. A teenage girl, beautiful and cool, and much too old for Ted. Although he doesn’t see it that way. He looks up at her worshipfully, suddenly awkward in her presence. AUDREY Oh, hi, Ted.

And people said that the touch of their tufts was softer than anything, even silk. And they smelled like butterfly milk. TED Wow. What does that even mean? AUDREY I know, right? Audrey grabs Ted’s arms and swings him over her head, so they both fall to the ground. TED Whaaaa! (pained) Oh yeah. AUDREY What I want more than anything in the whole world is to see a real living tree, growing in my backyard. TED (thinking) So...if, say-- I’m just thinking out loud here... if a guy somehow got you one... AUDREY Well, I’d probably marry him on the spot. (makes a face) I bet that sounds crazy. Does that sound crazy? Ted looks up adoringly at Audrey. TED No. Not crazy! (clears his throat) Not crazy at all. Ted smiles. A boy with a plan. INT: DINING ROOM - PRESENT - NIGHT Ted sits at the dinner table with his MOM and GRAMMY NORMA. He absentmindedly pokes at a PIECE OF JELLO shaped like BROCCOLI.

AUDREY (CONT'D)

TED’S MOM

Ted, honey, don’t play with your food. You either, Mom. Grammy Norma dribbles a JELLO BROCCOLI like a basketball. She tosses it up and pops it in her mouth. TED So...Mom. Do you happen to know if there’s like anyplace where I could get a real tree? Grammy Norma reacts to this. TED’S MOM Ted, we already have a tree. It’s the latest model. TED Yeah, but I mean like a real one, that-- that grows out of the ground or whatever. You know, like a real tree. TED’S MOM (makes face) Really? You’d rather have some dirty, messy lump of wood that just sticks out of the ground and it does what? I don’t even know what it does. What’s it’s purpose? Look what we’ve got. It’s the Oak- a-matic--the only tree with its own remote! She points a REMOTE at the tree outside. TED’S MOM (CONT’D) Summer, autumn, winter-- The tree changes with each click to match the season. TED’S MOM (CONT’D) --and disco! The tree now lights up in neon colors like a disco floor. And plays a Muzak version of “The Hustle.” Ted’s Mom shimmies and sings along. TED’S MOM (CONT’D) Doot doot doot doo-doot doo-doot doot doot! Come on, Ted, get into it, dance with the tree.

TED

(suspicious) “The Once-ler”? Mmm-hm, okay. Grammy is this a real thing that we’re talking about now? GRAMMY NORMA Oh, he’s real, all right. TED Well...where can I find him? Grammy Norma appears behind Ted, scaring him. She gives him an intense look. CLAPS and the LIGHTS DIM. GRAMMY NORMA “Far outside of town where the grass never grows and the wind smells slow-and-sour when it blows (makes spooky wind noises) ...and no birds ever sing excepting old crows...” (suddenly) CAW!!! Ted jumps. Grammy Norma catches him. TED Whoa! Quit doing that! GRAMMY NORMA That’s the place where the Once-ler lives. TED Wait-- outside of town? INT: TED’S BEDROOM - PRESENT - EVENING Ted empties an old jar filled with coins and collects THREE NICKELS. GRAMMY NORMA (V.O.) People used to say if you brought him fifteen cents... INT: KITCHEN - PRESENT - EVENING RATTLE! Ted opens up the junk drawer and retrieves a NAIL.

GRAMMY NORMA (V.O.)

...a nail... EXT: TED’S HOUSE - PRESENT - EVENING Ted searches around for snails. Picks a shell up. A GREAT- GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER SNAIL, wrinkled and with a long beard, pops out. GRAMMY NORMA (V.O.) ...and the shell of a great-great- great grandfather snail, he’d tell you everything. Ted smiles. He’s got everything he needs. EXT: FAR END OF TOWN - PRESENT - NIGHT Ted rides his scooter through to the edge of town. He looks up and sees a large pipe above his head with sign reading, “VENT OUT.” He follows the pipe which leads to a door high up in the middle of the wall. There is no way to get to it. Nearby, Ted spots a box on the wall with a warning sign which reads, “AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.” Ted looks around, opens the box, and pushes the red button inside, which extends a brick from the wall out towards him. TED Whoa! Other bricks extend out forming a staircase up to the door. Ted gets back on his scooter and rides it up the stairs to the door where he sees a sign reading, “Outside of Town.” He turns a lever and the door opens like a bank vault. A RED LIGHT above the door starts blinking. The camera continues up into the sky, where the O’Hare Air Blimp hovers above. EXT: O’HARE’S BLIMP - PRESENT - NIGHT Establishing. INT: O’HARE’S BLIMP - PRESENT - SAME Aloysius O’Hare sits at his desk. Standing across from him are two MARKETING GUYS.

TWO MEN open bottles and blow the air into their mouths. FIRST GUY Whaaaaa?! A hot chick opens up a bottle in her face and it makes her hair blow sexily. The First Guy is amazed. Instant party! He and his buddy click their bottles together. ANNOUNCER (V.O.) O'Hare Purified Air. Freshness to go! (beat) Please breathe responsibly. INT: O’HARE’S OFFICE - PRESENT - SAME The commercial over O’Hare rubs his forehead. MARKETING GUY # Huh? MARKETING GUY # Oh my goodness. MARKETING GUY # Love it. MARKETING GUY # Yeah... Then he speaks. O’HARE You gotta be kidding me! You really think people are stupid enough to buy this?! The Marketing Guys keep pushing each other out of the way, vying for O’Hare’s attention. MARKETING GUY # Our research shows that if you put something in a plastic bottle, people will buy it. MARKETING GUY # Exactly, and-- Marketing Guy #1 shoves Marketing Guy #2 aside and points to a chart showing air quality going down and sales going up.

MARKETING GUY

And what’s more, when we build a new factory to make the plastic bottles, the air quality’s just going to get worse. MARKETING GUY # Which will make people want our air even more and drive sales... where? Through the roof! O’Hare nods his approval. O’HARE So in other words: the more smog in the sky... (chuckles) ...the more people will buy. The Marketing Guys laugh. MARKETING GUY # Genius! That’s why he’s a genius! MARKETING GUY # It even rhymes! O’HARE I’m aware it rhymes. Suddenly a RED LIGHT on O’Hare’s desk starts flashing. He looks at it. The door opens and his thugs MOONEY and MCGURK step in. The Marketing Guys grab their charts and run off. MARKETING GUY #2 (O.S.) Coats! Big coats! O’HARE What do you two knuckleheads want?! I’m in the middle of a meeting! Mooney holds out a HANDHELD DEVICE. It reads “SECURITY ALERT,” and shows BLACK AND WHITE FOOTAGE of Ted trying to get out the door. O’Hare stares at it. Frowns. O’HARE (CONT’D) What?! Why is he leaving town? No one ever leaves town! (beat) See what he’s up to.

EXT: DESOLATION - PRESENT - CONTINUOUS

The city is far behind him now. Ted scooters through the fog, past warning signs reading, “Stay out!” and “I mean it!” and down the worn path where he comes to a stop in front of a hand-painted street sign covered in CROWS. He gets off his scooter and as he approaches it, the crows take off, revealing that it reads “The Street of the Lifted Lorax.” He keeps moving forward through the fog until he comes to a rickety old shack with a boarded-up window that looks like a strong wind might knock it over (otherwise known as The Lerkim). Ted stares at the spooky image, frozen. Then takes a deep breath and continues up the hill. TED Whoa... All right... He arrives in front of the Lerkim, which only looks creepier up close. He continues forward, not noticing that someone is watching him from inside the boarded up window. Ted walks past a small ring of stones. The word “Unless” is carved into one of them. Ted removes the money, nail, and snail from his pocket. The snail shakes his head, giving Ted a look like, “Let’s get out of here.” Ted ignores the snail and heads up the steps leading to the front door. The wind whistles, and the old wood CREAKS beneath his feet. He gets more nervous with each step. The railing falls over scaring him. Then he arrives at the door with a sign above it reading, “THE ONCE-LER”. Ted stares at it, then takes a deep breath and moves his shaking finger toward the doorbell. He presses it then-- WHIRRRRRRRR...CLANK! Immediately a crazy Seussian machine is activated. TED (CONT’D) Okay... It catapults him into the air. TED (CONT’D) What the--?! A clamp catches by the seat of his pants just before he hits the ground and hoists him back up into the air. TED (CONT’D) Aiiiiiiiii!

KA-LUNK! The contraption comes to a stop, leaving Ted dangling in front of the Lerkim. He opens his eyes, surprised to be alive. Struggles to get loose. Two YELLOW EYES and two GREEN-GLOVED ARMS appear in the window. Ted, still hanging upside-down, stares at them, horrified. ONCE-LER (O.S.) Who are you?! TED Aaaaaaaah! Ted squirms and wriggles like a worm on a hook. The voice barks even louder. ONCE-LER (O.S.) WHO ARE YOU?! And what are you doing here?! TED (out of breath) I’m Ted. I’m Ted! Oh, can’t breathe. Are you--are you...the Once-ler? Oh, man. ONCE-LER (O.S.) Didn’t you read the signs? No one is supposed to come here! The clamp spins Ted around, lowers him to the ground and lets him go. Then it begins pushing him back down the path toward Thneedville. ONCE-LER (O.S.) (CONT'D) Get out of here and leave me alone! And don’t let the boot hit you on the way out. TED The boot? A mechanical boot kicks Ted in the butt. TED (CONT’D) Whoa, hello! Ow... He stops and turns back around, holding out the payment in his hand.