Interview with Writer Michael Arndt (TOY STORY 3)

Michael Arndt: I was completely involved for the entire three years that it took to write the Toy Story 3 script. Once the script was finished, it took another year of production for the film to get finished. So I never felt shut out of the creative process of making the film — which is something that can often happen to writers on a live-action movie.

Michael Arndt: I’ve always loved animation. I took a few animation classes in film school [at NYU] and made a couple of animated short films, but I never dreamed I would get a chance to work in animation professionally. It’s hard to name a favorite, but the most important animated film to me is Isao Takahata’s MY NEIGHBORS THE YAMADAS. Seeing that film in 2000 is what prompted me to sit down and write LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE after years and years of delay. So I have a special fondness for that movie (especially the Japanese-language version).

Michael Arndt: One of my favorite films is LATE SPRING by Yasujiro Ozu. To me, it represents film as art.

Michael Arndt: I look forward to having any career at all. Certainly, I would love to remain a part of the Pixar family for as long as they’ll have me. But I do also want to make a variety of different live-action films.

Michael Arndt: They approached me. Back in early 2005, Pixar was looking for a writer to work with Lee Unkrich on an original idea that he was planning to direct. One of the Development people here at Pixar, Mary Coleman, bumped into LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE producer Ron Yerxa at the Sundance Film Festival and asked him if he knew of any decent writers, and he recommended me. So I was hired at Pixar while LMS was still in the editing room. It’s a tribute to Pixar that they were willing to hire an untested writer (me) and subsequently trust him with one of their biggest movies.

Michael Arndt: I worked on every draft of the script, of which there were dozens. But it was a deeply collaborative effort, with Lee Unkrich guiding the process every step of the way, John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton keeping us on course, and a whole team of story artists offering up jokes and ideas.

Michael Arndt: We did do a test screening of the film when it was mostly complete — about 9 months before it was released — in front of a recruited audience of young children. I was afraid the film might be a little too dark for a family audience, but all the kids who saw it seemed to really like it, so we didn’t make any changes based on that screening. But it’s always smart to try to see the film through the eyes of people of all ages, just to make sure you’re not missing something.

Michael Arndt: Pretty much the entire time I was writing the script (three years), I was afraid I wasn’t writing to the “Pixar standard”.

Michael Arndt: One of the biggest challenges of Toy Story 3 was figuring how the hero — Woody — would change over the course of the story. In the first Toy Story, Woody had to learn to share the spotlight with Buzz. In Toy Story 2, Woody faced and came to terms with his own mortality. For Toy Story 3, what we finally figured out was that Woody begins the story thinking that love means always being there for Andy. He’s similar to Lotso, in that he equates physical presence with the genuine expression of love, which is why he is so adamant in insisting that the Toys should “always be there” for Andy. It’s only at the very end, when he witnesses Andy and his Mom saying goodbye, that Woody realizes you can love someone and still let them go, and that sometimes letting someone go can be the most loving thing a person can do. This is a universal experience — we all go through our lives getting to know people (childhood friends; high school sweethearts; college professors; work colleagues) that we can feel intensely connected to for part of our lives, but whom we have to let go of as we move through life. Recognizing this, and learning to accept it, is a fairly mature sentiment for Woody, and one that (to me, at least) nicely completes the arc of his character across all three movies.

Michael Arndt: Yes — I like to begin every screenplay with a burst of delusional self-confidence. It tends to fade pretty quickly, but (for me, at least) there doesn’t seem to be any other way to start writing a script.

Michael Arndt: At Pixar, the script actually gets broken down into 20 or 25 separate sequences. One of them, which we called MAP HUNT (it’s when Woody is in Bonnie’s bedroom, trying to figure out how to get home), was written in only 6 or 7 drafts. Most sequences took 20 or 30 drafts. The opening staff meeting, which we called GROWN UP, required 60 drafts.

Michael Arndt: I can write two scripts concurrently, but I usually prefer to do one at a time. However, I also usually have 5 or 6 story ideas that are percolating in my head at any one time, so it can get a little crowded in there.

Michael Arndt: It was basically more pressure than I’ve ever felt — or that I imagine I’ll ever feel — in my entire writing life. There were never any moments of panic or despair, but I really, really, really didn’t want to let anyone down, so the pressure was pretty agonizing for the entire four years of making the movie.

Michael Arndt: Making the DVD feature was more fun than writing. When writing is going well, nothing is better or more fun. But when it’s not working, it can be pretty agonizing.

Michael Arndt: I was endlessly surprised — that I was able to sell it; that it got made; that it got picked up by a distributor; and that audiences embraced it. I always thought of it as a very small, very personal screenplay, so the fact that it went anywhere was surprising to me.

Michael Arndt: One of the things I really like about Pixar’s films — and which sets them apart from some other animated movies — is that Pixar has actors speaking (for the most part) in their own voices. No one’s putting on a “funny voice” just because the character is animated. Tom Hanks, for example, voices Woody in his own natural Tom-Hanks voice. We try to make the stories and the characters feel as real as possible, and having the actors use their own voices is very much part of that. That helps (we hope) to give the movies a timeless appeal.

Michael Arndt: Like just about everything else at Pixar, casting is a collaborative process, so I was able to weigh in along with Darla Anderson, the producer, John Lasseter, and the rest of the Brain Trust. In the end, though, it tends to be the director — in this case Lee — who makes the final decision. But it was very nice, as a writer, to be included in the casting discussions.

Michael Arndt: I really like the character E, in THE INCREDIBLES, just because I love hearing Brad Bird do her voice.

Michael Arndt: It’s top secret. (Sorry.)

Michael Arndt: Just be patient. It took me ten years of writing before I finally sold my first script. I know that Malcolm Gladwell’s rule of 10,000 hours of practice is kind of a cliche at this point. But for me, that cliche is 100% true. It basically took me 10,00 hours of writing before I had any success at all.

Michael Arndt: You have to draw on everything you have as a person. That’s less about specific moments and experiences, and more about remembering specific feelings — especially those feelings that can seem private and particular. But my experience is that the more you can be truthful about those memories or feelings, the more other people will respond to them. The best writing really does come from the deepest, most private part of you.

Michael Arndt: I’m incredibly grateful to Pixar for letting me be a part of the Toy Story 3 process, and I very much hope that we were able to live up to the legacy of the first two films. Thanks to everyone out there for participating!