I just applied for the Universal Animation Writers Program, and I'm stoked about the quality of my submission for one major reason - the spec script was totally in my wheelhouse!
There are a growing number of internships and learning programs for folks interested in writing for animation and kids, and I hope the trend continues. Nickolodeon, CBS, and Disney have been joined by Netflix and a few others. The challenge for me to submit to these programs has always been two-fold - the submission window is usually about a month and they don't announce the "approved shows list" for the spec scripts until that window opens.
So, you have about a month to write a script for a show you may have never watched. And I can already hear people saying "As a writer, you should be able to do that!"
And yes, I agree. And I can. And it's how good and great shows are frequently written. But ten thousand other people who apply to the program are also doing this. Which leads to the real question - "Can you study a show, adapt its tone and characters, and write a fresh idea for an episode within thirty days that's better than ten thousand others, 20% of whom have probably seen every episode three times and are die-hard fans?"
And the answer to that is "May the odds be ever in your favor."
And this time, the tables did turn in my favor. One of the accepted shows is Trollhunters. TROLLHUNTERS!
I am the die-hard fan. I have watched this series through twice. Probably watched the series finale three times. It's truly one of my favorite animated series of all time. It's one of the coolest stories and worlds ever built. So when I saw that, an idea came to me immediately.
Here's the down-and-dirty on the show's background. Jim Lake gets a magic amulet that allows him to don armor and conjure a sword whenever he says "For the glory of Merlin, daylight is mine to command." The armor makes him the Trollhunter, a title and abilities that have for thousands of years been held by... a troll. As the first human Trollhunter, Jim spends his nights fighting evil trolls to protect good trolls. His friend Toby and girlfriend Claire get mixed up in the adventures, and he's aided by his two troll friends, Argh and Blinky.
Blinky is voiced by Kelsey Grammar.
The concept for the episode came to me immediately: Jim loses his voice while having some communication issues with Claire, making it more difficult for them. His voice is stolen by a magic creature. Ever the elder advisor to Jim, Blinky steps in to give relationship counseling and to a little psychology, playing on Grammar's turn as Frasier Crane.
I started with a comical chase scene, in which Jim and company chases a "klepto-dile" through the Florida swamps in an effort to retrieve items it's stolen from the trolls that live there. It steals Toby's signature sweater vest, which upsets him because it has a coupon for his favorite burritos and a note Claire gave him to give to Jim. We find out the note was pretty important.
The team catches the klepto-dile, and on the way back home they're spotted by another small creature I created - a "ventril-o-wisp." The ventrilowisp sneaks onto their vehicle and follows Jim home. While he sleeps, it steals his voice.
The next morning, Jim finds out that he's lost his voice. It's obvious magic is at work, because there's a green glowing ball in his throat. Things are complicated when his Spanish teacher refuses to believe he's lost his voice and demands he give a presentation in class by Friday or fail the course.
Jim consults with Blinky, who reveals that the ventril-o-wisp is a creature that steals voices because it talks constantly. It's the most opinionated creature on the planet. It will go around looking for "captive audiences" to speak to until it wears Jim's voice out. Then he's lost it forever.
The gang has to find the ventril-o-wisp and force it to give Jim's voice back. He can't summon his armor, either, adding to the challenge.
The wisp has a few comical scenes in which it ruins a movie for everyone, leaves a 30-minute voicemail on a customer service line, and takes over a cell phone store to call every complaint department in the city.
The team initially fails to capture the wisp, but comes up with a plan to play to its weakness. If the wisp can't resist the urge to talk, then it's not just the audience that can be held captive. They trick the wisp into taking over a radio station. Blinky then calls into the station and, using his vast knowledge of psychology, baits the wisp to keep talking until Jim and Claire can catch it.
The episode closes with Jim successfully giving his presentation and responding to Claire's note in a heartfelt way that shows he values the way she understands him, no matter what.
That was the first draft. Here's what changed:
1. I nixed the "klepto-dile" idea because the episode already hinges on one new character. I know we're supposed to be all "blue sky full of ideas" in this business, but new designs and rigging cost money, and I'd already introduced a new thing. It felt like I'd be showing a lack of understanding of how animated shows work if I threw in a bunch of stuff.
2. To fix it, I changed the klepto-dile chase to a fight with goblins, which are established characters. I feel like it ultimately made the scene better because there was more action and less explaining what was happening. It also made use of established creatures and lore.
3. I initially had the ventrilo-wisp head down into Trollmarket (the trolls' subterranean city) and cause chaos with other established characters, forcing Jim to resolve things without the use of his voice. That required a lot of action description, and all of the interactions turned into Jim working with minor characters. It sidelined the Jim-Claire dynamic, so I kept the ventrilo-wisp in the human world and had the team try to chase and capture it without Jim's normal leadership.
A final concern was locations. The story calls for exteriors of a pizzeria, a cell phone store, a movie theater, and a radio station. I also need interiors for the theater, the cell phone shop, and a hallway and a recording booth in the radio station. I don't feel like those would be a huge ask for an environments team, given that a lot of the elements have already been created for the show, but if they told me I could have either a radio station or the theater, I wouldn't be heartbroken. I could move the plot along with a simple drive-thru menu speaker and a hapless fast-food employee.
Whatever the case, I accomplished the following with my script:
1. A little more attention to the Jim-Claire romance, which I always liked to see in the show.
2. Kelsey Grammar! Pranking a radio host!
3. A solid episode in which the A, B, and C plots all complement each other physically and thematically.
The script is on my Coverfly profile if you want to download it and give it a read!
