So I thought let’s run it tonight in stead.

by Karel Segers

My unconditional love for Pixar kicked in when I realised I had made the unforgivable mistake of missing The Incredibles in the cinema. My commitment to the gang of Emeryville was complete a few years later with Wall-E.

Ironically, that film ruined the chances of an animated short film I had produced in the years leading up to the release of Wall-E. (Our film features a lonely ‘Pupp-E’ on an abandoned hot and rusty planet. Then a shiny, aggressive droid lands – and they ultimately become friends… Sounds familiar?)

ANIMATION IS NOT A GENRE

Have you ever wondered what Wall-E‘s genre is? If you answered ‘animation’, please don’t repeat this in the presence of the Pixar guys. Animation is an art form, not a genre. To me, Wall-E is Chaplin-esque romantic comedy. Its main character’s goal: to hold Eve’s hand as seen on TV.

Wall-E is Chaplin-esque romantic comedy

Wall-E is teeming with wonderful moments but my favourite is the Mid Point. In a great movie, you’ll always have a great Mid Point. Aspects that characterise the mid point are often an unusual setting, a change in the main character’s approach and in the movie’s energy. Sometimes the film takes a different direction altogether, which is surely the case here. You could almost say that the second half of Wall-E is a different film.

SEX AT SIXTY

Where the latter half of the movie is all about the return to Earth, the first half of Wall-E completes the storyline that brings the little green plant to the mother ship.

Wall-E has saved the plant but is blasted into space. When he drifts off, risking to lose connection with the mother ship, Eve goes to his rescue. When they meet, Wall-E hands her the shoe with the little plant inside that will allow for Earth to be re-vegetated. Eve responds with a hug and between the two robots we see a brief spark – the kiss. This is the obligatory ‘sex at sixty’ moment, reminiscing the days when screenplays were around 120 pages. Still, each romantic movie has a kiss or love-making scene around the halfway point.

This is the obligatory ‘sex at sixty’ moment

And here is our movie moment. The kiss is followed by a delightful scene of pure cinema, with Wall-E and Eve dancing through space and touching the hearts of the people on board of the mother ship. When the captain sees them, he asks: “Computer, define ‘dancing’!”

At the end of three minutes of spell-binding beauty, we are introduced to “Burn-E”. He is the little hero in the short film that accompanied Wall-E in cinemas and now on the retail disk. Burn-E is stuck out on the ledge behind a closed door when Wall-E and Eve return to the mother ship. If you haven’t seen the short film, check it out. You want to know why he is there… and what he’ll do next.

This is another little masterpiece and testimony to Pixar’s insane storytelling talent.

– Karel Segers

(first published for ScripTips – with thanks to Brooke Trezise)

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!

After seeing Inception this week, for me Toy Story 3 is still the only movie I have seen in cinemas this year that has a flawless story, reaching for a four-quadrant audience with a script that is at the same time intelligent and moving. But while analyzing Toy Story 2 I was reminded how much I love this one – and how much TS3 is indebted to it.

Because the Pixar brain trust have proven beyond any doubt that they understand how stories for the big screen work, I have decided – encouraged by a good friend and fellow Pixar fan – to analyse every single movie from their stable. You can now find structural analyses on this site for the following movies:

• Toy Story 1
• Toy Story 2
• The Incredibles
• Up
• Toy Story 3

A Structure that works

So far I have found that the Pixar movies are often structured around an eight-sequence hero’s journey, with two sequences in acts one and three and four in the second act. Sometimes (like you will see below) Act Two consists of five sequences with the mid point sitting in the middle sequence rather than at the end of the fourth sequence.

Each movie has a powerful Mid Point Reversal – not just a ‘point of no return’ – and all three Toy Story movies have more than one transformational journey. Later (e.g. with Finding Nemo and Ratatouille) we’ll find that some of the Pixar stories have a  dual protagonist, each with their journey of change.

all three Toy Story movies have 
more than one transformational journey.

Now let me ask you: do you like these movies? Have you embraced the structural engine behind them? Do you master it? Or are you still resisting the structure, thinking that it’s all just about the characters?

Well, good luck to you if you are.

spoilers about Toy Story 2 and 3

We’re only eight minutes into the movie when Woody rips his arm and Andy shelves him. Right there is a metaphor reminding us of our mortality, soon reinforced by Wheezy’s statement that there is no use in prolonging the inevitable: all toys are ultimately destined for the garage sale.

How much deeper can a movie go
with its thematic challenges?

In Act Two Woody has to decide what his purpose in life is when he actually does have an opportunity to ‘prolong the inevitable’ by going to a museum. Now he has to choose between (the equivalent of) immortality and happiness for a child. How much deeper can a movie go with its thematic challenges?

At the Mid Point, there’s a heart-wrenching moment when Jessie shares her emotional wound with Woody. This experience will be referenced again in Toy Story 3 when Jessie says “It’s Emily all over again!” and it’s not hard to recognize the exact same emotion in Chuckles’ story about Daisy leaving Lotso, Big Baby and himself behind. In Toy Story 3, however, the abandonment is a result of a mistake rather than a deliberate donation.

Now, despite the fact that Toy Story 2 is immaculately – and, yes, almost mathematically – structured around nine sequences,  this movie is not all about just slavishly following structural principles. Actually, it breaks one major rule… Look carefully and you’ll find something quite peculiar about the second act.

Look carefully and you’ll find
something quite peculiar about the second act.

Where in most transformational movies at the Mid Point the Hero changes the approach from ‘doing it the easy way’ to ‘doing the right thing’, Toy Story 2 shows that the opposite can work, too. Initially it is Woody’s plan to return to Andy; at the Mid Point he is so moved by Emily’s story that he changes his mind, only to be brought back to reason at the end of Act Two.

Enjoy!

ACT ONE

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!

Apart from the division in 3 acts and 8 sequences, later I will also indicate how some story points relate to the Hero’s Journey.

It’s really worth watching the first installment again to realize how cohesive the trilogy really is. The themes of the three movies are related and the visual goals are remarkably similar, too.

The only differences between my sequence structure and Paul Gulino’s approach are the end of Act One and the different division of Act Three (into a double climax – Sequence G1 and G2 – and a separate ‘aftermath’ sequence).

When I have more time later, I will add some notes to each sequence.

If you haven’t already checked it out, please go and have a look at my breakdown of Toy Story 3.

Enjoy!

ACT ONE

00.00 Walt Disney and Buena Vista leader.

*01.00 Andy playing with his toys: Damsel in distress. Woody to the rescue!
01.30 You’ve got a friend in me: Andy and Woody, best of friends.
03.00 The “special spot”: Woody is Andy’s favourite toy.
03.30 “Coast is clear!” Woody and the Toys come to life.
06.00 Staff meeting: 1 week before moving. Today is Andy’s birthday party!

07:00 Woody reassures the toys that no one will be replaced by new toys.
07.30 “They’re here!” Andy’s friends arrive with presents. Meeting Adjourned.
08.30 Code Red! Woody sends out the troops: Recon post downstairs.
09.00 Troops dispatched.
10.30 Troops report back about the contents of the presents.
11.30 Mission accomplished. No new toys!
12.00 Mum pulls out surprise present!
12.30 Red Alert: Andy is coming upstairs. Leaves new present on bed.

Sequence B: Woody in denial: still Andy’s favorite! (8mins)

13.00 Woody: “Just a mistake.” Let’s give it a nice welcome.
15.00 “I’m Buzz Lightyear. I come in peace”.
16:00 More gadgets then a swiss army knife.
17:00 Woody has Laser envy.
17:30 Woody challenges Buzz to fly.
18:00 “To Infinity and Beyond!”
18:30 Buzz falls with style! Woody isn’t Impressed.
19:00 They’ll see, I’m still Andy’s favourite. [Reluctance to change]
19:30 Strange things are happening.
20:00 Buzz Lightyear! Andy’s new favorite.
20:30 Andy: “I’m still Andy’s favorite toy.”

I include the musical montage in the first act for the following reasons:

– the montage is a visualization of Woody’s goal in reverse: he wants it to be HIM who’s being played with.

– the montage ends with a natural wipe to black, indicating a clear ‘curtain’ closing Act One.

– the sequence length is now more equally distributed, which is consistent with an audience’s attention’s ebb & flow.

ACT TWO

Sequence C: Woody’s Revenge and consequences. (8mins)

21:00 Woody confronts Buzz. “Stop with the spaceman thing”
23:00 Sid – the toy torturer. Blows up soldier.
26:00 Woody’s revenge: Buzz falls out of the window.
27:30 Andy leaves with Woody. Buzz in pursuit.
28:00 Toys trying to recover Buzz. Where could he be?

Sequence D: Stuck at Pizza Planet & unwanted help (8mins)

29:00 Fuel station: Woody and Buzz fight out their differences.
30:00 Left behind at the petrol station as Mom & Andy drive on.
31:00 Woody: “You are a toy!” Not the real buzz lightyear.”

32:00 Pizza delivery truck, a spaceship and a way home!
33:00 The cockpit, safer than the cargo bay. A bumpy ride to Pizza Planet.
33:30 Welcome to Pizza Planet! Disguises, a way to get inside.
34:30 Woody: “Andy!” Buzz: “Spaceship!” Buzz runs off.
35:00 Buzz makes peace with Aliens in the spaceship.

36:00 Woody: “It’s Sid! Get Down!”
37:00 The Claw chooses Buzz & Woody.
37:30 Sid takes the toys home: “Let’s go home and … play!!”

Sequence E. Sid’s toys. Woody tortured & Buzz’ Ordeal (9mins)

38:00 Sid’s dog Scud and sister Hayley
38:30 Sid performs surgery on his Hayley’s doll.
39:30 Sid’s mutilated toys. Woody is petrified.

41:00 Andy’s room next door. They’re home.
41:30 Sid tortures Woody with a magnifying glass.
42:30 “The door! It’s open, we’re free!”
43:30 A dog between the exit. Woody and Buzz split up.
*44:00 Television Commercial: “Star command to Buzz Lightyear!”
44:30 “Not a flying toy”. Buzz realises he is just a toy.
46:00 Buzz tries to fly. Fails miserably.

Sequence F: Woody trapped: redemption. (10:30mins)

47:00 Hayley salvages Buzz. Takes him to tea party.

48:30 Plan for return, but Buzz gone crazy.
50:30 Woody fails to convince toys. They abandon him.
51:30 Sid’s toys fix Buzz, not so evil after all.
52:30 Sid straps the rocket to Buzz, prepares for launch!

53:00 Launch delayed, Woody trapped. The clock is ticking.
53:30 Andy misses his toys.
54:30 Buzz has lost all hope. Stupid toy. Woody motivates Buzz.
56:30 Woody’s redemption. I should be strapped to that rocket.
57:00 Woody and Buzz reconcile, will work together.

ACT THREE

Sequence G1: Climax 1: Working together to defeat Sid (7mins)

57:30 The moving van is here!
58:00 Woody is free. Sid wakes up. Time for lift off!
58:30 The dog between the exit.
59:30 Woody and Sid’s toys band together to rescue Buzz.
60:30 Sid’s toys distract the dog.
61:30 Woody and the toys make it outside.
*62:00 Woody is spotted, Buzz’s launch draws near.

62:30 3…2…Woody stands up to Sid
63:00 Sid’s toys come to life!
63:30 Woody: “We toys can see everything. So play nice.”
64:00 Sid defeated. Buzz: “thanks.”

Sequence G2: Climax 2: Reuniting with Andy (8:30mins)

64:30 The Van!
65:00 Buzz gets stuck. Woody saves him, again. Chase Van.
65:30 Dog, chases them. Woody in danger.
66:00 Buzz jumps on dog to save Woody.
66:30 Woody sends out the remote controlled car (RC) to save Buzz
67:00 Andy’s toys misinterpret this as an act of aggression.
7:30 Car crash. Dog is stopped. Maximum Pile-up.
68:00 Andy’s toys in disbelief, throw Woody off the truck.
68:30 Woody gets picked up by RC. Toys realise they’ve made a mistake.
69:00 Slinky Dog to the rescue. RC is running out of battery.
69:30 Slinky lets go, RC runs out of juice.
70:00 Woody lights the rocket using Buzz’s helmet.
71:00 Rocket explodes, Buzz flys (falls with style)!

71:30 Woody and Buzz reunited with Andy

Sequence H: Return with the elixir.

72:00 Christmas. New presents. Our friends working together again.
72:30 Woody, Bo Peep and mistletoe.
73:00 Woody and Buzz, best of pals. Andy gets a dog.

THE END

Thank you to Chae Ryan for the great help!

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!