FIRST SCENE

(Coraline walking around the house looking for an old well)

(The cat appears and scares coraline)

CORALINE You scared me to death, you mangy thing!

Cat GLARES at her with BLUE OPAL EYES, makes a low growl as she stands. She exhales.

CORALINE I’m just looking for an old well. Know it?

Cat BLINKS EYES slowly.

CORALINE(CONT'D) Not talking, huh?

The wind picks up. She grasps the forks of her stick, closes her eyes, and, tracing a figure eight
above her, says:

CORALINE (CONT'D) Magic dowser, magic dowser: show... me... the well!

WYBIE APPEARS AND SCARES COALINE

CORALINE (CONT'D) GET AWAY FROM ME—

WYBIE: Hoo! Let me guess, you’re from Texas or Utah; someplace dried out and barren, right?
I heard about water-witching before but it doesn’t make sense; I mean, it’s just an ordinary
branch.

CORALINE (enraged) IT’S A DOWSING ROD! And I DON’T LIKE BEING STALKED, not by PSYCHO-
NERDS OR THEIR CATS!

(He crouches, nervous, to scratch the cat behind his ears)

WYBIE He’s not really my cat; he’s kinda feral – you know, wild? Of course, I do feed him every
night and sometimes he’ll come in my window ‘n bring me little dead things.

CORALINE (tough) Look, I’m from Pontiac.

WYBIE Huh?

CORALINE: MICHIGAN? And if I’m a “water witch”, then-- (points stick, stomps foot) --where’s
the secret WELL?

WYBIE You stomp too hard and you’ll fall in it!

(Coraline reacts, hops out of the springy circle.) The boy scrapes at the ground, revealing a
CIRCULAR COVERING made of WOODEN PLANKS. He wedges a fallen branch under one side,
and, using a rock for the fulcrum, pries up the covering.

WYBIE : See? Supposed to be so deep if you fell to the bottom and looked up, you’d see a sky
full of stars in the middle of the day.
Her frown RELAXES

WYBIE Surprised she let you move in...

WYBIE (CONT'D) ... my Gramma. She owns the “Pink Palace” (indicates house in distance)
Won’t rent to people with kids.

CORALINE What do you mean?

WYBIE (suddenly worried) Uh... I’m not supposed to talk about it.

Changing the subject, he lifts a gloved hand to shake.

WYBIE (CONT'D) I’m Wybie, Wybie Lovat.

CORALINE (skeptical) Wybie? WYBIE Short for Wyborne. Not my idea, of course. What’d you
get saddled with?

CORALINE I wasn’t saddled with anything. It’s Coraline.

WYBIE Caroline what?

CORALINE Coraline. Coraline Jones.

WYBIE (confused, not hearing it) Hmmm... It’s not real scientific, but I heard an ordinary name,
like Caroline -- can lead people to have ordinary expectations about a person—

(WYBIE'S GRANDMOTHER (calling from afar) Wyborne! )

CORALINE I think I heard someone calling you, Wyborne.

WYBIE What? I didn’t hear anything—

CORALINE Oh, I definitely heard someone,

A distant dinner bell clangs. WYBIE'S GRANDMOTHER (O.C.) Wyborne!

WYBIE (under his breath, nervous) Grandma! He holds up his hands in surrender, nodding with
eyes closed, forcing some laughs.

WYBIE (CONT’D) Heh. Well, great to meet a Michigan water witch.

(He picks up his bike, wheels it around, then holds up his gloved hands.)

WYBIE (CONT'D) But I’d wear gloves next time.

CORALINE (skeptical) Why?

( He points to her dowsing rod, nods.)

WYBIE (CONT'D) ‘Cause that dowsing rod of yours? Uh, it’s poison oak.

CORALINE Ehh!!
(Coraline drops the stick as he zooms away and wipes her hands on her clothes.)

SECOND SCENE

INT. KITCHEN - NEXT MORNING

CORALINE I almost fell down a well yesterday, Mom.

MEL (not listening) Uh huh.

CORALINE I would have died.

MEL (continues typing) That’s nice.

Coraline scratches the rash on her hand, changes subject.

CORALINE Hmmm. So can I go out? I think it’s perfect weather for gardening.

MEL No, Coraline. Rain makes mud. Mud makes a mess.

Coraline turns to her.

CORALINE But Mom, I want stuff growing when my friends come to visit. Isn’t that why we
moved here?

MEL Something like that. But then we had the accident.

CORALINE Wasn’t my fault you hit that truck.

MEL I never said it was.

CORALINE (mutters) I can’t believe it -- you and Dad get paid to write about plants and you
hate dirt.

Mel stops typing, loses her patience.

MEL Coraline, I don’t have time for you right now. And you still have unpacking to do. Lots of
unpacking.

CORALINE That sounds exciting.

Mel remembers something.

Mel (CONT'D) Oh - some kid left this on the front porch.

Coraline walks over and is handed a NEWSPAPER-WRAPPED PACKAGE.

Attached note reads: WYBIE (V.O.) Hey Jonesy, look what I found in Gramma’s trunk. Look
familiar? Wybie.
She rips open the package and finds the BUTTON-EYED, BLUEHAIRED, YELLOW RAINCOAT-
WEARING DOLL from the head credits - it’s a litte Coraline!

CORALINE (to herself) Huh... a little me? That’s weird.

MEL What’s his name, anyway?

CORALINE Wybie. And I’m way too old for dolls.

MEL Uhhh, you know, this house is a hundred and fifty years old.

CORALINE So?

MEL so explore it!

She grabs a pen and pad, holds it out.

MEL Go out and ... count all the doors and windows and write that down. List everything blue!
(begging) Just let me work.

Coraline leaves the room.

SCENE 3

CORALINE EXPLORING THE HOUSE

CORALINE One boring blue boy in a painfully boring painting ... four incredibly boring
windows ... and no... more... doors...

She turns to grab the doll off the table by the snow globe box. It’s gone.

CORALINE All right, little me, where are you hiding?

Scanning the room, she spots the doll LOOKING OUT FROM BEHIND THE MATTRESS BOX
leaned against the corner wall. Perplexed, she walks over and kneels down to grab the doll
when she notices SOMETHING ON THE WALL behind the box. She shoves the box aside, and
discovers the outline of a SMALL DOOR that’s been wallpapered over.

Intensely curious, she calls to the kitchen.

CORALINE Hey Mom... INT. KITCHEN –

CONTINUOUS Mom, typing away, ignores her.

CORALINE (O.S.) Where does this door go?

MEL I’m really, really busy!

CORALINE I think it’s locked.

CORALINE Pleeeeeeeeease!
Mel gets up, really annoyed.

. MEL Will you stop pestering me if I do this for you?

Coraline nods her head quickly, PANTING like a dog.

MEL (CONT’D) Fine.

Mel cuts the wallpaper around the door and sticks the key in the lock. Coraline looks on, giddy
with anticipation, the doll at her side. Mel turns the key, unlocks the door, and pulls it open to
reveal ... an UNBROKEN BRICK WALL. Coraline is totally disappointed.

CORALINE Bricks? I don’t get it.

MEL They must have closed this off when they divided up the house.

Mel gets up to leave.

CORALINE You're kidding? And why is the door so small?

MEL We made a deal. ZIP IT!

She exits.

CORALINE You didn’t lock it.

MEL (O.S.) AaaaaH!!!

SCENE 4