Coraline/Transcript

[We open on a credits sequence where a hand made entirely of needles creates a blue-haired doll with button eyes. After it's done, it sends the doll away through the window. We then fade to the Pink Palace apartments as we see a blue-skinned man doing exercises on the roof. A moving van drives up to the building. The man exclaims in Russian before jumping off.]
Mover: We're here! Time to muscle up.
[?]
Coraline: Hello? Who's there?
[?]
Coraline: You scared me to death, you mangy thing. I'm just looking for an old well. Know it? 
[The cat doesn't respond.]
Coraline: Not talking, huh?
[She holds up the branch.]
Coraline: Magic dowser, magic dowser... ...show me the well!
[?]
Coraline: Get away from me!
[?]
Wybie: Ooh. Let me guess. You're from Texas or Utah, someplace dried-out and barren, right? I heard about water witching before, but it doesn't make sense. I mean, it's just an ordinary branch.
Coraline: It's a dowsing rod. (slaps his leg to take back the branch)
Wybie: (clutches his leg in pain) Ow!
Coraline: And I don't like being stalked, not by psycho nerds or their cats!
Wybie: He's not really my cat. He's kind of feral. You know, wild. Of course, I do feed him every night, and sometimes he'll come to my window and bring me little dead things.
Coraline: Look, I'm from Pontiac.
Wybie: Huh?
Coraline: Michigan. And if I'm a water witch, then where's the secret well?
Wybie: You stomp too hard and you'll fall in it.
Coraline: Oh!
Wybie: See? It's supposed to be so deep, if you fell to the bottom and looked up, you'd see a sky full of stars in the middle of the day.
Coraline: Ha.
Wybie: Surprised she let you move in. My gramma, she owns the Pink Palace. Won't rent to people with kids.
Coraline: What do you mean?
Wybie: I'm not supposed to talk about it. I'm Wybie. Wybie Lovat.
Coraline: Wybie?
Wybie: Short for Wyborne. Not my idea, of course. What'd you get saddled with?
Coraline: I wasn't saddled with anything. It's Coraline.
Wybie: Caroline what?
Coraline: Coraline. Coraline Jones.
Wybie: It's not real scientific, but I heard an ordinary name like Caroline can lead people to have ordinary expectations about a person.
Miss Lovat: (offscreen) Wyborne!
Coraline: I think I heard someone calling you, Wyborne.
Wybie: What? I didn't hear anything.
Coraline: I definitely heard someone, Why-Were-You-Born.
Miss Lovat: (offscreen) Wyborne!
Wybie: Grandma! Well, great to meet a Michigan water witch, but I'd wear gloves next time.
Coraline: Why?
Wybie: 'Cause that dowsing rod of yours, it's poison oak.
[Coraline exclaims and drops the branch. Wybie rides off and Coraline blows raspberries at him. She turns to the cat, who heads off. The girl looks to the well and looks through the hole. She drops a rock through it and plants her ear against the board. For a few seconds, nothing until a distant splash is heard. Then, it starts raining. The camera turns as the scene transitions to inside Coraline's house, where she scratches her hand. Her mother is seen typing away on her laptop.]
Coraline: I almost fell down a well yesterday, Mom.
Mel: Uh-huh.
Coraline: I would've died.
Mel: That's nice.
Coraline: Hmm. So, can I go out? I think it's perfect weather for gardening.
Mel: No, Coraline. Rain makes mud. Mud makes a mess.
Coraline: But, Mom, I want stuff growing when my friends come to visit. Isn't that why we moved here?
Mel: Something like that. But then we had the accident.
Coraline: It wasn't my fault you hit that truck.
Mel: I never said it was.
Coraline: I can't believe it. You and Dad get paid to write about plants, and you hate dirt.
Mel: Coraline, I don't have time for you right now, and you still have unpacking to do. Lots of unpacking.
Coraline: (sarcastic) That sounds exciting!
Mel: Oh. Some kid left this on the front porch.
[She gets out something wrapped in a newspaper and hands it to Coraline. As Coraline opens it, there's a note.]
Wybie: (voiceover) Hey, Jonesy. Look what I found in Gramma's trunk. Look familiar? Wybie.
[She then unwraps the object to reveal a small Coraline doll. The one from the opening credits.]
Coraline: Huh. A little me? That's weird.
Mel: What's his name, anyway?
Coraline: Wybie. And I'm way too old for dolls.
Hey, Dad.
How's the writing going?
Dad!
Charlie: Hello, Coraline and Coraline doll.
Do you know where the garden tools are?
Charlie: It's... It's pouring out there, isn't it?
Coraline: It's just raining.
Charlie: What'd the boss say?
Coraline: "Don't even think about going out, Coraline Jones!"
Charlie: Then you won't need the tools. You know, this house is 150 years old.
Coraline: So?
Charlie: So explore it. Go out and count all the doors and windows and write that down on... List everything that's blue. Just let me work.
[Coraline sighs, taking the pen and leaves. She wipes off the misted glass so she and the doll can see out, then writes in her pad: 7 leaky windows. A drop of water lands on the pad, smearing the ink. She adds really between 7 and leaky windows. Coraline enters the parent's room adn decied to check the bathroom, only to discover silverfish bugs. Disgusted, she jumps into the tub and smashes as many as she can. She turns on the faucet to wash her hands, only to get soaked with rusty water from the shower head. She shakes out her hair. Coraline pounds down the stairs, spots the carpet bump again in the hallway and jumps on it. A closet door opens, a light on inside, and she goes to investigate. She jots down one rusty water heater in her pad. As she leaves, she flicks off the light switch, not noticing a note taped beside it that says: Do not turn off!]
Charlie: No. No, no, no. No.
[Coraline reacts with guilty alarm, runs back to the closet and spots the Do not turn off note. She flips the light  switch back on and gets out of there. The room is faded and cold with bare windows looking out  on rain and gray. The floor is strewn with moving boxes, few pieces of furniture, Charlie's old Nordic Track. A few garden tools lean against one wall; a cardboard mattress box leans against a corner wall. Coraline enters, counting windows and doors to note in her pad. She sets the doll on a low table beside an open moving box and smiles. The box is filled with her mom's collection of SNOWGLOBES. She takes out her favorite - the BEAR  FOUNTAIN AT THE DETROIT ZOO - and shakes it. She studies the globe and sighs with homesickness. She sets it carefully on the FIREPLACE MANTEL, then unwraps the rest of the snowglobes and places them beside it. Over the mantel hangs a PAINTING of a CRYING BOY IN BLUE - a scoop of ice cream melting on his shirt, his hand holding an EMPTY CONE. Coraline takes up pad and pen and adds to her list, muttering aloud.]
Coraline: One boring blue boy in a painfully boring painting. Four incredibly boring windows... ...and no more doors.
All right, little me. Where are you hiding?
Huh?
Hey, Mom. Where does this door go?
Mel: I'm really, really busy.
I think it's locked.
Please!
Mel: Will you stop pestering me if I do this for you?
Fine.
Coraline: Bricks? I don't get it.
Mel: They must've closed this off when they divided up the house.
Coraline: You're kidding. And why is the door so small?
Mel: We made a deal! Zip it!
Coraline: You didn't lock it.
[Mel groans in annoyance. That night, Coraline and her parents have supper. Her father serves them slop.]
Charlie: (sings) Oh, my twitchy-witchy girl I think you are so nice. I give you bowls of porridge. And I give you bowls of ice cream.
Coraline: Why don't you ever cook, Mom?
Mel: Coraline, we've been through this before. Your dad cooks, I clean, and you stay out of the way. I swear I'll go food shopping soon as we finish the catalog. Try some of the chard. You need a vegetable.
Coraline: It looks more like slime to me.
Charlie: Well, it's slime or bedtime, fusspot. Now what's it gonna be?
Coraline: (to the doll) Think they're trying to poison me?
[She makes the doll nod, and she sighs, leaning back. Transition to Coraline going to bed. She looks at her hand, still reeling from poison oak. She then grabs a picture of her old friends from Pontiac and stares at it.]
Coraline: Don't forget about me, guys. Okay?
Good night, little me.
Whoa!
Huh?
Mmm. Something smells good.
Mom? What are you doing here in the middle of the night?
[The mother turns around, revealing she has buttons for eyes.]
Other Mother: You're just in time for supper, dear.
Coraline: You're not my mother. My mother doesn't have...
Other Mother: Buttons? Do you like them? I'm your other mother, silly. Now go tell your other father that supper's ready. Well, go on. He's in his study.
[Coraline heads to her father's room, where her father is seen playing a piano.]
Coraline: Hello?
[He turns around, revealing his button eyes. He looks more jovial than her real father.]
Other Father: Hello, Coraline. Wanna hear my new song?
Coraline: My father can't play piano.
Other Father: No need to. 
[Mechanical hands appear from the piano, surprising Coraline.]
Other Father: This piano plays me.
[The hands pilot the Other Father to play a lively tune on his piano.]
Other Father: (sings) Making up a song about Coraline. She's a peach, she's a doll, she's a pal of mine. She's as cute as a button in the eyes of everyone who ever laid their eyes on Coraline. When she comes around exploring, Mom and I will never, ever make it boring. Our eyes will be on Coraline.
Coraline: I'm sorry, but she said to tell you the food's ready.
Other Father: Mmm. Who's starving? Raise your hand. (his mechanical hands raise his) Whoa!
[Later, the three prepare to have supper. The supper consists of delicious food like roast chicken and corn. They start praying.]
Other Father: We give our thanks and ask to bless our mother's golden... chicken breast. (chuckles)
[Coraline grabs a leg from the chicken and eats it.]
Coraline: Mmm! This chicken is good.
Other Mother: Hungry, aren't you?
Coraline: Do you have any gravy?
Other Mother: Well, here comes the gravy train. Choo, choo!
[A toy train runs down the railroad on the dining table. It stops at Coraline's plate and pours gravy on her food.]
Coraline: Huh.
Other Mother: Another roll? Sweet peas? Corn on the cob?
Coraline: I'm real thirsty.
Other Mother: Of course. Any requests?
Coraline: Mango milkshake?
[?]
Coraline: Home?
Other Mother: We've been waiting for you, Coraline.
Coraline: For me?
Other Father: Yep. Wasn't the same here without you, kiddo.
Coraline: I didn't know I had another mother.
Other Mother: Of course you do. Everyone does.
Coraline: Really?
Other Mother: Uh-huh. And soon as you're through eating, I thought we'd play a game.
Coraline: You mean like hide-and-seek?
Other Mother: Perfect. Hide-and-seek in the rain.
Coraline: What rain? 
[Suddenly, lightning flashes and rain pours outside.]
Coraline: What about the mud?
Other Father: We love mud here.
Other Mother: Mud facials, mud baths, mud pies. It's great for poison oak.
Coraline: How'd you know I... I... I'd love to play, but I better get home to my other mother.
Other Mother: But I'm your other mother.
Coraline: I mean my other, other mother. Mom number one? I think I should get to bed.
Other Mother: Of course, sweetheart. It's all made up.
Coraline: But... 
Other Father: Come along, sleepyhead.
Coraline: Wow.
Paper Dragonfly: Hello, Coraline.
Paper Dragonflies: Hello, hello, hello, hello.
Plush Squid: What's shaking, baby?
Coraline: Hello.
Picture Girl: Hey. How's it going, Loper?
Picture Boy: Where's your swampers and chook?
Coraline: Cripes almighty! How are my best trolls? I can't wait till summer. You're both coming, right?
Picture Girl: We're already here, Coraline.
Picture Boy: Gone to Oregon.
Coraline: Oh. The mud.
[The Other Mother rubs mud on Coraline's hand and the girl goes to sleep. Other Mother tucks her in while Other Father turns off the lights.]
Other Parents: See you soon.
[The next morning, Coraline wakes up to find herself back in her world. She finds the doll on the chair next to her. She stares at it before noticing her hand is cured of the poison oak.]
Coraline: (gasps) It's gone. My poison oak! It's gone!
[She heads to the door on the wall, only to see it's back to bricks.]
Coraline: Huh.
[Later, she tells her mother about what happened last night during breakfast.]
Coraline: It was incredibly real, Mom. Only you weren't really you. You were my other mother.
Mel: Buttons for eyes, huh?
Coraline, you only dreamed you ate all that chicken. Take your multivitamin at least.
Coraline: You were in the dream, too, Dad. You had wild-looking pajamas and orange monkey slippers.
 
Charlie: Orange? My monkey slippers are blue. Psst. Can you get me some of that magic mud you were talking about? Because I have a terrible case of writer's rash on my...
[He prepares to scratch his bottom when his wife catches him.]
Mel: If the real Charlie Jones wants his pages edited, he better wrap them up ASAP. (to Coraline) Coraline, why don't you go visit downstairs? I bet those actresses would love to hear your dream.
Coraline: Miss Spink and Forcible? But you said they're dingbats.
Mel: Mmm-hmm.
Coraline: Bobinsky. Bobinsky. Bobinsky.
[?]
Coraline: Hello? I think our mail got mixed up. Should I leave it outside, or...
[?]
Coraline: Hmm.
Bobinsky: Secret! 
[He swings in and shuts the door as Coraline ducks down.]
Bobinsky: Famous jumping mouse circus not ready, little girl. (munches on a beet)
Coraline: Circus? Oh, uh... I brought this for you.
Bobinsky: Noviseer.
Coraline: Huh?
Bobinsky: New cheese samples. Very clever using this mix-up to sneak my home and peek at mooshkas?
Coraline: Mooshkas?
Bobinsky: The mice!
Coraline: Oh! Sorry. I'm Coraline Jones.
Bobinsky: And I am the Amazing Bobinsky. But you call me Mr. B because amazing I already know that I am. Ha! You see, Caroline, the problem is... My new songs go oompah, oompah, but the jumping mice play only toodle-toot, like that. Is nice but not so much amazing. So now, I switch to stronger cheese and soon, watch out! Here, have beet. Make you strong. Do svidaniya, Caroline.
Coraline: Coraline. Oompah, oompah. Toodle-toot.
Bobinsky: Hey, Caroline! Wait!
 
Coraline: No!
Bobinsky: The mice asked me to give you message.
Coraline: The jumping mice?
Bobinsky: They are saying do not go through little door. Do you know such a thing?
Coraline: The one behind the wallpaper? But it's all bricked up.
Bobinsky: Bah. So sorry. Is nothing. Sometimes the mice are little mixed-up. They even get your name wrong, you know? They call you Coraline instead of Caroline. Not Caroline at all. Maybe I work them too hard.
April: Cease your infernal yapping. How nice to see you, Caroline. Would you like to come in? We're playing cards
Coraline: Still Coraline, Miss Spink.
April: Miriam! Put the kettle on!
Miriam: April, I think you're being followed.
April: It's the new neighbor, Miriam. Caroline. She'll be having the oolong tea.
Miriam: No! Oh, no, no. I'm sure she'd prefer jasmine.
April: No, oolong.
Miriam: Ah. Jasmine it is, then.
April: Come on, boys.
Coraline: Are those dogs real?
April: Our sweet departed angels. Couldn't bear to part with them, so we had them stuffed. Now, there's Hamish the third...
Miriam: Go on. Have one. It's hand-pulled taffy from Brighton. Best in the world.
April: ....the third, the ninth, yes. The fourth, I'm right. And Jock Jr. Jock Sr. Jock the third, the fourth, and that's Jock's second cousin thrice removed. I'll read them if you like.
Coraline: Read what?
April: Your tea leaves, dear. They'll tell me your future. Drink up then. Go on. 
[Coraline starts drinking her tea.]
April: No, not all of it. Not all of it. 
[She drinks her tea slowly.]
April: That's right. Now hand it over.
[Coraline hands her the empty cup and Miss Spink checks the tea leaves.]
April: Oh! Oh, Caroline. Caroline, Caroline, Caroline. You are in terrible danger.
Miriam: Oh, give me that cup, April. Your eyes are going.
April: My eyes? You're blind as a bat.
Miriam: Well, not to worry, child. It's good news. There's a tall, handsome beast in your future.
Coraline: A what?
April: Miriam, really. You're holding it wrong. See? Danger.
Coraline: What do you see?
April: I see a very peculiar hand.
Miriam: I see a giraffe.
April: Giraffes don't just fall from the sky, Miriam.
[Suddenly, the candy bowl drops from the ceiling, shattering into pieces and startling everyone.]
Miriam: Oh, Lord.
Coraline: Well, what should I do?
April: Never wear green in your dressing room.
Miriam: Acquire a very tall stepladder.
April: And be very, very careful. Now, was there something you came to tell us?
Coraline: No. I guess not. Thanks for the tea, though.
Miriam: Toodle-oo.
April: Cheery-bye. Do you have any nice queens for Mummy?
[Coraline heads outside, where a fog has rolled in.]
Coraline: Danger?
[As she walks, the masked Wybie is following her around. Coraline stops and smirks. She walks around merrily before she grabs the boy by the mask's telescope.]
Coraline: Great! The village stalker.
Wybie: Ow! I wasn't stalking you. We're hunting banana slugs.
Coraline: What do you mean "we?" (notices the cat) Ha! Your cat's not wild. He's a wuss puss.
Wybie: What? He hates to get his feet wet. Jeez.
Coraline: Wuss puss. So, that doll. Did you make it
look like me?
Wybie: Oh, no. I found it that way. It's older than Grandma. Old as this house, probably.
Coraline: Come on. Blue hair, my swampers and raincoat?
Wybie: Dang! Check out Slugzilla.
Coraline: You're just like them.
Wybie: Huh?
Coraline: I meant my parents. They don't listen to me either.
Wybie: Uh-huh. You mind?
[He hands Coraline teh camera. She takes a few pictures of Wybie, pretending to eat a banana slug and having a mustache of the slug.]
Coraline: Ew!
[Coraline laughs a bit and Wybie tosses the slug away.]
Wybie: You know, I've never been inside the Pink Palace.
Coraline: You're kidding.
Wybie: Grandma'd kill me. Thinks it's dangerous or something.
Coraline: Dangerous?
Wybie: Well, she had a twin sister.
Coraline: So?
Wybie: When they were kids, Grandma's sister disappeared. She says she was stolen.
Coraline: Stolen? Well, what do you think?
Wybie: I don't know. Maybe she just ran away.
Miss Lovat: (offscreen) Wyborne!
Wybie: Look, I gotta go.
Coraline: Wait a minute.
Other Mother: Welcome back, darling.
 
Coraline: Hi.
Other Mother: So thoughtful of you to send this nice cheddar, Coraline.
Coraline: Cheddar? Oh! The mice bait.
Other Mother: Would you go fetch your father? I bet he's hungry as a pumpkin by now.
Coraline: You mean my other father.
Other Mother: Your better father, dear. He's out in the garden.
Coraline: But my parents don't have time to garden.
[Other Mother shushes her and feeds her a strawberry.]
Other Mother: Go on.
[?]
 
Other Father: Hey.
Coraline: I love your garden!
Other Father: Our garden, Coraline.
Coraline: Stop tickling me!
Other Father: Daughter in distress. Tickle no more, you dragon snappers.
Coraline: Well, she says it's time for dinner, breakfast, food.
Other Father: Hop on, kiddo. I wanna show you something.
Coraline: I can't believe you did this.
Other Father: Mother said you'd like it. Boy, she knows you like the back of her hand.
Coraline: Mmm. So good.
Other Father: I love dinner-breakfast-food.
Other Mother: Coraline, Mr. Bobinsky has invited you.. ...to come see the jumping mice perform after dinner.
Really? That know-it-all Wybie... ...said it was all in Mr. B's head.
I knew he was wrong.
Well, everything's right in this world, kiddo.
Other Mother: Your father and I will clean up. while you and your friend head upstairs.
Coraline: My friend?
[Other Mother opens up the door to reveal another Wybie with button eyes.]
Coraline: Great. Another Wybie. Hello, Why-Were-You-Born. 
[However, the Other Wybie doesn't speak, only wave.] 
Coraline: Hello! 
Other Mother: I thought you'd like him more if he spoke a little less. So I fixed him.
Coraline: So he can't talk at all?
 
Other Mother: Nope.
Coraline: Hmm. I like it.
Other Mother: Now, run along, you two, and have fun.
[The two head outside.]
Coraline: You're awful cheerful considering you can't say anything. It didn't hurt, did it, when she...
There's an awkward moment and then he points past her, excitedly: a SMALL BLIMP is lying towards Bobinsky's door. They run up the stairs and watch it slip through an
opening above his door. Coraline knocks and the door suddenly SPINS, THROWING THEM INSIDE. They somersault to a stop and sit up. Down two rows of SMALL CANNONS that face each, an amazing MINIATURE CIRCUS has been set up, with a FERRIS WHEEL beside it.] 
Coraline: Whoa... cool! 
[Coraline goes right to the Ferris wheel where a
MECHANICAL CHICKEN eats dried corn on the cob, fires up its belly, then POOPS OUT POPCORN into paper bags. Other Wybie stomps a firing button and COTTON CANDY shoots out of a cannon. He catches the cone, then starts firing off all the cannons. Coraline looks back to find him covered in the cotton candy.]
Coraline: Look at you!
Other Bobinsky: Lady and gentleman, for to tickle your eyes and ears and making hearts to thump, I, Sergei Alexander Bobinsky, am introducing my astoundishing, stupendulous and amazing jumping mouse circus!
[The blimp lands on the ground and jumping mice pop out to spell Coraline's name.]
Coraline: My name!
 
It's wonderful, Wybie.
Wow!
Yahoo! That was great!
Other Bobinsky: Very, very thank you, lady and gentleman.
Coraline: We loved it, Mr. B. It was so... So...
Other Bobinsky: Ah...
Coraline: Amazing!
Other Bobinsky: You are very welcome anytime you like. You and also your good friend there. Do svedaniya, Coraline.
Coraline: There were garden squash like balloon animals... ...and snapdragons. Oh, and upstairs, I saw a real mouse circus. Not pretend like the crazy man's in our house.
Charlie: You sure you won't come?
Mel: Don't fret, Charlie. They'll love the new catalog. At least they'll love my chapters. (to Coraline) I did not call him crazy, Coraline. He's drunk.
Charlie: Well, I guess I'll see you around, you dizzy dreamer.
Coraline: Dad! I'm not five anymore.
Kid: My kingdom for a horse!
[The kid crashes offscreen and the stool wheels to Coraline. Later, she wheels by her mother, showing her the gloves she wants.]
Mel: Put them back.
Coraline: But, Mom, the whole school's gonna wear boring gray clothes. No one will have these.
Mel: Put them back.
Coraline: My other mother would get them.
Mel: Maybe she should buy all your clothes.
[Later, the two drive home.]
Coraline: So what do you think is in the other apartment?
Mel: I don't know. Not a family of Jones imposters.
Coraline: Then why'd you lock the door?
Mel: I found some rat crap, and I thought you'd feel safer.
Coraline: They're jumping mice, Mom, and the dreams aren't dangerous. They're the most fun I've had since we've moved here.
Mel: Your school might be fun.
Coraline: With those stupid uniforms? Right. 
Mel: Had to give it a try.
[They return home. Inside, Mel checks the fridge for some food.]
Mel: How do you feel about a mustard, ketchup, salsa wrap for lunch?
Coraline: Are you kidding me?
Mel: Had to go food shopping, anyway. Dad's planning something special.
Coraline: Grossgusting. 
Mel: You wanna come along? You can pick out something you like.
Coraline: Oh. Like the gloves.
Mel: Look, Coraline, if things go well
today, I promise I'll make it up.
Coraline: That's what you always say.
Mel: Won't be long.
Coraline: But I might be.
[Coraline pulls open the key drawer, looking for the small black key. Not there. She looks around, then spots it hanging on a hook above a door. She stands on a chair and snags it. Coraline stoops in front of the small door and pushes the key into the keyhole and unlocks the door. She listens for her mother's car. Nothing. Grasping the key between thumb and forefinger, she closes her eyes, she pulls the door open. She  knows before her eyes open that the BRICKS ARE GONE.]
Coraline: I knew it was real.
[As she heads to the other world, the cat watches from outside the house before heading off. In the other world, Coraline goes to the kitchen to find tons of snacks and a box waiting for her. She finds a letter on top of it and reads it.]
Other Mother: (voiceover) Dearest Coraline, Miss Spink and Miss Forcible have invited you downstairs after lunch. I hope you like the new outfit I made you. Love, Mother.
[She opens the box to see her new outfit. Later after dinner, she exits the house, burps and pats her stomach. She hears a meow nearby and looks up to see the cat.] 
Coraline: Wybie's got a cat like you at home. Not the quiet Wybie. The one that talks too much. You must be the other cat.
[Suddenly, the cat speaks.]
Cat: No, I'm not the other anything. I'm me.
Coraline: Um... I can see you don't have button eyes, but if you're the same cat, how can you talk?
Cat: I just can.
Coraline: Cats don't talk at home.
Cat: No?
Coraline: Nope.
Cat: Well, you're clearly the expert on these things. After all, I'm just a big fat wuss puss.
Coraline: Come back. Please? I'm sorry I called you that. I really am. How'd you get here?
Cat: I've been coming here for a while. It's a game we play. She hates cats and tries to keep me out, but she can't, of course. I come and go as I please.
Coraline: The other mother hates cats?
Cat: Not like any mother I've ever known.
Coraline: What do you mean? She's amazing.
Cat: You probably think this world is a dream come true, but you're wrong. The other Wybie told me so.
Coraline: That's nonsense. He can't talk.
Cat: Perhaps not to you. We cats, however, have far superior senses than humans, and can see and smell and... Shh! I hear something. Right over... 
[Coraline shrugs, skeptical, and heads down to Spink and Forcible's, their door now circled with CHASER LIGHTS. She pushes past elegant VELVET CURTAINS to discover an enormous, darkened THEATER with dim rows of seats and a high WOODEN STAGE. A FLASHLIGHT comes towards her, carried by a black SCOTTIE DOG with button eyes. He looks up at her, sniffs, then leads her down the aisle past rows and rows of BUTTON-EYED SCOTTIES, to a front seat by the Other Wybie.] 
Coraline: Hey, Wybie.
[   Light flash, the audience quiets, then the curtains open on a SEASIDE SETTING with ROTATING WAVES. OTHER MISS PINK rises up on stage left, in a MERMAID SUIT, large IG, BUTTON EYES, and UKULELE.]
 
Coraline: She's practically naked!
 
Other Miss Spink: (sings) I'm known as the siren of all seven seas. The breaker of hearts by the bay. So if you go swimming with bowlegged women, I might steal your weak heart away.
 [She bows her head and the audience of dogs THUMP their tails. Spink is LOWERED through the stage floor, the SCENERY CHANGES, and on the right, a huge SCALLOP SHELL RISES up with the OTHER MISS FORCIBLE, clad in the bare minimum - her homage to Botticelli's BIRTH OF VENUS. She's facing the wrong way.]
Coraline: Oh, my God.
Other Miss Forcible: (sings) A big-bottomed sea witch may bob through the waves and hope to lead sailors astray.
But a true ocean goddess must fill out her bodice to present an alluring display.
Other Miss Spink: Beware of old oysters too large in the chest.
Let's banish them from the buffet.
I'm far more nutritious.
Other Miss Forcible: You smell like the fishes.
Other Miss Spink: Did I hear a banshee?
You're sea green with envy.
This mermaid enchantress.
Other Miss Forcible: No, I, Birth of Venus.
Both: Will send sailors swooning...
Will send sailors swooning all day.
Coraline: I can't look.
Other Miss Spink: Ready to break a leg, Miriam?
 
Other Miss Forible: Our lives for the theater, April.
"What a piece of work is man!
"How noble in reason!"
"How infinite in faculty. "
"In form, in moving
how express and admirable!"
"In action
like an angel. "
"In apprehension
how like a god!"
"The beauty of the world!"
"The paragon of animals!"
Yeah!
Hey, there.
Other Mother: Was it wonderful, dear?
Coraline: Oh, yeah. They swooped down and
pulled me right out of my seat, Spink and Forcible, only they weren't old ladies. That was just a disguise. But then, I was flying through the air, and it was... It was magic.
Other Mother: You do like it here, don't you, Coraline?
Coraline: Uh-huh. Good night, Wybie.
Other Mother: You could stay here
forever if you want to.
Coraline: Really?
Other Father: Sure. We'll sing and play games, and Mother will cook your favorite meals.
Other Mother: There's one tiny little thing we need to do.
Coraline: What's that?
Other Father: Well, it's a surprise.
[  Coraline is seated in her place. The Other Mother places a SMALL BOX with a bow in front of her, and takes her seat along with Other Father.] 
Other Mother: For you, our little doll.
[Coraline opens up the box and it reveals to be a needle and thread with button eyes. She grows scared of this.]
Other Mother: Black is traditional. But if you'd prefer pink or vermillion or chartreuse... Though you might make me jealous.
Coraline: No way! You're not sewing buttons in my eyes!
Other Mother: But we need a "yes" if you want to stay here.
Other Father: So sharp you won't feel a... (Other Mother nudges him) Ow!
Other Mother: There, now. It's your decision, darling. We only want what's best for you.
Coraline: I'm going to bed. Right now!
Other Mother: Bed?
Other Father: Before dinner?
Coraline: I'm really, really tired. Yeah. I just need to
sleep on things.
Other Mother: Well, of course you do, darling. I'll be happy to tuck you in.
Coraline: Oh, no, thanks. You've done so much already.
Other Mother: You're welcome. And I... We aren't worried
at all, darling. Soon you'll
see things our way.
[She and the Other Father herd Coraline across the hallway to the stairs. Coraline carefully climbs the stairs, the Other Parents watching. When they can no longer see her, she RACES up the last steps and DASHES to her Other Bedroom. Coraline shuts the door and is quickly surrounded by fluttering DRAGONFLIES.]
Paper Dragonflies: What's wrong, Coraline? Don't you wanna play?
Toy Squid: Yeah! I wanna hug your face!
Giraffe: Get a grip, soldier!
Both: Hey!
[Her PHOTO FRIENDS - NOW WITH BLACK BUTTONS FOR EYES - call out from the photo by her bed.]
Picture Boy: Where's your buttons, Loper?
Picture Girl: You want to stay, don't you?
Coraline: Going home tonight, robots, and I won't be back.
Go to sleep. Go to sleep. Go to sleep.
Go to sleep. Go to sleep.
A tiny little thing we need to do.
Go to sleep. Go to sleep. Go to sleep.
So sharp you won't feel a thing.
Go to sleep. Go to sleep.
Soon you'll see things our way.
Mom! Dad!
[However, to her surprise, she's still in the other world.]
Coraline: Oh, God. I'm still here?
[ Coraline races downstairs to the Other Living Room where  the little door home must be! But the living room is locked. Hearing piano notes, Coraline Coraline opens the door and finds the Other Father sitting at the piano, his back to her, hitting the note. She speaks in her bravest voice.]
Coraline: Hey, you! Where's the other mother? I wanna go home.
Other Father: All will be swell, soon as Mother's refreshed. Her strength is our strength. Mustn't talk when Mother's not here.
Coraline: If you won't even talk to me, I'm gonna find the other Wybie. He'll help me.
Other Father: No point. He pulled a long face, and Mother didn't like it.
[ The piano pop out again, aggressively shut his mouth and spins him away from Coraline. Terrified, Coralines leaves the house.]
Cat: And what do you think you're doing?
Coraline: Well, I'm getting out of here. That's what I'm doing.
[As they walk farther, Coraline realized there is nothing but a white void.]
Coraline: Huh? Something's wrong. Shouldn't the old well be here?
Cat: Nothing out here. It's the empty part of this world. She only made what she knew would impress you.
Coraline: But why? Why does she want me?
Cat: She wants something to love, I think. Something that isn't her. Or maybe she'd just love something to eat.
Coraline: Eat? That's ridiculous. Mothers don't eat daughters.
Cat: I don't know. How do you taste?
[Once they made it to the other side, Coraline wasshocked to see the Other House once the other world gets restored.]
Coraline: Huh? But how can you walk away from something and still come back to it?
Cat: Walk around the world.
Coraline: Small world.
Cat: Hang on.
[ He bounds towards the shrub and chases out a CUTE KANGAROO MOUSE in uniform with a TINY TRUMPET. Before Coraline can blink, he's PINNED IT DOWN.]
Coraline: Stop! He's one of the circus mice!
[The cat bites on the circus mouse, killing it. Coraline gasps. It spills out sand as it turns into a rat.]
Cat: I don't like rats at the best of times, but this one was sounding an alarm.
Coraline: Good kitty.
[ Coraline, standing in front of the living room doors, TESTS the cane in her hands, and peers down the hall for danger. It's dead quiet -- no piano, no sounds of anything. She JAMS the cane through the doors' handles, and PULLS with all her might. One HANDLE AND LOCK BREAK and the door swings open into the pitch black living room. The hall light casts a narrow path directly to the Other Little Door on the far wall, cracked open. She steps into the room.
A huge ARMOIRE BUG suddenly crab-steps in her path, blocking the little door, and all around her things start to glow. The room has been TRANSFORMED into an amazing BUG MUSEUM, with all sorts of glowing, living specimens in the place of the old furniture and furnishings. The radiators are now big caterpillars, the Nordic Track a serving bug.]
 
Other Mother: They say even the proudest spirit can be broken with love. Of course, chocolate never hurts. Like one? They're cocoa beetles from Zanzibar.
Coraline: I want to be with my real mom and dad. I want you to let me go.
Other Mother: Is that any way to talk to your mother?
Coraline: You aren't my mother.
Other Mother: Apologize at once, Coraline!
Coraline: No!
Other Mother: I'll give you to the count of three. (as she starts transforming) One. Two.
[Soon, she transforms into her tall and terrifying form.]
Beldam: Three!
[She grabs Coraline by the ear and drags her away.]
Coraline: Ow! What are you doing? Ow! That hurts!
[She then throws Coraline into a dark room.]
Beldam: You may come out when you've learned to be a loving daughter. 
Coraline: Who's there?
Hush! And shush.
For the beldam might be listening.
Coraline: You... You mean the other mother? Who are you?
 
Don't remember our names, but I 'member my true mommy.
Coraline: Why are you all here?
The beldam.
 
She spied on our lives through the little doll's eyes.
And saw that we weren't happy.
So she lured us away with treasures. And treats.
And games to play.
Gave all that we asked.
Yet we still wanted more.
So we let her sew the buttons.
She said that she loved us.
But she locked us here.
And ate up our lives.
Coraline: Well, she can't keep me in the dark forever. Not if she wants to win my life. Beating her is my only chance.
Perhaps, if you do win your escape, you could find our eyes.
Coraline: Has she taken those, too?
Yes, miss. And hidden them.
Find our eyes, mistress, and our souls will be freed.
Coraline: I... I'll try.
[?]
 
Coraline: Wybie?
[?]
Did she do this to you?
I hope that feels...
Shh!
Beldam: (offscreen) Coraline? Is that you?
Coraline: Let's go!
Beldam: (offscreen) Coraline!
Coraline: Come on! She'll hurt you again.
Beldam: (offscreen) Coraline! How dare you disobey your mother! Coraline!
Coraline: I'm home! Anybody here? 
Hello? Hello, hello! 
Real Dad? 
Real Mom? 
Oh, Mom's groceries!
Coraline: Ugh! That's disgusting.
I missed you guys so much, you'll never...
 
Oh. The Wybie that talks.
Wybie: Huh? Yeah, so, you know
that old doll I gave you? Um... My grandma's real mad. Says it was her sister's. The one that disappeared.
Coraline: You stole that doll,
didn't you? 
Wybie: Well, it looked just like you, and I figured...
Coraline: It used to look like this pioneer girl, then Huck Finn Jr. then it was this Little Rascals chick... ...with all these ribbons and braids and...[realizing] Grandma's missing sister! I think I just met her. Come on.
[She drags Wybie into the house.]
Wybie: Listen, I'm really not supposed to...
Coraline: She's in there.
Wybie: Can you... Can you unlock it?
Coraline: Not in a million years. But it wouldn't matter. She can't escape
without her eyes. None of the ghosts can.
Wybie: Yeah. So I really need to get that doll.
Coraline: Great! I'd love to
get rid of it. Where are you hiding, you little monster?
Wybie: You and Grandma been talking? 
Coraline: The doll's her spy. It's how she watches you, finds out what's wrong with your life.
Wybie: The doll is my grandma's spy?
Coraline: No. The Other Mother. She's got this whole world where everything's better. The food, the garden, the neighbors. But it's all a trap.
Wybie: Yeah, I think I heard someone calling me, Jonesy.
Coraline: Don't believe me?
You can ask the cat.
Wybie: The cat? I'll just tell Grandma that you couldn't find the doll. Ow!
Coraline: You're not listening to me!
Wybie: That's 'cause you're crazy!
Coraline: You creep!
 
Wybie: Crazy!
Coraline: Crazy? You're the jerk wad that gave me the doll!
Mom! Dad!
Pick it up, Dad. Pick it up.
DAD ON ANSWERING Hi!
Coraline: Dad! Where... 
I'm digging in my garden right now, but leave a message and I'll get right back to you.
Coraline: Where have you gone?
Uh... Don't you only make wings for the dead ones?
Just looking ahead, dear.
Angus hasn't been feeling very well of late.
Miriam: April? Aren't you getting ready?
April: We've lost our ride, Miriam. Caroline says her parents
have vanished quite completely.
What?
We've waited months for those tickets.
I suppose we could walk.
With your gammy legs?
It's nearly two
miles to the theater.
Oh, yes.
Your missing parents.
We know
just what you need.
Miriam, get...
That's right.
Coraline: How is 100-year-old
candy gonna help?
April: There you go, sweetie.
Coraline: What's it for?
April: Well, it might help. They're good for bad things sometimes.
Miriam: No. They're good for lost things.
April: It's bad things, Miriam.
Miriam: Lost things, April.
[The two old ladies kept saying "Bad" and "Lost" as Coraline leaves. Later that night, Coraline went to her parent's bedroom. She places dummies of her mother and father and kisses them goodnight.]
Coraline: Good night, Mom. Good night, Dad.
[She goes to sleep, weeping. Later, she finds the cat inside the house.]
Coraline: Hello. How did you get in? Do you know where Mom and Dad are?
[The cat nodded and showed her the way. In the hallway, Coraline looked in the mirror and saw her parents, frozen and trapped.]
Coraline: Mom? Dad!
How did this happen?
She's taken them.
They're not coming back, are they? Mom and Dad. Not on their own. Only one thing to do.
Cat: You know, you're walking right into her trap.
Coraline: I have to go back. They are my parents.
Cat: Challenge her, then. She may not play fair,
but she won't refuse. She's got a thing for games.
Coraline: Okay.
Mel: Coraline?
Coraline: Mom?
Mel: Coraline! You came back for us.
Coraline: Mom!
Beldam: (offscreen) Darling, why would you run away from me?
[She looks up to see Mel transform into the Beldam. It was a trick!]
Coraline: Where are my parents?
Beldam: Gosh, I have no idea where your old parents are. Perhaps they've grown bored of you and run away to France.
Coraline: They weren't bored of me. You stole them!
Beldam: Now, don't be difficult, Coraline. Have a seat, won't you?
Coraline: Why don't you have your own key?
Other Father: Only one key.
Beldam: Shh! The garden squash need tending, don't you think, pumpkin?
Other Father: Squish-squash, pumpkin sauce.
Coraline: Mom? Dad? Where'd she hide you?
Beldam: Breakfast time!
 
Be strong, Coraline.
Coraline: Why don't we play a game? I know you like them.
Beldam: Everybody likes games. Uh-huh. What kind of game would it be?
Coraline: An exploring game. A finding things game.
Beldam: And what is it you'd be finding, Coraline?
Coraline: My real parents.
Beldam: Too easy.
Coraline: And the eyes of the ghost children.
Beldam: Huh. What if you don't find them?
Coraline: If I lose, I'll stay here with you forever and let you love me. And I'll let you sew buttons into my eyes.
Beldam: And if you somehow win this game?
Coraline: Then you let me go. You let everyone go. My real father and mother, the dead children, everyone you've trapped here.
Beldam: Deal.
Coraline: Not till you give me a clue.
Beldam: Oh, right. In each of three wonders I've made just for you, a ghost's eye is lost in plain sight.
Coraline: And for my parents? Fine. Don't tell me. It's a deal.
What does she mean, "wonders?"
Hmm.
Ugh!
No!
Stop!
Why steal this?
Wow!
That must be it!
Other Father: Sorry.
So sorry. Mother making me.
Don't wanna hurt you!
Take it!
Bless you, miss. You found me! But there's two eyes still lost.
Coraline: Don't worry. I'm getting the hang of it.
 
The pearl.
Thief! Thief!
Give it back!
Give it back!
Thief!
Thief!
Give it back!
Thief!
Thief!
Give it back!
Thief!
Thief!
Give it back!
Give it back!
Thief!
Give it back!
Give it back!
Thief!
Thief!
Thief!
Stop! Stop! Thief! Thief!
Thief! Stop!
Hurry on, girl. Her web is unwinding.
Coraline: Oh, Wybie. Evil witch! I'm not scared!
Other Bobinsky: Hello, galoobooshka.
Coraline: I'm Coraline.
Other Bobinsky: Is this what you're looking for?
Coraline: Uh-huh.
Other Bobinsky: You think winning game is good thing? You'll just go home and be bored and neglected, same as always. Stay here with us. We will listen to you and laugh with you. If you stay here, you can have whatever you want. Always!
Coraline: You don't get it, do you?
 
Other Bobinsky: I don't understand.
Coraline: Of course you don't understand. You're just a copy she made of the real Mr. B.
Other Bobinsky: Not even that anymore.
No!
No!
Oh, God. I've lost the game. I've lost everything.
Cat: I think I mentioned that I don't like rats at the best of times.
Coraline: I think you might have said something like that.
Cat: It looked like you needed this one, however.
Coraline: Thank you.
I'm heading inside. I still have to find my parents.
Come on, quickly!
[Once Coraline and the cat enter, they were aware that the Beldam is here. She had completely changed. Her face was white with cracks on it. She is withered to the bone; with plate-like shoulders and hips; her bustle now an arachnid's tail section.]
Beldam: So you're back. And you brought vermin with you.
Coraline: No. I... I brought a friend.
Beldam: You know I love you.
Coraline: You have a very funny way of showing it.
Beldam: So where are they? The ghost eyes?
Coraline: Hold on. We aren't finished yet. Are we?
Beldam: No, I suppose not. After all, you still need to find your old parents, don't you? Too bad you won't have this.
Be clever, miss. Even if you win, she'll never let you go!
Coraline: I already know where you've hidden them.
Beldam: Well, produce them.
Coraline: They're behind that door.
Beldam: Oh, they are, are they?
Cat: [quietly] There.
Coraline: Mom. Dad.
Coraline: Go on. Open it. They'll be there, all right.
Beldam: You're wrong, Coraline. They aren't there. Now you're going to stay here forever.
Coraline: No, I'm not!
No!
 
You horrible cheating girl!
No! Where are you? You selfish brat!
You dare disobey your mother?
Please shut it!
Beldam: Don't leave me! Don't leave me! I'll die without you!
Mel: Coraline, we're home.
Coraline: Mom! Dad! I missed you so much!
Mel: Missed us? Oh, no. You broke my
favorite snow globe. 
Coraline: I didn't break it. It must've broke
when you escaped.
Mel: And cut your knee.
Coraline: Coraline, I asked you to count all the windows, not put your knee through them.
But...
 
Mel: Well, get yourself cleaned up. We're going out tonight.
We got a lot to celebrate.
Coraline: You're talking about your garden catalog?
 
Mel: Of course. What else?
Coraline: But look at the snow on your...
Mel: What's gotten into you, Coraline?
So, gonna order the tulips?
What's that?
For the garden party?
I have no idea what you're talking about.
Dad! So, Ma, invitations?
Don't forget the invitations.
Even Bobinsky?
Coraline: Mr. B.'s not drunk, Mom. He's just eccentric.
Good night, Coraline.
Coraline: Oh. Hello again. You still mad? I'm really sorry I threw you at her, the other mother. It was all I could think of.
I think it's time, don't you? To set them free?
It's a fine, fine thing you did for us, miss.
Coraline: Well, I'm glad it's finally over.
It is over and
done with for us.
Coraline: What about me?
You're in
terrible danger, girl!
Coraline: But how? I locked the door!
It's the key, miss.
There's only one, and the beldam will find it.
'Tain't all bad, miss.
Thou art alive. Thou art still living.
Coraline: I gotta hide this somewhere, somewhere she can never...
Out of my way!
Oh, my twitchy-witchy girl I think you are so nice.
I give you bowls of porridge and I give you bowls of ice cream.
I give you lots of kisses.
And I give you lots of hugs.
But I never give you sandwiches.
With grease and worms and mung...
...beans
Wybie: I'm really sorry I didn't believe you about all this evil stuff, Coraline.
Coraline: Why did you change your mind?
[He shows her a picture of his grandma and her sister.]
Wybie: Well, Grandma showed me this picture after I called you crazy. It's her and her sister, before she disappeared.
Coraline: The Sweet Ghost Girl.
Miss Lovat: (offscreen) Wyborne! Come home!
Wybie: Oh, man. What am I gonna tell her?
Coraline: Just bring her by the house tomorrow. We can tell her together.
Wybie: We... We can?
Coraline: You know, I'm glad you decided to stalk me.
Wybie: It wasn't my idea.
Coraline: Thanks for helping me, Miss Spink, Miss Forcible.
Miriam: Oh, look, April. Pink ladies!
Coraline: Actually, it's just lemonade. How's Angus doing?
Oh, much better, dear, but he can't duck his wings forever.
Charlie: Here comes a burp.
Mel: Charlie!
Charlie: Excusez-moi, but that pizza, that was delicious.
Cold drinks?
Oh, yeah. Great.
Mel: You were right, Coraline. I really hate dirt! But the tulips look nice.
Coraline: Thanks, Mom.
That is possible.
Coraline: How are the mooshkas, Mr. B?
Mr. B: They tell me that you
are savior, Caroline. And soon as they are ready, they wish to give special thanks you performance.
Miss Lovat: Wyborne, I know where I'm going. I grew up here.
Coraline: Welcome, Miss Lovat!
Miss Lovat: Oh. Hello.
Coraline: I'm Coraline Jones. I've got so much to tell you.
Here.
Thanks.
Do you want to pop a little gin in it, dear?
Of course.
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