1. EXT.
farmer bear’s farm
- DAY
ESTABLISHING. It’s a late summer day in Animal Town, and Farmer Bear is hosting a small ‘Tomato Festival’ to mark the end of the tomato harvest. Her farm is decorated for the occasion. TOWNSPEOPLE circulate, and festive <MUSIC> plays OS.
In
A FEW
QUICK CUTS we establish
the
theme...
- FOOD TABLE - MRS. GORILLA
dumps tomatoes into her giant
stewpot
and attacks them with a masher, to make sauce.
-
RING TOSS - SALLY
BEAVER
throws small hoops, trying to land one around the ‘target’ tomato. Finally, she rings it!
SALLY
Yes!
-
BARN -
FARMER BEAR judg
es
TOMATO ARTWORK, displayed on the side of her BARN. S
miling,
s
he
sticks
a RIBBON on
one.
FARMER BEAR
Beautiful! First place!
ELINOR, ARI and
OLIVE
(all
with PACKS/SATCHEL
)
are walking through. Olive wears a SILKY RED SCARF tied around her neck.
ArI
Ahh,
Farmer Bear’s
Tomato Festival
.
M
y
favorite
summer tradition.
ElINOR
Me too
!
Tomato food, tomato games -
OLIVE
- and tomato accessories! See how my scarf is red like a tomato?
Olive playfully ‘fluffs’ one end of her red scarf so that it falls slowly through the air.
Just then,
Farmer Bear cups her hands and bellows
:
FARMER BEAR (
bellows
)
Attention please!
Any
one who wants to enter the Tomato Drop C
ontest
,
follow me to
the contest area now
!
CUT TO RANGER RABBIT, as she waves to the kids.
Ranger rabbit
Good luck, kids!
elinor
(excited)
Thanks, Mom!
(to her friends)
Come on, let’s go!
They head off
, following Farmer Bear to -
2. EXT.
‘
TOMATO DROP
’
CONTEST AREA - continuous
Ari,
Olive
and Elinor join a group of kids at the contest area. (A set of LAMB TRIPLETS, and S
ally Beaver
.)
LAMBS /SALLY
(excited walla)
There is a LADDER in the middle of a dirt patch, and near it, a basket of RIPE TOMATOES.
FARMER BEAR <WHISTLES> for attention, and the group quiets.
Farmer BEAR
Welcome to the
T
omato
D
rop!
The first
two
teams who can
drop a tomato from the top of th
is
ladder
without
splattering it, will win a
prize.
Elinor,
Olive
and Ari exchange excited looks.
ElINOR
Oooh, a PRIZE!
Farmer Bear
indicates the basket of tomatoes.
FARMER BEAR
Each team gets three tomatoes, and you can build anything you like, to try to keep them from splattering.
Did everyone bring supplies?
The gathered kids all hold up their bulging backpacks.
LAMBS / SALLY / ELINOR / ARI / OLIVE
(
ad
lib nodding and agreement)
Farmer
Bear nods. She takes out
an AIR HORN
.
FARMER BEAR
Great! Then let’s get this contest started. Are you r
eady
?
The kids all get into a ready stance. Farmer Bear holds the air horn high...
FARMER BEAR (CONT’D)
Set?
...GOOO-MATO
!
<HONNNNK!>
She
holds onto h
er
straw hat as the
kids stampede past, each team headed to grab their three tomatoes!
3. EXT. DROP LADDER - CONTINUOUS
Elinor, Ari and
Olive
run with
their tomatoes to
a grassy area near the
ladder, and sling off their backpacks
/satchel
.
aRI
Okay. I’ve got a great plan! We take two slices of bread...
Ari gets TWO SLICES OF BREAD from his pack and hurriedly tries to tie them around a tomato, with TWINE.
ARI (V.O.)
...and tie ‘em around the tomato to cushion it when it drops!
CU ON: The bread rips and crumbles..
eLINOR
Bread might be too crumbly, Ari.
ARI
Eh, you’re right.
(brightens)
How ‘bout a
donut
?
Undaunted, he pulls out a
DONUT.
OLIVE
(diplomatic)
Let’s call that Plan B.
ELINOR
I have an idea, too...
Elinor pulls a few items from her own pack. SPRINGS, TAPE, and a SMALL CARDBOARD BOX.
ELINOR (CONT’D)
What if we take these springs I brought...
Elinor holds the end of a spring to the outside of the box, and squeezes the spring for emphasis.
EliNOR (CONT’D)
...and tape them to the
out
side of this box. Then we can put the tomato
in
side...
THOUGHT BUBBLE: Shows Elinor’s idea.
Olive
nods, catching her drift.
OLIVE
Oh! So when we drop the tomato, it’ll
bounce
instead of
spla
tting
on the ground
?
IN THE THOUGHT BUBBLE: The box bounces a few times and then tomato pops out, perfect, then the bubble bursts.
ELINOR
Hopefully!
ARI
Okay, l
et’s try it!
They quickly get busy taping the springs all over the outside of the box. As they work, we
MATCH DISSOLVE TO:
4. EXT. DROP LADDER - MINUTES LATER
The box is now bristling with springs. Elinor places the tomato into the box, and tapes it shut.
eLINOR (calls)
Farmer Bear? We’re ready to try a drop!
Farmer Bear heads over with a clipboard to watch the test. Elinor climbs the ladder with their spring-covered box.
FARMER BEAR
That’s one springy box! Ready when you are.
With
Olive
and Ari watching anxiously, Elinor dangles the box from the top of the ladder - then releases it. Sure enough, when it hits the ground it <BOUNCES... and BOUNCES... and BOUNCES> around! Ari and
Olive
scramble to catch it.
OLIVE
Whoa. <BOING> Hey! <BOING> Come back here!
Finally, Ari seizes it.
ari
<BOING> Gotcha!
Farmer Bear and the girls hurry over.
FARMER BEAR
Let’s see what’cha got!
CLOSE ON the box as Ari opens it. REVEAL... a box full of splattered tomato.
ELINOR
(huff) Tomato sauce. I think it bounced around too much.
Farmer Bear smiles sympathetically.
FARMER BEAR
Well, don’t give up. You still have two more tomatoes!
Lamb #1 (part os)
Farmer Bear? We’re ready to try!
CUT TO: One of the
THREE
LAMBS is holding a HUGE BALL OF WOOL.
OLIVE (PART OS)
Oh look, they’re using their
wool
to
keep the tomato from
squishing
!
Farmer Bear
writes on her clipboard, while one of the lambs climbs the ladder.
Lamb #1
Stand baa-a-a-ack!
The wool is dropped - it <FLOOFS> down gently. Lamb #2 reaches into the wool-ball, and pulls out - an intact tomato!
LamBs / SALLY / OLIVE / ari / elinor
(cheers)
FARMER BEAR
Nicely done! Our first winners!
We’ll do prizes at the end.
BACK ON Elinor,
Olive
and Ari, watching.
OLIVE
Now there’s only one prize left.
ARI
If only we had some wool!
ELINOR
We don’t have to do
exactly
the same thing. There must be more than
one
way to drop a tomato.
Just then, the <BREEZE> picks up, disturbing
some dandelions growing nearby,
which have gone to seed...
SCIENCE CU: Elinor notices the fluff floating by.
ELINOR (CONT’D)
Ohhh!
Elinor captures it in her hands, and holds it up.
ELINOR (CONT’D)
Dandelion fluff is nice and soft, just like the wool!(
gasp
) What if we use THIS to cushion the tomato?
THOUGHT BUBBLE:
We see Elinor’s
plan, a tomato with dandelion fluff
gathered around
it.
OLIVE
O
kay! But we’ll need a lot of it.
In the THOUGHT BUBBLE: The dandelion fluff ball grows and grows until the bubble BURSTS!
ARI
Then we’d better get fluffin’!
They all get busy gathering fluff from the dandelions all around them. As ‘fluff’ fills the frame, we
‘fluff’ wipe to:
5. EXT. SAME LOCATION - MINUTES LATER
Elinor holds a PUFF OF DANDELION FLUFF (which keeps trying to blow away) as
Olive
tucks the tomato inside it.
Elinor
Oh, the fluff is getting away!
OLIVE
Nothing a little tape can’t fix.
Olive
<SQUICKS> out
more
than a little TAPE and rapidly wraps it around the tomato to secure the fluffy padding.
ELINOR
All done!
ANGLE ON: The real tomato is much more sparsely covered than the tomato in the thought bubble.
ARI
Farmer Bear! Can we try again?
CUT TO Farmer Bear, as he overhears and heads over. This time Ari climbs the ladder, full of optimism.
ARI (CONT’D)
This time we’ve got the right stuff
!
Or should I say, the right
fluff?
Elinor laughs, but Olive shakes her head at his groaner joke.
Elinor / OLIVE
(laugh) /
(
good-natured
groan)
Ari drops the fluff-covered tomato from the top of the ladder. But to their dismay - <SPLAT!>
eLINOR
Aww! It
smooshed
again!
I guess we didn’t use enough fluff.
Farmer Bear gives them an upbeat smile.
FARMER BEAR
(encouraging)
See, you learn something, even when they do
‘smoosh.’
Keep trying!
Farmer Bear
EXITS
,
jotti
ng on h
er
clipboard.
Ari looks down at his friends, worried.
ARI
Keep trying, sure - but we only have one tomato left!
Elinor
picks up their last tomato, nodding.
elinor
So we can’t waste it. We’ll have to plan this
really
well...
Ari flies back down to join them. As he lands, a gust of air from his wings causes a fallen OAK LEAF to blow into the air. Elinor watches as the leaf
falls slowly
to the ground, right in front of her.
ELINOR
(intrigued)
(CONT’D)
Whoa! Look at that leaf!
OLIVE
What about it?
Elinor picks it up, to examine it.
ELINOR
It fell really slowly!
(she holds it up again)
Look, I’ll show you.
Elinor
holds the leaf up high, then releases it again, so her friends can
watch how it falls.
SCIENCE
C.U
. ON the leaf. As it falls slowly through the air, the lobes of the leaf flutter. (In animation, we see little wiggly ‘air lines’ catch on the bottom of the leaf.)
OLIVE
That IS slow.
Elinor picks up the leaf again. She holds their last tomato in one hand, the leaf in the other.
ELINOR
A leaf falls
slowly
, but a tomato falls
fast.
That’s SOO interesting!
ari
Too bad it isn’t the other way around. If our
tomato
fell slowly, maybe
it wouldn’t
splat
.
Elinor turns to her friends, eyes bright with an idea.
ELINOR
Yes! I wonder if there’s a way to help our tomato fall slowly too?
(beat, determined)
We need more observations.
As she rallies her friends OS, we TRANSITION TO:
6. EXT. PARK - A ‘SONG MOMENT’
Elinor leads her friends in a spontaneous song about things that ‘
fall slowly
’ as they explore the immediate area, collecting
various
items to test.
ELINOR /
OLIVE
/ ARI (sing)
Look high, look low,
For things that might fall slow
So we can figure out a way
to save our tomato
Olive frowns at hearing the accent on the wrong
syl-LA-ble
.
OLIVE (spoken)
Tuh-may-
TOE
?
ARI (spoken)
Just go with it, Olive.
ELINOR / olive / ari (sing)
We’ll hold ‘em up
then
let ‘em go
Until we try
We’ll never know
Look high and low
For things that might fall slow
So we can figure out a way
to
save our tomato
By the end of the song, they have
collect
ed
a PINECONE, a
STRAY PIECE OF PAPER (from the coloring contest)
a
nd a TWIG
.
7. EXT. TOMATO DROP AREA - CONTINUOUS
They hurry back to the
ir working spot
with the
ir
item
s
.
ELINOR
We found some great things! Now let’s see
how
they
fall.
OLIVE
I’ll put them in two piles - either ‘fell fast’ or ‘fell slow.’
(She gestures to two spots on the ground.)
ELINOR
Okay! First, the pinecone...
Elinor hands
Ari
the pinecone
, and he flies upward. (He hovers just overhead, for every test.) Ari holds out the pinecone -
drops it -
and
it plummets quickly
to the ground
.
ELINOR /
OLIVE
/ ari (unison)
Fast!
Olive
puts the pinecone
in the spot for the ‘fast’ pile.
ELINOR
Next, the paper...
Elinor bunny-jumps upward with the PAPER, to hand it to Ari. He holds it out horizontally, then releases it -
SCIENCE
C.U
. -As the paper falls through the air, the edges flutter. We see ‘air squiggles’ under it, slowing it down.
ELINOR /
OLIVE
/ ARI (os)
Slowww!
Olive puts the
leaf
in the area for the ‘slow’ pile.
ELINOR
Now let’s try the twig.
Elinor hops upward again, to hand
Ari the twig
. He drops this - it
plummets quickly. <THUMP!>
ELINOR /
OLIVE
/ ARI
Fast!
Olive scoops up the twig to put it with the pinecone, and as she bends, her scarf dangles. This gives her an idea! She unties her scarf...
OLIVE
Let’s drop my scarf, too!
She hands this to Elinor, who jumps it up to Ari. He holds her scarf out horizontally, then releases it.
SCIENCE
C.U
. - the scarf drops
very
slowly, billowing as it ‘catches air’ on the way down. (With air squiggles under it.)
OLIVE / ari (os)
S
low
ww
!
ELINOR
Very
slow! It looks like it’s ‘catching the air’ as it falls.
Olive puts the scarf in
the ‘slow’ pile.
Ari flies back down to join them as they look at the results of their tests.
HOLD ON the side-by-side fast and slow piles.
Ari
So we
have
two things that f
e
ll
quickly
the pine cone and the twig - and two that fell
slowly.
OLIVE
The paper and my scarf which was the slowest of all!
BACK TO WIDE, as Elinor picks up Olive’s silky scarf in one hand, and their last tomato in the other.
elinor (thoughtful)
I wonder what would happen if we attached your slow-falling
scarf
to our
tomato
.
Olive
Maybe the tomato would fall more slowly too? But
how
can we -
But Olive is interrupted by an OS
<SFX:
CROWD MURMUR OF SURPRISE AND DELIGHT>
CUT TO the SMALL CROWD of spectators. (Including Ranger Rabbit.) They’re pointing and reacting upwards -
ranger rabbit (amused)
Look! It’s Mr. Tomato!
LOW ANGLE on a TOMATO-HEADED FESTIVAL MASCOT, (‘MR. TOMATO’) floating down towards the tomato patch on a big PARACHUTE.
ARI (part os)
On a parachute! Wow, he didn’t do
that
last year.
Farmer Bear smiles at the kids.
FARMER BEAR
(to ari)
He’s coming to hand out the prizes! And there’s only one prize left to win, so...
OLIVE
So,
we’d better hurry! Think fast, guys. How do we put these together?
But Elinor is still watching ‘Mr. Tomato’ as he lands gently in the tomato patch. His chute and ropes settle behind him.
eLINOR
(inspired)
I’ve got it! Olive, we can use your scarf as a parachute!
ARI
Yes!! I’ve got string...
Ari dives into his backpack and tosses them a roll of twine.
At lightning speed,
Olive
cuts
FOUR
lengths of string,
and Ari and Elinor tie each string to a corner of the scarf.
OLIVE
Now we just tape the strings to -
But when
Olive
grabs the tape, all that’s left is a nub.
OLIVE
(CONT’D)
Oh, no. We’re out of tape!
What do we use?
Elinor holds the loose strings of her parachute, stumped. Suddenly, Ari brightens. He digs out his
donut
, from earlier.
ARI
My donut!
OLIVE
(incredulous)
Ari, this is no time for a snack!
But Elinor seizes the
donut
, inspired.
ELINOR
Oh, yes it is!
Elinor ties the four strings to the
donut
, like a horizontal tire swing. Then, she sits the tomato on the
donut
hole!
8. EXT.
drop
ladder - continuous
Farmer Bear watches while the
Sally
Beaver drops a POPSICLE-STICK ‘TOMATO CASE’ - it breaks on impact. <SPLAT!>
FARMER BEAR
Aww. Good effort.
Ari frantically beckons.
ARI (Part o.S.)
Farmer Bear! We have one more try!
The Farmer hustles over to watch their last attempt.
The small crowd watches excitedly too.
Elinor climbs the ladder with their tomato parachute...
...while Ari and
Olive
worry up a storm.
ARI (CONT’D)
Ohhh, I can't watch!
Ari covers his face like a vampire - but peeks anyway.
BACK ON Elinor, dangling the tomato by its parachute.
(QUICK CUTS to the anticipation on the faces of Ari and Olive, Ranger Rabbit, and Farmer Bear with her clipboard...)
ELINOR
(part os)
Three... two... one... DROP!
She releases it - the
tomato-
chute <POOFS> open! We FOLLOW the chute as it
floats down slowly, landing the tomato safely on the grass, bouncing slightly on its donut landing pad.
Elinor /
OLIVE
/ ARI / LambS /
sally / ranger rabbit / farmer bear
(
ad
lib
cheers)
FARMER BEAR
Hooray! Another winning team!
(beckoning)
Winners, follow me! It’s time to award
your
tasty prize
s...
The kids follow Farmer Bear over to where Mr. Tomato is presiding over two PRIZE BOXES on a table.
ARI (excited)
Tasty?
Ooh
,
let me guess what it is.
Umm
..
. a pineapple?
Elinor lifts the prize box lid to
REVEAL
...
TOMATOES!
eLINOR /
OLIVE
(laughs)
/ Guess again!
As Farmer Bear pulls out a camera to snap a photo of the winners, the kids and Mr. Tomato all pose with their prizes.
ELINOR /
OLIVE
/ ARI
/ LAMBS
(like saying ‘cheese’)
Tomatooooo!
<CAMERA FLASH!> -
We
FREEZE FRAME on the photo, and...
FADE OUT.
ET110 The Tomato Drop D2 O4-FEB-19
.
ELINOR WONDERS WHY
EP
. #110 “The Tomato Drop”
By: Karen
Moonah
Elinor's Question:
How do you make a tomato fall more slowly
?
Logline:
When Elinor and friends enter a 'tomato drop' contest, they design a solution (a parachute) to help a tomato fall more slowly so that it doesn't splatter.
ES1
.
Understand that the Earth is made up of a variety of natural materials. a. Explore and describe the characteristics of earth materials such as sand, rocks, soil, water, and air.
ND3
.
(
RTL
Crosscutting concept ‘Structure and Function’): Understand that structures and materials in the natural world can be used or can inspire the engineering of structures with similar function in the designed world. Elinor and her friends will design a tomato parachute to help the tomato fall slowly, as the leaf does)
SEP
1.
Defining problems (engineering) d.) Identify a problem (how to drop a tomato without damaging it) that can be solved by the design of a new or improved object or tool.
SEP
3.
Planning and carrying out investigations. e.) Design and build a solution to a simple problem. (
engineering
) (Elinor designs a parachute)
SEP
6.
Designing solutions (engineering) d.) Use evidence to support a (theory or) solution to a problem. (Elinor observes the scarf falls slowly and surmises it might help the tomato also fall slowly)
OUTLINE:
14-DEC-2018
FIRST DRAFT:
17-JAN-2019
SECOND DRAFT:
8-FEB-2019
FARMER BEAR
Mrs.
Mrs. mole
Hazel.
Hazel
Ari
elinor
Crowd
Tomato mascot
L
ELINOR / hazel / ari
Elinor / hazel
ELINOR / HAZEL / ARI / farmer bear / lambs
Lamb 1, 2, 3 / beaver
LamB 1, 2, 3 / BEAVER / farmer bear / hazel / ari / elinor
HAZEL / ARI
HAZEL / elinor
eLINOR / HAZEL /a
ELINORh
LAMBS / SALLY / ELINOR / ARI / HAZEL
Hazel’s mom
OLIVE
Beaver
(V.O.)
(O.S.)
(O.C.)
(CONT'D)
(SUBTITLE)
(to herself)
(muffled)
(remembering)
(excited)
INT
EXT
I/E
A SOUVENIR STAND
DROP LADDER
BEAVERS' PRACTICE AREA
RANGER RABBIT
OUR LAST TOMA-A-TO!
DAY
NIGHT
AFTERNOON
MORNING
EVENING
LATER
MOMENTS LATER
CONTINUOUS
THE NEXT DAY
MINUTES LATER
CUT TO:
FADE IN:
FADE OUT.
FADE TO:
DISSOLVE TO:
BACK TO:
MATCH CUT TO:
JUMP CUT TO:
FADE TO BLACK.
‘fluff’ wipe to: