The script for the third Toy Story was written by Michael Arndt, an Academy Award winner for the screenplay for Little Miss Happiness and one of the screenwriters for Braveheart (Oscar for Best Animated Movie 2013). Let's look at a few points that determined the success of the film.
Structure above all
In Big Escape, the scenario structure is flawless:
- the plot, the development of the conflict and the denouement, - the goals and motivations of the characters that make them act: toys must return to Andy before he leaves for college,
- bets and deadlines - the toys have less than a week to return home, otherwise they will remain in the kindergarten forever, - an unexpected plot turn-obstacle - the Lotso bear turns out to be a dictator, - and the arch of the protagonist - Woody has to understand that it is time to part with Andy, learn to let him go.
- The exposition is the childhood of the boy Andy. Andy is happy - he has wonderful toys and an indefatigable fantasy. Toys are also happy - their owner plays with them and comes up with amazing adventures for them.
- The plot - Andy is seventeen years old, he is going to college and, at the request of his mother, must decide what to do with toys - pick up with him, send to the attic or to kindergarten.
- The first plot twist - the transition from the first act to the second - Andy's toys instead of the attic, as the boy decided, end up in kindergarten. And even Woody, whom Andy planned to take with him to college.
- Midpoint - the good-natured Lotso turns out to be a villain and locks our toys in cages. And Woody comes back to save his friends.
- The second plot twist - Pups rebels against Lotso, throws him into the trash can, Lotso drags Woody along with him, friends rush to rescue him - and as a result, all the escaped toys and their main enemy are on the garbage recycling conveyor.
Make viewers expect something specific and then surprise them
Setting expectations is a tool that can liven up any part of your script. For example, when toys go to kindergarten, Woody intimidates his buddies, claiming that it will be bad there. This is an expectation. When the guys are in place, everything turns out quite the opposite - the kindergarten looks like a wonderful place and the toys joyfully look forward to how the children will play with them.
Lotso Bear is another expectation that has turned into its opposite. At first, he is a kind, caring leader, all toys love him. And at the most unexpected moment, Lotso turns into a heartless dictator and imposes a cruel sentence on the heroes.
Expectations are essential elements of a story. Add five or six such twists to the script - this will make the story much more fun.
This also includes another - the mismatch of the appearance of the characters to their characters. The pink teddy bear smelling of strawberries turns out to be a villain, the awkward doll Bobblehead with his right hand, and the toothy Tyrannosaurus Rex is afraid of its own shadow.
