Deepstash

Disney Storytelling Secrets

Bring People Into Your World
Walt Disney took suspension of reality a step further building theme parks that brought people into his world. You can bring people into your world through storytelling and brand activation. Brand activation is when you combine storytelling with unique experiences to increase awareness and engagement with your company.
4 Lessons in Storytelling From Walt Disney - Museum Hack
Suspend Reality
Suspending reality is a powerful storytelling technique as it creates a safe, magical world in which to contend with powerful emotions and themes, and it allows the viewer or listener to be transported and associate that escape from reality with the story. Anything is possible and that becomes inspiration.
4 Lessons in Storytelling From Walt Disney - Museum Hack
Focus on Shared Desires
Disney stories have a near universal appeal because they are designed around struggles and desires that are common to humans everywhere. You can apply this message to storytelling in your company, too. When you’re communicating with your customers, you should focus on the shared experiences and desires that make your product so valuable.
4 Lessons in Storytelling From Walt Disney - Museum Hack
Stories Are a Powerful Investment Tool
In a corporate context, storytelling can invest your employees in your next undertaking, or your clients in the value of your product. People were skeptical of the feasibility of a movie in the unprecedented scale of Snow White. Walt Disney convinced investors and animators by inviting them to a play where he acted out the entire story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. He convinced people of the movie’s value, even though it seemed like a wild and crazy proposition.
4 Lessons in Storytelling From Walt Disney - Museum Hack
Storytelling
Is the activity of writing or telling stories and can empower one to convey a message in the strongest possible way. It’s a cultural and social activity that stimulates the imagination and builds a sense of wonder and community between teller and listener(s).
4 Lessons in Storytelling From Walt Disney - Museum Hack
Better Your Storytelling With Emotion And Reaction
Though a cartoon is two-dimensional, to make an emotional connection with the audience characters need action and re-action. Walt Disney had his artists focus on learning that. Too often presenters are so caught up in what they are going to say they never take time to add the “element” of great delivery which is expressing the emotion and reaction of our characters.
Stage Time: "Two Storytelling Secrets from Walt Disney" | Darren LaCroix
Keep The Audience’s Perception In Mind
Walt Disney realized that to tell the best stories he had to invest in teaching his artists how to be the best if he wanted his movies to be the best. They then invested more and created their own schools. We need to be less concerned about how we look at our stories and instead focus on the images we draw in the minds of our audience . We use words to do that and they need just enough detail to let the minds of the audience to paint an image but not so much that we confuse the image in their mind.
Stage Time: "Two Storytelling Secrets from Walt Disney" | Darren LaCroix
“The past can hurt. But from the way I see it, you can either run from it, or… learn from it.”
The secret to Disney's storytelling formula
Brace Yourself For The Sequel
Every good story deserves a sequel. Keep swimming! What this means for you: You’ve learned from your failures, now learn from your successes — and build off them. Get ready for the next adventure and watch the cycle repeat itself.
The secret to Disney's storytelling formula
Celebrate
After conquering their challenges characters are “reborn” with greater knowledge and power than before. They teamed up with friends to save others, and in the process saved themselves. What this means for you: Take stock of what you accomplished. Enjoy it.
The secret to Disney's storytelling formula
Save The Day With Friends
After all the lessons learned in the journey, characters can finally face their challenges. But sometimes even all the preparations aren’t enough and someone they help earlier in their journey unexpectedly comes to save the day. What it means for you: Never pass up an opportunity to help someone else. You never know when they will return the favor.
The secret to Disney's storytelling formula
Question Long-Held Assumptions
The beginning of the movie a character has assumptions about himself and his world but to face his challenge he has to question them and change his ways. What this means for you: Don't expect different results, if you don't change a thing.
The secret to Disney's storytelling formula
Prepare For Your Comeback
If a character has been out of the fight for a while, they have to retrain. What this means for you: Determine what weaknesses you have to work on and fix it.
The secret to Disney's storytelling formula
Recruit A Partner To Fly High
Characters often try to go it alone in the beginning but later they realize they need help. What this means for you: Everyone has a weakness. To succeed, you may have to find someone who is very different from you but can complement your strengths.
The secret to Disney's storytelling formula
Learn From Failure
Even when a character retreats there comes a point where they have to face their problem. What this means for you: Inspect why you failed and write down the cause. Then remove that obstacle.
The secret to Disney's storytelling formula
Know When To Let It Go
Characters suffer setbacks but they don't always rush back into battle. Sometimes retreating, regrouping and reevaluating what they are capable of the is best route. What this means for you: Failure is inevitable. Use the opportunity to reflect.
The secret to Disney's storytelling formula
Expect The Unexpected
Just when the character thinks they were on the path to victory, they realize something has gone completely array. What this means for you: It’s always going to be harder than you think. Don’t get discouraged by setbacks — try to view them as long-term opportunities.
The secret to Disney's storytelling formula
Choose Wisely. Wishes are limited
Once a character accepts the challenge, there might be a temptation to do too much or divert their attention to something else. That ends up causing complications. What this means for you: Remember why you set off on this journey in the first place and don’t get sidetracked.
The secret to Disney's storytelling formula
Get Over Your Reluctance
A character’s adventure has the promise of reward at the end, but also of danger. There is the fear of the unknown and the hero often tries to shy away from facing the challenge. What this means for you: if you don’t face your fears and tackle your challenges you can’t better your life.
The secret to Disney's storytelling formula
Define The Problem
Soon after we are introduced to the world of the story, we realize that there is trouble in paradise. At first, you might not be able to pinpoint the problem, you just have a general sense that something is off. What this means for you: There can be no adventure if you don’t have something to overcome. Define and write down what problem you are trying to solve.
The secret to Disney's storytelling formula
Reevaluate The World
The first thing any Disney movie does is introduce you to the “rules” of their world . However fantastical the world, once you see how it works, you accept it as the natural order of things. What this means for you: You learn to accept the status quo when you live in your world day in and day out. So pretend you are seeing your environment as the opening credits of a film. View it with fresh eyes and identify the rules, dangers and opportunities in it.
The secret to Disney's storytelling formula
The hero’s journey
Movies succeed using roughly the same narrative arc over and over again because we can all relate. If you look at Disney and Pixar movies, they are variations on this same timeless theme, sometimes called the hero’s journey. You have a hero, a conflict, failed attempts to solve the problem, back-up plans, a breakthrough, a solution that works and finally a conclusion . By the end, we are back where we started, but transformed with new powers and knowledge.
The secret to Disney's storytelling formula
“When you share a personal, professional moment where you’ve changed in a positive way, you inspire people. That's the best way to get people to change.”
Pixar Animator Shares Secrets to Telling a Compelling (Company) Story
Closing A Hiring Pitch
Bring the hiring pitch home with personal stories that show how people authentically live out your company’s mission. Pixar’s films often start from a real, personal story. Your company’s big-picture mission might be inspiring, but it’s not necessarily personal. You can make it more personal by peppering your pitches with personal anecdotes about ways that you’ve changed.
Pixar Animator Shares Secrets to Telling a Compelling (Company) Story
Feeding Interest With The Promise Of Change
After you’ve hooked your audience/candidate, you need to catch their attention and get the story moving by animating it with change and transformation. In Pixar’s movies, that change isn’t just about reversals of fortune—they’re about personal transformation. Great stories promise to change the life of the protagonist who we imagine ourselves to be, if not our own. In light of that, recruiters should focus on how candidates’ lives will change —not just their day-to-day tasks, but also how the new role will change the way they feel.
Pixar Animator Shares Secrets to Telling a Compelling (Company) Story
Start Your Story With A Strong And Brief Hook
Most Pixar movies begin with a compelling premise—a hook—that sets up the whole narrative. Hooks are often phrased as a “what if?” question and they grab our attention because they’re unusual, unexpected, action-filled, or driven by conflict. Recruiters should equip themselves with one-sentence pitches that wrap up the company and role they’re trying to sell. Focus on transformation to tell a compelling story—make it clear how the candidate’s life will change
Pixar Animator Shares Secrets to Telling a Compelling (Company) Story
Data Versus Emotion As Convincing Tools
Companies tell stories because they stir up feelings, and that’s what makes these brands memorable. Similarly, recruiters shouldn’t sell jobs as a dry collection of responsibilities and perks—you should strive to bring the role alive through stories that evoke strong feelings. Pixar movies never flatly tell you the theme of the story—they make you experience them . Facts, figures, missions and visions by themselves aren’t nearly as memorable, impactful, or personal as a story can be.
Pixar Animator Shares Secrets to Telling a Compelling (Company) Story
Storytelling As A Tool
Tell stories to candidates because they stick, stir emotions, and drive decisions—that’s why they can be a companies’ most effective recruiting tool. Research indicates that stories can be far more effective at selling a job than impressive facts and figures. With only 5% of the latter being remembered after just 10 minutes, against the 65% of stories.
Pixar Animator Shares Secrets to Telling a Compelling (Company) Story
"Don’t ever say your mission statement to someone. Tell them all the great things about your company—the ups and downs, the things you’ve learned—and let them feel the mission statement.”
Pixar Animator Shares Secrets to Telling a Compelling (Company) Story
Rules of storytelling, according to Pixar
Emphasize trying more than success. Having an initial theme while writing is important but don’t get too attached to it. Cutting things out is important part of the writing process. Challenge your characters with their polar opposite. Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone. Audiences don’t like passive/malleable characters, so give yours opinions. Imagining what you would do in the place of your character helps you lend credibility to unbelievable situations. Give the consumers reason to root for the character . Stack the odds against them and make the stakes clear. Story is testing, not refining. Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating. Trying to rewrite a movie you dislike into one you like without messing too much with the structure is a good exercise. Summarize the essence of your story . If you know that, you can build out from there.
The 22 rules of storytelling, according to Pixar
“What you’re trying to do, when you tell a story, is to write about an event in your life that made you feel some particular way. And what you’re trying to do, when you tell a story, is to get the audience to have that same feeling.”
6 Rules of Great Storytelling (As Told by Pixar)
Pixar’s Plotting Techniques For Structure And Purpose
The Story Spine structure: Once upon a time there was [blank]. Every day, [blank]. One day [blank]. Because of that, [blank]. Until finally [bank]. A story’s purpose : find why you want to tell this story, what belief of yours fueled that story, what does it teach and its purpose. Stories with a purpose that you are passionate about have a bigger impact.
6 Rules of Great Storytelling (As Told by Pixar)
“Storytelling is the greatest technology that humans have ever created.”
6 Rules of Great Storytelling (As Told by Pixar)
6 Rules for Great Storytelling
Great stories convey things common to the human condition in unique situations . They are universal. Great stories have a clear structure and purpose. People find it easy to root for an underdog and they don’t even need to succeed. They value the character’s journey over their destination. Great stories appeal to our deepest emotions. Having the readers perceptions of reality challenged or changed in some way makes for great storytelling. Great stories are simple and focused. Resist the urge to show all the world building you made to allow your audience to get lost in the narrative. You can test your story by reading it to a new person and watching their reactions and questions.
6 Rules of Great Storytelling (As Told by Pixar)