nice first draft. the few areas we have with trenches being created is doable. 1. EXT. OLIVE’s HOUSE - FIELD - DAY i'd prefer to avoid breaking the 4th wall - having elinor instead looking passed camera from side to side as she speaks to the others behind the camera It’s a snowy day in Animal Town . Wearing their snow clothes, ELINOR, ARI, OLIVE, KOA, and SILAS have gathered next to the field beside Olive’s house to play a game. The field is covered in deep snow (up to about their knees) . We start with a CU: just Elinor’s face looking at the camera as she dramatically introduces today’s game. this will be a bit of a cheat with design and how we visually show their feet in the snow shoes due to how different their feet sizes and shapes are. ie. olives elephant are large stumps and will need the laces tied around them to hold them, while ari has tiny feet ELINOR Okay, everyone. I THINK we’re ready for today’s game, but let’s make sure . Do we have... snow? WIDEN to reveal the kids standing on the side of the field , where the snow is not as deep . Ari grabs a handful of snow and holds it up. ARI We have snow! ELINOR Do we have our snow clothes? Olive pats the sides of her snowsuit. OLIVE We’re warm and toasty . ELINOR Do we have a bunch of awesome friends? Koa reaches up his hands and high fives the two characters to his left and right simultaneously. KOA We are totally awesome . ELINOR Great! It l ooks like we’re ready to play a game of... SNOW TAG! The kids <SFX: YEAH> and throw their arms in the air in excitement. But when Ari raises his arms, he’s holding a tennis racket in each hand. He pauses, looking confused. ARI Wait. I thought you said we were going to play Snow TENNIS. Ari lowers his arms. ELINOR Snow Tennis? How do you play that? ARI can we soften this a bit - currently coming off like he's a bit snippy I don’t know. I thought you knew! That’s why I brought these rackets. He holds the rackets in front of him. OLIVE (giggles) Ari, we’re playing Snow TAG today. It’s just like regular tag, but we play it in the snow . elinor Yeah, snow tag is much cooler. ( giggling ) Get it? Because it’s colder ? The kids <SFX: GIGGLE >. ARI Ok ! I guess I won’t be needing these. Ari tosses the tennis rackets to the side in the field and immediately perks up. Elinor steps out and notices how deep the snow is. ELINOR Wow, there is so much snow today. Look how deep it is. Olive wades in. Olive Yeah, that might make it a little hard to run around. ARI That’s no problem . I’m still going to run really fast! Ari runs out into the field, followed by Silas who kicks up a flurry of snow. SILAS Me too! Ari runs in place and Silas runs a quick loop around, and it’s clear that the snow keeps them from running at full speed. elinor I guess it’s not snow tag if there isn’t any snow. Should we start the game? The kids all respond <SFX: YEAH! WOO HOO!> . SILAS ( shyly ) Can I be It ? ELINOR Sure, Silas! But... (good natured-ly ) you’re the fastest runner, so I’m guessing you won’t be it for long. Ari Yeah, Silas. I bet cheetahs are fast, even in the snow. SILAS (a little bashful at that) I’ll give you a really big head start. I’ll count to 25. The kids all agree at that <SFX: WALLA YEAH/OK/COOL>. SILAS (CONT’D) Ok , ready... Silas covers his eyes and all the kids scramble away, wading through the snow. SILAS (CONT’D) ( counting really fast) One, two, three, four, five, six-seven, eight nine, ten eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five. ANGLE ON: Elinor and Olive, who stop running and look back. They can hear Silas counting. OLIVE (To Elinor , partway through Silas’ counting) Silas even COUNTS fast! Elinor <SFX: GIGGLES> and they both keep running. BACK ON: Silas, who finishes counting. SILAS Ready or not, here I come! Silas looks around and, as the kids all <SFX: GIGGLE>, he makes a few starts towards some of other kids, trying to figure out who to go after. There’s snow and giggles flying everywhere . Finally, he hones in on Ari. Ari Uh oh. Ari makes a run for it and scrambles through the snow. Silas gives chase. (Note: Silas is faster than the other kids, but he’s not cartoony fast. See the “Look What I Can Do” episode, and halve that effect for deep snow). It’s a good natured chase, but Silas eventually catches up to Ari and tags him. SILAS Tag! Ari tries a last minute dodge (but fails) and ends up tumbling in the snow. He emerges from the pile with a mound of snow on his head. Olive, Elinor and Silas come over. Olive Are you ok , Ari? Ari shakes the snow and smiles. Ari Yup . And I’m also... it! He makes a lunge for the other kids, who scramble away <SFX: GIGGLING>. Silas takes off quickly, as does Elinor, and Ari ends up chasing Olive for a bit, eventually tagging her. Ari (CONT’D) Tag, you’re it, Olive! Olive <SFX: AWWS /GIGGLES> as she catches her breath. After a beat, she makes a run towards Silas, but he’s too fast, and she ends up going after some of the other kids including Elinor, who’s nearest her. Eventually, she stops to take another breath. Olive (panting) It’s... really... hard... to move in this snow. Elinor, who’s near her, also stops to catch her breath. Elinor (panting also) Yeah... (phew)... I have to lift my foot up high to take a step and then it sinks in the snow. As Elinor demonstrates, she gets caught by her curiosity. elinor (CONT’D) I wonder if there’s a way to run better in the snow . At that moment, something catches Olive’s attention. Off in the distance, we see Gael Lynx ( spanish pronunciation GAH-EL ) approaching the group from afar and waving. OLIVE (O.S.) Oh look, it’s Gael . Ari and some of the kids approach Olive and Elinor, wading through the snow and also catching their breath. They all move to the side of the field, where the snow isn’t as deep. ARI Who’s Gael? OLIVE He’s new in town ! H is family just moved here from up north. ( to Gael, who just arrived) Hi, Gael! Gael bounds up to the kids and stands next to Olive. He’s a cheerful and affable lynx. He’s not wearing mittens or boots (he doesn’t need them). Like linxes in real life, he has extra big paws and feet. GAEL Hi, everybody. I’m Gael. The kids all greet him ( SFX: WALLA HI/HELLO!>. KOA Cool! Welcome to Animal Town. GAEL Thanks, I really like it here. Ari What’s it like up north, Gael? GAEL Oh, i t’s a lot like here, but snowier. Elinor Is it pretty cold? GAEL Yeah. But don’t worry. I’m a lynx, and lynxes have really thick fur to keep us warm. There’s general appreciation of that by all the kids <SFX: WALLA WHOA/COOL>. OLIVE Well, Gael, you’re just in time . We’re playing a game of Snow Tag. Want to join us? GAEL Great! ( he suddenly looks confused) Um , what’s Snow Tag? OLIVE It’s the same as regular tag, but we play it when it’s snowy outside. Ari And right now, it’s REALLY snowy. Ari steps into the deep snow. GAEL Mmm , w here I’m from, it’s almost always snowy, so we just call it regular t ag. The kids <SFX: GIGGLE>. ELINOR Ok . Olive was It, but we should start over because Gael is here. Does anyone want to be It this time ? GAEL I’ll be It. ELINOR Ok , count to ten and then, it’s snow tag time! The kids all start to scatter. Olive stays behind to give Gael a tip. OLIVE Watch out for Silas. He’s really fast. Olive wades out into the snow and joins the others as Gael counts. GAEL One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Here I come! Gael steps out into the field (he doesn’t sink into the snow like the other kids) and over <SFX: GIGGLES AND TAG PLAY WALLA> another round of tag begins. Gael makes a few starts to go tag other kids, who scramble away. Finally, he starts chasing Silas. Silas zigs and zags, but he’s losing ground as he wades in the deep snow. Gael, on top of the snow, gains ground and eventually tags Silas. Gael (CONT’D) (panting slightly) Tag! Silas (panting) Aww , nice, you got me! The two kids <SFX: LAUGH AND GIGGLE>. Elinor, Olive and Ari are close together. ARI (panting slightly) Whoa, look ! Gael tagged Silas! OLIVE He did? But nobody ever tags Silas . Elinor Gael did. Back on Silas, we see him get back to playing. The other kids scramble and Silas chases them around. ARI I thought cheetahs were the fastest animals ever. olive Not at snow tag. Look, Silas is trying to catch Gael now. BACK ON: Silas, who looks around for a second, then bounds after Gael over more <SFX: TAG GIGGLES> . Silas chases Gael into a n area with slightly deep er snow (waist high now) . Silas begins to sink deep into the snow, and he slows down , making it clearer that Gael doesn’t sink as much . SILAS Gosh. The snow sure is deep over here. Gael continues to run almost on top of the snow ( snow to his ankles) ; it doesn’t slow him down very much . Elinor looks back and forth between the two and takes notice of this. Elinor Wow, look. Silas sinks into the snow, but Gael doesn’t. Ari Whoa. You’re right. It’s like Gael can run on top of the snow. Olive Yeah. Maybe that’s why he can run faster. Silas has to run through the snow, but Gael just runs on top of it. Elinor That... is SO interesting! Eventually Silas slows to a stop. He’s out of breath <SFX: PANTING> and plops down . SILAS ( pant ing ) Phew, I give up. Gael turns back and walks over to him. GAEL Are y ou ok , Silas? Silas pants, takes a deep breath. SILAS (pants, takes a deep breath) Yeah. You’re way faster than me . They both <SFX: LAUGH> as Gael helps him up . The kids all gather back at the side of the field . ELINOR Wow, Gael. I can’t believe you made Silas tired. OLIVE Yeah, you’re so fast running in the snow. Ari Did you eat some kind of special breakfast this morning? GAEL Uh, I don’t think so . I ate the same thing I eat every morning: Oatmeal with extra maple syrup. We eat a lot of maple syrup up north. ARI Mmm , I love maple syrup. His stomach grumbles a little and the kids <SFX: GIGGLE> a bit. ELINOR ( thoughtful ) Hmm. Gael, we noticed that you don’t sink in the snow as much as we do. Is that why you can run faster? Olive Yeah, when we walk in the snow, we sink down but you don’t. Olive steps over to the field to demonstrate. Gael Huh. I hadn’t thought about it before. He walks over next to Olive, and it’s clear that Olive sinks down a lot more. Gael (CONT’D) You’re right! I always walk on top of the snow. It’s what lynxes do. Koa wades in, sinks, and look up at Gael. Koa Whoa, that is so cool. Elinor Hmmm ... I wonder why you don’t sink in the snow like we do, Gael. You’re about the same size as us. From Elinor’s POV , we see her use her hand to compare Gael’s size to another kid standing on the side of the field. Back on Elinor, we see her scratching her chin. ELINOR (CONT’D) There must be some an other reason. We need more observations! Ari joins in the hypothesizing. ARI Maybe it’s because Gael is a cat-like animal, and cat-like animals can walk on top of the snow. Olive But cheetahs are also cat -like , and Silas can’t walk on top of the snow . ANGLE ON: Silas, still panting. Elinor has an idea. ELINOR Gael has thick fur. Maybe thick fur helps you run on top of the snow ? KOA Umm , I also have thick fur, but I sink in the snow . ELINOR True. I know , Gael has l ong ears . Maybe having long ears keep you from sinking in the snow. OLIVE U h , Elinor... Elinor suddenly realizes what she’s saying. She looks up as if trying to see her own ears. She wiggles them. cute..maybe she lifts her head from side to side trying to see her ears, then bends them down 'oh! there they are' kids giggle ELINOR maybe Elinor says her ears are easy to forget because she wasn't really using them forthe game....so it must notbe Gaels ears that are helping Oops, I forgot I have long ears too , and I sink in the snow. She and the other kids <SFX: GIGGLE>. ARI Well, whatever the reason, I think it’s super awesome , Gael . Give me a high five! It would be helpful if the viewer could compare feet right along with the characters. POssibly the characters fall back to rest in the snow...their butts sink and their feet all stick up next to year other. Ari wades over and high-fives Gael , and we see their two hands meet up close . Elinor <SFX: GASPS>. ELINOR Gael, I see something else that’s different about you. Your paws and your feet are bigger than our paws and feet. In a SCIENCE CLOSE-UP: we see that Gael’s paws and feet are amazing - they’re huge, wide, and furry compared to Ari’s . Olive They are SO COOL. They’re big and wide and furry. suggest delaying ari's line to be within elinors line 78 More time spent comparing and contrasting paws would be helpful for the learning ARI Yeah, none of us ha ve paws like that! The kids all take a thoughtful moment to hold up their paws and feet and look at them. GAEL Oh , thank you! Us lynxes all have paws and feet like this . ELINOR Maybe that’s why you don’t sink as much, Gael. When we step in the snow, our smaller feet sink. She steps into the snow and we see her feet sink. Elinor (CONT’D) But maybe because your feet are so wide, they don’t sink as much. Gael moves his feet up and down and we see that because of their width, they don’t pierce through the snow as easily. GAEL I think you’re right! Olive We figured it out! On their good cheers, we go into the DITTY MONTAGE . They sing (note: Gael is pronounced GAH-EL ) : ELINOR/OLIVE/ARI Listen up, friends, And we’ll tell you the tale Of our new lynx friend , The unsinkable Gael! OLIVE: His feet are wide. He’s got fluffy toes. ELINOR: These amazing feet Won’t sink in the snow. ARI: Having wide feet Help you stay on top ELINOR: So you can run faster and never stop ALL: Listen up, friends, And we’ll tell you the tale Of our new lynx friend , The unsinkable Gael! The kids all cheer their new friend. Ari is especially excited. Ari I wish I had feet like you, Gael. Then I could run without sinking in the snow. Ari does a few flutter hops, jumping up and down (and sinking) in the knee-high snow to and fro. On his last hop, however, he happens to land on the pair of rackets he had tossed earlier. Ari (CONT’D) Whoops. He looks down and, grasping the netting with his foot claws, he lifts them one by one. ARI (CONT’D) Haha , hey look, now I have wide feet like Gael, and I don’t sink in the snow! He takes a few steps around the snow using the rackets like snow shoes. Elinor Ari, you just gave me an idea. Maybe we can ALL have feet like Gael. Olive (catching on) Yeah, if we can find wide things to put on our feet, then we can walk on top of the snow, too. KOA I’ve got two flying discs [Frisbees] at home I could use . silas I have some toy plates at home. Olive I have a couple of ping-pong paddles. ELINOR And I have things at home I can use, too. Gael, will you wait for us here? Gael Of course! ElinOR Great, l et’s see what we can make! The kids all scramble, and through a quick Watterson split-screen cross-fade montage, we see the different kids grabbing their things and jerry-rigging them. On the last cross-fade, we end up back at the snow field to reveal that everyone has a version of snow-shoes. Triumphantly, Elinor holds up the makeshift snowshoes she has on her feet. She took a pair of twigs and wrapped them around to form a loop, then used twine or cloth to wrap and make a surface that attaches to her feet . ELINOR (CONT’D) Ta-da ! We did it. Gael Those look awesome. KOA Cool, I have lynx feet. ELINOR Who wants to try the irs first? OLIVE I do! Olive steps out in the snow with her ping-pong paddle shoes. OLIVE (CONT’D) ( laughing ) They work! Having wide feet keeps you from sinking in the snow. Soon, all the kids step out. Ari takes a few running steps. Ari And now we can run on top of the snow instead of through the snow. Watch me zoom like Gael! He gets a little over eager, and trips and tumbles in the snow. Ari (CONT’D) Umm , it might take some practice to be like Gael. The kids all <SFX: GIGGLE>. Maybe add something in here saying that they are so happy he is here . They have already learned new things. There are places that have snow all year long and wide flat feet are good for walking on the snow. And we all learned how to make snow shoes. OLIVE What do you think about our lynx shoes, Gael? GAEL can this be clearer? why does this make him feel like he's back home? They’re great . I feel like I’m back u p n orth. Thanks for making me feel so welcome today. Elinor Thank YOU for teaching us something new today, Gael. Now... who wants to play... SNOW TAG! Elinor catches herself. Elinor (CONT’D) Oh, uh, or should I say, who wants to play REGULAR TAG! The kids all <SFX: LAUGH AND WALLA CHEER> as they run out into the field and chase each other. The camera pans up into the winter sky as we... IRIS OUT END.

EWW158 The Unsinkable Lynx D1 20-Dec-19 .

<SFX: AWWWW> WHOOA WHOOOA> WHOOOOAA> spiderling

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ELINOR WONDERS WHY 158: THE UNSINKABLE LYNX Written by Rosemary Mosco Elinor’s Question: How do lynx move fast in deep snow? Logline: When the kids discover that Gael the lynx’s feet prevent him from sinking in the deep snow, they make their own snowshoes. Curriculum Goals: LS2 . Living things have different body parts to suit their needs. [The kids learn that Gael, who comes from Up North, has wide, flat, fluffy feet that help him walk on snow.] 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. [Inspired by a lynx’s feet, the kids design their own set of snowshoes.] SEP3b: Compare and contrast objects and events by describing similarities and differences in detail [The kids compare themselves with Gael to determine which variable is causing Gael to sink into snow.] SEP6a: Use background knowledge experiences, and data to construct reasonable explanations and theories of natural phenomena [The kids hypothesize that wider feet make it easier to move in snow.] Main Characters: Elinor, Olive, Ari, Gael, Koa, Silas (in winter clothes) Props: Two tennis rackets, roll of duct tape, shoelaces, twigs, pieces of felt, sheet of shiny snowflake stickers, bag of banana chips Locations: Field near Olive's house FIRST DRAFT: 20-Dec-19 ARI ELINOR OLIVE GAEL KOA SILAS ELIOR (V.O.) (O.S.) (O.C.) (CONT'D) (SUBTITLE) INT EXT I/E 1 2 1 3 4 5 6 THE END. INT CLASSROOM -- DAY SUNLIT FOREST CLEARING -- CONTINUOUS PARK -- DAY EXT -- PARK EXT -- LAKE WATERS -- CONTINUOUS EXT -- LAKE SHORE -- CONTINUOUS EXT -- LAKE WATERS -- A MINUTE LATER EXT. OLIVE'S HOUSE - FIELD DAY NIGHT AFTERNOON MORNING EVENING LATER MOMENTS LATER CONTINUOUS THE NEXT DAY CUT TO: FADE IN: FADE OUT. FADE TO: DISSOLVE TO: BACK TO: MATCH CUT TO: JUMP CUT TO: FADE TO BLACK. Order Title Location ELINOR ELINOR