Hi Friend,
Welcome to the new edition of The Storytelling Wizard!
How does Pixar choose the perfect protagonist for all their fiction stories?
Plot is character, and character is plot.
They both are interdependent.
It means an obstacle would be meaningless if a character can resolve it without any struggle. When a character struggles to overcome an obstacle, there's character growth and incremental change through every scene.
And every story is about change. Either change of character or changing the world they live in.
Let's take Ratatouille as an example.
Theme - "Anybody can cook."
A beginner writer would actually choose the underdog sous chef as the protagonist, who is under a lot of pressure from his family to become a great chef.
But what does Pixar do?
They make him a sidekick character.
They test the limits of their theme, "Anybody can cook", and pick a character who's considered to be synonymous with 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 in any kitchen -
A "rat".
What can we learn from this?
• Choose a protagonist who's the most unlikely candidate for the job.
• The protagonist's identity itself is the biggest obstacle for him/ her to resolve the plot challenges.
• The bigger the gap between the protagonist and what his/ her desire is, the more organic (relatable) your plot obstacles will appear.
Bonus learning - The story's antagonists, Chef Skinner and Anton Ego, are the epitome of borderline OCD, and it's a part of their identity to hate rats.
Choosing the correct protagonist for your story opens multiple doors for you to kickstart your fiction writing journey.
It's a small learning but such small decisions make a huge impact in your writing journey when you make them before you start writing the screenplay.
Happy Writing!
Until next time,
Ciao!
