What makes Toy Story a timeless classic?
In this short video tutorial, I share three lessons to help you create stories that resonate – to infinity and beyond.
[ download the video ] [ download the transcript ]
Lesson 1: The Premise Is Universal
Almost every child wonders, at some point, if their toys come to life when they leave the room.
When developing new story ideas, be careful not to overlook familiar subjects and situations.
Lesson 2: The Humor Is Universal
The humor is grounded in truth.
…but not the truth of our ephemeral pop culture.
The humor in Toy Story is grounded in the timeless truths that each character represents:
- Woody’s Temper
- Buzz Lightyear’s Hubris
- Rex’s Insecurity
- …and so on.
You can avoid shallow jokes when you infuse your story with humor that is vulnerable, personal and even embarrassingly honest.
Lesson 3: Woody’s Fear Is Universal
Woody helps us deal with our own darkest fears.
His primal motivation is the fear of being forgotten and replaced.
…a spiritual death of sorts.
When his relationship with Buzz evolves from resentment to mutual respect, we learn that true friendship is worth the struggle because it makes us a more present, vital and invested individual.
Whether you’re writing a gritty indie comic or family-friendly animation, confront your own darkest fears.
Use the story teach yourself a lesson and you’ll be more likely to inspire lasting, meaningful connections with and among your audience.
To learn more, join my Storytelling Course at ChrisOatley.com/Timeless/
Comment & Share!
To which Toy Story character do you most closely relate?
Share your response in the comments below and I’ll be sure to do the same!
Hi Chris,
I’ve been following your school for several years now and became a member of the magic box a while back.
This latest post struck a chord with me as I’ve just finished my first children’s book, which I’ll be releasing in November.
It’s an illustrated novel called “Spacekid iLK: Invasion 101,” and it’s about and 11-yr old alien kid who is put in charge of Earth. I talk about the themes in this video https://youtu.be/v9Ibkr8wB_k.
I’d love to hear what you think!
Thanks for all you’re work over the past few years, I’ve loved feeling like a part of the Oatley Academy community!
Cheers,
Andrew
Heya Andrew!
Great project! I think the story sounds very interesting and your illustrations are a lot of fun. It does seem that your theme is pretty universal from your description.
Best of luck with your launch!
Yeah, that sounds like a cool idea, Andrew. Congrats on the launch of your new book! That’s a major milestone. Thank you for your ongoing support of OA and I’m glad the new tutorial helped!
Thanks guys 😀 Your reply has put a big smile on my face.
Looking forward to the next podcast!
Cheers!
This was Helpful Chris, Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Dexter! I’m glad to hear that it helped!
Such an awesome post! Makes me want to finish my current book and start on the next story!!!
I love how in a simple way you taught us SOOO much about story. Reminds me of Brian McDonald’s teaching style. 😉
Awesome! Thanks, Scott. It was really hard to find that balance between brevity and usefulness. Brian is the king of efficient communication. I appreciate the kind words.
This was wonderful! My favorite part was the creating timeless humor. I think shallow jokes are over-used although I do understand the difficulty in being original with material that the audience is still able to relate too.
Thanks, Jaison. So glad you liked the video.
Storytellers often don’t realize that adding shallow jokes is not going to fix their problem. When a Storyteller feels that temptation – to just go for the shallow jokes – it’s probably not because the script needs more humor.
It’s probably because their characters are not well developed, or if they are, the development is not apparent within the Story that is being told.
Comedy is a natural phenomenon. Humor flows naturally when you have believable characters.
“Comedy is a natural phenomenon.” – LOVE IT.
I love your advice on humor. So much humor in animation makes me groan because it just isn’t funny to adults. Pixar is pretty great with using universal humor. Avatar: The Last Airbender also did it really well. If you get enough really interesting, really different characters together, humor emerges naturally. No tiresome gags or potty jokes necessary.
Slinky Dog was my favorite Toy Story character as a kid. I think I may be the most like Rex, though, haha. I also related a lot to Andy in the third movie.
Which character do you relate most to, Chris?
Well said, Tanya. I agree entirely. Something I’ve been saying a lot lately is “Comedy is a natural phenomenon.”
I’m so glad you liked the video. I think Buzz is probably my favorite character but I’m most like Woody haha. I’ll share more about that in an upcoming comment.
Chris,
I love the quick hit format. So helpful to have these key story anchors summarized like this. Having them carefully settled in place before you start building character interactions probably helps make sure your characters are clarifying your story message rather than confusing it.
I wonder if establishing your story around those themes could be the writing equivalent to creating character silhouettes in character design? Buil the subconscious feel or role of the character first? It seems like having your character’s fear or struggle in mind would help to exaggerate or highlight the character’s vulnerability to serve the story?
Thanks again for the practical story crafting tips. I have bookmarked it for a regular read just to further drill it into my brain 🙂
That’s an amazing concept, John! I look forward to discussing this with you further. So glad you like the video! If you have any topic requests or questions, please let me know!
Really well put Chris. I love the new format too. Looking forward to more.
Thanks, Ramya! Lots more to come!