Back when I was talking about “The Quest” or “The Hero’s Journey”, I mentioned two twists in the tale. When the hero is called, there will be an initial problem to be overcome. And then at the end, there might be a false ending, like Beowulf giving his all to finally defeat Grendel – but then having to face Grendel’s vengeful mum!
Sometimes, we are so focussed on the story that we write it too simplistically. The main character getting into a situation and out of t again tells the story, and might be beautifully written, but, as a society, we are – unconsciously – used to more twists and turns. There might be more than one reason why he or she gets into that situation, or out of it. “Accidental” characters might have other reasons for being there. More might depend n the outcome than we first expect.
Believe it or not, I as reminded of this while watching Toy Story with Oran!
The main part of the story is about Woody being the favourite toy – until Buzz comes along! Jealous, he sets Buzz up for a fall. And things go awfully wrong. Buzz ends up in the clutches of Sid, who is simply an evil version of Andy (Woody and Buzz’s owner).
Woody then has to rescue Buzz, earn his trust, win back the respect of Andy’s other toys, and, along the way, set free the toys Sid has been experimenting on.
He does all this. The wrong is righted, the story told.
But a sub-plot has the family packing up to move house. Not only does Woody have to do all that, he has to do it in time to get into the car for the big move.
Which he does!
And it could be that they just do that.
But the film is far from finished.
Between escaping from Sid’s garden and getting into the car, the Toy Story writers go to town. The next several minutes add little to the story, but ramp up the excitement for the viewers.
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· Woody runs through a gap in Sid’s garden fence BUT Buzz gets stuck.
· Woody makes it to the car BUT turns back to help Buzz
· The car leaves
· The truck almost runs over them
· They run after the truck and Buzz gets on board BUT a dog chases after them and catches Woody
· Buzz saves Woody BUT he gets left behind again
· On the truck, Woody unpacks a remote-control car and uses it to rescue Buzz BUT the other toys turn against Woody
· The dog chases Buzz, on the remote-control car, through a busy intersection
· The toys throw Woody out the van
· Buzz runs into Woody. The two of them are on the car now
· The toys realise Woody’s a good guy and they lower the van’s ramp BUT the ramp unfolds and almost squashes Woody and Buzz
· The slinky dog reaches out to them BUT the remote-control car runs out of battery and the slinky dog is stretched almost to breaking point
· A child sees them and waves to them
· Slinky Dog lets go and the remote-control car rolls to a halt
· The van heads off without them
· Buzz remembers he is taped to a rocket
· Woody remembers he has a match
· Woody strikes the match and is about to light the fuse BUT the draught from a passing car blows it out
· A dejected Buzz lowers his head BUT Woody realises the light focusing through Buzz’s helmet Perspex could light the fuse
· They zoom through the traffic, holding onto the remote-control car
· They take off, drop the car into the van BUT they miss the van themselves and head into the sky
· Buzz uses his wings to cut the tape holding him to the rocket, just before it explodes BUT now they are falling – with style
(By now, they have saved each other multiple times. Buzz has flown, which Woody said he couldn’t do and Woody uses Buzz’s catch-phrase “To infinity and beyond”. The two have become one.)
· The miss the truck BUT Buzz wasn’t aiming for the truck
· They land in the car and Andy thinks they were there all along!
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It’s a fine line. You can overload a story with too many twists and turns. Or underload it. Sometimes, one other dimension is all that’s need to give a story depth. But, in a children’s adventure, more is better.
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