TREATMENT JANUARY 2021

THE MAGIC FOREST

Screenplay By Madolyn Sylke

Music By Alan Riva, 11 Linked DEMO Songs in Blue

OVERVIEW:

“The Magic Forest” is a Musical Fantasy Adventure story in which the protagonist, Eben, a teen Elf who doesn’t believe in magic, goes on a coming-of-age, Mythical Hero’s Journey. This journey lands him in the middle of a battle between good and evil from which he emerges as a believer and wielder of Magical Powers as he becomes the Wizard Heir of The Magic Forest.

STORY:

When the story opens, The Magic Forest is a hidden and protected location in which Zarhan, a benevolent Wizard, is overseeing a Great Experiment to blend the Human World with Elfame, also known as Fairyland. Fairyland is the world of Magical Beings like Elves, Fairies, Gnomes and other Magical Beings. If this experiment is successful, Humans won’t only be able to see these Beings, they will also live among them and be able to believe in Magic again.

But an evil Goblin Sorcerer, Drakor, has gotten wind of the plan and is determined to stop the Great Experiment, enslave the Humans and the Magical Beings and emerge triumphant as the only Being with Magical powers.

In the first 10 pages, it becomes clear that Drakor’s evil scheme is well on its way to completion as his army of Goblin Draks are seen ransacking Eben’s idyllic homeland, Elfdom, and the nearby Prairie Dog Plains in one day and night. Their success is greatly aided by the help of a fierce Dragon, Grendel, who was an ally of the Elves in Elfdom but has been hypnotized into being Drakor’s troop transport and fire-breathing devastator of worlds. Eben escapes the destruction of Elfdom, but his mother, Mother Elf, is captured.

We find Eben sitting up against a bolder far away from his home, alone, depressed and hopeless until a Pollyanna Prairie Dog, Poppy, who has also survived Drakor’s attack, discovers him. Eben makes it clear he wants nothing to do with Poppy or her Pollyanna attitude.

But this mismatched duo have a date with destiny when a huge Red-Tailed Hawk, Red, snatches them both in her talons only to drop them a few yards away into a barrel cactus. But before letting them go, they get entangled with a land tortoise, Mosey, who fails to get out of the way of what appears to him to be a churning pile of dust and debris.

Red was mistaken as an enemy by Eben and Poppy when her real mission was to rescue them and bring them to The Magic Forest. After dropping them, she continues her flight home to the Forest to report to Alyssa, the Fairy Princess of the Forest, who has been using her as a drone. Once back in The Magic Forest, Red sings “The Magic Forest” and Alyssa sings “The Fairy Princess”.

Outside of The Magic Forest, the motley crew are now a threesome. Poppy and Mosey try to help Eben come out of the depression he feels by the loss of his homeland and his mother’s capture. They sing “Believe In Yourself”.

The threesome becomes a foursome, a dysfunctional family of sorts, with Mosey acting as a wise Grandfather figure, Poppy a mother and Eben a reluctant father when, Chip, a skittish young squirrel, is dropped into their laps. Chip has fallen out of a tree that Grendel fells as she bursts through the energy shield that protected The Magic Forest with Alyssa, the Fairy Princess, captive.

Alyssa had been sent by the Queen of Elfame to continue the raising of the vibration of Magic in The Magic Forest. Alyssa’s gift is her beautiful voice, and she uses it to sing more Magic into the forest every day. On this dark day, Grendel shape-shifted into a toad, Toad, and tricked Alyssa into believing that she wanted to help rescue the refugees that were left outside of The Magic Forest by Drakor’s horrific Drak attacks. Toad has also stolen Zarhan’s Magical Gold Medallion that helped him strengthen and focus the Magic in the Forest. Toad sings “The Ride Of Your Life”.

This double theft has weakened Zarhan, and the forest begins to shrivel and die due to Zarhan’s weak condition and the absence of Alyssa’s singing.

Zarhan holds a meeting of the mixed members of The Magic Forest including Humans, Animals, Insects and Magical Beings in which he confesses the awful truth about their predicament. He explains that their Fairy Princess and his Medallion have been stolen by Drakor and their Great Experiment is in jeopardy. He sings "Fear".

The story sequeys to the main room of Drakor's Castle where Drakor threatens Mother Elf with a Battle Axe. He reveals that he knows about the 15 Year Experiment and the prophesy that her son is to be the Wizard Heir of a New World where Magical Beings and Humans live together. He assures her he will destroy The Magic Forest, her husband and her son. Drakor sings “Evil Rules”.

Back in The Magic Forest, Poppy, Mosey and Chip, find themselves at Zarhan’s Oak Tree Palace, which is actually The Tree Of Life, and Zarhan annoints them as his Rescue Party. He ceremoniously gives Poppy a living branch from The Tree Of Life and a mascot, Snow, a Dove for protection.

Eben refuses to join the Rescue Party staying behind to feel sorry for himself. Therefore, he has no idea of the magical properties of the living branch from The Tree Of Life. Nevertheless, he ends up with it when Poppy and the others embark on their rescue mission because Poppy mistakenly takes Eben’s backpack leaving her own with the living branch in it behind.

Within a couple of hours, Eben realizes Poppy’s mistake and chases after the Rescue Party because he’s desperately trying to retrieve his Mother’s lute that was in his back pack that is now in Poppy’s possession. That’s when he inadvertently leaps off a cliff thinking he was just traversing a fallen tree. Unbeknown to him, the living branch from the Tree Of Life reaches out and grabs onto a branch jutting out from the fallen tree to save him from certain death. This is when Eben meets Peggy, the Pegasus.

Peggy, a young Pegasus who has not yet tested her wings, has wandered out of The Magic Forest just in time to save Eben. She sings “Flying”. But Peggy’s inexperience at flying brings her and her hapless jockey into the vortex that protects Drakor’s castle dropping them onto the bridge that covers the castle’s moat.

They soon discover that Mosey, Poppy and Chip are in the moat under siege by a crocodile, Dizzy, and that the bridge is guarded by an Ogre, Ogun. Ogun sings “Ogun The Ogre”.

Alyssa, who is being held captive in the castle, is no longer a Fairy as the outside atmosphere has caused her to shape-shift into an adult-sized woman. Her wings have been cut off by Toad and her beautiful voice stolen by Drakor and fed to a Vulture. But Alyssa retains some of her magical abilities and is able to save a captive Elf’s life by turning her into a Fairy. Alyssa sings “There Is Hope”. This newly-winged Fairy becomes the Decoy Fairy in the plan to rescue Alyssa.

From the moment he lands on the bridge, Eben begins to undergo a character shift. Unbeknownst to him, he is half Elf and half Human. Mother Elf and his father, the Wizard of The Magic Forest, Zarhan (who has been in disguise as an Elf but is actually Human) have always known Eben is the bridge that can connect their two worlds, Elfame and the Human world.

In a flashback scene, Eben remembers his mother’s song to him. Mother Elf sings “You Have Magic”. The blending of these two worlds is the only way that Humans will be able to believe in Magic again. Eben accepts his new role as Leader of the Rescue Party and as a Magical Being. He sings, “The Greatest Wizard”.

Under Eben’s lead, the Rescue Party devises a way into the castle where they meet up with the King of the Gnomes, Gaspar, and the Singing Gnomes who have been enslaved for their metal work skills. Together, they devise a scheme to rescue the Princess by disguising her as a statue and using the Decoy Fairy to fool the Drak Guards.

In a struggle between our heroes and Dizzy, the hungry crocodile, Grendel sustains a head injury that breaks Drakor’s spell. A furious battle ensues between Drakor and Grendel. Eben discovers his Magic with help from the Medallion (returned to him by the Decoy Fairy) and the living branch from the Tree of Life. He transforms Drakor into a fish that is swallowed by Dizzy, the crocodile. Grendel sings "Grendel".

Alyssa’s voice is restored and Magic returns to The Magic Forest. Alyssa sings “Music Is Magic”. Eben takes his place as Zarhan’s successor and everyone sings “You Have Magic” to the audience.

© This Original Intellectual Property has been Copyrighted by the United States Copyright Office and is subject to all property rights therein granted.  

Viewing of the Screenplay is subject to the Signing of a NDA. Email madolyn@themagicforestmovie.com