thanks for the explanation - I realised that my drag script was just too simplistic - it works with the addition of the on Mouse up statement.

However, with regard to the original example, I seem to be misunderstanding the Hittest:

if (hitTest(_root._xmouse, _root._ymouse, false))

This seems to be saying: only execute this script if the mouse is over -this- movie clip. Or have I got it wrong?

thanks for your time.