Mundo Pixar CDMX historic archival footage and never before seen animation, this fascinating documentary shows how the founders of Pixar—Ed Catmull, John Lasseter, and Steve Jobs—overcame adversity, rejection and financial loss to revolutionize filmmaking. It also reveals the secret behind Pixar’s success and the simple storytelling principles that have made their movies so successful.

Behind the Scenes: How Pixar Crafts Heartwarming Stories

While many screenwriters are familiar with the traditional three act structure, Pixar has pioneered a novel approach to story development that works particularly well for their animated films. Instead of working towards a climactic ending, they start with the end and work backwards. This technique can help breathe new life into the writing process and provide a satisfying structure to your film.

Pixar Rule No. 16: Give Us a Reason to Root for Your Characters. What Happens if They Don’t Succeed?

The biggest key to any great story is making the audience connect with your characters. This is done by giving them an understandable motive and then putting them into a situation where that motive can be tested. In the case of Pixar films, this typically means a character being forced into a situation that they aren’t equipped to handle.

This is what creates the conflict and tension that keeps audiences on edge throughout your movie. It also helps to add a sense of realism that makes your characters feel more relatable. For example, in Finding Nemo, the main character is trying to save her daughter from being turned into a fish and this is a very real fear that parents have for their children.