A quick look at Pixar's approach to storytelling and character development. Support this channel at / kaptainkristian Follow me at / kaptainkristian Music by: starRo- Milk
Every Pixar movie has a reason to exist. Inside Out exists to teach kids about emotions, Finding Nemo exists to teach parents to let their kids grow up, and Cars exists to sell toys.
No but seriously, Cars 1 exists to say "Talent means nothing if you aren't kind to others" and Cars 2 says "Respect others differences, but always be yourself"
+Brick box I disagree on that. Humility and talent are not mutually exclusive; a person can be one, or both, or neither. The way I see, that movie's message is about slowing down and living life to the fullest being more rewarding than singlemindedly focusing on achievements.
22 rules for great storytelling 1. You admire a character for trying more than for their successes . 2. You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be very different. 3. Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about ‘til you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite. 4. Once upon a time there was…every day…one day…because of that…because of that…until finally… 5. Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free. 6. What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal? 7. Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front. 8. Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect in an ideal world you have both, but move on, do better next time. 9. When you’re stuck: make a list of what wouldn’t happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up. 10. Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you’ve got to recognize it before you can use it. 11. Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it says in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone. 12. Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th… get the obvioud out of the way. Surprise yourself. 13. Give your characters opinions. Passive / malleable might seem likeable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience. 14. Why must you tell this story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it. 15. If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations. 16. What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against. 17. No work is ever wasted. If it’s not working, let go and move on. It’ll come back around to be useful later. 18. You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best and fussing. Story is testing, not refining. 19. Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating. 20. Exercise. Take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How’d you rearrange them into what you do like? 21. You gotta identify with your situation characters, can’t just write “cool”. What would make you act that way? 22. What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.
2001 is a different kind of film, and that's okay. It's not really telling a story in any traditional sense, but using the visual language of film to communicate deep themes and emotional experiences. But Stanley Kubrick demonstrated over and over again that he knew the rules of great storytelling, which gave him the latitude to break them when he wanted to do so.
+Murrison It is kind of the same with Joy from Inside Out. That movie has no clear villain, but the whole reason the negative events in the movie occur is because of Joy's actions. She was too busy worrying about how everything Riley did made her happy, that she failed to see the importance of Sadness. This leads to Riley's depression, and the events that led to Joy and Sadness to fly out of headquarters. Pixar is great at making a protagonist, an antagonist. Another example could be Finding Nemo. There is not a clear villain, but you could argue that Marlin's overprotectiveness also led to the events of that movie.
+AlexFilms1000 Also, if you watch the Black Friday Reel, you'll see that Woody was originally a jerk. He deliberately threw Buzz out the window and ordered the other toys around. At the end of the storyboard, they eventually throw Woody out the window, just like he did to Buzz.
Yeah that's a bit mind-blowing. It's about a villain who for once doesn't get what he wants when he wants it learning to mature. When you think about it Cars is very similar in that way.
The Incredibles does something kind of similar. Granted that movie does have an actual villain in it. But if you really think about it, if Bob was nicer to Buddy, he might not have become Syndrome.
Well they do work together on occasion, and some of the best animated Disney movies were Disney Pixar collaborations. This has caused that frequent misconception.
Disney is the money to Pixar... actually, Disney kind of launched Pixar. It was originally a research project on new technologies for animation (an escapee troop from Lucasfilm with Steve Job in guest, yas)... but rapidly subventioned by Disney, as well as some of Pixar's first films by the way. Pixar never really worked alone on the production, even before being owned by Disney. While listening to great animators from any studio, they will all tell you there is no competition in the animation field. They are all getting inspired on their fellow artists and they all work together at some point. But it's true, I myself also hate when people mix up Pixar and Disney, because when you see "A Disney-Pixar movie", the creation part is always much better than when you just see "A Disney movie". Disney-Pixar movies are distributed as follows: money (Disney), creation (Pixar). I won't deny it, Walter Disney was a pioneer and a genius... but he was also a mighty standardizer. Not only did he destroy the true essence of classic European fairy tales by shaping them with a very fixed and binary structured conception of the American domestic life, but he also never engaged too much in developing his characters' personalities and individualities. My favorite Disney movies are those involving animals, because most of the time, anthropomorphism underlines an effort in identity building, but it's still very poor in comparison to what Pixar, and Dreamworks to a certain extent, do. Still, Disney's animation is stunning, but c'mon, the future of animation needs solid plots and characters, not just the will and means to show off with beautiful techniques.
I love that you classify how films like the hand drawn Disney classics are good, but not as relatable or applicable. People tend to forget that films can be appreciated at different levels and for different aspects that don't necessarily have to do with the film's quality. I appreciate that, as well as everything else in this video and your entire channel. Best animation channel on RU-vid.
BuildMineSurvive " Long ago, back in boarding school, I'd told him about my father's nightly visits to my bedroom," pay attention here, "me in a ruffly pink nightgown, staring at the ceiling until he was done.".
I’ve always idolized Pixar more than Disney. Their stories just always hit deeper. While I like a mix of animation and live action, I like how Pixar furthered the “animation can be art” statement.
+Mohmmad Talha It's excellent. Every frame a painting is fantastic. As well as Nerdwriter1(one of my favorites), wisecrack does some interesting ways to delve deeper, and also the school of life. I'm sure there are plenty more out there. I apologize if you already know of these.
Dude, you're literally the most unique and most amazing video essayist that exists on RU-vid. I fell in love with you work through the Robot Chicken video. Keep it up please. I may not be able to support through monetary means, but please know that these videos give me chills and inspire me to be a better me for whatever reason. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Since we're on the subject of animation, I'd love a video from you on Studio Ghibli! I always wish your videos were a tad longer too! This one went by so quick! Great job with the videos!
Inside Out is a triumph of story telling, character and emotional learning. The end hug scene destroys me every time. All down to every story beat that came before it.
Just found this channel from your Futurama video on Reddit. What did you do before this? This level of skill doesn't just come out of nowhere. Amazing, regardless.
2:02 gaston does have a very interesting character and motive if you read into it, consider the fact that everyone loves him and is willing to listen to him when he tries to kill the beast, or when he got the entire town to help him with his sham wedding with belle. because people see him as charismatic, theyre willing to follow him through whatever horrible shit he does, which is present in todays society through things like celebrity worship. thats a really dumbed down explanation, but my only reason for posting was to say that gaston isnt paper thin
It's amazing how much emotion that final shot from Inside Out caused me to feel. It only comes from having seen the movie, but it's a testament to how powerful Pixar's stories are.
This is a great video to show to people who think animations is "just kids stuff". Show the people that animation is a lot of hard work and passion, stories for everyone.
honestly one of the best channels on the tube. the way you describe these things i've known for years with such great detail makes me want to revisit everything and watch it from a different perspective. keep doing what you're doing.
Easily one of the best videos I've seen this year. Simplicity at sending across your message man! I just went back and watched all your other videos and i'm equally blown away! Keep creating Please!
these videos give me goosebumps. I feel like I need to rewatch every single thing you cover on this channel. these things are important and meaningful and ultimately overlooked, and I appreciate the attention that this channel has. incredible.
Your editing skills are amazing, and it's obvious how much work you put into these pieces. Your lines are always carefully worded and moving, and you offer amazing perspectives. Thank you for talking about all my favorite topics (animation and comics) in a spectacular fashion. You rock.
Wall-E is a kid friendly movie, but the story is a big "slap in the face" for adults. It's incredible how they managed to pull an awesome friend relationship with a cockroach in such an hostile and realistically-depressing scenario. I love/hate the movie since it's a "I'm warning you" message with a "life will endure". Awesome video-essay!!
This was absolutely beautifully narrated and so well written, it honestly made me cry as I feel like you nailed down a lot of obvious explorations by modern animation via Pixar. A lot of people miss these obvious themes, and I think you explore them so beautifully in this video. Thank you so much for your hard work. Much respect to you.
Fantastic essay! You captured what sets PIxar apart so wonderfully, and in doing so, showed what sets your channel apart! The transitions that used concept art were particularly delightful. Bravo!
You literally are 4/4 are pulling on my heartstrings man. I've never wanted to support anymore more than you. Amazing content and well edited videos. You *will* be huge in the future and I can't wait to see what you do next.
Every time I watch these videos I just realize how fantastic this stuff is. There's all sorts of trash on RU-vid but this is arguably an example of what content should look like.
You've literally fired off at some of my favorite topics and interests in pop culture, with an unrivaled sense of quality and care given to each topic. These video's, or critiques are just works of art in their own right. You're killing it man, and please keep it up.
Man, there are some channels with millions of subscribers that fail to display even half the level of quality that you show. I legitimately get excited when I see that you have a new video. Keep up the good work bro!
+Joshua Mani That's because those channels get subscribers off of saying what their viewers want to hear and trying to leech off of whatever is considered "hip and trendy".
I've aatched all 9 of your videos (which the fact there is so little is a damn shame) but I love your style and your content and your editing and everything else in these videos. You certainly deserve more attention.
Every single one of your videos is excellent. Well researched, well written and beautifully presented. Even if you're not into the subject matter the quality of your content is undeniable. Keep up the good work!
dalton blishanoh yeah this kids a little turd, a shit stain on the world. The inevitable byproduct of a failed decaying system. AKA Shit. This kids shit.
So there are great videos and there is your videos. I love everything about them. From the nostalgia to your voice the points you make and the way you tell them make me want to come back.
I just wanted to say that though I've only subscribed today, I love all of your content and how you go into in-depth explanations of the deeper meanings behind a lot of content that people would never think twice about. I appreciate how smart and thoughtful all of your videos are. Thanks for making these videos and keep them up, I'm looking forward to you next upload.
These are some of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Not just the way it looks but the way you speak and just everything. It shows how much you care about these videos and what you are doing. I am not able to word this comment as nicely as you could and you might not even see this but I just wanted to reiterate that these videos are gems and some of the most beautiful pieces of art I have seen.
While you say they could never be adapted I don't think that's entirely true. Some of them would be difficult but some would definitely be possible. What is it that is essential to the story of Bug's Life that is beyond it's Seven Samurai inspiration? (For example, being bugs kind of helps the theme, but so does being simple farmers as part of a village. The fact the villains are locusts who need food to survive is never explored any deeper than portraying them like a bunch of bullies like the bandits in Seven Samurai. etc...)
I'm glad that you actually put effort into your videos and not just try to get as many videos out as you can. Thank you for creating great content that I love to watch.
Your respect for animation is awesome, I really appreciate your videos, they're wonderful to watch and very insightful with a huge respect to the source material you're discussing. Can't wait for more.
Nicely done video. But I noticed a small thing: "You couldn't do Cars in live-action" - Of course you can: It's called _Doc Hollywood_ and it's pretty much the same story. But jokes aside, I think Cars is still one of Pixar's weakest, and goes to show that greed can even compromise core values of a company (Cars 2)
it brings in money yes, but look up john lasseter talking about the movies, he adores them. in fact, cars is the only franchise that he will direct for. they exist purely because john lasseter wants them to
Is Cars really the kind of film that was made to make money? If it was made for money, then it would've been a film that was only mindless cars racing with no story at all. Cars teaches us how important it is to slow down and enjoy life
and don't make scar seem like a one dimensional character.. not only did he really want to rule the pridelands but he spent his entire life oppressed by the shadow Mufasa cast. kinda how Germany felt after the unreasonable terms set down at Versailles. study history and relate it as well as philosophise modern thinking
I just have to say with these 4 videos alone, I have this amazing gut feeling that your channel will be huge and go so far! so keep going and you have a new subscriber out of me for sure.
