Horse Up a Tree

Under a waterfall, Captain Beau, 65, a black man with a peg leg, soaps up, singing, "Rule, Britannia." He unsheaths his imaginary sword, vanquishes imaginary foes, counts fifteen men on a dead man's chest. The Captain's lost a leg, but not his zest.

Retired from plundering, Beau still wears his colorful pirate outfits. He and his talkative, cranky parrot live in Montana, searching for gold. Beau finds just enough nuggets to keep them in beans and dynamite.

One day, a frantic mare and colt lead Beau to a magnificent black stallion high up a tree. No telling how he got up there. Or how to get him down.

Seeking help in town, Beau sails across the prairie on his pirate ship rigged with sails and wheels. The fearsome "Jolly Roger" flag flapping from the highest mast.

Townsfolk just laugh at that crazy old pirate. That's okay, Beau tried, never did like horses anyway. Soon, he's fighting off vultures, wolves, a bear. And thirty feet up a tree, the former pirate, a man afraid of heights, strokes a stallion during a fierce thunderstorm.

Beau bonds with a spunky ally, Katy, 11, but all their efforts fail. Can't get the horse down.

Always fretting about money and healthcare in his old age, Beau finally lands the perfect job. All his worries over.

As Beau sails his ship across the prairie to his new job, he reminisces on perilous times his crew depended on him to save them. In colorful flashbacks, pirate Captain Beau swordfights Royal Dragoons, sails through storms, outwits the navies of Britain, France, and Spain.

The Captain realizes it's now that stouthearted stallion depending on him. Beau turns rudder, sails back toward the horse. The parrot scolds him he'll lose his dream job, but Beau is determined.

Beau's dangerous new plan works - he and Katy get the horse to the ground. The stallion, apparently too weak to survive his ordeal, staggers off with the mare and colt.

That night, Beau's old pal Lemmy reveals he's found a motherlode of gold and filed his claim with Beau as equal partner. Beau won't need that new job after all.

Three horses appear on a nearby butte. Flanked by the mare and colt, the black stallion rears up high. Katy waves, Beau holds his pirate hat to his heart, as the three horses lope away together.

FADE OUT.

Coverage from Emerging Screenwriters - "... a brilliant script... a wonderfully original story... a marvelous story... the best kind of family-friendly movie... easy to see as the next Pixar or Aardman film."