ABC Weekend Specials (1977–1995): Season 5, Episode 3 - Bunnicula, the Vampire Rabbit - full transcript

Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.

[wolf howling]

[theme music]

(male narrator)What you're gonna hearis a very scary story.

I don't expect youto believe it.

I wouldn't have.

It happened in this house,which is where I lived

with a familycalled The Monroes.

It's kind of a nice placeto live and well, oh, I..

[chuckles]...I just, I wannaintroduce myself.

[fly buzzing]The name's Harold.



That's me theretrying' to get some sleep.

And, and that's Chester doingwhat Chester's usually doing

reading a book.

Mr. Monroe, uh,that's him on the left

is a scientist.

Mrs. Monroe takes care of Toby,Pete and Chester and me.

But on the dayall these started

she was more worriedabout her husband.

It's all those accidents

they've been having
at the plant.

[fly buzzing]
'So many mysterious things
have been happening there.'

whip

A lot of folks around here
even think the plant is haunted.

(Harold)Haunted?



Well, now I never believed

in ghosts myself.

Still, here at the World CoFood Processing Plant

something was very wrong.

We're gonna have to work on that
freeze-dried vegetable program.

Monroe, check with Research

about the latest developments
and, uh..

snap

Look out!

This accident
was too close, Monroe.

The boss was determinedthat this, the ninth accident

would be the last.

He decided to close the plant.

But you can't, Mr. Newton.

Everyone in this town depends
on this plant for their income.

Without jobs, they'll just--

That support rope
was chewed through, Monroe.

Now I don't know if it's ghost

or what's causing
these accidents

but as of now The World Co Food
Processing Plant is closed.

When we got thereto drive Mr. Monroe home

all the plant workerswere going home for keeps.

Without that plant functioning,
it's the end of this town.

(Toby)
'Hey, mom, pop,
look what we found!'

Toby and Pete had founda shoebox

in some tall weeds

and in it was a rabbit.

Just a quite, fuzzy,little bunny rabbit

fast asleep.

Oh, isn't he cute?

Kitty, kitty,
come on, bunny.

Hey, there's a note in here.

'It's written in some sort
of foreign language.'

'Look. I'll bet you
that's the bunny's name.'

Bunnicula.
You know, like Dracula.

I want to suck your blood.

Well, maybe they couldn't readthe note but I could.

There's a lot of Russianwolfhound in my veins.

It said take good careof my baby.

Can we take him home
and feed him, dad?

I don't know if we'll even
be able to feed ourselves

with the plant closing.
But I suppose so.

There was a full moonthat night.

The little rabbit sleptall the way to the store

where Mrs. Monroe selectedsome vegetables for him.

Is the rabbit still asleep?

He's not asleep. He's gone!

'Hey, mom, the rabbit got away.'

A rabbit loose in my store?

Hurry, catch him!

(Toby)
'Don't worry,
Harold will catch him.'

Come on,
we'll look up this side.

We looked all overfor that little rabbit

until I found him atopa bin of tomatoes.

At least I thought I did.

[squeaking]

How he got over thereI'll never know.

But good tracker that I am,I went after him.

[squeaking]

(male #1)
'Hey, dog!
Get off those pumpkins!'

'They're not safe!'

That's the trouble with humans.

They always tell you thingstoo late.

[rumbling]

(Pete)
'Help!'

They're coming this way!

Don't announce it. Run!

thud thud thud

Look what you kids have done!

That dog of yours, I'll, I'll..

Oh!

thud thud thud

Ireally needed
this tonight too.

Look, Harold found Bunnicula.

Good boy.

Are you okay, little bunny?

Let's get him home.
He looks scared.

I just hope the man
isn't too angry

about what we did
to his store.

Mr. Monroe had to payfor 51 pumpkins

which didn't please him,alright.

Never so glad to see customers
leave in my whole life.

Sir, I just came across
some of these in the bins.

I never saw
a white tomato before.

Neither have I.

It's like all the juices
was just drained out of it.

I wonder what could've
caused this.

We didn't knowabout the tomatoes then.

When we got home,there were more

important mattersto discuss.

I'm keeping the bunny
in my room.

I found Bunnicula.
He sleeps in my room.

'You can keep smelly old Harold
in your room.'

At least I don't wear the same
socks for three days in a row.

(Mrs. Monroe)
We'll keep the rabbit in here.

That way, neither of you
will have it in your rooms.

We leave Bunnicula
on this table.

Bunnicula?
It sounds like Dracula.

Ooh, ooh, ooh,
tell me again about the note.

- Tell me again.
- We found it with the rabbit.

[snoring]
'It was in Romanian
and it said--'

(Chester)
'Romanian?'

[gasps]
Romania is where Transylvania is

and Transylvania is where
Dracula is from.

It's all in this book I read.

Oh, come on, Chester.

He couldn't have anything
to do with Dracula.

Besides, Dracula was a vampire.

Ah, there is dirt
in the bottom of that box!

And I read that vampires
always lie near coffins

'with dirt
from their home country.'

'I read books. I know, I know.'

Let's go to sleep.

- 'Chester.'
- Coming, coming.

I slept soundly all night.Chester didn't.

In fact, you've no idea

what he tried to get meto believe the next morning.

I saw him, Harold.

He roams out of the shoebox
and snuck into the kitchen.

The rabbit snuck
into the kitchen?

And I heard the refrigerator
door open and close.

I did, I did.

You must've seen Mr. Monroe
sneaking a midnight snack.

Not unless
he wears bunny pajamas

and gets very tiny at night.

(Mrs. Monroe)
'Everybody, come in here!'

'I found this
in the refrigerator.'

It's a tomato,
but it's all white.

And there's no juice
left in it.

No juice in it!

Like someone went into
the refrigerator last night

and sucked it all out
like a vampire!

There are no such things
as vampires

especially vampire rabbits.

Are you sure?

Gee, I hope so.

In the days that followed

more and morewhite tomatoes turned up.

And it wasn'tjust tomatoes either.

There were white carrotsand white lettuce

and cumbers too.

All drainedof every drop of juice.

After a few days, they startedturning up all over the block.

Meanwhile, Chester gotmore and more suspicious.

Hold still, hold still!

'I know the book I want
is up here.'

I examined
one of the white tomatoes

and I found teeth marks
on the skin.

One large tooth.

Perhaps like
a rabbit's buck teeth.

[grunts]
Your tail's in my nose.

Ah, I'm gonna..

Ah, ah, ahchoo!

[screaming]

Don't worry, Harold.

I'm okay and I found
the book I wanted.

(Harold)
Thrilling.

[grunts]

(Chester)
'Wait, Harold, wait.'

'This book tells
all about vampires.'

I don't wanna hear
anymore about vampires.

(Mr. Monroe)
Everyone is upset
about the plant closing.

Some of them think it was
haunted by some sort of demon.

Hank down the street
claims he saw

a wolf stalking
through the plant.

Now, they're upset
about white tomatoes.

Folks are talking
about moving away.

Like this whole town is haunted.

Around 10:00 that evening,we all turned in.

All except Chester, that is.

Night, Harold.

Psst, Harold.

Come here.

[groans]

The rabbit sleeps all day.

So do you. So do I.

And he has long pointed teeth
like a vampire has.

Well, so do you
and so do I.

But the note written in Romanian

the stalking at night
to appease his thirst

the dirt in the shoebox,
the stories of demons

at the plant
where he was found.

That is a vampire rabbit.

Okay, I'll prove to you
how silly that is.

Tonight, we'll keep
an eye on him.

We'll stay awake in shifts
and see if he leaves that box.

He's a vampire like Dracula.

[imitates Dracula]
Welcome to my laboratory.
Blah, blah, blah.

The vampire turns into a bat
and stalks his prey.

Then when he sights it,
he attacks.

[clears throat]

Meow.

I haven't got enough problems
with the plant closing

'and all the weird vegetables'

'now I got a crazy cat
on my hands.'

[wind howling]

[clock chimes]

It was two hourspast my bedtime

but there I was, standing guardon a sleeping rabbit.

Okay, your turn to sleep,
my turn to watch.

[sniffing]

What's that I smell?
It smells like..

[sniffing]
...garlic!

It is garlic.
It says in that book I read

that garlic keeps vampires away.

You keep that stuff on
and you'll keep everyone awake.

Phew, wake me in three hours.

While I was dozing,Chester got a bit

too engrossed in his reading.

[humming]

Harold, Harold, he's gone.

Harold, wake up. He's gone.

The bunny is gone
right under our noses.

Wake up. Wake up!

Wh-wh-what?

Come on!
He must've gone out this way.

We gotta pick up his trail.

[sniffing]

I was so busy sniffing, I didn't noticed a wire

strung across the yard.

Unfortunately,Chester found it

or rather his tail did.

[screaming]

[alarm blaring]

(Hank)
'I told you, Alice.'

I told you
those booby traps I set

would catch the poacher
in the garden.

(Alice)
'Hank, you'll wake up
the whole neighborhood.'

Now we'll find who's been
turning our vegetables white.

Within minutes, practicallythe whole neighborhood

was out there.

This tomato has turned white

and there are rabbit tracks
around it.

The only rabbit in town
is the one at the Monroes.

Yeah, Bunnicula.

The one whose name
sounds like Dracula.

- Dracula?
- 'Dracula.'

(Hank)
'Hey, it makes sense.'

'Those tomatoes
were drained of juice'

like Dracula drains a victim.

Hey, wait, listen.

Dracula can turn himself
into a bat, right?

Maybe he can turn himself
into any sort of rodent.

Everyone, everyone.

Remember that wolf
I said I saw

at the plant
before they closed it?

Well, Dracula can turn himself
into a wolf, right?

That rabbit at the Monroes
has something to do with this.

Well, what are we
waiting for?

(Hank)
'Let's get that vampire rabbit.'

(female #1)
'We'll make them hand it over.'

The neighbors all thoughtlittle Bunnicula

was the causeof the white vegetables

and the cause of the accidentsthat closed the plant.

We got thereseconds before the mob.

Bunnicula was asleepin his shoebox

as if he never left.

What do we do?

[doorbell rings]

(Hank)
'Monroe, open up.'

'It's Hank
from down the street.'

'Open the door.'

We get Bunnicula out of here.

That's what we do.

That rabbit of yours
is a vampire.

'He's been turning
all our vegetables white.'

And he caused
all those disasters

at the food processing plant.

- Yeah.
- Hank.

What will you do
if someone woke you up

at 1:00 in the morning
to tell you

there was a vampire rabbit
in your house?

Well, I guess I'd think
they went banas.

Bingo.

Hey, there's the rabbit.

The dog and cat have him!

After them.

Wait till we get our hands
on that rabbit.

Either I'm having
a terrible nightmare

or there's an angry mob
out there

stalking a vampire rabbit.

The areaaround our neighborhood

is surroundedby dense thick fog

which is wherewe fled with Bunnicula.

We figured that mobwouldn't follow us in here.

(Hank)
'They went this way
with the rabbit.'

Come on!

We were wrong.

They went this way
across the stream.

[Bunnicula snoring]
Come on.

How you sleep like this?

Quick, into this
old drain pipe.

The least you could do
is wake up.

It's your life
we're trying to save.

Our only hope is to head
deeper into this pipe

and see if there's
another way out.

Neither of us likedthe idea of crawling

through this dark,smelly pipeline.

[wolf howling]

(Chester)
'Well, look who's awake.
At last.'

Don't fret, little fella.
You're gonna be alright.

I figured we'd all be alright.

What I didn't figureon was where

that drain pipewas gonna lead.

This must be the basement
of the food processing plant.

And we aren't the only ones

who've come
through this pipe either.

'These footprints
are wet and recent.'

I didn't tell Chester,but I had a hunch

who had made thosefootprints we found.

Okay, the coast is clear.

No sign of them.

Them? Who's them?

[sniffing]

There's no them here.
It's just dark.

- Isn't there?
- I'm afraid not.

[sniffing]
And if I smell..

[sniffing]
...what I think I smell,
I know what caused

all the accidents
that closed this plant.

W-what?

[gulps]
Them!

[snarling]

They're called wolves.
Let's get out of here.

[growling]

mew

[growling]

Hey, you, I read books

and they don't say anything
about wolves harming cats.

I better do some extra reading.

growl

Sorry, smiley, not this time.

[chuckles]

Uh-oh. I spoke too soon.

[growling]

[Bunnicula whimpers]

Shh, this is no time
to get talkative.

[wolf snarling]

growl

crash

crash

Nice wolf, nice wolf.

Mustn't jump the kitty cat.

crash

thud

[growling]

- The wolves are coming.
- Quick, into that closet.

[panting]

- Where's the rabbit?
- I thought you had him.

[wolves growling]

- Bunnicula's out there.
- With the wolves.

One little rabbit against threesnarling, hungry wolves.

Hardly seems fair.

We were locked in the closet

and I still have no idea whatwent on outside that door.

[growling]

[squeaking]

[growling]

[alarming blaring]

Poor little bunny, and to think
I thought he was a vampire.

Chester, listen.
That's an alarm. Come on.

I don't knowwho had unlocked that door.

When we looked out,all three wolves

were trapped in a vatwith a lid on it.

And as for Bunnicula

he was rightwhere we left him.

What happened out here?

There's a perfectly logical
explanation for this.

And I wish I knew what it was.

[squeaks]

The alarm brought the police.

They took the wolves to a zoo

and took usto the police station.

It was morning beforewe finally got home.

The wolves will be
well-fed at the zoo.

Apparently, they were
sneaking into the plant

at night in search of food.

Then the wolves chewed
through the rope

and caused the other accidents.

Does that mean they're gonna
reopen the plant, dad?

(Mr. Monroe)
'They sure are!'

'Everyone goes back to work
Monday morning.'

'Our town is saved.'

(Mrs. Monroe)
'None of these explains
the white tomatoes.'

No, but I think
I know what does.

This bag has been sitting here
for almost two weeks.

It's a head of lettuce.

But it's all moldy and wilted.

Those are the vegetables
we bought

the night we founded Bunnicula.

That's right,
and since that night

has either of you bothered
to feed Bunnicula?

I thought you were
gonna feed him.

Why should I feed him?
You found him.

(Mr. Monroe)
'You were both responsible.'

If you're going to have pets
you have to take care of them.

The poor bunny was probably
so hungry he left his box

in search of vegetable juices
for nourishment.

But why just the juice?

Because he's just a baby.

Well, that explains
the white tomatoes.

They'll feed him regularly

so he won't have to go
roaming at night.

He look so cute there.

Imagine, I actually thought
this was a vampire.

You and the neighbors
all get carried away.

Vampire rabbit, ha ha.

Ridiculous.
He he he.

Ha ha ha.
Yeah, ridiculous.

[theme music]