In this project, I aim to draw links between the fictional story that addresses poverty happening right outside the “utopian world” of Disney World.
- Greetings from Florida, “The Land of Sunshine”” Postcard. Illustration. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016.
quest.eb.com/search/129_1712583/1/129_1712583/cite. Accessed 4 May 2020.
INT. MAGIC CASTLE – ROOM 323 – NIGHT
Halley and Moonee eat a cheese pizza on the bed.
MOONEE
Where’s the iPad?
HALLEY
Sold.
MOONEE
What?
38.
HALLEY
Had to sell it.
MOONEE
But why?
HALLEY
Whatever, Moonee. This room costs
money.
Moonee is disappointed.
MOONEE
You know I like pepperoni.
HALLEY
Pepperoni costs money.
The two sit in silence while watching the TV. Halley sideeyes her daughter. She knows the Moonee is upset.
Halley gets off the bed and grabs a bag of gummy bears.
HALLEY (CONT’D)
But look…
She sprinkles gummy bears onto the pie.
HALLEY (CONT’D)
We got gummy bear pizza!
Moonee loves it.
EXT. FANCY HOTEL – PARKING LOT – DAY
Continuation of the “candid camera” style. Halley and Moonee
attempt to sell more perfume to pedestrians. Moonee sells
just as hard as her mother.
After one too many rejections, Halley asks a GOLFER if he
could spare a couple of bucks. The man hands over a few
singles.
Halley is distracted from a perfume sale, she turns to see a
SECURITY GUARD approaching in a gold cart. She grabs Moonee
and begins to walk swiftly out of the parking lot.
SECURITY GUARD
Hey! Come back!
HALLEY
It’s fine. We’re leaving.
SECURITY GUARD
I need you to come with me.
Halley speeds up the pace, pulling Moonee.
SECURITY GUARD (CONT’D)
You hear me? You were soliciting.
- Jobless New Yorkers selling apples on the pavement, 1930 . Photograph. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016. quest.eb.com/search/108_281633/1/108_281633/cite. Accessed 4 May 2020.
HALLEY
You’re not a real cop.
SECURITY GUARD
You can’t do that on our property.
Police are on the way
- Police have a word with a street trader selling leather goods on Oxford Street. . Photograph. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016.
quest.eb.com/search/172_413670/1/172_413670/cite. Accessed 4 May 2020.
and I need to
confiscate that.
48.
A tug of war over the bag of perfume ends in the entire bag
exploding onto the pavement.
HALLEY
Fuck! You fucking bitch!
Halley grabs Moonee and drags her away.
INT. MAGIC CASTLE – ROOM 323 – DAY
Halley is sitting on the bed smoking a blunt. Huddled next to
her are Moonee, Scooty and Jancey. They are playing a game on
the iPad.
A LOUD KNOCK at the door. The kids look at each other.
20.
HALLEY
Yeah?
BOBBY
Halley. Open the door.
Halley looks over at the three kids. They look guilty.
HALLEY
(even-keeled)
Fuckin’ A. What did you do now?
She snubs out the blunt and grabs a can of air freshener and
blasts the air.
BOBBY (O.S.)
Halley, open up, now.
Halley gets off the bed and approaches the door, pissed.
MOONEE
(whispering to Jancey)
Don’t act guilty.
Halley opens the door.
HALLEY
Yeah?
BOBBY
I have a video of the kids
illegally entering the utilities
closet and pulling the power.
JANCEY
They told me that I could be part
of the club if I did it.
Halley laughs — causing Moonee and Scooty to laugh.
HALLEY
That’s lit.
BOBBY
Funny right? Happens again and
you’re gone. Second week of summer
and there’s already been a dead
fish in the pool–
MOONEE
It was an experiment. We were
trying to bring it back to life!
21.
BOBBY
…and water balloons at some
tourists. You don’t mess with
tourists.
SCOOTY
They didn’t tip us!
MOONEE
Damn non-tippers!
HALLEY
(turns to Bobby)
Oh God. Are you serious?
BOBBY
Quite serious.
HALLEY
My God. This is unacceptable.
Bobby realizes she is being facetious.
HALLEY (CONT’D)
I’ve failed as a mother. Moonee,
you’ve disgraced me!
Halley bursts into a laughing fit that causes Moonee, Scooty
and Jancey to join in with giggles.
BOBBY
Don’t fuck with me right now,
Halley.
HALLEY
Kids having fun. C’mon bro.
BOBBY
Yeah, so, I lost three hours of
work. Work. You know what that is?
Halley laughs.
BOBBY (CONT’D)
And I’m talking to Ashley, by the
way. If your friend leaves you in
charge of her kid, he becomes your
responsibility and you ain’t taking
responsibility. And this one, isn’t
she from FutureLand?
HALLEY
Oh whatevs. You gotta relax, man.
22.
BOBBY
You gonna redo my expense reports
with your whatevs? Your kid just
killed my night. I wanted to watch
the game. You gonna pay me for the
three hours I gotta work later?
HALLEY
Hey guys, pay the man for his three
hours.
MOONEE
I don’t have any money.
SCOOTY
I don’t have any money.
JANCEY
I have fourteen cents.
HALLEY
We only has fourteen cents. You’re
shit outta luck.
BOBBY
Speaking of… I haven’t gotten
this week’s rent from you.
HALLEY
You don’t think I know that.
She closes the door. Bobby stands outside their door and does
breathing exercises to calm down.
JANCEY
I think I want to go home now.
EXT. MAGIC CASTLE – PLAYGROUND – DAY
Moonee, Jancey and Cubby (now with 2 casts on his arms) are
playing on the dilapidated swingset. Two dogs, BUNSEN and
BOONEE, frolic with the kids. A SUSPICIOUS MAN (70’s)
approaches.
SUSPICIOUS MAN
Hi, Kids. Having fun?
64.
EXT. MAGIC CASTLE – 3RD FLOOR WALKWAY – DAY – CONTINUOUS
Bobby is up on a ladder painting the gutter of the third
floor walkway. Bobby notices the Suspicious Man speaking with
the kids down below. A full bucket of purple paint falls and
almost hits a LUCKY RESIDENT.
LUCKY RESIDENT
What the fuck, Bobby?!
EXT. MAGIC CASTLE – PARKING LOT – DAY – CONTINUOUS
Bobby exits the stairwell and makes a bee-line towards the
playground. Lucky Resident wipes paint off himself.
Bobby turns and walks towards the playground. The commotion
has caused the Suspicious Man to look over and see Bobby
approaching. He begins to walk away.
BOBBY
Excuse me? Can I help you?
SUSPICIOUS MAN
No, that’s okay.
BOBBY
What’s okay? You a guest here?
SUSPICIOUS MAN
Um, no. Just looking for um, a soda
machine.
BOBBY
Yeah, come to a motel to get a
soda?
SUSPICIOUS MAN
Yeah, it’s okay. Thanks anyway.
BOBBY
No, no, no. Follow me.
SUSPICIOUS MAN
No really, it’s okay. I’ll find a
convenience store.
BOBBY
I’ll show you where the machine is.
Come with me.
The suspicious man reluctantly follows Bobby.
65.
BOBBY (CONT’D)
You parched?
SUSPICIOUS MAN
Oh yeah.
BOBBY
Got to whet that palate?
SUSPICIOUS MAN
Yeah. I never did get used to this
humidity.
They walk by the drying paint.
SUSPICIOUS MAN (CONT’D)
Looks like you have stuff to tend
to here. I’ll just go ahead and
find it somewhere else.
BOBBY
No, it’s right over here. Come on.
Bobby escorts the nervous old man over to the soda machine
near the utility room.
BOBBY (CONT’D)
Look at those choices.
The man stands there nervously.
BOBBY (CONT’D)
What are you waiting for?
The man puts coins in the machine and chooses a Fresca.
BOBBY (CONT’D)
What a choice.
SUSPICIOUS MAN
Okay, thank you.
BOBBY
Wait. Thought you were thirsty. Not
going to drink it now?
The jittery man cracks open the can and drinks. Extremely
awkward silence.
BOBBY (CONT’D)
Good?
SUSPICIOUS MAN
Yeah.
66.
The man takes a swig and Bobby slaps the can out of his hand.
BOBBY
Get the fuck out of here now.
The man turns around and begins walking toward the front of
the motel. Bobby is right on his back, very threatening.
BOBBY (CONT’D)
(through gritted teeth)
I see you back on this property
again and you won’t be leaving it,
understand?
SUSPICIOUS MAN
I don’t know what you’re talking
about.
BOBBY
Yeah, you don’t know what I’m
talking about? Gonna play it like
that?
They are passing by the lobby at this point, Bobby grabs the
man in a semi-headlock and reaches into his front pockets.
The feeble man is scared and squirms. Bobby quickly yanks out
a wallet. He opens it and looks at the driver’s license.
BOBBY (CONT’D)
Alright… Charles Coachman of
Cherry Hill, New Jersey…
SUSPICIOUS MAN
What business is that of yours?
Bobby chucks the wallet over his head. The man pathetically
chases after it.
BOBBY
Calling in your name to the
precinct, motherfucker. See you
here again and I swear to God…
The man swiftly walks away towards Route 192.
INT. MAGIC CASTLE – ROOM 323 – BATHROOM – NIGHT
Moonee is in the bathtub. We hear a door open off-screen.
Moonee looks over.
JOHN (30’s) enters the room (we only hear his voice).
JOHN (O.S)
Jesus! There’s a kid in here?!
HALLEY (O.S.)
Dude, I said the bathroom was off
limits!
JOHN (O.S)
I had to piss. This is your kid?
HALLEY (O.S.)
Moonee, pull the shower curtain.
Moonee pulls the curtain. We hearing the sound of urinating
on the other side of the curtain.
72.
EXT. ROUTE 192 – TICKET HUT – DAY
Halley and Moonee visit a nearby theme park ticket hub and
Halley attempts to sell four unused theme park ticket
wristbands to TICKET HUT WORKER.
HALLEY
Do I look like a ticket scammer?
These were never used, they don’t
have the biometric finger print
thingies or whatever they are
assigned to them yet.
TICKET HUT WORKER
I understand but still not
interested.
HALLEY
Who’s gonna know?
TICKET HUT WORKER
I don’t know what to tell you. Try
at the parks.
EXT. ROUTE 192 – TICKET HUT – LATER
Halley and Moonee loiter a bit further away from Ticket Hut.
A rental car pulls into the lot with BRITISH MOM, BRITISH
BOY, BRITISH DAD. Dad hops out and walks toward the ticket
place.
HALLEY
Hey, you going in there?
BRITISH DAD
I am.
HALLEY
Don’t buy from these places, they
rope you into to buying timeshares.
I got some I’m trying to sell.
BRITISH DAD
No thank you.
HALLEY
Dude, they’ll make you do a two
hour tour and hard sell you, you
really wanna do that shit on your
vacation?
Moonee holds out the multi-colored MagicBands displayed on
her wrist like a used watch salesman.
73.
BRITISH DAD
You’re selling the ticket bands?
HALLEY
I have four, they charge $164 per
day so, that’s like $600, so I can
do $400 cash.
BRITISH DAD
And these will work? No tricks?
HALLEY
They’re totally unused. My family
had to cancel our vacation and they
don’t give refunds. But we didn’t
use them, they’ll work, I could
even go with you to the front gates
or whatever so you know I’m for
real.
BRITISH DAD
These are Park-Hoppers, yeah?
HALLEY
Sure. Yeah.
TICKET-BUYING DAD
Okay. Yeah. Okay. Shall we say
$250?
HALLEY
Cash?
BRITISH DAD
Yeah.
HALLEY
Lowest I can go is $300. And that’s
a steal, man.
BRITISH DAD
Right then.
The dad takes out the cash.
HALLEY
Give the man the bands, Moon.
Moonee reluctantly gives him the MagicBands, Halley takes the
cash.
BRITISH DAD
Thanks, sweetheart.
74.
INT./EXT. DOLLAR STORE – DAY
Halley brings Moonee on a shopping spree and plays in the
aisles of the Dollar Store. They exit and Halley pushes
Moonee home in the shopping cart. They put on British
accents, making fun of the dad they just sold bands to.
EXT. ROUTE 192 – DAY
The John catches up to Moonee and Jancey on the side of the
road.
JOHN
Hey! You two! Hey, girls! Yeah.
Thought that was you.
The kids are frightened.
JOHN (CONT’D)
Don’t be scared. I’ve just got to
tell you something.
He rests his hand on her shoulder and calmly leans in and
speaks in her ear.
JOHN (CONT’D)
Guess what? You’re going to grow up
and be a prostitute just like
mother. You know what a prostitute
is? It’s a whore. And that’s what
you have to look forward to. That’s
all you have to look forward to.
The John returns to the car.
EXT. MAGIC CASTLE – ROOM 323 – DAY
Halley and Moonee come back from breakfast and walk by two
police cars in the parking lot.
90.
The Case Worker, DCF Investigator, a DCF WORKER and Bobby are
accompanied by a DCF SUPERVISOR and TWO SHERIFFS.
Halley and Moonee make it to their room. Halley pushes past
everyone and opens her room. She turns around and faces
everyone.
HALLEY
Can I help you? Because you’ll need
a court order to get me to take a
drug test.
CASE WORKER
Halley, these DCF officers are here
in regards to Moonee.
HALLEY
You wanna inspect my room? Be our
guest.
The group follows Halley inside the room.
HALLEY (CONT’D)
Wanna shake my cereal boxes to
check for buried treasure? Look
inside my fridge?
DCF INVESTIGATOR
Halley?
HALLEY
What? What do you want?
DCF INVESTIGATOR
We have security footage that shows
nine different men entering and
exiting your room over the last
three weeks.
BOBBY
Uh, why don’t you take little
Moonee outside so you can talk
privately.
The case worker escorts Moonee outside the room.
DCF INVESTIGATOR
We’ve also obtained an online
classified ad soliciting costumers
for sexual activities with your
phone number attached.
Halley takes a moment to make eye contact with each person.
91.
EXT. MAGIC CASTLE – ROOM 323 – DAY
MOONEE
Go? For how many days?
CASE WORKER
It’ll only be temporary.
MOONEE
What’s temporary?
CASE WORKER
That just means for a little bit of
time, can we do that? There will be
lots and lots of toys, okay?
MOONEE
I guess so.
INT. MAGIC CASTLE – ROOM 323 – DAY
DCF INVESTIGATOR
…but luckily we have a family in
Polk County that can take her for
the entire course of the
investigation.
Halley remains calm and collected. Bobby watches silently.
INT. MAGIC CASTLE – ROOM 323 – DAY
Halley is packing Moonee’s clothes in a small bag. She takes
one of the photo booth strips (of Halley and Moonee) off the
mirror and puts it in the bag.
The case worker comes back into the room.
CASE WORKER
Halley, we need you. She’s being
very emotional right now.
HALLEY
You want me to help you take my
child away from me? Are you
retarded? You stupid, right?
EXT. MAGIC CASTLE – 2ND FLOOR STAIRS – DAY
Moonee refuses to take another step back up towards the
police.
MOONEE
I want to say goodbye to Jancey.
DCF WORKER
Which room does Jancey live in?
MOONEE
She’s at FutureLand.
DCF INVESTIGATOR
We have to go. We can’t go over
there right now. You’ll be seeing
your friends soon.
MOONEE
No, I won’t. That’s a lie.
95.
INT. MAGIC CASTLE – ROOM 323 – DAY
HALLEY
You’re literally asking me to help
you take away my fucking kid.
DCF INVESTIGATOR
Halley, calm down.
HALLEY
Calm down? You want fucking help?
Halley pours everything she just packed up back onto the bed.
DCF INVESTIGATOR
Hey!
HALLEY
Get the fuck out of my house!
That’s what will help!
EXT. MAGIC CASTLE – 2ND FLOOR STAIRS – DAY
Moonee is more agitated.
MOONEE
You’re such a liar!
INT. MAGIC CASTLE – ROOM 323 – DAY
Halley is more agitated.
HALLEY
You’re a fucking liar!
EXT. MAGIC CASTLE – 2ND FLOOR STAIRS – DAY
Moonee pulls away from the DCF Worker.
MOONEE
STOP!
She breaks free and makes a run for it down the stairs. The
DCF woman lunges for Moonee and trips in the process.
…
MOONEE
…good bye.
Jancey looks back into her room, then back into Moonee’s
eyes. Jancey grabs Moonee’s hand and darts toward Route 192,
dragging Moonee with her.
EXT. MAGIC CASTLE – LOBBY – DAY
Bobby sits down on the bench in front of the lobby, pulls out
his last cigarette and lights it up.
EXT. ROUTE 192 – DAY
Jancey leads Moonee on a mad dash across Route 192.
98.
INT. CAR – DAY (TRAVELLING)
Tears run down Halley’s face as she sits solemnly in the
front passenger seat as they circle nearby blocks searching
for Moonee.
EXT. VARIOUS ROUTE 192 LOCATIONS – DAY
Jancey leads Moonee off the beaten path, eventually toward a
phone line in the shape of a certain mouse.
Jancey and Moonee make their way to Route 535 and then Route
I4 leading to the Magic Kingdom.
EXT. ENTRANCE SIGN – DAY
Jancey continues to lead Moonee toward the entrance sign of
the THEME PARK property at an even faster pace.
EXT. THEME PARK ENTRANCE GATES – DAY
Jancey encourages Moonee to hurry up and follow her toward a
big parking lot entrance gate. A MONORAIL whizzes by
overhead.
EXT. THEME PARK – MAIN STREET – DAY
Jancey and Moonee’s little torn-up sneakers run past hundreds
of tourists’ legs, park maps and deflated balloons on the
asphalt of the park’s “Main Street USA”.
Moonee’s feet pick up speed. She hops over a spilled MOUSESHAPED ICE CREAM BAR. Her feet leap out of frame.
EXT. THEME PARK – DAY
Jancey and Moonee sprint faster than ever…
Weaving through TOURISTS… through CAST MEMBERS…
They race toward a perfect enchanted storybook CASTLE,
glimmering in the sun against a dreamlike sky.
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