Brad Bird (left) and story artist Mark Andrews worked together on such no-name projects as The Iron Giant and The Incredibles.

Summary of Philosophy
When writing and editing, it's helpful to keep in mind what Stanton refers to as "story physics." The awareness of cause and effect -- how the juxtaposition of elements elicits certain feelings, perceptions or reactions -- is the key to telling a story well. To emphasize, again, it's not just the story itself that matters, but how one tells it. When you say or present things in a particular way, what kind of response is engendered?

Test your story premise and presentation to its limits. See if it's working to convey the emotion and meaning you intend, without having to say so outright, and without letting the strings show. Tell your story obliquely, with subtle injection of details and ideas. Stories are more powerful when they are entwined with life as it is, and they work best when audiences are allowed to realize things for themselves. Audiences have an unconscious desire to participate in the storytelling and to work for their entertainment. As everyone knows, 2 + 2 = 22. Well, it may equal four, but you don't have to add it up for them.

Here is some broad advice from Stanton:

• Empathize with your main character, even if you don't like all of his/her motivations or qualities. (For example, Woody in Toy Story initially masked his selfish desires as being selfless.)

• Unity of opposites. Each character must have clear goals that oppose each other.

• You should have something to say. Not a message, per se, but some perspective, some experiential truth.

• Have a key image, almost like a visual logline, to encapsulate the essence of the story; that represents the emotional core on which everything hangs. (For example, Marlin in Finding Nemo, looking over the last remaining fish egg in the nest.)

• Cast actors with an appealing voice, and whom the microphone loves. Test their voice performance with animation to see if it fits.

• Know your world and the rules of it. (Such as in Monsters, Inc.)

• The crux of the story should be on inner, not outer, conflicts.

• Developing the story is like an archeological dig. Pick a site where you think the story is buried, and keep digging to find it.

• Animation should be interpretive, not realistic.

• "Just say no" to flashbacks. Only tell what's vital, and tell it linearly.

• Consider music as a character to anchor the film. Music is a keeper of the emotional truth.

The Incredibles (2004). Pixar excels at finding the extraordinary in the ordinary; and the everyday in the fantastic. © Disney · Pixar Animation Studios.

Take Home Message
People talk about the magic of animation -- the miracle of drawings brought to life. When you get the right people in the room together, with good creative instincts and the confidence to solve problems, that's when the magic happens.

Why is Pixar the only Pixar? It starts from the top down. Pixar is a high-tech version of an old-fashioned movie studio, and quality is their business plan. As the studio's president/computer scientist Ed Catmull says, firstly, "Hire people smarter than yourself." The folks at Pixar are there for the long haul. They have the peace of mind to make their career in one place, instead of not knowing where their next job will be. They can invest themselves in a culture of creativity that encourages each other to be better and stronger in their craft. Collaboration is one on one, without levels of management to complicate the flow of ideas. Rather than spinning their wheels, they are constantly tearing down ideas -- nothing becomes precious. All in all, Pixar is a group of rare, talented people who love what they do, and who are devoted to the success of their films.

Arndt, who is helping to pen Toy Story 3, alludes to the nature of success in his original screenplay, Little Miss Sunshine. We may live in a flawed world, but if we are willing to overturn its moral order, success can be measured more accurately in our own hearts -- not in terms of winning, but in having fun along the way. Life, and cinema, is surprising and meaningful by the sheer dynamic of our emotional connections. The only failure is in never trying, and success comes to those who simply refuse, or are too naïve, to give up.

And so there you have it. The secret is that there is no secret. Respect and trust keep the engine of Pixar humming along. Talent and skill carry them the rest of the way. As Geri, the restoration cleaner, admonishes in Toy Story 2, "You can't rush art."

This article is respectfully dedicated to the memory of Joe Ranft, one of the storytelling pioneers of Pixar.

Greg Singer is an animation welfare advocate, eating in Los Angeles.