BSA 204 W16 : Dark Fairy Tale Mash-Up

Short Film

A family's young boy is stolen by fairies in the park and an old carpenter's wooden puppet comes to life, but the film unfolds without these magical elements being revealed immediately.

------------------------------------

An old widower tells tales of magic and how his wife went to live with fairies in the clouds, he tells local children that there are many fairies in the park and does so on a fateful day when a particularly rebellious child disappears. The police set out to investigate and the parents suspect the seemingly harmless old man, who befriends another family, claiming he has recently adopted a child (but one who is too sick to be seen). They apprehend the man and find a living wooden puppet in his basement.

------------------------------------

An old man is telling a boy in the park that there are fairies watching from the trees, that his own wife went to live with them some months ago and that he can do so too, the rebellious youngster goes with him to see where they are and makes a choice to live with them - staying forever young. The boy flies off into the clouds but the parents are left without their son and immediately investigate. The old man wishes for the fairies to grant him a wish now that he has brought them a boy and they give life to a wooden puppet he has made. He takes his new son home and care for it, but the people suspect him of the other boy's disappearance as he was last seen talking to him. He has to hide his new child and makes friends with a new family, who also has kids and he tells them he has adopted a son. He doesn't let them see him though because the boy is sick. The police investigate his home and find only the dillusions of a madman with a lifeless wooden puppet dressed up and cared for like a living child in his basement.

-----------------------------------

Tim Burton + Guillermo Del Toro + Terry Gilliam + Jan Svankmajer

-----------------------------------

A boy is told by his father that he expected to get a job now as he is growing into manhood, the boy is upset with this and doesn't want to grow up as the new responsibilities start to stack up. In the park there is an old man who puts on a puppet show for the children, he has as a special case that no one is allowed to see into, he tells a story of how his wife went into the heavens with fairies that live inside the park. The boy asks him about this and the case after the show, the man tells him its not fictional and not a child's story - instead real and he can show him where the fairies live.

The old man leads him to where the fairies are and they tell the boy he can be forever young, he agrees to this and flies off with them, in return for this the old man gets his wish to have the puppet in the special case come alive - which he's fashioned with features of him and his wife combined, the perfect child she always wanted. The other boy flies into the clouds and is given a new pair of fairy stockings, having his own clothes left behind.

The boy's parents find him missing and start a search, no where to be found they contact the police. The old widower visits a family he hangs around a lot and who he's told that his son is sick and can't be seen. He smuggles his curious new son through a market place, which it finds very interesting and that attracts a dog's attention. The missing boy's father suspiciously follows him and wonders what's in the pram.

He contacts the police and they break the old mans door in when he refuses to let anyone see his boy, they only find a lifeless wooden puppet being treated as if its alive.

---------------------------------
Sunday noon, after church:

A boy, hardly 13, walks into a store and awkwardly asks for a temporary position of a likeness to an internship, but he is distracted by a cool little toy. The man asks him why he wants to work there and he says because its a video game store and the man tells him that work is not all play and that he's not hiring at the moment anyway. He walks out, pickpocketing the little toy as he exits, to his father who is waiting for him and he says that now they've tried his choice they should go to where he's sure he can get some work experience,  walking through a park he is offering him the choice of meat works or shoe makers. The boy says they're both boring and complains about getting a job at all, the father tells him that he's going to high school now and its a great way to get a leg up in life, he's becoming an adult and needs to start acting like one. He's becoming a man and must learn to start providing, just like his dad did when he was young.

They meet up with the mother and three other siblings. They walk through the park and the boy is distracted by a puppet show made an old man, he asks if he can go watch, as the boy walks over the parents gossip about the man, saying he had recently lost his wife, that he has been strange since. The story the old man is telling is about a woman in a red dress going to live with fairies on an island in the clouds, other children watch wide eyed and the boy hangs around a while after the show. The man packs everything up into a small case and has a second briefcase, the boy asks him what's in it and he says he can't tell but it's a special puppet for special occasions.

He asks if its true what the old man said, that you don't age there and the man confirms this. The boy says doesnt matter anyway, its fake just like santa clause of the easter bunny. The old man asks him who told him they were fake, he says his parents. The old man asks him if his parents go to church, the boy says yes and the old man asks him whats so different between God and those other fantastical beings. The boy doesn't know, he just says its what his parents said and they're adults, they must be right. The old man tells him he's an adult as well, and even older, wiser one and he has seen with his own eyes that fairies exist. Has the boy's parents seen God, the boy shakes his head saying you don't see Him you just believe in Him.  The old man says he's seen fairies with his own eyes, they exist and live in this very park and can even show the boy.

The parents sit and deal with the kids playing and not eating their food, they wonder where their son is and see the puppet show is packed up and he is gone. The boy and old man walk to a special place in the park and in the trees leaves start to fall. The world becomes dark as they transition and they come to a fountain where many fairies play in the water. The boy plays with them for a while in amazement as the old man watches on with a sad smile. The clouds create a stairway and the boy wonders where they're going, they say home and ask if he wants to come with, he looks back and wonders, they tell him of how amazing the world in the clouds are. The boy asks the old man if he's going too, the old man says some day but if he goes now, who would be left to tell everyone about the magic in the world. The boy takes a moment but decides and ascends the stairs, where he starts floating and flying and his clothes fall and are replaced by green overalls similar to those the fairies wear. They take him into the heavens, the old man calls out to the last of the fairies before they leave asking for his bargain to be respected. They agree and tell him they'll grant his wish, he takes a boy sized wooden puppet out of the elongated briefcase and they shower it in fairy dust. It comes alive and is dressed in the other boy's clothes.

He caresses the wooden boys face, a tear in each eye, saying how he's exactly as she would have always wanted, her eyes, his nose, the boy they could never have - he names him as she would have always wanted.

There is a search in the park, flashlights as police search for the boy, the parents yell his name frantically, the old man takes his new son - crying - and runs from these. The father with a dog searches, sad, concerned, angry and confused he comes across the little memento from the video game store. He inspects it and starts crying.

The old man is performing at a birthday party as a favour to a family that he is very familiar with, they thank him and he tells them anything for their little family. The mother says he's been so good to them, he tells that he loves the children so much, she says they must meet his boy some time, and he says the child is unfortunately too sick and fragile to come out to a party like this but he hopes they will some day, not at all as strong as her boys. She shows concern but is called away and he goes and plays nerf guns with the boys.

The old man walks home and finds people gathered around his apartment he hurries and looks worried, they have gathered because there is water leaking out from under his door and into the sidewalk/gutter. He says its nothing to worry about, his senile mind must have just forgotten the tap on, but when he gets inside there is a ruckus of laughter. The wooden boy is playing with the overflowing tub, a cat precariously balancing on a floating table, he turns the tap off and stuff and tells the boy he can't be so reckless it will draw attention and people will find him. The boy asks him why he can't go outside, why can't people see him. He says they won'rt understand, until he figures out a way to make them he can't take him anywhere where he'll be seen, he's just too different. The boy sad wishes he was real, and the man tells him he'll take him out to see the market the next day, they just have to be discreet, then starts splashing water at him, getting him to have fun again.

The man pushes a trolley through the market, hiding the boy who gets very excited to see everything and the father is with the remaining siblings. He has a dog with them which reacts when the old man goes past and draws attention to them, the old man has to make haste and disappear, but the father sees him flee and puts the pieces together, especially when the dog comes back with a piece of the boy's clothing.

The police and father knock on the old man's door and when he doesn't let them in they force their way through, finding the lifeless puppet, dressed in the missing boy's clothes, being treated like a living child. The old man blabbers on about how the boy is happier, living with the fairies - he'll be happy forever - and begs them not to take his son, not to separate them as they cuff him. The father cries in the corner clutching his son's clothing after removing it from the wooden body, demanding to know where his boy is - the old man just replies that he's in the clouds.

Past the house, over the town, further into the sky, and through the night there is an island, fairies fly and swim, there in the clouds the boy is flying and dances with the old man's wife dressed in the same red dress she wore for the play. Forever young.

------------------------------------