Saving Christmas Family/Transcript

(festive music)
(delightful music)
MOLLY: (Excited) Oh, I love Christmas! It's the most en-happifying time of the year! And it's our first Christmas in Brighton! Ahh! Could this possibly get any better?
SCRATCH: Oh, it can, and it will! Tomorrow is the cookie bake-off. They start with gingerbread, then work their way to snickerdoodles. The sassiest of all cookies!
MAYOR BRUNSON: Welcome everyone to the annual Snowflake Celebration. And may I add that, as your Mayor, I personally made sure that our tree is a full two inches taller than Perfektborg's.
(The crowd is cheering and applauding. The metal clanks as the lever is pulled.) (All gasp.)
CROWD: Whoa!
(zapping)
MAYOR BRUNSON: Oh, no.
(Electricity surges up the tree and pops all the lights.) (ominous music)
MAYOR BRUNSON: No one panic!
(The tree lights on fire.)
(Everyone in the audience screams and evacuates the area. The burning tree falls on a guy in a Santa costume, propelling him into the air.)
(The guy in the Santa costume is screaming as he flies.)
(A skunk hits a man in the face and gets attached to him, causing the man to run into a pole, which then causes more electricity to surge and pop the lights on the other poles and around Brighton.)
MOLLY: What? No! It can't be! This ole girl's not done! She just needs a little Christmas magic! (while lifting the fallen tree) If we put her back-- (The fallen tree splits in half and collapses.)
MOLLY: Uh, no. What if we buy more decorations?
MAYOR BRUNSON: I spent all the money on that stupid two-inch-taller tree. I'm sorry, everyone, but the Snowflake Celebration... like our town's happiness... is canceled.
(somber music)
MOLLY: No, no, no, this can't be. I feel the season of joy... turning into despair.
SCRATCH: Will there still be... cookies?
MOLLY: I mean, probably. Somewhere.
SCRATCH: Oh, okay, then I'm good.
MOLLY: Well, I'm not. And neither is Brighton. We've got to find a way to fix this!
(choral singing)
(music ends abruptly as the "Santa" is standing in the way. He gets out of the way, and the choral singing continues. The object Molly is focusing on is revealed to be Davenport's.)
MOLLY: And I've found it. In record time, too! Let's go!
(Molly grabs Scratch, and he grunts.)
----MOLLY: Mr. Davenport, will you donate your time, money, and resources to save the Snowflake Celebration and enhappify your fellow Brightonians?
MR. DAVENPORT: Interesting question. And here's one for you... Will this make me trend?
MOLLY: (chuckling) Oh-ho-ho, yes, sir! On both coasts and everywhere in between!
MR. DAVENPORT: Okay! Then you know what, I'm gonna give you a hard no on this charity thing.
MOLLY: Wha... wait? What?
MR. DAVENPORT: I've got a brand to protect. Davenport's Department Store does not hand out free joy. Especially this time of year. Like my father used to say... "Christmas is a time to make money, not merry!"
MOLLY: But, but it's a Brighton tradition!
(Andrea opens the door, holding a present.)
ANDREA: You should listen to her, Daddy.
MOLLY: Andrea? You agree with me?
ANDREA: I was gonna be this year's Snowflake Queen. Like Mom was at my age. But without the Celebration, that can't happen.
MR. DAVENPORT: Aww, Button, you can pick any crown you want from our Halloween surplus! We'll just stage a photo and put it on your socials! It'll be fun!
(Mr. Davenport closes the door.)
(Andrea throws the present she's holding away.)
----(The TV in the background is playing Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol).
MOLLY: (yelling) Oh, I can't believe he turned us down! This injustice will not stand!
SCRATCH: Is "injustice" really the--
MOLLY: Do not question my righteous anger! There's gotta be a way to change Mr. Davenport's mind...
EBENEZER SCROOGE: "Bah! Humbug!"
MOLLY: (excited) That's it! A Christmas Carol! We'll scare Mr. Davenport into the sponsorship with a Scrooge-like intervention.
SCRATCH: Guess it'll be good for a laugh. All right, I'm in!
----(At Mr. Davenport's house)
MOLLY: Go in there and make him rediscover his Christmas spirit.
(Scratch transforms into "The Ghost of Christmas Past", and goes inside the house. As Molly was hanging off him, however, Molly lets him go and falls.)
(The Davenports are snoring.)
(Scratch ghostly moans)
SCRATCH: Arise and repent!
(Mr. Davenport wakes up and rubs his eyes.)
MR. DAVENPORT: (chuckles) What a weird dream. And this one comes with a low-rent ghost.
SCRATCH: I'm sorry, "low rent?" (Smacks Mr. Davenport's hand) Listen, pal! This is no dream! I'm the Ghost of Christmas Past, here to remind you of a time when you weren't such a jerk!
MR. DAVENPORT: (chuckles) Good luck with that! (Lies back in bed)
SCRATCH: All right, we're gonna have to do this the hard way! (Dragging Mr. Davenport)
(Mr. Davenport screams as he is being dragged. Scratch goes through the door, but Mr. Davenport thuds against it.)
SCRATCH: Stupid window. Sorry. It's locked.
(Scratch and Mr. Davenport are now outside, and Scratch is still carrying Mr. Davenport through the air as he is screaming.)
MR. DAVENPORT: Whoa, whoa, whoa!
MOLLY: Jingle Belle to Krampus, Jingle Belle to Krampus, I'm sending Scrooge your way.
(Scratch carries Mr. Davenport to his office in Davenport's, and drops him on the floor.)
MR. DAVENPORT: Ow. Why are we in my office?
SCRATCH: It's a vision from your past!
MR. DAVENPORT: Okay, uh, but like, you know, my childhood was the 1980s... Not the 1890s, right?
MOLLY: (whispering to Pete and Darryl) Improvise!
(hip hop beat)
DARRYL: Rad Christmas, Daddy Davenport! Isn't it time for us tubular dudes to head to the Snowflake Celebration?
PETE: Christmas be-eth the time to make money, not merry!
MR. DAVENPORT: What I just saw reminded me that Christmas is a time for giving...
(Molly gasps)
MR. DAVENPORT: ...our bottom line a boost! So we stay open on Christmas, and fire any employee who wants the day off. And we make an example of them!
SCRATCH: Not the lesson we're going for...
MOLLY: (whispering to Scratch) Next ghost!
----(Scratch, now the Ghost of Christmas Present, takes Mr. Davenport to Molly's house, and throws him into the chimney before going in.)
MR. DAVENPORT: Whoa! (hits the floor) Oof!
SCRATCH: Say hello to your average Brighton family!
(Sharon puts a Christmas ornament on a tree. Molly hugs her, then the leaves fall off the tree and the ornament shatters.)
SHARON: (crying) I suppose we'll have to rely on the Snowflake Celebration for all our Christmas cheer this year...
MOLLY: (sadly) But Mother, the Snowflake Celebration was canceled!
(Molly cries)
SCRATCH: Wow. She's good.
MR. DAVENPORT: Spirit, I had no idea things were this bad in Brighton. Scuffed floors. Mismatched furniture? Tacky throw pillows? Who barfed those out?
SHARON: (angrily) Excuse me? You come into my house and say that to me?
(Sharon is attempting to grab Mr. Davenport, but Molly is holding her back.)
SCRATCH: Uh, maybe we should talk about this outside, (grabs Mr. Davenport) where it's much safer for you.
SHARON: Let me go! I'll deck his halls!
----MOLLY: It's not over yet! We've got one last ghost up our sleeve.
(delightful music)
(Molly hammering. Upon seeing Scratch and Mr. Davenport arriving, she jumps behind a barrel. Scratch, now the Ghost of Christmas Future, dumps Mr. Davenport onto the floor.)
MR. DAVENPORT: So which ghost are you? We've had the Ghosts of Christmas Past, and Present so you... gotta be the Ghost of Christmas Future, huh?
(Scratch approaches Mr. Davenport and points to a sign. It reads "[CLOSED FOREVER] Davenport's Department Store".)
(eerie music)
(Mr Davenport gasps)
MR. DAVENPORT: (yelling) Noooooooo! My business! My beautiful business!
MOLLY: We definitely got him this time!
MR. DAVENPORT: It can't be! Without the Snowflake Celebration, my business died!
(The sign shakes and falls, breaking in half.)
MR. DAVENPORT: Hey! This isn't Davenport's! What's going on here? Wait a minute. There's only one explanation for this slipshod Dickens narrative I'm living in. I am dreaming! So why am I wasting it with you when I could be (singsongy) flying?
(Molly sighs.)
MOLLY: We almost had him. Huh. You better catch him before he hurts himself.
(Mr. Davenport, laughing, jumps out the window. Scratch catches him and hovers, making Mr Davenport feel as if he's flying.)
MR. DAVENPORT: This is the most fun I've had since my ClickClock account got a thousand smileys!
(festive music)
SCRATCH: Well, Davenport's back in his bed, and we didn't save the Snowflake Celebration.
(Molly sighs.)
SCRATCH: But that doesn't mean you can't have a big ol' Christmas right here, Moll.
MOLLY: (sadly) Yup.
SCRATCH: You know, we got tinsel, get the lights, get those annoying carols going. And hey, if you got the cookies, I got the time. I'll put up with the rest of the stuff, you know what I mean, Moll?
MOLLY: Um, okay. But I, I don't feel much like celebrating this year, Scratch.
SCRATCH: What? What are you talking about?
MOLLY: The joy's been sapped out of Brighton. And me. Christmas is canceled. Don't wake me in the morning. I'm sleeping in.
SCRATCH: (furious) Davenport broke the spirit of Molly McGee on Christmas? Oh, this injustice will not stand!
----(Mr. Davenport is snoring.)
SCRATCH: Hey, wake up! (slaps Mr. Davenport)
(Mr. Davenport yawns.)
MR DAVENPORT: Another ghost? Which one are you?
SCRATCH: I'm the Ghost of "I'm Gonna Scare the Christmas Spirit Into Your Lousy Carcass!"
MR. DAVENPORT: Okay. Little long. Not hashtaggable at all, but-- (Scratch grabs Mr. Davenport and flies out the house with him. He throws Mr. Davenport up, and catches him, then continues to do it. Mr Davenport is enjoying it.)
MR. DAVENPORT: (laughs) Whoa!
SCRATCH: (frustrated while throwing Mr. Davenport) Would you get some Christmas Spirit already?
(Mr. Davenport continues laughing)
MR. DAVENPORT: Look at me! Look at me!
SCRATCH: (shaking Mr. Davenport) You are so frustrating!
MR. DAVENPORT: Spirit! Spirit! Stop! Please! (Observing Andrea) Is this a vision, Spirit? Or is this actually happening?
(Andrea is standing in front of a mirror that has a dress on it, with a sash that says "Snowflake Queen".)
MR. DAVENPORT: (mournful) She looks... she looks just like her mother.
(somber music)
(Andrea sobbing)
MR. DAVENPORT: I don't understand. Spirit, why is my little Button crying?
SCRATCH: 'Cause to you... Christmas is a time to make money, not merry.
MR. DAVENPORT: My father was a great businessman. But not a very good dad. (excited) I'll do it, Spirit! I will fund the Snowflake Celebration. I'll make my daughter happy! I will make all of Brighton happy! I'll save Christmas!
SCRATCH: Yes! (throws Mr. Davenport up)
MR. DAVENPORT: Wha!!
(Scratch goes to get Mr. Davenport)
----SCRATCH: Hey. Moll. Wake up. It's Christmas.
MOLLY: (groans) I don't care. (Rolls over in bed)
SCRATCH: Oh, okay. Well, you know, I just thought you'd like to know... that Mr. Davenport had a little change of heart after all.
MOLLY: (excited) What? He did?
SCRATCH: Snowflake Celebration's back on! But we've got a little work to do first.
(cheerful music)
CITIZENS: ♪ There will be Christmas in Brighton after all ♪
SHARON: ♪ We're stringing lights up ♪
PETE: ♪ We're decking every hall ♪
CITIZENS: ♪ Every hall ♪
MOLLY: ♪ We'll slather every door, in green and red decor ♪
MAYOR BRUNSON: ♪ In merriment per capita, We'll crush Perfektborg ♪
CITIZENS: ♪ It's Christmas in Brighton once again ♪
MCGEES & SCRATCH: ♪ Once again ♪
SCRATCH: ♪ Grab your cookie cutters and your rolling pin ♪ I'm begging you.
PETE: ♪ The trees are gonna glisten ♪
SHARON: ♪ The streets are gonna glow ♪
DARRL: ♪ We'll use this old asbestos to make artificial snow ♪
PETE & SHARON: Wait!
CITIZENS: ♪ Christmas in Brighton ♪
MR. DAVENPORT: ♪ Thanks to me ♪
ANDREA: I'll be the Queen!
PETE: ♪ We got a turnip ornament for every tree ♪
TURNIPS: ♪ Every tree ♪
CITIZENS: ♪ Three cheers for Mr. Davenport, who really saved the day! You're not quite as big of a jerk as people say! (hold note) ♪
(phone chimes)
MR. DAVENPORT: Hey, look, everybody, I'm trending!
(applause)
MOLLY: Our first Snowflake Celebration in Brighton! You did it, Scratch. You saved Christmas!
SCRATCH: Consider it my present to you, Moll. Now, where's my present?
(Molly presents Scratch with a batch of Christmas cookies, then hugs Scratch.)
SCRATCH: Oh!
(Scratch eats a cookie. The other McGees hug Scratch as well.)
Category:Family Transcripts