PITCH TREATMENT — MARNA by Jason Hauger
Title: MARNA
Format: Feature Film (Family Fantasy / Adventure / Coming-of-Age)
Tone: Warm, magical, emotionally earnest; grounded in human relationships and childlike wonder.
Protagonist: David, a shy 5th-grade boy searching for confidence and belonging. Central Magical Character: Marna, a monarch butterfly who becomes a girl.
LOGLINE
A lonely boy saves a monarch butterfly from a bully—only to discover she is a magical girl named Marna. Their summer friendship transforms both worlds, until human institutions capture her, forcing David to risk everything to help her return to the magic that created her.
ELEVATOR PITCH
MARNA is a cinematic fairy tale grounded in real childhood emotion. When David rescues a butterfly, it becomes Marna—a radiant butterfly-girl with the ability to fly, communicate with insects, and turn other butterflies human. Their friendship fills the lonely spaces in each other’s lives, until Marna falls gravely ill from human insecticides and is seized by doctors who want to study her as a “living cryptid.” Now David must grow from timid child to courageous protector as he summons Marna’s magical allies and orchestrates her daring rooftop escape before her rapidly aging body fails.
It’s E.T. meets Bridge to Terabithia, but with the visual magic of A Monster Calls and the emotional purity of The Little Prince.
THEMES, TONE & COMPARABLES
Themes
Friendship as transformation
Letting go as an act of love
Nature vs. exploitation
Childhood bravery vs. adult fear
Tone
Warm, luminous, tender, filled with magical realism softened by humor and family warmth
Comparable Titles
E.T. (child protects magical being from authorities)
Pete’s Dragon (friendship that must end for the creature’s safety)
A Monster Calls (innocence meets emotional gravity)
CHARACTER LIST
David: Shy, kind, longing for friendship. Transforms into a courageous protector.
Marna: A monarch butterfly magically transformed into a girl. Innocent, radiant, vulnerable, emotionally attuned.
Mom: Warm, capable, grounding force.
Dad: Silly, supportive, cheerfully overwhelmed.
Gavin: Bully turned unexpected ally; David’s shadow and eventual friend.
Tiger Blossom: A tiger-striped butterfly turned magical maternal guardian.
Black Lotus: A butterfly with iridescent blue who becomes an athletic magical ally.
Head Doctor: Institutional antagonist who views Marna as scientific opportunity.
Gavin’s Mom: Nurse who risks her job to help free Marna.
THREE-ACT STORY SYNOPSIS
(Condensed for pitch; full sequence detail follows)
ACT I – The Meeting
David rescues a monarch butterfly from his bully Gavin, only to discover she transforms into Marna, a butterfly-girl. They bond deeply as she explores his world—his mother’s kindness, the joy of flying, and the warmth of being welcomed. A magical zoo trip cements their friendship.
ACT II – The Fall
Marna weakens from insecticide exposure and collapses. The hospital realizes her wings are real and detains her as a specimen. Marna appoints David her “Royal Guard,” giving him fading magic to summon Tiger Blossom and Black Lotus. When David goes public, protests erupt. Together with Gavin and his mother, David executes a rescue plan.
ACT III – The Escape
Marna has aged into her teens in days. On the rooftop, security converges as magical insects swarm. David and Marna share a final bittersweet moment before she transforms back into a butterfly and escapes into the sky. Later, in a symbolic epilogue, an adult Marna dances among monarchs with a crowned young man resembling an older David.
THREE-ACT STORY SYNOPSIS
SEQUENCE 1 – OPENING IMAGE / SET-UP
David is a quiet, insecure boy heading into fifth grade, hoping this year he’ll finally make friends. Leaving the neighborhood pool, he spots the only monarch butterfly of the year—his mom’s favorite. As he takes a photo, Gavin, the local bully, snatches the phone and mocks him.
When Gavin threatens to rip the butterfly’s wings off, David discovers a courage he didn’t know he had and pushes Gavin away. When David protects the butterfly, something extraordinary happens: in his backyard, the butterfly transforms into Marna, a beautiful girl with monarch wings. Their connection is instant. She thanks him for keeping her safe, and when she flies him through the clouds, his lonely world ignites with wonder. The emotional foundation is laid: David has found someone who sees him.
SEQUENCE 2 – INCITING CHANGE
Marna joins David and his mother for lunch, cautiously blending into human life while keeping her magic secret. She is fascinated by food, kitchens, and simple human rituals. David’s mother’s warmth fills a void Marna never knew how to name. That evening, as sunset casts golden light across the garden, Marna returns to butterfly form, promising: “I’ll be waiting here for you tomorrow.”
The next day, Marna returns with another butterfly, Tiger Blossom, revealing she can communicate with other insects and that she lost her mother long ago after emerging from her cocoon. Her longing for human connection deepens. To join David on a zoo trip, Marna magically transforms Tiger Blossom into a human “mother,” setting in motion the crossing of magical and human worlds.
Fidelity Note:
The breakfast scene where Dad teases David is compressed but preserved in essence. No scenes omitted.
EQUENCE 3 – PROGRESSIVE COMPLICATIONS
The zoo becomes a wonderland for Marna—elephants, giraffes, fish behind glass, and finally the butterfly garden, where dozens of butterflies recognize her. Black Lotus lands on her hand, offering a greeting only Marna can hear. This is David’s happiest moment: watching Marna glow among her own kind yet choosing to hold his hand.
But complications arise when Gavin reappears after the trip. He mocks David—“Someone has a girlfriend!”—and reaches for Marna’s wings. David tries to protect her, but Gavin shoves him to the ground. Marna’s antennae glow, summoning hornets that sting Gavin until he begs for mercy. Magic, once wondrous, is now dangerous and exposed.
Fidelity Note:
The butterfly garden’s many small dialogue exchanges with various insects are condensed but not altered.
SEQUENCE 4 – MIDPOINT SHIFT
David’s joy turns to dread when Marna weakens during a flight, descending slowly into the street before collapsing entirely. She is too heavy for him to carry, and for the first time David fears losing her. Gavin unexpectedly helps, apologizing for how he treated David. Together they bring Marna home, where David’s mother calls an ambulance.
At the hospital, Marna’s wings are revealed as real. Doctors, fascinated, classify her as a scientific marvel. Marna is frightened; David is powerless. But in a private moment, Marna extends her glowing antennae and appoints David her Royal Guard, gifting him the ability to summon Tiger Blossom and Black Lotus. This is the midpoint: David now has agency.
Fidelity Note:
Doctor/nurse discussions about testing (DNA, MRI) are shortened but the intentions remain identical.
SEQUENCE 5 – SECOND HALF COMPLICATIONS
Marna becomes a captive specimen. The head doctor, convinced she is a “cryptid,” orders invasive testing, including insect communication studies. Marna performs tricks for the butterflies, bees, and wasps they’ve imprisoned, but only to protect the wasp they threatened to kill.
Meanwhile, David and his mother search for Blossom. Using Marna’s magic, David summons Tiger Blossom at the greenhouse. Blossom reveals she is not a human employee—she simply “makes her living there.” The truth of the magical world grows clearer.
When asked for comment by a reporter, David pleads into the camera: “Marna is magic, but she is also my friend. Please help her.” The moment goes viral. Protesters gather outside the hospital chanting: “Set Marna free!”
Fidelity Note:
The insect-by-insect testing montage is condensed into a single beat for cinematic efficiency.
SEQUENCE 6 – CRISIS: NO WAY OUT BUT FORWARD
The hospital refuses to release Marna because Blossom has no legal documentation proving guardianship. Visiting hours are cut off. David realizes that time is running out—Marna is aging rapidly into adolescence and fears dying in captivity.
Gavin appears at David’s house with a plan: his mom is a nurse at the same hospital and can smuggle them inside if they create a distraction. For the first time, the bully becomes an ally. David summons Tiger Blossom and Black Lotus, who transform into full magical form and fly the boys to the hospital roof under invisibility.
This is David’s decisive break from childhood fear into heroic action.
Fidelity Note:
The rooftop deliberation sequence is slightly compressed but no events are changed.
SEQUENCE 7 – CLIMAX: THE ESCAPE
With Gavin’s mom distracting staff, the boys sneak under a food cart into Marna’s room. She is now visibly older—a teenager—and near tears when she sees David. Gavin’s mom retrieves her dress, instructing the boys to turn around while Marna changes.
They race to the rooftop. As guards burst through the door, insects swarm—bees, hornets, wasps—shielding Marna. She and David share one last embrace. She kisses him on the cheek. David whispers for her to go. Her wings glow, her form shrinks, and she transforms back into a monarch butterfly.
As she lifts into the sky, the head doctor lunges but falls short. Gavin laughs. Gavin’s mother wipes a tear. Marna circles once above David before disappearing into the blue.
Fidelity Note:
No compression here; the rooftop scene is preserved exactly because it is the emotional and narrative apex.
SEQUENCE 8 – FINAL IMAGE
David returns to school. The magic Marna gave him has faded, but he is no longer the boy we met at the beginning of the story. He carries the quiet confidence of someone who has loved deeply and let go selflessly.
In a lush forest in Mexico, hundreds of monarch butterflies gather. Two butterflies separate from the swarm and circle one another. Midair, they transform — Marna now fully grown, radiant, crowned as Princess of Flyers, and beside her a crowned young man whose face unmistakably evokes an older David.
They recognize one another without words. They take hands. They dance among the monarchs, surrounded by glittering wings and golden light — a visual reunion that confirms their bond endures across time, distance, and worlds.
The camera holds on them as they spin, then drifts upward into the living sky of butterflies.
THE END
THREE-ACT STORY SYNOPSIS
After the final credit card fades, we return briefly to the magical realm. A tiny caterpillar crawls across a milkweed leaf. The camera pulls back to reveal Baby Princess Mia, snug in a soft caterpillar onesie, giggling as she tries to wiggle free.
A familiar monarch wing briefly passes overhead, casting a gentle shadow.
CUT TO BLACK.
THEMATIC SUMMARY (Cinematic Translation)
1. Friendship as Salvation
David and Marna save each other—emotionally, physically, spiritually.
2. Letting Go Is the Hardest Love
David’s growth is measured not by what he clings to, but by the sacrifice he makes.
3. The Tension Between Wonder and Control
Magic is fragile; institutions try to dissect what they do not understand.
4. Nature’s Beauty vs. Human Harm
Marna’s poisoning by insecticides is a metaphor for environmental destruction.
5. Transformation—Literal and Emotional
Marna’s physical transformations mirror David’s internal metamorphosis.
VISUAL OPPORTUNITIES (Set-Pieces)
Marna’s first flight — clouds parting, golden light, sparkling dust.
Zoo butterfly garden — hundreds of wings landing on Marna and David.
Marna’s collapse — movement slowing, color draining, emotional panic.
Hospital testing montage — glass cubes of insects, glowing antennae, brainwave monitors.
Magical summoning scene — butterflies transforming into Tiger Blossom and Black Lotus midair.
Rooftop escape — insects swarming, Marna glowing as she transforms.
Epilogue — forest of monarchs, crowned lovers suspended in glittering flight.
TARGET AUDIENCE NOTE
Primary Audience
.Families
Children 7–14
Adults who grew up on Spielbergian magical realism
Why It Resonates
The emotional clarity and innocence connect with younger viewers.
The environmental subtext and institutional critique resonate with adults.
The spectacle of flight, transformation, and magical allies appeals across generations.
A timeless story about friendship, loss, and courage.
