Story Structure Breakdown: The Magician’s Elephant (2023)

Today we’ll look at the Netflix original The Magician’s Elephant, based on the book by Kate DiCamillo (The Tale of Despereaux) and featuring the directorial debut of Wendy Rodgers, who up until this point had worked primarily in visual effects since the early 1990's.

It is a fantastic first effort.

This is a wonderful film that succeeds in mixing the charms of animation with the sometimes harsh realities of the real world, a combination that provides fertile ground for establishing character need and theme. We are introduced to a protagonist who has suffered a great loss, that of a family member. Or so he’s been told. He doesn't want to believe it — he can’t believe it — and so embarks on his quest to make the impossible become possible.

Through sheer will, powered by his need to find his long lost sister, the theme takes root, proposing a thematic argument that leaves the viewer feeling uplifted by the time the end credits roll. Not unlike another animated film that shares a similar theme: The Polar Express.

In terms of story structure, this movie hits most of the typical beats, although they are hard to spot. That’s because the narrative is primarily focused on the protagonist’s second act goal of completing three impossible tasks, which consumes significant screen time as it creates tension and captures the viewer’s imagination.

Movie (Year) — Written by Martin Hynes, based on the book by Kate DiCamillo

(Please see this publication’s pinned post for an explanation as to what this is all about, and for definitions of the below story structure milestones)

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STORY STRUCTURE

Setup — Peter is an orphan who lives with his uncle, a former soldier, in a bleak city devoid of anything happy or interesting. It wasn’t always that way, though. Once it was full of magic and wonder.

Peter misses the sister he hardly knew, the siblings having been separated during wartime just after she was born. He does not even know if she survived during this awful ordeal.

Theme Stated — Peter stares out of his apartment window, wondering if a better life is possible