Screenplay by Disney

by Jason Surrell

Disney's imaginative storytellers offer guidance and techniques to help aspiring screenwriters add Disney magic to their movie ideas. From Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to Bambi, from The Little Mermaid to The Lion King, the animated films created by The Walt Disney Company are renowned for stories that amuse, astound, and inspire the viewer. Now, for the first time, the story artists and screenwriters behind these beloved movies offer aspiring and professional screenwriters a chance to learn how to incorporate the magic of Disney into their own celluloid dreams. Thanks to its three-act structure, Screenplay by Disney demonstrates the process of creating a great screenplay from start to finish. Additionally, a stellar cast of contributors will reveal not only how Disney does what it does so well but how you can adapt the company's strategies to your own creative endeavors.

Genres: Nonfiction, Writing, Media Tie In

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2004

Reviews

[Hollyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

📚 REVIEW 📚

📖 : Screenplay by Disney
✍️: Jason Surrell
⭐️: 📚📚📚/5

Hear the word “Disney” and you may conjure up images of Disneyland, one of the most beloved theme parks in America and and around the world, Disneyworld, Disneyland’s younger but flashier sibling or one of the countless animated films monopolizing children’s screen time. But before Disney became the mega conglomerate we know and love today, it started with a man and his mouse.

Walt Disney the man, the artist and above all, a storyteller, will never cease to amaze me. In this self-help book, Screenplay by Disney, Surrell promises to teach his readers the same skills employed by some of the greatest writers and animators of our time. A dishing out of secrets, if you will. The only problem is that the real secret weapon happens to be Walt Disney himself.

That’s not to say Surrell entirely fails on his grand promises but much of the book covers merely basic writing strategies such as outlining, storyboarding and artist-writer collaboration without going into the deeper, grittier details of just how to do that. The book also spends far too much time summarizing its films to the extent that it reads more like a love letter than a practical how-to guide.

Although the Screenplay by Disney falls short as a comprehensive resource for screenwriting, the storytelling of Disney will always have a special place in my heart.

[David Gallagher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an exciting read! A solid variety of creative techniques and mindsets, a bit of Disney lore and history, and a sprinkle of tough truths for artists to confront.

Recommended for aspiring fiction writers and for Disney fans.

[John Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book is a short concise great overview of Disney's screen writing process with copious examples from their animated films . Look as good general Writing advice But is definitely not a how to book.

[Kevin Richey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up from the library on a whim. It was a fun quick read. I don't have any intention of writing screenplays, (and if I were, this is not the best book for it), but I am a big Disney fan and was curious to see if there was any sort of "Disney method." Well, the introduction flat-out says there isn't. Surrell says something like, "If you're expecting a Disney formula, it doesn't exist." BUT the book does cover a lot of insider rules and terminology, which I found really interesting, and structural rules that they tend to follow. So while there wasn't a "formula," there were plenty of guidelines (three act structure, Hero's Journey, character development). This isn't anything new to anyone in the writing community, but what made it more fun was that all the examples of types of plot techniques were from Disney movies! In all the screenplay books I've read in the past, they tend to stick to more "serious" movies, so it was really interesting to see three act structure spelled out in terms of Brother Bear or The Lion King. The background stories of how the screenplays of classic Disney films evolved was also fascinating to read about, sort of the equivalent of watching the special features on a DVD. (I had no idea that the studio had such low opinions of so many now-classic films.) The section on the pressures of adapting fairy tales was also relatable for me, but I think my favorite section was about the music in the films. The insider terms for the different types of songs they use was eye-opening: the "I Want" song, the anthem song, the love song, etc. You realize these songs are there when you watch, to some degree, but you don't really realize how they each serve such a different function while you're caught up in the flow of the film. I already hold Disney films in pretty high regard, but this book gave me a deeper appreciation of the work that went into the storytelling. It makes me want to have a marathon right now.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Obviously, "The Lion King", "The Little Mermaid", and "Beauty and the Beast" are incredible movies, while "Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs", "Bambi", and "Pinocchio" are classics, and should be held up as stories/movies we can learn so much from, and admittedly, I did appreciate a lot of the insight that was shared about those and other movies like them.

At the same time, I didn't understand why you would talk so much about movies like "Brother Bear" and "Emperor's New Groove". I always thought of those movies as disappointments and not successes, so it seems like we should be figuring out why those movies didn't work instead of complimenting them as if they were huge successes.

I enjoyed a lot of the insight, and the author was honest at times about what didn't work, but I felt like there could have a lot more objectivity about some of the movies mentioned.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a huge Disney fan (quotes from Walt throughout!), so I enjoyed learning about the story development process they used/use at the feature animation studio. However, even though there were nuggets of wisdom, inspiration, and encouragement, I would have liked a little more examples of story structure as it applies to each of the films mentioned in the book. All in all, it was a good and easy read, just less instruction than I had hoped.

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would've been much better if it included a section (sections?) of close, detailed story/screenplay analysis: why something worked, why something didn't work, approaches and subplots which various writers tried and abandoned, etc. It's an official Disney product, so it's heavy on praise and light on criticism.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

a little light and repetitive but ultimately inspirational.

[Bella · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very helpful book if you are interested in learning a bit about story development.

[Lori Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A should-read company profile for knowledge workers, managers, directors, C-levels, and entrepreneurs.

[Alexis Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book for screenwriters and storytellers of any kind. Timeless inspiration from Disney!

[Maddie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very basic and sometimes reductive look at Disney storytelling. Still informative but not great.