The Onion Bureau of Eerie Investigations

An original 2d mystery adventure series pitch by João Cardoletto.

Semi finalist on the PITCH THIS! contest at the Ottawa International Animation Festival, 2021

Transcript

1. João Cardoletto An original pitch by
2. Four unlikely friends will stop at nothing to pull back the layers of any mystery. Even if that means facing scary situations, that will change how they see the world forever. To solve mysteries in exchange for bottle caps! with one goal Vegetable Detective Kids Wait, bottle what? Why? The Onion Bureau of Eerie Investigations
3. It all started with 9 years old ONION BOY. You never seen a kid as intense as him - His excitement is CONTAGIOUS - CRIES very easily (also contagious) - Highly sensitive, dramatic, emotional - Imaginative, intuitive, a believer Where does this obsession comes from? Onion Boy (Allin Redwing) And lately, he can only think about one thing: ADVENTURE
4. Onion found a book that changed his life One day, while poking around his grandmother basement
5. A travel journal. With incresdible MOTORCYCLE adventures Amazing stories!
6. But not only action packed stories. The protagonist helped other vegetables every place he went And yes, he was Onion Boy’s Grandfather!!! a true hero.
7. “OH MY GOURD, I NEED TO FOLLOW HIS STEPS” I wanna be a legendary biker, and live great adventures on the road!!!
8. But Onion’s bike is in no condition for great adventures or small adventures or going around the block How can he follow his grandfather steps Without a decent ride? All is lost.
9. In a lucky turn of events The fecalicious soft drink is offering A super rad MINI SCOOTER And other prizes to the kid that collects ONE THOUSAND Bottle caps POOPSY POP MINI SCOOTER!!! And two other incredible prizes To win a Or not! Because
10. 1000 bottlcaps? I can do it! I mean, we can do it, right folks? Each one gets a prize (except for Chico, he is just an intern) Remember when we recovered those bikes stolen by Mr Squash, in that creepy hamster ranch? We ain't bad at cracking small cases This time we can be professionals We’ll be the Onion Bureau of Eerie Investigations, solving mysteries for bottle caps. Onion Boy (Allin Redwing) Broccoli Girl (Kaley Belstar) Carrot Kid (Zana Horia) Chico Brussels (Chiquito Gabriel Delgado Gutiérrez de Bruselas y Bruselas) Broccoli, onion, carrot, chico Let's take a look at the crew
11. SALTY SENSE OF HUMOUR, pushes younger kids out of their comfort zones 11 years old Too old for urban legends an myths told by the younger kids - What frightens her is real stuff, like embarrassing herself in front of older kids. So much that she prefers to avoid them Where is her place? flying downhill on a dirty bike is still a lot of fun! Hangs with the kids (for now), seeing herself as a protector (especially Chico) All A’s at school and at the Lindy Hop dancing classes. And she secretly hates doing all that stuff. But she can’t end up like her teenager sister and disappoint her super caring, super present parents. Broccoli has Amazing verbal skills. “Zip your mouth, Onion, let me do the talking”. Broccoli Girl (Kaley Belstar) A skeptic soul looking for her place
12. 9 years old She is Artistic, inventive a theorist. HER father runs a scrap yard. Carrot Kid likes to build stuff. Dad keeps mistaking Carrot’s art projects for ordinary junk, selling it by the pound. It’s not on purpose, just can’t grasp the concept of an art installation. She forgives him, after a lot of bickering. Can fi x anything, twice! fi rst time using toothpicks, second time with duct tape and the third time never happens to avoid being taken by Broccoli to an in fi nite shopping session A carrot with albinism. Not weak, not sick and NOT A PARSNIP! Pale, but her father always took her to sunbathe. She is what she is supposed to be. A carrot. As a carrot, she is super afraid of rodents Carrot Kid (Zana Horia) Every mystery is a puzzle she wants to crack (from the comfort of her bedroom if possible) Every legend deserves a chance. She sees inconsistencies on onion’s grandfather stories, but prefers to see her best friend happy. logic meets the art of improvisation
13. Chico Brussels Came from another country and was feeling a little bit alone One day he knocked at the bureau’s door “Hello. I wanna be a detective’ (Chiquito Gabriel Delgado Gutiérrez de Bruselas y Bruselas) To be accepted he had to Learn how to ride a bike without training wheels. Trained to ride the bike while playing the accordion and balancing an egg in a spoon. His accent changes with the style of the mustache drawn in his face Carrot’s favourite prank was to steal Chico’s tiny hat. The fun stopped when she had to invest all her savings on a bottle of industrial glue solvent to remove the hat from her hand. The music was horrible, the egg broke, but Chico was fi nally riding a bike!!! So he was hired!! 6 years old an innocent ball made of pure resilience
14. Our kids live in South Sprout, a garden city on the foot of a colossal tree inhabited by sentient fruits and vegetables. Wealthy vegs live in the light shafts, but most of the population lives in the shaded areas. In this universe, some small animals are used as farm animals and some insects are adopted as pets. Legends say that entities called humans watch the vegetables from the sky, but that is not a consensus of the community. No one ever took a picture of a human. Before we go to the adventures, a little bit about the universe
15. # The beacon to where they all return How can a friend go without saying goodbye? It’s sad. But maybe 3 little eggs placed under a bedroom window can be proof that true friendship never ends. A caterpillar pet named Whippy builds a cocoon and, days later, disappears. Tina, her owner is Desperate. The bureau is hired and manages to track the animal. It’s now an adult moth, that prefers to spend it's last moments on a massive dance ritual around a lighthouse. Whippy doesn’t even seem to remember Tina anymore. Why? Episode Springboard
16. # Wish upon a nosed star Episode Springboard Ava Cado descends to the bottom of a well, looking for the Star People – legendary wish-granting creatures. All the girl wants is to help her neurodivergent brother, Guaca, victim of a lifetime of bully. Five hours later, there is no news about Ava. Onion and Chico start the investigation at the sewers, but end up cornered by scary, not so magical, star- nosed creatures. The animals somehow obey a new leader: Ava. Through the pipes, she heard all the mean things people say about her brother. Filled with rage, Ava locks the boys in a chamber. A downpour begins, increasing the water level by the minute. Chico Brussels escapes through a small passage and has to convince Guaca to send a special message back through the pipeline, before it is too late.
17. # Just a regular, not spooky, de fi nitely completely normal creepy house Carrot invites her friends for a spooky movie session at her place. Episode Springboard A frightening movie makes Onion more afraid than he wants to admit. To make matters worse, the kids are surprised by a power outage. Carrot goes to fi x the lights in the basement. Meanwhile, in complete darkness, Onion goes alone on a quest to get another bottle of Poopsy Pop, proving to Broccoli he is not scared. After all, it is just a regular, not spooky, de fi nitely completely normal creepy house.
18. Episode Springboard The team explores the basement of a deactivated Poopsy Pop factory, looking for more bottle caps. # Erin Broccolish Outcast overgrown vegetables will tell their story, Which resonates profoundly with Broccoli’s deepest inner questions. While Carrot and Onion are happy with a stash of caps they fi nd, Broccoli is intrigued by an old delivery log. The document reveals something unsettling about an experimental batch of the product delivered 20 years ago to a secluded part of the suburbs.
19. Episode Springboard # carrot goes Parsnip In an identity crisis, she flees home and joins a gang of shady parsnip kids, trying to lose any sweetness left in her personality. But Broccoli won't let that happen so easily. Carrot is mistaken for a parsnip for the fi fth time in the same day. Irritated, she releases her anger on her father, who tells her that she may be indeed too spicy to be a carrot. Oh yeah? hold my Poopsy Pop...
20. # The strongest bridge you can build Onion fi nally collects 1000 bottle caps, but throws them in a river and runs away after discovering that his grandfather's adventures were fi ctional. The episode is a series of interviews in which all the kids helped by the bureau tell about the night they joined forces on a quest to: -recover the bottle caps, - fi nd Onion Boy, - and restore his belief in a greater cause. Episode Springboard In that same day, the bridge connecting South Sprout to the mainland is destroyed. There are no bottle caps left in town
21. Narrative structure and Themes 2d animated - 11 minutes episodes Stand alone stories that loosely lead to a season fi nale in which Onion fi nds the truth about his grandfather. A show for big kids, 6 to 11. A rich salad of jumpscares, comedy and a bit of onion juice. DETECTIVE CASES Eerie cases Adventures World exploration Goosebumps Personal matters Coming of age Inner exploration Heart warming A KID’S LIFE
25. First season Loglines for 26 episodes Pilot storyboard already complete Plans for Second season The crisis of queen trumpet tree. Third season The human phenomenon
26. Thank You! Contact: João Cardoletto caxiasjoaopedro@gmail.com (604) 499 1152 Vancouver, BC