UNIFIED FABLE ARC — DRAWING INSTRUCTIONS
ONE Continuous Story (Not Three Separate Fables!)
For the Artist
THE BIG PICTURE
This is ONE story where the Little Red Hen travels through different communities, connecting them all. She starts alone, goes to a village, then to the fields where ants work for grasshoppers, and leads a revolution.
Total: 26 Drawings across 6 Acts + Post-Credits
ACT 1: LITTLE RED HEN (The Beginning)
4 Drawings
act1-1: HEN FINDS SEEDS
Draw: Hen looking at wheat seeds on the ground.
- Sunny day, she looks excited
- Seeds scattered on dirt
- She’s alone
act1-2: ANIMALS REFUSE (4-panel montage)
Draw 4 panels:
| “Who will help me plant?” | “Who will help me harvest?” |
|---|---|
| Dog/Cat/Pig: “Not I!” | Dog/Cat/Pig: “Not I!” |
| “Who will help me grind?” | “Who will help me bake?” |
| Dog/Cat/Pig: “Not I!” | Dog/Cat/Pig: “Not I!” |
act1-3: SHE BAKES ALONE → BREAD COMES OUT
Draw: Hen pulling golden bread from oven.
- Steam rising
- She looks proud but tired
- She did it all herself
act1-4: ⭐ THE INVITATION (KEY MOMENT)
Draw: Hen inviting the animals:
- “Let’s do it TOGETHER next time”
- Animals look surprised/hopeful
- She packs bread + wheat seeds in a basket
- TRANSITION: She’s walking toward a village in the distance
ACT 2: STONE SOUP (The Village)
5 Drawings
act2-1: HEN ARRIVES AT VILLAGE WITH STONE
Draw: Hen walking into a village.
- She’s carrying a basket (bread + seeds inside)
- Also has a STONE
- Tired villagers in background
- Simple houses
act2-2: STONE IN THE POT
Draw: Hen dropping stone into big pot of water.
- PLOP!
- Villagers watching, confused
- “Soup from a STONE?”
act2-3: CONTRIBUTIONS (4-panel montage)
Draw 4 panels:
| “I only have salt…” | “I have a potato…” |
|---|---|
| “Some herbs…” | “Half an onion…” |
- Each villager surprised their small thing matters
- Traveler: “Perfect!”
act2-4: SOUP IS READY + BREAD SHARED
Draw: Rich soup in pot, PLUS hen sharing bread.
- Bowls being filled
- Bread being passed down the line
- BUT — some villagers at the end have NO BREAD
- The bread RAN OUT
act2-5: ⭐ WHEAT SEEDS REVEALED (KEY MOMENT)
Draw: Hen holds up wheat seeds.
- Points: SEEDS → empty basket → FIELDS in distance
- No words needed — visual message:
- “To break bread, we first must BAKE bread”
- Villagers look toward the fields…
- We see ANTS working in those fields
ACT 3: THE FIELDS (Where Systems Collide)
5 Drawings
act3-1: ANTS PILING SEEDS FOR GRASSHOPPERS
Draw: Ants working hard, piling seeds.
- Grasshoppers standing around, watching
- The grasshoppers TAKE the piles
- “This is how it works”
act3-2: HEN + VILLAGERS APPROACH ANTS
Draw: Hen and some villagers walking toward the ants.
- The ants look up, curious
- Grasshoppers in background, suspicious
act3-3: ⭐ THE INTERVENTION (KEY MOMENT)
Draw: Hen talking to ants (no words — gestures):
- Points to seeds → points to FIELDS
- Gesture: “Plant WHEAT, not just pile seeds”
- Some ants nod — they understand
- They start PLANTING together
act3-4: HARVEST TOGETHER (4-panel montage)
Draw 4 panels:
| Wheat grows tall | Hen + Villagers + Ants harvest |
|---|---|
| They grind together | They bake together |
- Everyone working as ONE community
act3-5: GRASSHOPPERS NOTICE
Draw: Grasshoppers watching, ANGRY.
- Hopper points at the ants
- Gestures threateningly
- Tension building…
- The ants look worried
ACT 4: THE GATHERING (The Stand)
4 Drawings
act4-1: THE CONFRONTATION
Draw: Two sides facing off:
- LEFT SIDE: Pig, Dog, Cat standing WITH grasshoppers
- RIGHT SIDE: Hen, Villagers, Ants
- Tension in the air
- Hopper gesturing angrily
act4-2: ⭐ THE REALIZATION (KEY MOMENT)
Draw: Ants looking at each other.
- Camera shows: MANY ants. FEW grasshoppers.
- Light bulbs appearing over ant heads
- They realize: “Wait… WE outnumber THEM”
act4-3: ANTS LINKING TOGETHER
Draw: Ants starting to link arms/bodies.
- Army ant formation
- Standing firm, unified
- The grasshoppers look nervous
act4-4: THE STAND
Draw: Full army of linked ants.
- Hen and villagers behind them
- Grasshoppers backing away
- Text: “WE ARE THE ANTS”
ACT 5: THE ORIGIN STORY (Flashback)
4 Drawings
act5-1: AROUND THE TABLE
Draw: Present day — Hen, ants, villagers eating together.
- A young ant looks at Hen questioningly
- “How did you know what to do?”
- Hen smiles, gestures “let me show you…”
- Wavy lines = flashback starting
act5-2: THE CITY (Flashback)
Draw: Hen in a kitchen, making dinner.
- Dream bubble visible: VIKING SHIP with oars
- She’s daydreaming while stirring
act5-3: ⭐ THE LOCKED BUILDING (KEY MOMENT)
Draw: What Hen sees out her window:
- Needy animals in LINE outside a building
- The building has BREAD inside
- But gates are LOCKED with big padlock
- Delivery trucks STOPPED, chained
- Food exists but can’t reach the needy
act5-4: THE OAR = THE SPOON
Draw: Hen reaching into her dream bubble.
- She grabs an OAR from the viking ship
- The oar IS THE SAME SIZE as her cooking spoon
- Message: The tool for adventure = the tool for daily work
- She decides to ACT
ACT 6: THE A BUG’S LIFE MOMENT
2 Drawings (THE ONLY SCENE WITH WORDS!)
act6-1: HOPPER’S SPEECH
Draw: Hopper speaking to his side (with speech bubble):
“You let ONE ant stand up to us, then they ALL might stand up!”
- He looks scared underneath the anger
- Pig/Dog/Cat nodding behind him
act6-2: ⭐ HEN’S RESPONSE (KEY MOMENT)
Draw: Hen turning her BACK on Hopper, facing the ANTS:
- Speech bubble to ants:
“You got the makings of greatness in you… You’re gonna rattle the stars.”
- She’s not fighting Hopper — she’s EMPOWERING the ants
- Ants standing tall
- Grasshoppers retreating in background
POST-CREDITS: THE THREE GIFTS
2 Drawings
post-1: HOPPER ALONE
Draw: Hopper sitting alone on a rock.
- Defeated, dejected
- He looks like the needy animals from the city scene
- Cold, gray, in shadow
post-2: ⭐ GRACE (FINAL KEY MOMENT)
Draw: Hen placing THREE GIFTS on the ground:
- Bowl of hot soup (steam rising)
- Piece of bread
- Rolled bandage with RED CROSS
- She’s walking AWAY
- NOT looking at him
- No words, no eye contact
- Text: “GRACE NEEDS NO WORDS”
SUMMARY
| Act | Drawings | What Happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1: Little Red Hen | 4 | She bakes alone, invites others, travels to village |
| 2: Stone Soup | 5 | Village contributes, bread runs out, shows wheat seeds |
| 3: The Fields | 5 | Meets ants working for grasshoppers, plants wheat together |
| 4: The Gathering | 4 | Confrontation, ants realize their numbers, stand together |
| 5: Origin Story | 4 | Flashback: the city, the locked building, oar = spoon |
| 6: A Bug’s Life | 2 | THE ONLY DIALOGUE — Hen empowers ants |
| Post-Credits | 2 | Hopper alone, Hen brings gifts — grace |
| TOTAL | 26 |
THE JOURNEY (Visual Map)
HEN ALONE → VILLAGE → FIELDS → CONFRONTATION → VICTORY
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
Bakes Soup + Plants Ants "We are
bread bread wheat stand the ants"
runs out together together
KEY MOMENTS (⭐) — Draw These Best!
- act1-4: “Let’s do it TOGETHER” — Hen invites, packs basket, walks to village
- act2-5: Wheat seeds revealed — “To break bread, we must BAKE bread”
- act3-3: The intervention — Planting wheat instead of piling seeds
- act4-2: The realization — Ants see they outnumber grasshoppers
- act5-3: The locked building — Why Hen started this journey
- act6-2: Hen’s speech — “You’re gonna rattle the stars”
- post-2: The three gifts — Grace needs no words
THE BIG IDEAS
Act 1: You can do it alone, but it’s better TOGETHER
Act 2: Everyone’s small contribution MATTERS
Act 3: Change the system, don’t just work within it
Act 4: Together, we are stronger than they tell us
Act 5: Adventure and daily work use the SAME tools
Act 6: Empower others, don’t fight enemies
Post: Even those who hurt us deserve the FLOOR (food, health, safety)
FOR THE KEEP! ⚔️🏰
This is ONE story. The Hen connects everything.