Setting them up as a strong couple lets us know that when one of them disappears the other will struggle. And Pixar sets it up in the first few minutes.Ĭheck out this full breakdown of Coral from Wotson!Īs you can see, the genius here is showing Marlin being overprotective and a little bonkers right from the get-go. The hole Coral leaves is the direct reason the entire movie happens. And Nemo loses out on having a stable parent to vent to when things get bad. Coral is killed and so are all their kids except Nemo. In the minutes we have with her, we can see how they both find a great balance. He was worried about getting them a house, about protecting the family, and she was just worried about him. He's a little high strung and she balances him out. And the reason he's so overprotective is because of Coral.Ĭoral and Marlin are yin and yang. You need a reason why characters act the way they do.įinding Nemo hinges on Marlin being an overprotective Dad.

Those rules truly can help you outline a story but when you're in the thick of things, the only thing you need to remember is dramatic reasoning. They're how Pixar creates such wonderful stories. I'm sure you've heard of Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling.

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