Regardless of your job title, what you do or who you work for ~ at some level every one of us has the same challenge; How do we tell our stories? Or more importantly, how do we tell our stories and capture our audiences attention (and imagination), when they are swiping across their mobile screen? Add into the mix the fact that many people’s average attention spans are less than 10 seconds and you have a challenge on your hands…

If there is one thing that advertising and social media has always been good at it’s story telling. “Up” is one of my favourite films with a great storyline, so when I learnt today about the formula that Pixar use for constructing their stories, it made complete sense and went some way towards explaining the repeated successes of their films.

According to Emma Coats, a former artist at Pixar Animation Studios, every Pixar film has the same narrative DNA:

Once upon a time____________. Every day____________. One day____________. Because of that, ____________. Because of that,_____________. Until finally___________.

Finding Nemo earned over $900m at the box office. The storyline goes something like this…

Once upon a time there was a widowed fish named Marlin who was extremely protective of his only son, Nemo. Every day, Marlin warned Nemo of the ocean’s dangers and implored him not to swim far away. One day in an act of defiance, Nemo ignores his father’s warnings and swims into open water. Because of that, he is captured by a diver and ends up as a pet in the fish tank of a dentist. Because of that, Marlin sets off on a journey to recover Nemo….Until finally Marlin and Nemo find each other, reunite, and learn that love depends on trust.

It’s a cute story and a fascinating insight into Pixar’s creative process. Despite it appearing formulaic, it suggests to me that there is nothing wrong with using templates for storytelling, especially when you find a formula that works for you (or your brand).