1. INT. ELINOR’S ROOM -- DAY ELINOR is in her room, getting ready for school, humming to herself as she gathers her things for her backpack. DESIGN NOTE: Her room is decorated with home-made fish that she’s drawn, or cut out of construction paper, or made from paper plates, or whatever. Maybe she’s even made a “fish mobile” to hang over her bed. Elinor (sing-song) Fish, fish, fishy, fishy, fish, fish, fish… She takes one fish drawing off the wall, grabs her backpack and runs out of the room. 2. INT. Kitchen -- DAy Elinor is at the table, eating her breakfast and gazing at her fish picture as MR. RABBIT makes flapjacks (pancakes). Elinor Hey Dad! Did you know fish eat their breakfast underwater? Mr. Rabbit Really? That would make for some soggy carrot pancakes . ELINOR (giggling) F ish don’t eat pancakes, Dad, they eat underwater plants and things. MR. RABBIT Riiight. ELINOR Fish do EVERYTHING underwater - eat, swim, play - even sleep. They’re sooo interesting! MR. RABBIT Do tell. RANGER RABBIT enters. RANGER rABBIT Ohh, carrot pancakes ! Mr. RABBIT (formally, like a waiter) Your breakfast is served madame. He puts a stack in front of Ranger Rabbit but just as she’s about to dig in she notices her watch (or a clock on the wall). Ranger Rabbit Uh-oh. It’s later than I thought - we’d better hurry up Elinor, or you’ll be late for school. MR. RABBIT I’ll make those pancakes to go. ElINOR <GASP!> Mom! Did you know that a group of fish is called a school. Just like my group of friends at my school. I can’t wait to tell Mz. Mole. She hops off. Mr. Rabbit hands Ranger Rabbit a paper bag and gives her a kiss on the cheek. MR. RABBIT I think Elinor is on a bit of a fish-kick. RANGER RABBIT You don’t say. 3. EXT. PAth on the way to SCHOOL – DAY Elinor is hopping along ahead of her Mom. ElINOR (sing-song) Fish, fish, fishy, fishy, fish, fish, fish… They comes to a small crossroad in the path - the other path is obviously a little less used (this is not far from her school, the school is in view, including the playground and Mz . Mole ). RaNGER RABBIT We don’t have much time. You’d better go the back way to school today, Elinor. See you tonight, hunny bunny. Have a great day. Ranger Rabbit gives her a kiss. ELINOR Okay. Bye Mom. Elinor waves to Ranger Rabbit who watches as she hops off onto a smaller path. 4. EXT. SHORTCUT PATH - day Elinor is hopping along. ELINOR Fish, fish, fishy, fishy... Suddenly <SFX: SPLASH> from the pool. Elinor is puzzled. ElINOR (CONT’D) Whu? She looks closely at the little pool of water (a shallow stream is fine as long as it’s shallow enough that she is safe beside it) . ELINOR (CONT’D) <GASP!> A fish! A REAL fish! ( ANGLE ON: Spotty is a bullfrog tadpole, nice and fat - and spotty! ) Wow! Look at the way you swim, and your nice long tail, and your spots. Would you like to be my fishy friend? (t he tadpole looks at Elinor in a friendly way ) You would? Awesome, I’m going to name you... (she thinks) SPOTTY! At this moment she hears <SFX: SCHOOL BELL RINGING> in the distance. ELINOR (CONT’D) <GASP!> Gotta get to school. (she hops off) See you later, Spotty! 5. EXT. SCHOOL YARD – DAY Elinor bounces into the schoolyard, very excited and joins her friends ARI and OLIVE as they all head into the school . ELINOR Olive! Ari! Guess what? Ari Let me guess, is it about a fish ? Olive (giggling) You have been talking about fish a lot lately, Elinor . ELINOR It’s true! I have been learning a lot about fish lately. But guess what? I saw a fish today that I’ve never seen before . OlIVE Really? ELINOR Yup. I named her Spotty! Come on, I’ll draw a picture to show you what she looks like . They all run into the school. 6. EXT. CLASSROOM – DAY Elinor is busily drawing as Ari and Olive look on. ElINOR I was taking the shortcut to school, and there was this tiny pool of water, and I heard a SPLASH, and then I looked down and... ANGLE ON: Elinor’s drawing of Spotty. <SFX: WHOOOA WALLA> Ari (O.C.) Now that is a cool fish. WIDEN TO REVEAL: OLIVE and ARI are admiring the drawing. Elinor Yep! She has such great spots, that’s why I named her Spotty . And she swims in a really interesting way - she kind of wiggles, like this. Elinor wiggles, Olive and Ari <SFX: GIGGLES> OLIVE I love her eyes, she looks so friendly. ARI I like her spots. Spots are soo cool. I wish I had spots. OlIVE (helpfully) Well, you have wings, Ari. And wings are very cool too. ARI Oh, yeah . (he lifts his arm to admire his wing) Hey. You know what would be the coolest - SPOTTED WINGS! THOUGHT BUBBLE: Of Ari flying with cool, brightly spotted wings. Elinor <SFX: GIGGLES> TILT DOWN TO: Olive is admiring Elinor’s drawing. OlIVE Well, you’ve drawn a lot of fish in the last little while, Elinor, but this one is really special. ELINOR She more than special, Olive. She’s SPOTTY! 7. EXT. SHORTCUT PATH – A FEW DAYS LATER Elinor is hopping towards school as Ranger Rabbit waves in the background (again, we can see the schoolyard in the near distance) . ElINOR Bye Mom ! She stops near the puddle and looks around. A little <SPLASH>. ElINOR (CONT’D) <GASP!> There you are! Hi Spotty! She bends down to look. ELINOR (CONT’D) Sorry I haven’t visited in a few days. I walked to school the long way with my Mom. How are you doing? ( Another <SFX: SPLASH> ) (giggles) Oh, very splashy I see. (she notices) Wait a second. What are those? Elinor takes out her magnifying glass. MAGNIFIED ANGLE ON: Spotty - we can see she has two little bumps on her sides. ELINOR (CONT’D) Spotty you have two bumps on you. What ARE they? Spotty <SFX: SPLASHES> again , getting a few drops on Elinor. She laughs . ELINOR (CONT’D) (giggling) Spotty! You are such a fun fishy friend . 8. TIME-PASSING MONTAGE Elinor shows more pictures of Spotty to Olive and Ari in the schoolyard , she drawn a picture of spotty with her bumps . Elinor is telling her parents about Spotty over dinner with a drawing of Spotty and her bumps . Outside the sun sets, then rises again. Elinor is lying on her bed with her drawing pad in front of her, looking out the window. It’s raining. She turns back to her pad and starts drawing more pictures of Spotty. Elinor in her room, putting up a picture of Spotty overtop of her fish pictures. Outside the sun sets, then rises again. Elinor has made a “ Fish Costume ” - a green Fish Hat (Like Calvin wears when he’s Stupendous Man, this does NOT cover her mouth) with spots. She puts it on and compares herself to her picture of Spotty - twins! END MONTAGE 9. EXT. path to school - day Elinor is wearing her fish hat as she hops along on her way to school again. ELINOR I can’t wait to show Spotty my fish hat . We look just the same! See you later, Mom. RaNGER RABBIT Okay hunny bunny, see you tonight! 10. Ext. shortcut to school - day She gets to the little pond, there’s a <SFX: SPLASH>. ElINOR Hey Spotty! Sorry I didn’t visit for a while. Look what I made! ( She models her hat . ) I’m a fish too, just like... (then she notices) Spotty? ANGLE ON: Spotty in the water now has legs! ELINOR (CONT’D) OH MY GOODNESS! Spotty , do you have legs? But I thought fish didn’t have legs. She takes out her magnifying glass. ANGLE ON: Spotty, magnified. ELINOR (CONT’D) Where did they come from? Hmmm, maybe from the bumps I saw before? (Elinor changes position and continues to observe) I wonder if you can walk on those legs. Will you walk under water? <GASP> Maybe you could walk OUT of the water - now THAT would be cool. Maybe we see Spotty walking out of the water in a THOUGHT BUBBLE . At this moment the <SCHOOL-BELL RINGS> in the distance. ELINOR (CONT’D) Uh-oh. Gotta go! See you later Spotty. Have fun with your new legs! 1 1 . EXT. ScHoolyard - day Olive and Ari are gobsmacked about the news. ARI Wow, that’s an awesome hat Elinor. ELINOR Thanks, Ari. I made it so I could look like a fish, like Spotty. But when I went to show her - guess what I saw! OlIVE What? ELINOR It looks like... (pause for dramatic effect) Spotty has legs. OlIVE Legs? Really? I didn’t think fish HAD legs. ElINOR Me neither. But Spotty does. I think t hey started out as little bumps but I guess they grew. ArI Whoa! A fish with legs! I gotta see that. OLIVE Me too. ELINOR Okay! I’ll take you to meet Spotty, right after school. You’re gonna be amazed! 1 2 . EXT. PUDDLE ON THE PATH - DAY The kids are running through the forest. (NOTE: Elinor doesn’t have her fish hat anymore). ElINOR Spotty’s pond is just over here. They arrive, Elinor points. <SFX: SPLASH> ELINOR (CONT’D) There she is. ANGLE ON: Spotty, with legs. OLIVE Wow, you’re right Elinor. Spotty does have legs. ArI How can that even be? OLIVE Dun, dun dunnn, it’s a mystery. A FISHY mystery. ELINOR We need MORE observations. Elinor and Olive start observing (with the magnifying glass). OLIVE Hmmm. Spotty has legs all right, but she doesn't quite look like other fish. Ari What do you mean? Olive pulls out her Nature Book and flips to a picture of a fish. (Or this can be a thought bubble) OLIVE See, she has eyes like a fish does, and a mouth and a tail. But she doesn’t have fins on her sides like the y do . ANGLE ON: Olive compares the picture of the fish with Spotty. ELINOR You’re right, Olive. I never noticed that before. Meanwhile Ari is looking at another spot nearby, a little farther down the stream , or in another part of the pond, hidden by plants . (NOTE: Stream location already exists, but a pond is a good idea too). ArI Olive, Elinor - come and look at this! They run over. ArI (CONT’D) I found a whole bunch of Spotties. ANGLE ON: The pond with tadpoles at various stages. <SFX: KIDS WOOOOW WALLA> ElINOR There sure ARE a lot of Spotties. But...they don’t all look the same. ANGLE ON: Olive takes out her notebook. OlIVE I’ll draw them in my notebook . BACK ON: The tadpoles. ELINOR That little one looks like Spotty used to with no legs at all. ANGLE ON: Olive draws a picture of a tadpole with no legs. BACK ON: The tadpoles. Ari And that bigger one looks like Spotty does now - with legs. ANGLE ON: Olive draws another picture. ElINOR This one has front legs too! ANGLE ON: A tadpole with front legs, back legs and a tail, in other words a “froglet”. Olive draws it. ANGLE ON: Elinor looks at Olive’s drawing. ElinOR (CONT’D) Wait a minute - this one with front legs and back legs doesn’t really look like a fish to me at all. Olive No? What does it look like? Elinor Kind of like.... Meanwhile Ari is distracted. Ari Look, a frog! Over there! ANGLE ON: A frog hopping nearby. OLIVE I'll draw it too. Olive draws, and Elinor watches. ELINOR Wait a minute - this is SO interesting! Elinor and Ari look and point at the drawing: https: // www.dropbox.com /s/ 1mdcehdxwvnwka0 / 20200515_010118.jpg?dl =0 ELINOR (CONT’D) It looks as though animals like Spotty grow back legs, then front legs...and then they change into frogs. ANGLE ON: Ari, amazed. ARI Does that mean...Spotty’s not a fish? At this moment Mr. Rabbit joins them (Elinor’s house is not far) , he’s holding a bag of groceries . Mr. RaBBIT Hey, kids. I was just coming back from getting veggies at Farmer Bear’s when I saw you observing something really closely . What have you noticed ? ELINOR It’s Spotty, Daddy! MR. RABBIT What about Spotty? ELINOR She has...LEGS! Mr. RABBIT Legs? But I thought Spotty was a fish? ELINOR: I thought so too, but look! (Elinor goes over to the edge of the pond.) We saw other animals over here too. Some have back legs, and some have back legs AND front legs. OLIVE And some look almost like frogs, except they have tails. ARI And some ARE frogs! At this point, Mr. Rabbit catches on what's going on. Mr. RABBIT Ah, I see. ELINOR So we're thinking Spotty might not be a fish after all. MR. RABBIT So, then, what do you think she is? ELINOR Well, if she's gonna look like a frog when she grows up, maybe she IS a frog? MR. RABBIT You're right, Elinor! Spotty is not a fish, and she's not a frog just yet, but she will be. Right now she’s a TADPOLE, chang ing into a frog. ArI Whoaah, my brain just exploded. OlIVE Tadpole! I like that word. ElINOR But what’s a tadpole, Dad? MR. RABBIT Hmm, maybe I’d better start at the beginning. F rogs start out as eggs. ANGLE ON: Maybe he points to some frog eggs. Ari I thought only birds lay eggs. MR. RABBIT Frogs do too, and so do some other animals, like turtles and lizards. Then, when the frog eggs hatch, little baby frogs come out, called tadpoles . He points to a tadpole in the pond. ELINOR But they look like little fish . MR. RABBIT That’s r ight. Then the tadpoles grow back legs and front legs too , and are called froglets. OLIVE I like that word too - Froglets! MR. RABBIT Then the froglets tail shrinks , which doesn’t hurt them at all, and then they change into... ELINOR <GASP!> FROGS! They are all amazed at this, <SFX: WOOOW WALLA> Elinor points to the various stages of tadpoles in the pond as she explains: ELINOR (CONT’D) (sure now) That means… Spotty is NOT a fish. She’s a tadpole chang ing into a frog. MR. RABBIT You got it, Elinor! ELINOR (in awe) Wow. That...is...AMAZING! SONG MONTAGE As we sing the song Elinor follows Spotty on her journey as she change s into a frog. Elinor/Ari/ Olive ELINOR: Every little frog Starts with an egg And when it hatches It has no legs ARI: A tadpole’s not much more Than a tail and a head OLIVE: But it will grow and change And become a frog instead. ALL Grow and change Grow and change Baby frogs Grow and change. ELINOR: A tadpole swims around Happy in their pond Then they grow legs in the back That they can jump on. OLIVE: When the front legs come A froglet becomes a frog ARI: And climbs out of the water To sit happy on a log. ALL: Grow and change Grow and change Baby frogs, Grow and change Grow and change Grow and change ELINOR: My friend Spotty Will grow and change. 1 3 . INT. ELINOR’S ROOM -- DAY CU: Elinor is now putting up the pictures she drew of Spotty (or Olive’s drawings) in each different stage. ElINOR (sing-song) Frog, frog, froggy, froggy, frog, frog, frog. WIDEN TO REVEAL: Her parents are watching as she points to each drawing . ElINOR (CONT’D) (she indicates) This is a frog egg, then a tadpole comes out, then it grows back legs, then front legs… And then it changes into...a frog! (she takes a step back) They all look different, but that’s just how frogs grow. Mr. RABBIT Very nice, Elinor. ELINOR Thanks. I thought I had a fish friend but it turns out Spotty wasn’t a fish after all. She’s a FROG. But that’s okay because frogs are AWESOME . She pouts on her new Frog Hat (NOTE: To be honest I’m not sure how this would differ from the tadpole hat. If design can figure our something cool, that’s great, if not this beat can be cut). ELINOR (CONT’D) See! Now I look just like Spotty. The family walks out of the room as Elinor starts riffing about frogs. The camera stays on the frog drawings, and starts moving in... ElINOR (O.C.) (CONT’D) Did you know frogs can live on land AND in the water, and that they really do sit on lilypads, and they really love to hop, and they have long sticky tongue.... MR. RABBIT (O.C.) I think Elinor is on a bit of a frog-kick. CU on the drawing of Spotty as a frog. IRIS OUT THE END NOTE FROM FROG EXPERT ABOUT TADPOLE TIMING: Species of frog that live in deserts or otherwise temporary pools have the shortest tadpole stage as they need to get out of the water quickly! Spadefoots are the winners in North America in terms of shortest tadpole phase: https: // en.wikipedia.org / wiki / Scaphiopus However, I think you’d be OK with any tadpole as the legs spend a lot of time very little then extend out to legs maybe even within a week. Arms pop out even quicker (from bumps inside one day to arms popped out!). So if you can get a week in there from “fish” to tadpole (legs) and a day or two to arms and legs, that would be good. But otherwise a few days and a day would be OK I think.

EWW173 Elinor’s Fishy Friend -- D2 -- .

<SFX: CU Hmmm Ooops That...is...AMAZING WHOOOA Whoaah Yup froggy froglet gonna hunny like...a sooo tail...and

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ELINOR WONDERS WHY EWW 173: ELINOR'S FISHY FRIEND Written by Katherine Sandford Elinor’s Question: What happened to Elinor’s fish friend Spotty? Logline: Elinor makes friends with a fish she names Spotty, but then something amazing happens, Spotty grows LEGS. LS4 . Understand that all animals and plants have a life cycle, can reproduce, and change and grow over time: a. Observe the life cycle of familiar plants and animals b. Observe the growth in animals and plants c. Understand that living things grow and change over time (Elinor and her friends observe the different stages in the life cycle of a frog). LS7 . Understand that young animals and young plants are very much, but not exactly like their parents: a. Understand that the young of a species are the same kind of animal or plant as the parents b. Arrange and compare illustrations of humans and other animals in developmental sequence from infancy to adult (Elinor and her friends arrange drawings of Spotty into a developmental sequence as it matures from tadpole to froglet to frog). SEP1 . Asking questions (science) and defining problems (engineering) a. Demonstrate curiosity about the greater world outside of their local environment b. Ask more complex questions about observable phenomena c. Ask and/or identify cause and effect questions that can be answered by an investigation (Elinor and her friends ask questions about Spotty's changes, and decide to investigate) SEP2 . Developing and using models a. Represent observable, concrete objects, events, and findings in many different ways c. Use simple models to support explanations (Elinor and her friends make pictures of the various stages of the frog's development). SEP3 . Planning and carrying out investigations b. Compare and contrast objects and events by describing similarities and differences in detail (Elinor and her friends compare the different stages of the frog's development) SEP4 . Analyzing and interpreting data a. Collect, describe, and record observations in greater detail and in various ways (Elinor and her friends collect data on the various stages of a frog's life). SEP7 . Engaging in argument from evidence a. Engage in discussions before, during, and after investigations. b. Support thinking and argue ideas with evidence. (Elinor and her friends observe and discuss the changes they see in Spotty and the other tadpoles. SEP8 . Obtaining, evaluating and communicating information a. Obtain information through discussing prior knowledge and observations with experts including teachers or knowledgeable adults f. Share findings and explanations (correct or incorrect) through a variety of methods (Elinor and her friends share their findings with Mr. Rabbit by using drawings, and they discuss what they have discovered with him). FIRST DRAFT: April 28, 2020 SECOND DRAFT: May 13, 2020 POLISH: May 21, 2020 THE END Elinor Mr. Rabbit Ranger Rabbit Olive Ari Art Arr Olive/ari (V.O.) (O.S.) (O.C.) (CONT'D) (SUBTITLE) INT EXT I/E 1 ELINOR WONDERS WHY CHECK NOTES ELINOR'S HOUSE -- DAY PARK – DAY FISHPOND (BRIDGE) – DAY PATH ON THE WAY HOME – DAY SCHOOL YARD – DAY RAINFALL TRANSITION PARK – A FEW DAYS LATER FISHPOND -- DAY MORE RAIN TRANSITION PARK – A FEW MORE DAYS LATER PARK BANCH – DAY FISHPOND – DAY ELINOR'S ROOM -- DAY ? KITCHEN -- DAY PATH TO SCHOOL PATH ON THE WAY TO – DAY SCHOOLYARD CLASSROOM – DAY INT. ELINOR'S ROOM -- DAY 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. 120