How Toy Story Established Pixars Storytelling Style

How Toy Story Established Pixar’s Storytelling Style

Toy Story may be Pixar’s most famous movie – and it set up the formula that Pixar would keep using for blockbusters to come.

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In addition to being one of the greatest movies ever made, as the first-ever feature-length computer-animated movie, Toy Story was a technical landmark. Pixar pioneered computer animation, made a couple of shorts, and then pieced together a tightly structured story that needed to be told before breaking even more new ground with a feature.

Since Toy Story, Pixar has told stories about all kinds of characters: fish, insects, dinosaurs, cars, superheroes, even feelings. But whatever the story is about, every Pixar movie feels like a Pixar movie. The connective tissue between the studio’s work is the storytelling style that was established in Toy Story.

10 Double Acts

The conflict at the center of Toy Story is Woody and Buzz’s dynamic. Woody feels threatened by Buzz, then tries to eliminate him, then gets stuck in a dangerous situation with him and has to reluctantly work with him to get back to Andy’s room. Over the course of the movie, they go from mortal enemies to best friends.

Almost every Pixar movie since then has revolved around a pair of characters: Mike and Sulley, Marlin and Dory, Ian and Barley, WALL-E and EVE, Carl and Russell, Miguel and Héctor, Remy and Linguini, Arlo and Spot, Lightning McQueen and Mater etc.

9 Anthropomorphic Objects

Toys were the first inanimate objects that Pixar anthropomorphized, but they were far from the last. The studio went on to give humanoid features to such objects as talking cars, sentient robots, and even abstract feelings.

In addition to bringing inanimate objects to life, Pixar has made all kinds of animals talk, like rats, insects, dinosaurs, and all the marine life in Finding Nemo.

8 Underdog Protagonists

Audiences love to root for an underdog like Rocky Balboa or Forrest Gump. Pixar is great at coming up with underdog protagonists, from a rat who wants to be a chef, to a monster who isn’t scary.

This was defined in Toy Story with the lowly cowboy doll who saves the day. Everyone turns on Woody as soon as Buzz arrives and his low-tech pull-string is nothing to brag about.

7 Once Upon A Time, There Was [Blank]

Pixar sums up its go-to story structure like this: “Once upon a time, there was [blank]. Every day, [blank]. One day, [blank]. Because of that, [blank]. Until finally, [blank].” Toy Story followed this to a T. Once upon a time, there was a bedroom full of toys. Every day, the toys followed Woody’s leadership. One day, a toy arrived who challenged Woody’s leadership. Because of that, Woody got jealous. Until finally, Woody tried to exact revenge and got them both lost.

Since then, every Pixar movie has observed the same structure. The hero and their world are introduced, then the equilibrium is disrupted and the hero is forced to make choices to save the day and those choices have consequences.

6 Self-Improvement

In an interview with PBS’ Tavis Smiley, since-fired Pixar chief John Lasseter said that what holds together Pixar’s movies is the theme of self-improvement. All the studio’s movies are about a character’s growth and how they change to become a better person.

In Toy Story, Woody has to learn to accept Buzz and Buzz has to learn to accept that he’s a toy. Marlin learned to be a less overprotective parent, Ian Lightfoot learned to stand up for himself, and Lightning McQueen learned that fame isn’t everything.

5 Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch…

With a few exceptions like Up and Coco, most Pixar movies have a “Meanwhile, back at the ranch…” subplot that’s used to break up the main action. While Woody and Buzz try to escape from Sid’s room, the toys in Andy’s room launch various unsuccessful attempts to rescue them.

Examples include the dentist’s office scenes in Finding Nemo, Laurel and Corey’s side quest in Onward, and the remaining three emotions’ struggle to control Riley’s mind in Inside Out.

4 John Ratzenberger

Pixar considers voice actor John Ratzenberger to be their “good luck charm.” He’s played a role in every single Pixar movie, including both major roles and minor ones. This began in Toy Story, in which he plays Hamm the piggy bank.

Ratzenberger’s Pixar roles include P.T. Flea in A Bug’s Life, the Abominable Snowman in Monsters, Inc., Mack in Cars, and two different construction workers in Up and Onward.

3 Evoking A Lot Of Emotions

The great thing about Pixar’s storytelling is that it evokes a ton of emotions. Their movies can make audiences laugh or cry or rejoice or despair or sit on the edge of their seats hanging in suspense.

Their movies are both comedies and dramas. This began with Toy Story, which has moments that are hysterically funny, like “You are a sad, strange little man, and you have my pity,” and moments that are heartbreaking, like Buzz learning he can’t fly.

2 Taking Characters Out Of Their Comfort Zone

“I’m lost… I’m a lost toy!!” Woody is taken from the comfort of Andy’s bedroom and abandoned at a gas station in the middle of Toy Story. He ends up even further from his comfort zone when Sid brings him to his bedroom to torture him. Buzz is also taken out of his comfort zone when he finds out he’s not a real Space Ranger.

Since then, Pixar has been taking all of its characters out of their comfort zone. Flik goes to the circus, Miguel goes to the Land of the Dead, Lightning McQueen gets stranded in Radiator Springs, Mike and Sulley get banished to the Himalayas, Joy and Sadness get sucked out of Headquarters – the list is endless.

1 Universal Relatability

Pete Docter, the director of Monsters, Inc., Up, and Inside Out, said, “What you’re trying to do, when you tell a story, is to write about an event in your life that made you feel some particular way. And what you’re trying to do, when you tell a story, is to get the audience to have that same feeling.”

The emotions of all great stories are universal. Toy Story is about the fear of being replaced, and every Pixar movie since has touched on something just as universal. Onward is about dealing with loss. Finding Nemo is about the foibles of parenting.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/toy-story-establish-pixar-storytelling-style-explained/

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