Screenwriting Lessons [Part 2]: Michael Arndt
A series featuring insights from the Toy Story 3 screenwriter.
![Screenwriting Lessons [Part 2]: Michael Arndt](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*B70l9wvx3jvXd2aWrjxrAQ.jpeg)
A series featuring insights from the Toy Story 3 screenwriter.
Over the years, I have featured screenwriter Michael Arndt numerous times. Two reasons. First, he is a terrific writer whose movie credits include Little Miss Sunshine (2006), Toy Story 3 (2010), and Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens. Second, evidently he has spent a good deal of time reflecting about the craft of screenwriting witness his 2009 appearance at the late, great Cody’s Bookstore in Berkeley, California:
Back in 2012, I ran a 5-part series of screenwriting lessons based on what Michael Arndt says and writes. Seeing as I’m deep into teaching a Pixar: Craft of Screenwriting class, I thought it would be worthwhile to revisit that series. Here is Part 2 which focuses on Toy Story 3:
Here is an excerpt from my exclusive interview with Mary Coleman, head of the story department at Pixar:
SM: Weren’t you the one responsible for bringing in screenwriter Michael Arndt to write Toy Story 3?
MC: I was. We found him before Little Miss Sunshine was released. We hired him based on the strength of his script, not based on the success of the movie or the buzz around him.
This fact is echoed in another post I did exploring the magic of Pixar:
In a strange twist of fate, Michael Arndt found himself in a position enviable to any writer. The New York-based screenwriter was in Los Angeles for the production of his first screenplay, the indie dramedy Little Miss Sunshine. Unsure of his next career move, Arndt received a call from his agent with the surprising news that Pixar principals wanted to meet him. “It was like being summoned to Mount Olympus,” he says.
It turns out that Pixar’s story department head, Mary Coleman, asked Sunshine producer Ron Yerxa if he knew any great up-and-coming writers. Yerxa gave Coleman Arndt’s script and she was blown away. The amazing thing about this story is that despite the fact that Little Miss Sunshine would eventually go on to become a big indie hit — and win Arndt an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay — at the time Arndt was interviewing with Pixar, Sunshine didn’t even have a distributor.
Okay, so here’s one takeaway: The value of crafting a great script. It serves as a writing sample to — potentially — everyone in the business. But how to write a great script? In part it requires a deep understanding of character and narrative. Check out Arndt’s take on the Toy Story franchise:
Eleven films in, Pixar is very careful to not repeat itself and that adage certainly held true for the third installment of its landmark franchise. But if one is being held to the fact that these characters are only toys, their problems would seem to be limited. Arndt recognized this obstacle immediately, particularly when it came to Woody, the central character of all three films. Arndt explains Woody’s personal development by comparing his emotional progress in the films with that of a child. “In Toy Story, Woody is learning to share the spotlight with Buzz,” he explains. “He’s like a child who gets a new sibling and has to realize he doesn’t always have to be the favorite. That tracks emotionally with someone who is 5 or 6 years old.
“In Toy Story 2,” Arndt continues, “Woody has to deal with and accept his mortality. That tracks with a child who is 8 to 10 years old.” With the plot devised for Toy Story 3, Woody needed to progress to a more mature sentiment — that of a teenager — in order for the film to have the correct impact. “Woody learns about the impermanence of things and the necessity for letting go and moving on,” Arndt says. “So there’s an arc to his development across the trilogy. Even though there are common elements in all three films, I do think we’re telling a different story in each of them, as well as one big over-arching story that spans the trilogy.”
Takeaway: Arndt sees the Toy Story movies through the lens of character, specifically the Protagonist Woody and his metamorphosis, not only his arcs per each of the movies, but also his overall trajectory.
“People say that writing is re-writing,” he [Arndt] continues, “but that leaves out a crucial part of the equation: the feedback you get prior to your re-write. Pixar stories work because of the robustness of the story feedback system.” Arndt points to statements made by several key Pixar staffers who admit that, at some point in the process, every single film Pixar made was once the worst thing one might ever see. “It’s only by making the movie as a ‘reel’ seven or eight times, and failing repeatedly, and by applying the smartest and most ruthless criticism you can to the story over and over again, that the stories are able to take shape and come out feeling coherent and complete,” he says.
Arndt’s observations on his time at Pixar only confirm what many film pundits and fans have long suspected: Pixar’s films are such rousing successes because of the attention each individual at the studio dedicates to the screenplays. “Andrew Stanton’s rule of thumb is that it takes 10 man-years of labor to make a good screenplay,” Arndt explains. “Either two writers working five years or 10 guys working one year. For Toy Story 3, it was even more than that — probably the equivalent of 10 people working two or three years.”
“To me, this is what separates Pixar from almost everyone else,” Arndt concludes. “They realize how hard it is to come up with a great screenplay.”
Takeaway: Embracing the simple fact that coming up with a “great screenplay” is hard work. There are no secret formulas. No golden paradigms. No shortcuts. You have to learn the craft, then execute it well with every story you write.
For Part 1 of the series on Michael Arndt, go here.
Tomorrow: Another screenwriting lesson from Michael Arndt.