In any story, no matter the genre or audience, world-building is important. Storytellers want to avoid the dreaded "info dump," a term that describes stories that tell a huge chunk of information in one sitting, usually in a manner that a) tells instead of shows and b) is not interesting to read or watch. World-building is especially important in fantasy, science fiction, dystopian, futuristic, etc. stories because the writer is introducing new concepts to the audience; world-building is also important when the audience includes children because their cognition is less developed, and concepts must be introduced in a manner that appeals to them.
Disney movies, which feature talking animals, monsters, and magical powers, fulfill both criteria. No one wants to watch an animated movie that spends more time talking at you than showing you the world, and children especially will not want to sit through a movie that wastes an interesting setting on bland writing.
That being said, they also don't want to sit through a movie that clearly has a different world with different rules if they don't understand said worlds or rules.
The principles of world-building and storytelling aren't new, but Disney's wide audience and unique tales call for creative and complex methods. Nearly every Disney movie finds a way to world-build in an interesting way, whether its through music, montages, flashbacks, and more, but I find a few to be particularly effective and innovative.
Monsters Inc.
Monsters Inc. takes a familiar concept (kids scared about the monsters in their room) and flips it on its head by telling the story from the monsters' perspectives. As the audience, we need to know the basics of this "monster world," along with the direction of potential conflicts. How did the writers of Monsters Inc. do this?
With a training scene and a one-minute long commercial.
This clip, which occurs five minutes into the movie, features Mike and Sully training and watching a commercial for Monsters Inc. It builds upon the opening scene (new employees failing a test to work at Monsters Inc), introduces new information, and sets up the world and rules.
We already start to see an inkling of world-building with Mike and Sully's training, with comments such as "Don't let the kid touch you!" and Mike's jingle "And I don't know but it's been said, I love scaring kids in bed!" These comments are meant to prime the audience, giving them an indication of what kind of story and world this is.
When we see the commercial, then, we already have a vague idea of the world: monsters scaring children. The commercial provides the specifics of this world. In less than two minutes, we learn:
* Monsters Inc. is a company that scares children
*Scaring children provides energy
*Sully works at Monsters Inc.
*Sully is good at his job.
The information is especially effective because written storytelling works with visual storytelling. In the 1:20-1:35 timestamp, the animation shows a scream filling a canister, and we physically see the scream energy moving through the channels to power electricity.
Of course, the world-building doesn't stop with a small commercial. We continue to learn more about the world throughout the movie, but the primary goal of this creative world-building technique is to introduce us to the world and the rules.
Frozen
In the opening of Frozen, we see Elsa and Anna playing in the snow using Elsa's ice powers, and the writers introduce us to the central conflict when Elsa accidentally strikes Anna. However, the majority of the story takes place years after the opening scene, and we need to know how the characters and world have changed since then.
Music is one of the most effective storytelling techniques to cover a passage of time or series of changes. By placing a catchy tune to the story, the audience is less likely to get bored or confused with the information being presented. Disney uses this technique all the time, like with Hercules' training montage under "One Last Hope," or Mulan's transformation from an ineffective and unlikable trainee to a strong and popular solider in "I'll Make a Man Out of You."
Frozen uses "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" to cover over a decade of changes, including Elsa's rising anxiety, Anna's cluelessness over her sister's powers, a deteriorating relationship between sisters, and, saddest of all, the death of Elsa and Anna's parents. While the initial world is established before the song, the finer details are seamlessly presented in the song.
"Do You Want to Build a Snowman" shows the sisters at three different ages. We see Elsa's ability to control her powers and express her emotions worsen, which sets up the context of the world and the main conflict.
Wreck-It Ralph
Wreck-It Ralph is a unique example because, at first glance, it might seem like we are being info-dumped. The movie begins with Ralph's voiceover talking about himself, with a few tidbits about the world thrown in there. His monologue occurs at the very beginning all in one sitting; however, if you take a look at the scene below, you'll notice that Ralph isn't just sitting there telling us; the storytellers are showing us everything he says at the same time.
Visualizing the setting and emotions that Ralph monologues about piques our interest, and the animators were especially smart with their visuals of the arcade.
Having a character monologue as a way to world-build is tricky; the writers risk losing their audience by telling us information right off the bat. Wreck-It Ralph succeeds because of the way the monologue is told.
Ralph's tone is casual, using words or phrases like "um" or "uh" that make the information feel more personable and interesting to hear. We also receive most of the information through visuals. As Ralph is telling us the story, we are seeing visual examples of it unfolding.
Speaking of visuals, we begin the movie by "going into" the arcade game, and the "Fix-It Felix" game is framed by the arcade, establishing the setting and informing us the world takes place within the specific arcade games. The animation of the "Fix-It Felix" game coincides with what the audience knows of older, retro arcade games, and the recognizable arcade game music furthers this notion. Toward the end of his monologue, Ralph says, "Thirty years I've been doing this," providing context to his story, and the following time-lapse shows kids walking in and out of the arcade, once again validating the setting; including the familiar "Pac-Man" and "Dance Dance Revolution" in the background lets the audience apply our previous knowledge to the new knowledge. Finally, we get an inkling of what the conflict will be: Ralph, the villain, wants to be a hero.
Animation and music provide creative opportunities for stories to ease us into the world and the conflict, and Disney knows how to use their talent to devise interesting vehicles of storytelling.
Do you know of any other Disney movies that are effective and creative with their world-building? Can you think of any examples that are less effective? Drop a comment below or send me a message!
Until later, have courage and be kind.
Comments