Everyone wants to know what goes on behind-the-scenes at Pixar Animation Studios, and recently, we were lucky enough to spend some time in Emeryville, CA with the crew of The Good Dinosaur. At Pixar, collaboration is the name of the game, and nowhere is that clearer than in the story room. We spoke to Screenwriter Meg LaFauvre and Story Supervisor Kelsey Mann about the unique process that goes into writing a Disney•Pixar movie.
What sets Pixar apart is the Braintrust—made up of John Lasseter and seasoned Pixar filmmakers including Andrew Stanton, Brad Bird, and Pete Docter. This group helps form every movie the studio produces and is there for support during the entire production process. After the Braintrust signs off on the initial idea and rough outline, the story artists and screenwriter have at it—fleshing out the details of the plot and bringing the characters to life.
“It’s a back and forth,” LaFauvre told us. “It’s always evolving and is a much more collaborative process [than writing live-action films]. Lot’s of people throwing ideas out all the time. There’s nothing better than working with storyboard artists because they are the actors, they’re setting the camera. They can throw in amazing jokes or a gesture that become the characters. They’re the storytellers.”
LaFauvre had never written for animation before and found the process to be very different from traditional screenwriting. (She also co-wrote Inside Out and is working on Captain Marvel for Marvel Studios.) “I realized that the directors are artists. So number one, their brains work visually. They’re used to: sketch it, rip it out, sketch it, rip it out. It becomes very liberating; you have to let yourself be very vulnerable. The pages you’re handing out aren’t going to be perfect, but that’s okay … That’s why Pixar is so great. You’re supposed to be trying things even if they don’t work. What works and what doesn’t, it all helps you. If you start digging deeper, you’ll find it.”
The timeline is also much looser at Pixar, Mann explained. “We can attack part of act two and feel good about it while we’re still fleshing out act one.” Things don’t have to happen in a linear fashion, so long as they’re moving forward.
But how do the story artists know when they’ve hit on something good that they want to keep? Mann gave us a doodle that sums up his process:
“I did this drawing of myself in a screening; this is when I know I’ve gone too far. When I’m in the screening and a scene is ready for production, I sit up straight. All a producer has to do is look at a head of story and see what they’re doing [to know if a scene is ready].”
And when they’ve hit a wall things like cookies, moving location, and consulting the Braintrust are what they do to find new inspiration. Even when pressure is high. “Deadlines are the thing that you hate, but the thing that you need,” Mann explained. “Deadlines and limitations.” This seems to be a theme at Pixar, as LaFauvre agrees. “Pressure can shut you down, but generally if you have to lean in to that pressure, something will happen. That’s why collaboration happens. You start to feed off of each other.” In fact, some of the best ideas seem to come at the last minute, even with the Braintrust. “John Lasseter will go ‘what about this …’ and Andrew Stanton will go ‘and then…'” until the problem is solved. “It’s awesome,” according to Mann, “because we all linked arms. It was a really big-hearted effort.”
This is the first year that Pixar will release two films and that has the story artists every excited. “I’m so excited for this particular pairing. When I saw the final version of Inside Out, I thought, what a great film, and this is different from what we’re doing. But what’s similar is that they’re movies that are fun and emotional.” Mann called working on The Good Dinosaur a “highlight of [his] career,” and LaFauvre echoed that sentiment. “I love that this movie takes its time. You hang out with [Arlo and Spot] and really get to know them, by the end, they’re your friends.”
The Good Dinosaur opens in theaters November 25.
