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SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board  /  December 2020 One Week Challenge  /  A Pixie Little Christmas - OWC - Sold
Posted by: Don, December 19th, 2020, 2:00pm
A Pixie Little Christmas by Matthew Taylor (Matt) writing as Sinterklaas - When a Pixie's home is stolen, his anger endangers a little girl's Christmas.  Short, Animation, Christmas

**
Script removed. Sold.
Posted by: Cameron (Guest), December 19th, 2020, 4:19pm; Reply: 1
Hmmmmmm, Sinterklass? How very Dutch of you! Glad you avoided Black Peter, for those not aware of Dutch Xmas traditions look that bad boy up.

Hey writer!!

Wow, that was charming. God love Caspian, with his Narnia-esque name and maddening stuck in the living room situation. I felt his pain, it moved around the place with him being a dick, then fixing his dickishness. Nice wee story.

There was one annoying bit where you kept saying “year”, but apart from that the writing all worked. However, was it low budget as per the aforementioned requirements? Errrrr, probably a few marks off there.

Yeah, I liked it, especially the dog bit, nice one!

Cam

P.S. This review was brought to you by Slade, and not the Christmas song, mother trucking Slade In Flames. God bless Slade, forever a Christmas miracle.
Posted by: AnthonyCawood, December 19th, 2020, 4:22pm; Reply: 2
Like the opening scene and description but it feels a little over written, and some odd word choices too - I don't think you can tepidly poke your head out, did you mean timidly?

Why are there nettles on the end of the branch?

He is introduced flying, why does he need the tinsel to get down the tree?

A pixie as the ornament, er, well seen as it's the season of goodwill ;-)

Love the ending.

Good effort.
Posted by: Sam, December 20th, 2020, 5:30am; Reply: 3
Your writing really captured the spirit of the story. It flowed really nicely with a consistent high energy, Christmas spirit.

It’s a sweet story but my only criticism would be that I think you need a stronger reason for the fairy to fix the Christmas tree. I mean, these people have cut down its home, dragged it in the house and tarted it up with decorations but the fairy is the bad guy for tearing it all down?

I think it would benefit from a stronger justification than the little kid crying because the trees a mess. It sounds like they have a pretty sweet Christmas house even without the tree.

Maybe if the family was really poor and the tree was all they had for Christmas then I would have empathized with them but in this version I think the fairy should have rained hell down upon them for cutting down its home. Or maybe just seek compensation in the small claims court.

You’re a talented writer.
Posted by: DustinBowcot (Guest), December 20th, 2020, 8:26am; Reply: 4


Quoted Text
I don't think you can tepidly poke your head out, did you mean timidly?


It means, in this context, half-hearted.

Great, well done. Very well written, not overwritten at all. A creative story with a happy, Christmas-type ending. Perfect.

Posted by: LC, December 21st, 2020, 12:52am; Reply: 5
Wow, you got all that story into six pages!

The only quibble I had was in the writing of the transition from tree to house - laminate (flooring)... It was a little discombobulating at first.

His anger is now predominant.  I think you could simplify lines like this, but...

I loved the imagery, especially Caspian spiralling down on the tinsel.

Overall, this was a wonderfully written animated tale.

A mighty fine entry!
Posted by: MarkRenshaw, December 21st, 2020, 10:51am; Reply: 6
This was written by someone who really knows how to write a screenplay. Outstanding.

My only question, when Caspian bumped into the nutcracker, did it smell of poop?

I'd be very surprised if this didn't win. Top-notch!

-Mark
Posted by: eldave1, December 21st, 2020, 1:43pm; Reply: 7
Staring with a real nitty issue – CONIFER rather than PINE TREE – to me, simple is usually better. (like I said – a real nit).

A problem for me here:


Quoted Text
DAD
Come on now, it's okay. We can fix it.


So, Dad comes into the room finding a tree that he just decorated in shambles – stuff strewn everywhere and his reaction is a mild we can fix it rather than a what the hell happened. Didn’t make sense to me.

Okay - done.

Parameters met.

A warm-hearted story - I enjoy it.

Yes - it is a bit over-written - flowery - BUT - in this case for me it works as we are writing Christmas themed stories and - at least for me - tone and setting are important (ya know - that magical time of the year) and in this case, I think the over-writing effectively serves the purpose of establishing tone and setting.

For me - the destruction of the tree is not needed - I think you could have just gone with Caspian overhearing a chat about the family not being able to afford fancy ornaments (i.e/, make the tree somewhat bare other than a few hand-crafted things) and the no money for presents.

Nice job - tugs at the heart strings.


Posted by: JEStaats, December 21st, 2020, 1:50pm; Reply: 8
Really well done, writer. I'm surprised no one has mentioned low budget, which this wouldn't be. Although this would make an excellent comic or kids picture book! Really, seriously consider the picture book.

Having a daughter that loves all the Tinkerbell movies, I could totally SEE this. Good job.

BTW - I had a dark vision when the daughter grabbed the string to hang Caspian. I really thought there might be a hangin'! Luckily it was around the waist and not his neck. Stevie would've enjoyed that turn. :)
Posted by: Rob, December 21st, 2020, 5:13pm; Reply: 9
The puppy at the end was a nice surprise addition. I didn't see that coming.

There was a lot to like about this story.

I was a little perplexed about the pixie's decision to smash up the tree. I understand that he was startled by his new environment, but the destructive nature seemed a little harsh. I suggest finding a way to make this a little more accidental.

The lines about entering " a small green box with a button on top" are a little vague. Not sure exactly what I'm looking at.

Also, is there a missing cat? There is a line about a cat that's tossed out, but seems to get lost in the shuffle. Did I misread something?

Thanks for an interesting read.


Posted by: Dreamscale (Guest), December 21st, 2020, 6:37pm; Reply: 10
"(O.C.)" - (O.S.)

There are numerous writing mistakes on display and for me, it really takes away from what could be a very magical Christmas script.  I'm not going to go into details here, though.

Story-wise, there's very little here, but whenever a story ends in a such a happy way, it's hard to really care about the negatives.

I think my biggest issue is that the enchanted ornament parameter.  Yeah, yeah, I know, Caspian became the ornament and he is truly "enchanted", but for me, that entire element didn't work very well.

This is good, for sure, but IMO, it doesn't compare to several others I've already come across.

***1/2
Posted by: ghost and_ghostie gal, December 22nd, 2020, 7:03pm; Reply: 11
I feel like I owe you money!

I would have dimmed the lights and made popcorn if I knew it was going to be that good, but that would be odd since I am at work.  I won't do my normal verbose critique. Mainly because I don't have to. There's very little wrong with this.  Job well done. :) Best of Irish luck!-ghostie girl.
Posted by: SAC, December 26th, 2020, 3:52pm; Reply: 12
Writer,

Well, this was a right jolly tale with a happy ending. Unfortunately, it needs work. Your action writing is way over done and it takes forever to read. You need to trim the action down, stop trying to be too descriptive and get to the point. Definitely not a lot of white showing here. That’s bad. However, it wasn’t written badly, if that makes sense. Grammar, punctuation - all good, nothing glaring. Just way to descriptive. The story ends happily, but I wish you had played upon the parents dilemma of not being able to provide a great Christmas more. Would have liked to have seen their plight more. Anyway, decent job, but it misses the mark for me.

Steve
Posted by: Matthew Taylor, December 29th, 2020, 11:31am; Reply: 13
Thanks all for the lovely comments and reviews, made the run up to Christmas all the sweeter lol

I honestly thought you would all hate the story.


Quoted from AnthonyCawood
He is introduced flying, why does he need the tinsel to get down the tree?


He doesn't need to, but it gets the tinsel off the tree and thought it would look cool.


Quoted from Sam
Maybe if the family was really poor and the tree was all they had for Christmas then I would have empathized with them...


I didn't want to go for a stereotypical poor family. Just a normal family who has come into hard times (like a lot of families this year), so they still have the decorations from past Christmases when times were better.


Quoted from MarkRenshaw

My only question, when Caspian bumped into the nutcracker, did it smell of poop?


When I first read your comment, I had no idea what you were talking about and thought Nutcracker might have a double meaning... then I read "Grandmas Nutcracker"


Quoted from eldave1
So, Dad comes into the room finding a tree that he just decorated in shambles – stuff strewn everywhere and his reaction is a mild we can fix it rather than a what the hell happened. Didn’t make sense to me.



Quoted from Rob

Also, is there a missing cat? There is a line about a cat that's tossed out, but seems to get lost in the shuffle. Did I misread something?


Yea that didn't make sense to me either. In the longer version, there is a cat at the beginning who attacks the Christmas decorations, the pixie then plants evidence to frame the cat after he destroys everything, so I wanted the Dad to believe the cat did it. But the story was too long and had to be cut down.


I feel like I owe you money!


I will take some money if you are offering  ;D


Again, thanks all for the read and reviews - I think I have come a long way since my first OWC back in January 2019 and it's all thanks to you guys and SS.

Happy New Year to all
Posted by: Don, January 6th, 2021, 10:50am; Reply: 14

Quoted Text


Hi, Don.

Can you please remove "A Pixie Little Christmas" from the site as this has now been sold.

Thank you very much

Regards

Matt
Posted by: Pleb, January 6th, 2021, 10:54am; Reply: 15
Damn!

That didn’t take long.

Congratulations Matthew!
Posted by: eldave1, January 6th, 2021, 1:12pm; Reply: 16
Nice! Congrats
Posted by: AnthonyCawood, January 6th, 2021, 3:06pm; Reply: 17
Congrats!
Posted by: spesh2k, January 6th, 2021, 4:27pm; Reply: 18
Yes! Once again, I take full credit for the sale!

Just kidding, lol, great job Matthew!! It's a hell of a script!

-- Michael
Posted by: Warren, January 6th, 2021, 5:31pm; Reply: 19
Didn't get to read the script, but congrats on the win and the sale, fantastic news!

I'm guessing this got picked up by an animator of some sort, any idea of their previous work?

Looking forward to seeing the final product.
Posted by: LC, January 6th, 2021, 5:57pm; Reply: 20
Matty, good for you, mate.
I hope you got a decent amount for the sale and I'm so looking forward to seeing the end result.
A hearty congratulations!


P.S.


Quoted from spesh2k
Yes! Once again, I take full credit for the sale!
Just kidding, lol, great job Matthew!! It's a hell of a script!-- Michael

I know you're saying this tongue in cheek, but the Blog reviews do make a big difference to exposure. On ya, Michael. Much appreciated.


Posted by: Matthew Taylor, January 7th, 2021, 4:13am; Reply: 21
Thanks all - my first sale so I'm very pleased. I'm glad I took on this OWC now lol


Quoted from spesh2k
Yes! Once again, I take full credit for the sale!


Thank you for all the reviewing you do on the blog - I think you've done 3 of mine and as a writer, to see your work reviewed in that way is not only a little ego boost but one helluva motivation kick to write some more.

Posted by: spesh2k, January 7th, 2021, 1:44pm; Reply: 22
I'm a fan of your work, Matthew, keep it up! And congrats on your first sale, man, many more to come!

-- Michael
Posted by: khamanna, January 8th, 2021, 10:31am; Reply: 23
Well well, congrats Matt. That's nice, wrote and sold in one month. Just like that.

But a deserving little script, very warm vibes. fuzzy mussy puzzy.

What are they doing - half-animation and half-live?
Posted by: JEStaats, January 8th, 2021, 11:17am; Reply: 24
Congrats, Matt! I had no doubts that this was going to be optioned. Good luck and keep us posted.
Posted by: Matthew Taylor, January 11th, 2021, 4:19am; Reply: 25

Quoted from khamanna
What are they doing - half-animation and half-live?


I have no idea, to be honest, I'm not sure they are quite sure what to do with it yet lol But whatever it is, I'm sure it will be good :-)
Posted by: Miranda, January 11th, 2021, 12:13pm; Reply: 26
Hi Matthew, Congratulations.

A nice surprise.

I have read all the scripts and I gave yours the top score together with one another one.

So, let get ready for the next OWC, for more sales!


Posted by: MarkRenshaw, January 12th, 2021, 6:43pm; Reply: 27
Well done. This will be a fab short!
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