Night Fright/Transcript

Introduction

A thunderstorm at night. Arthur and Pal are lying in bed. Pal snores. Arthur is awake.

Bed Monster: Will you stop that snoring? I'm trying to sleep.

Closet Monster: Stop yelling. You're giving me such a headache. Everything echoes in this closet.

Bed Monster: You think you got a headache? Listen to that snore! Like a dump truck without a muffler!    Pal rolls over and keeps snoring.   Oh, my aching head!

Closet Monster: I asked you nicely. Don't make me come out there!   Arthur hides under the blanket.

Arthur: Ever have one of those nights you couldn't sleep because of the monsters under your bed and in your closet?

Bed Monster: Come on out here! I dare ya!    He throws a shoe into the closet

Closet Monster: Ow! You hit me! I’m gonna give you such a pinch.     He throws a pair of tongs.

Bed Monster: Ow! Come and get me, chicken!  He throws the other shoe.    (clucks like a chicken)

Both monsters keep throwing things at each other.

Closet Monster: Come out from under that bed, scaredy cat!

#

Sue Ellen: Then it slammed shut -Bam!- and could never be opened again

Kids: Hh!

Binky comes.

Binky: What’s she talking about?

Francine: That first Scare-Your-Pants-Off video: ‘The Lunchbox of Notre Dame’.

Arthur: That’s the scariest thing I ever heard.

Buster: Augh!

Arthur: It wasn’t that scary.

Buster holds a crumpled piece of paper.

Buster: Not that. I just wrecked my homework. And I have to give it to Mr. Ratburn.

Kids: Hh!

Arthur: Ha! Okay. That’s the scariest thing I ever heard. (laughs)

Binky: (laughs) What a bunch of little babies! Oh, I’m so scared.

Mr. Ratburn has listened to the conversation from a window.

Mr. Ratburn: Hm.

#

Mr. Ratburn: Since scary books and videos are so popular, let’s talk about things that scare us. Anyone want to name something that scares them?

Muffy: The roller coaster at Wonderworld.

Arthur: Ventriloquists' dummies. I mean, what's all that about, anyway? Weird!

Buster: A spoon.

Francine: A spoon?

Buster: When it's stuck in pudding.

Francine: So?

Buster: Like in ‘The Lunchbox of Notre Dame’.

The other kids look scared.

Class: Hh!

Binky smiles and shakes his head.

Mr. Ratburn: What about you, Binky?

Binky: Er... My only fear...

In his fantasy, he walks along a corridor. He is shown from below to make him seem bigger.

Binky: …is that I might get so strong, the whole school will fall down when I shut the door.

He leaves the school and slams the door so hard, that the whole building, except for the door, collapses.

Binky: Oops! The door falls over. Other than that...

The fantasy ends.

Binky: …nothing scares me. Nothing!

Mr. Ratburn: Mmm...

#

Buster: My mom's here. See you later.

He runs to the car.

Mrs. Baxter: Close that raincoat, you’ll get double pneumonia!

The Baxters drive off and another car pulls up.

Francine: Mom, yahoo!

She runs to the car.

Binky: Maybe your parents forgot about you.

Arthur: No, they're coming from my Aunt Lucy's house. It’s pretty far.

Binky: If they don't come, you'll be alone in an empty school all night.

Arthur: Uh-uh.

Binky: Uh-huh. A car horn sounds. That's my mom! Too bad. I guess you'll be here all alone. Ooh-hoo-hoo-hoo.

He runs to the car, leaving Arthur alone. Mrs. Barnes looks out of the car window.

Mrs. Barnes: Arthur, your mom called me. Your family has to spend the night at your aunt's because they had car trouble. So you'll be spending the night at our house. You can share Binky's room.

Binky’s gloating smile disappears.

Binky: He... uh-uh-ah!

#

Mr. Barnes: Binky's pajamas don't exactly fit you, but they'll do.

Mrs. Barnes closes a window in the hallway when Binky looks out of the bathroom.

Binky: My teeth are all brushed. I'm ready for bed!

Mrs. Barnes: Arthur's already in your room.

Binky: What?!

He runs to his room. Arthur is lying in his sleeping bag. The night-light is between the bed and a nightstand, so Arthur cannot see it.

Binky: Hh!! Um, good night!

He jumps into bed and grabs the night-light.

Arthur: Hey, what's that?

Binky: What?

Arthur: In your hand.

Binky: There's nothing in my hand. Hgn. See?

He shows one empty hand.

Arthur: The other hand. Behind your back.

Binky: What, this? It's a... my reading lamp.

He plugs it in.

Arthur: Hm. How do you read down there?

Binky: Like this.

He puts a book on the floor and leans out of the bed.

Arthur: Doesn't look very comfortable.

Binky rubs his head where he banged it against the nightstand.

Binky: Hey, I don't read a lot, okay? Good night.

He lies down.

Arthur: Hey, you forgot to turn off the light.

Binky: Oh, yeah. (giggles)

He walks to the light switch beside the door. Thunder and lightning.

Arthur: Kind of scary.

Binky: Will you go to sleep.

Binky falls asleep and dreams that he is standing on a hill made of hamburgers surrounded by alpine peaks.

Binky: The hills are alive with the smell of burgers, and they're all mine!

He picks up a burger and wants to eat it.

Burger Child: Oh… Aah! Mama, he's gonna bite me! Mama!

Burger Mom: I'm coming, sonny!

Binky: Huh?!

A giant Burger appears behind the hill.

Burger Mom: Put down my boy, you big bully!

Burger Child: Now you're gonna get it!

Binky drops the burger.

Binky: Ah-ah-aaaugh!

Binky dances on the spot, then runs away over hills of burgers, pursued by the giant one.

Burger Children: Ow! Hey! Ow! (scream) Over here! Quick, he's over here! Get him!

Binky runs through a city. The buildings look like bags of fries and soft drinks.

Binky: (screams)

Binky hides behind a soda cup. One of the straws in the cup bends down to him.

Binky: (pants)

A hotdog, a ketchup bottle and a mustard bottle fly after Binky as the burger mom advances.

Burger Mom: You’re dead meat!

Binky: No! No!

Binky backs against a wall and the bottles squirt ketchup and mustard at him.

Binky: No!

Binky continues running.

Binky: (pants) Hh!

A search beam from a hotdog helicopter falls on him. A large French fry bag is in front of him. French fries jump out and surround him as the burger mom advances.

French fries: We have you surrounded and there's no wat out!

Binky: Wait! I didn't eat anything. Help! He runs away and being captured in the night-light, looking out of the clowns eyes.

Binky: Let me out of here!

Arthur kneels in front of the night-light.

Arthur: Everybody ready to see Binky's widdle nightwight?

Binky: No! Let me out!

The classmates stand in a half circle around the night-light.

Kids: (mean laugh)

The dream ends and Binky wakes with a start. Arthur is asleep.

Binky: Nooo!

Arthur: What's happening?

Mrs. Barnes comes in.

Mrs. Barnes: Oh, honey... You forgot to turn on your night-light.

She plugs it in and leaves.

Mrs. Barnes: There. Now you won’t have any more nightmares.

Binky: I have nightmares if I don't turn the night-light on. Okay?

Arthur: (yawns) Huh?

He falls asleep.

Binky: So go to sleep.

Arthur: (snores)

#

Binky: See you, Binky!

Binky stands in the window. His classmates appear as reflections.

Arthur’s Voice: Binky sleeps with a night-light!

Kids: (laugh)

Muffy: What a baby!

#

Arthur: Hh!

Binky: You'd better not tell anyone!

Arthur: Tell anyone what?

Buster and Francine approach.

Buster: So then, the Bionic Bunny crashed through the wall, just as the bomb was about to explode.

Binky: Oh… Okay, you win. Anything you want, pal. Those books look heavy. Let me carry ‘em. Get out of the way, Arthur’s coming through!

He leads Arthur to the school. Buster, Francine and Brain look surprised.

#

Mr. Ratburn: Yesterday, we've talked about things that scare us. Let's go around the room and hear ways you use to help yourself feel less afraid.

The class talk about what scares them.

Sue Ellen: Cemeteries scare me. So whenever I have to walk by one, I whistle.     Sue Ellen is shown whistling in a cemetery.     It works.

Brain: When I’m worried, I use a laser I built to shine a light on the moon.     Brain is shown with a laser that makes the moon sizzle.    That makes me feel better. I don’t know why.

Francine: When I’m nervous, I talk to my old stuffed lobster Bob.     She hold up a toy lobster.

Mr. Ratburn: How do you deal with your fears, Arthur?

Arthur: Uh...

Binky: (thinks:) If he tells, everyone will laugh at me. If he doesn't tell, I'm his slave for the rest of my life. Oh man, what do I do now?   (loud:) Oh, oh, oh, I wanna go next!

Mr. Ratburn: If that's okay with Arthur.    Arthur nods.

Binky: I have nightmares, but when I use a night-light, I can get to sleep.

Mr. Ratburn: Good, Binky. That's very common one. Very normal.

Binky: It is? Yeah!    Yeah. It's normal. What are you looking at?

After school Arthur goes home with Buster. Binky runs after them.

Binky: Hey, Arthur, wait up!   Look, about the way I've been acting, I just wanted to say...

Arthur: Binky, don’t worry. It's okay.

Binky: No, it's not okay. I paid for your lunch and you've got to pay me back. And that racing car racer I gave you, fork it over. And I gave you my dessert, and wiped that mud off your shoes and put three and a half glue on your collage…