Mime for a Change

(Opening shot: the city skyline, with a rainbow stretching across multicolored buildings.)

Narrator: The city of Townsville! (Camera turns down toward the park.) A vibrant and colorful community. Listen! Don't you hear the joy?

(A clown pops into view, singing loudly and without particular regard for pitch or meter. Pull back to show him in front of a group of kids at a birthday party in the park. He is dressed in a gaily colored striped shirt, polka-dotted pants, oversized red shoes, and a small green derby.)

Clown: La-la-la-la-la-la! Happy, happy, happy, happy birthday, Jim!

(The kids cheer, and the clown starts singing again.)

Clown: I'm Rainbow the Colorful Clown! (He stands on his head.) You can keep on looking, you'll never see a frown! ( He goes over to Jim.) It's your birthday, and I'll dub you King with a crown! ( He crowns him.) It's your birthday, it's your birthday, it's your birthday...uh...Jim! Look at all my colors, don't they make you smile? Listen to my singing, it could last for quite a while!

(He slides over to a man and a woman whose clothes sport his own gaudy colors.)

All my stripes and spots are the brand new style! It's your birthday, it's your birthday, it's your birthday, Carl! (Jim is nonplussed by the slip.) Uh...Jim!

(The kids cheer again. Cut to Rainbow, kneeling in front of Jim and looking downcast.)

Clown (Rainbow): (sadly) Today we've had our fun, And my time is almost done, (brightening) So goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye...

(He dances backwards happily and waves, his shoes squeaking, until he gets to the middle of the street. Over Jim's shoulders, we see him get ready for the big finish. Zoom in.)

Rainbow: Goooooooood...

(He is interrupted by the horn of a tractor-trailer bearing down on him, causing him to turn and look in concern at his impending demise. The driver slams on the brakes, and the truck flips onto its side and skids along in a screech of metal against asphalt. The top of the trailer bears a single word in huge black letters: "BLEACH." Spinning as it skids, the rig just misses Rainbow and comes to a stop next to him. It looks as though Rainbow has escaped becoming street pizza.)

Rainbow: Whoo! (singing) Now that was clo-o-o-se!

(Unfortunately for Rainbow, he tempted fate, and the trailer suddenly bursts open. Rainbow disappears from sight beneath a wave of liquid bleach. He is left standing, but the colors begin to drain out of his costume and makeup, leaving him black and white. His smile turns into an angry grimace. He becomes silent. Cut to the trucker, who has climbed out of his rig and is waving to get Rainbow's attention.)

Trucker: Hey, buddy! Hey, buddy! Are you okay, buddy?

(Rainbow turns his head and catches sight of the trucker; the colors of his clothes cause the clown to recoil in pain, trying to shield his face with his arms to conceal what he laid eyes on. Extreme close-up of his hand being placed on the trucker's chest and the color draining out of the shirt. Pull back.)

Trucker: (sighing with relief) That was quite a -

(His words give way to choking sounds as the rest of his body turns gray, and he finally hangs his head, closing his eyes, and makes no sound at all.)

Kid: (from o.c.) Rainbow! Rainbow! (Pan over to bring him into view; he is holding a balloon.) Are you okay? 'Cause that was crazy and -

(Rainbow touches the balloon, turning it and the kid gray and silencing him as he gasps. Camera shifts to Rainbow's feet and points up; he holds his hands out and looks at them, reveling in this new ability of his. He raises one foot and plants it on the ground, and a zone of B&W spreads outward from it. Camera pulls back slowly to an overhead view of  several city blocks, the B&W still radiating out.)

Narrator: (uneasily) Oh, my. Rainbow the Clown has now become...Mr. Mime!

(The colorless balloon floats up toward the camera. Cut to a school bus making its rounds; we hear Bubbles singing happily.)

Bubbles: La, la-la, la-la-la-la-la, la-la.

(Inside, the camera pans slowly along the aisle as she continues.)

Bubbles: First you take the pink, and then some blue...

(Stop on the girls, seated in the back row. Bubbles is hard at work with crayons and paper; Buttercup is looking out across the aisle, bored.)

Bubbles: And then the green,

(Head-on view of Buttercup, panning across the girls. Blossom looks over Bubbles' shoulder as she draws.)

And then more pink, and then a dash of blue.

Coloring, coloring, coloring, (fishing out another crayon)

Get another color, doo-dit-doo!

(She finishes and proudly holds up her drawing.)

Bubbles: Look! (Close-up of it; she continues o.c.) I drew us!

(She has indeed done so, even getting Buttercup's scowl and crossed arms about right. Cut to Blossom.)

Blossom: Mmm-hmm. (Pan to Buttercup. She takes one annoyed look at Bubbles' drawing before turning her attention to the front of the bus.)

Buttercup: Bus driver! (Pull back to the front of the bus.) Are we there yet?

Bus driver: Just one more stoplight and it's education for -

(On this last line, we see a monochrome stoplight through the windshield because of Mr. Mime's touch of Townsville. The bus driver screams in panic when he notices this. With no way to tell if he has the right-of-way or not, he slams on the brakes as the bus skids toward the intersection into the path of an oncoming car. Both drivers - the other one being an old lady - try to cover their heads to protect themselves from what possibly was inevitable. The crash never comes, though; we hear the girls in flight, and the view behind the bus driver begins to scroll up. He opens his eyes and looks out the window, completely baffled. Pull back quickly to show Buttercup and Bubbles carrying the bus, then again to show the other car being held by Blossom. Everyone inside them cheers, and the vehicles are set down safely.)

Narrator: Good job, girls! Congratulate yourselves. You deserve it!

(The girls hug one another, but after they do, Bubbles' eyes pop open, and her expression switches from joy to dismay. All around her, the city has  been turned into shades of gray. This does not go over well with her.)

Bubbles: (panicky) WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THE COLOR?!?

(As the camera pulls back quickly revealing that the bus and car are white,  having possibly been affected by Mr. Mime off-camera, she begins dashing about, scribbling furiously with her crayons and growing increasingly frantic.)

Bubbles: This door should be green...that flower should be yellow...the bricks should be red...(turns around towards the screen) WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!? (Cut to her sisters.)

Blossom: This is very peculiar. Buttercup, what do you think?

Buttercup: (bored) Whatever.

(Bubbles flies into view and gets in Buttercup's face, startling her out of her bored state in not caring about what's happened around them.)

Bubbles: What do you mean, "whatever"?! We can't live in a world without color! Mother Nature has big, big plans with color, and it just can't be taken away! (pointing to a fire hydrant with both her arms) Not to mention all the safety reasons!

(A blue car pulls up next to the hydrant, hiding her from view. She picks it up and screams.)

Bubbles: You can't park next to a fire hydrant!

Driver: I didn't knooooooooooowwwww!

(His voice fades as she throws the car o.c, leaving her sisters in shock and  concern. She whips out her crayons again and scribbles red on the hydrant, then looks angrily over her shoulder at her sisters.)

Bubbles: Don't just stand there! START COLORING! (She takes off, her sisters looking up after her.)

Buttercup: Bubbles has gone cuckoo.

Blossom: She's right, though. Spread out and search for clues! (They take off in different directions.)

(Cut to Bubbles, again dashing about and coloring everything in sight, starting with a street sign at the corner of Green Street and Orange Avenue.)

Bubbles: This should be green! And this should be orange!

(She colors the signs to match their names. Cut to Blossom in flight. She stops short when Buttercup calls to her.)

Buttercup: (from o.c.) Yo, Blossom! Check this out!

(Close-up of Buttercup, staring intently at something. Blossom lands behind her.)

Blossom: Good work, Buttercup!

(Camera shifts to behind them and turns up slightly during the next line. Footprints lead into an area with color and disappear around a corner. The camera movement puts the pair out of view.)

Blossom: These footprints should lead us right to whoever is responsible for this mess. (Side view of them.) Come on! (They take off.)

(A moment later, Bubbles flies into view and stops by a B&W mailbox.)

Bubbles: And this should be blue! (She colors it.)

(Cut to a close-up of a screaming woman being drained of color by Mr. Mime. A  construction worker, tearing up the street with a jackhammer, is silenced when the villain bounces across in front of him, almost like in  rhythm with the jackhammer. In an alley, a dog is barking at a scared cat on top of a trash can; Mr. Mime reaches into view and puts a hand on  each, stopping the noise with a gleeful smile on his face. A screaming baby in a carriage is silenced next, then a group of break-dancers and their boom box, whom Mr. Mime lands in front of to silence with an angry  scowl on his face. He drains the color from a poster advertising Real Kolor Film. A grocery store - Ma & Pops - has on display a variety of fruits that are promptly turned B&W. Mr. Mime turns his attention  to a hippie minibus, but is interrupted in the middle of doing his thing.)

Voice: (Irish brogue) Stop, or we'll shoot!

(Pull back as Mr. Mime turns around, his back to the bus, and finds himself being held at gunpoint. Cut to the speaker, one of a group of three policemen with guns drawn, their cruisers parked behind them.)

Policeman: Put your hands on the ground!

(Cut to Mr. Mime; he does as he is told, a wicked smile on his face. Back to  the cops, who soon find themselves drained of color and speech, then to  him again, still smiling wickedly, then to Blossom and Buttercup in flight.)

Narrator: Color me troubled... (We see the skyline.) ...Townsville is black and white!

(The pair fly down a street and land, seeing and hearing everything Mr. Mime  has done. The break-dancers {who are now frowning compared to their earlier smiles} and the cops are standing motionless now.)

Blossom: This is disturbing. (A bird chirps o.c.)

Buttercup: Blossom! (Points to the chirping bird)  Look!

(Quick pan to the bird, nesting in a tree. Mr. Mime is next to it. Annoyed by the chirping, he brings his foot down by the tree, and the chirping stops.)

Blossom: (from o.c.) So!

(Pull back to behind her and Buttercup, then close-up of them, ready to mix it up.)

Blossom: You like things to be black and white, huh?

Buttercup: Well, how would you like to be black and blue?

(The behind-the-heads view again. Mr. Mime tenses for action, but then runs off. The pair chase him down the street and into a full-color alley. We see him run toward the end as they reach the entrance. When they get inside, though, he is nowhere to be seen.)

Buttercup: Where'd he go?

Blossom: Well, he hasn't been here. It's still color.

Blossom, Buttercup: Hmmm...

(They begin thinking. A silhouette looms behind them - it's Mr. Mime. They realize his presence too late as they turn around in surprise with fear and scream in horror as he reaches toward them with a malicious smile on  his face. Fade to black.)

(Snap to a stoplight. Bubbles flies up to it.)

Bubbles: And this should be green.

(She colors the bottom signal. Pull back to show the entire block covered with crayon scribbles.)

Bubbles: Ahh, now that's better. (Close-up of her.) Looks as if I've saved the day all by myself. Isn't that right, girls? (Long pause; she looks around.) Girls?

(She floats down the street looking for them and passes several of the people who were silenced by Mr. Mime earlier.)

Bubbles: Blossom? Buttercup? Blossom! Buttercup! Where are you?

(Her voice echoes in the silent street and betrays her mounting fear and worry. She passes the cat and dog.)

Bubbles: Girls? Blossom! Buttercup! (passing an alley) Girls?

(She quickly backs up to it and gasps sharply.)

Bubbles: Girls!

(Blossom and Buttercup, their color gone, are lying motionless as if sleeping at  the end of the alley. Mr. Mime has already dealt his hand to them and disappeared elsewhere to continue his rampage. Bubbles lands in front of  them.)

Bubbles: (near tears) Oh...oh, Blossom! Buttercup! Not you two! (She starts crying, but only for a moment.) Wait a minute.

(We see her with all her crayons arranged around her.)

Bubbles: I've got crayons!

(She scribbles on Blossom and Buttercup in their respective colors. They are now standing up, but otherwise still lifeless.)

Bubbles: I'll have you two fixed up in a jiffy! There! Good as new!

(They fall over like cardboard cutouts, crushing Bubbles' happy mood in an instant and having her suffer a painful dose of reality and truth. Close-up of her.)

Bubbles: My crayons are beautiful...just not magic.

(The camera turns down to her armload of crayons and follows them as she lets them drop from her hands. They fall in slow motion; some of them break when they hit the ground. The sound of snapping wax reverberates in the air. Overhead view of Bubbles, pulling back into the sky.)

Bubbles: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Narrator: Oh, Bubbles, in this big dark town, you're all alone and blue. What are you going to do?

(Zoom back in quickly. An idea has just hit her like a two-by-four upside the head.)

Bubbles: I've got it!

(Extreme close-up of a pair of sticks striking a snare drum; pull back to reveal  Bubbles at a kit on a stage, laying down a backbeat. The color begins to return to the scene as she plays, the camera pulling back to follow it. Buttercup stands off to the left of the kit, with a left-handed bass  slung up. After a four-beat intro and four bars of drums, she has been revitalized and she begins to play, joining in with her sister. The color advances toward Blossom, on the right with a "Flying V" guitar in her hands; she comes back to life and joins in as well after four bars of bass. All three play a Beatlesque melody together for four bars before Bubbles begins to sing.)

Bubbles: Open your eyes and take in everything that you see.

(The color radiates out from their stage and into the park.)

Look at all the colors like yellow, blue, and green.

We can take an airplane and fly across the globe.

Look down upon the colors, everyone come on, let's go!

Because...

(The color reaches the truck driver and the kid who had the balloon, revitalizing them.)

Buttercup: Love...

Blossom: Love...

Bubbles: Love...

Girls: La-la-love,

La-la-love makes the world go round.

(The color reaches all the people Mr. Mime silenced: the baby, the construction worker, etc. The girls repeat the chorus as a crowd of people gathers around the stage, screaming in delight.)

Bubbles: Open your ears and listen what the world has to say.

(The crowd is now pushed up to the edge of the stage and enjoying every note.)

Hear the birds and bells and you will have a brighter day.

(In a nearby alley, Mr. Mime has overheard everything, and upon peering out  to investigate, is truly infuriated by the entire scene as everything he had silenced and made black-and-white has been reverted in short order thanks to Bubbles and the song.)

Everyone has a special song deep inside their heart.

(Back to the stage; zoom in on Bubbles in steps.)

If you want, you could sing with us, it's the perfect place to start!

(Blossom slides to the edge on her knees and begins to rock out, more Jimi Hendrix than George Harrison, as psychedelic lights flash across her. Mr. Mime, now at the back of the crowd, climbs onto their heads and tries to rush the stage in a vain attempt to stop the music and restore his lovely silence of a black and white world. Blossom sees him coming and fires an energy beam from the head of her guitar. It hits Mr. Mime dead center, leaving him silently recoiling in pain, anguish, and agony before his color is restored - he is the silly, cheerful Rainbow again.)

(Blossom ends her solo after eight bars, and all the parts drop out except for the drums. The screen goes black; Buttercup appears in the left third on  a green field.)

Buttercup: Love, love, love, la-la-love,

La-la-love makes the world go round.

(Bubbles appears in the middle third on a blue field. She sings over Buttercup's part.)

Bubbles: You can't hurt me with the things that you do,

I'll pick up dandelions and I'll give them to you.

(Blossom appears at the right on a pink field, singing over the other girls.)

Blossom: Puppy dogs, kitty cats,

Swimming through love.

(They sing together once more, their images floating past one another. Back to the stage; the missing parts come in again.)

Buttercup: Love...

Blossom: Love...

Bubbles: Love...

Girls: La-la-love,

La-la-love makes the world go round.

(Cut to a pink field, the girls popping into view one by one. They sing the chorus one last time, the background and their bodies fading to black to  leave only their heads at the end: think Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" video and you get the idea.)

(Rainbow's face pops into view; he is laughing. Cut to the cheering crowd, which includes George Jetson, then to Rainbow and the girls on the stage. He sings to them.)

Rainbow: Thank you, girls, for returning my color

And throwing away my frown!

(facing Buttercup) I owe it to you...

(facing Blossom) And you...

(facing Bubbles) And you, I'm back,

Rainbow the Clown!

(Pull back as the crowd cheers. A moment later, the girls let him have it. After they get through, they float over him as he lies on the stage semiconscious as a battered mess. Despite his gratitude to them for returning him to normal, they still gave him a thrashing as punishment for his actions he committed as Mr. Mime.)

Bubbles: Obviously, Sing Sing is the place for you!

Rainbow: But...

(The exterior of the jail is shown, the environment's colors are as dull as ditchwater. A door slams shut; inside, a very sad Rainbow is in a cell, having to still face some time in lockup for the trouble he caused Townsville as his dark alter ego.)

Narrator: Boy, oh, boy. Your colorful life is gonna be pretty black and white from now on, Rainbow!

(The background for the end shot comes up.)

Narrator: So once again the day is saved...

(The music changes to "Love Makes the World Go Round" as the girls appear with their instruments: Buttercup at front left, Blossom at front right,  Bubbles at rear center.)

Narrator: ...thanks to the Powerpuff Girls! (singing) Love, love, love, la-la-love... (He hums the rest.)