Skip to content

animation

Top 10 Badass Animated Female Leads You Should Know

Animated Female Leads Female leads have grown increasingly popular in animation over the past decade. While researching my book The Art of Writing Animation, I came across a few of these incredible ladies… and even met some of their creators! Out of the many animated films and TV series I watched, here are my top 10 badass female leads, in no particular order (may contain spoilers): 1) Merida, Brave (2012) Bang2writers may know Merida as a fearless female archer, but there’s more to her character. She’s the first female lead in a Pixar movie. Brave’s writer-director Brenda Chapman, wanted to… Read More »Top 10 Badass Animated Female Leads You Should Know

Share this:

39 Animated Heroes Offer Their Advice To Writers

Animated Inspiration Animated properties like comic books, movies and TV shows are often popular with children – and more and more, we take these first loves into adulthood as well. It’s not hard to see why, either: our animated heroes – particularly superheroes – have many life lessons and morals to teach us. Looking at icons such as Batman, Spider-Man and Wonder Woman can be particularly useful to writers, whether we personally like them or not. After all, these are some of the most enduring characters of the modern age, meaning there are certain questions we can consider for our… Read More »39 Animated Heroes Offer Their Advice To Writers

Share this:

USP, Pt 1: Your Project

DISCLAIMER: If you think screenwriting is all about art or originality, talent or simply “great writing” (whatever that is), then go away. You won’t like this post. Don’t say you weren’t warned. Still here? Right. Here goes. … So, you’ve got a GREAT idea. What’s its USP? USP = Unique. Selling. Point. *This* is the point of screenwriting. It doesn’t matter how arty or original your idea is; it doesn’t matter how talented you are; it doesn’t matter how fabulously written your script is on the page. You could be all three of these things and if producers or financiers… Read More »USP, Pt 1: Your Project

Share this:

The Great Characterisation of Hayao Miyazaki by Eleanor Ball

I recently saw Ponyo! It’s a cute and fantastical animated children’s film based on the story of the little mermaid. When people think of Hayao Miyazaki they often think of the beauty and mythology of his films. If you’ve seen Spirited Away I’d be surprised if you haven’t been genuinely moved by the scene in which a train ripples softly over a one-inch deep lake. His films, both written and directed by him, are perhaps too beautiful, because it can overwhelm some sparks of genius that normally we’d be appalled to miss. Namely the strength of the protagonists. Miyazaki’s girl… Read More »The Great Characterisation of Hayao Miyazaki by Eleanor Ball

Share this:

Disney’s Tangled: Go See It

MILD SPOILERS So, I loved Tangled. That’s right: someone as evil and twisted as yours truly loved not only a Disney movie, but one involving acres of musical numbers, cutesy animation and a princess who wears pink for pretty much the majority of the movie. But then, I’ve never been one who says Disney Princesses are *against* little girls’ best interests, story-wise. As undoubtedly shocking to some progressives as that statement is, I’ve always been of the opinion that whilst not ideal, Disney Princesses offers something a HUGE majority of kids’ movies don’t: female characters at the heart of the… Read More »Disney’s Tangled: Go See It

Share this:

Guest Post: The Story Engine 2010 Pt 2 by Helen Bang

Helen’s notes from Day Two of The Story Engine 2010 – thanks Helen! New Horizons Andy Smith from Mere Mortals and Ian Fenton presented a case study of the alternative reality game “Let’s Make Mischief” and argued for screenwriters to think beyond a single platform. Ian began with a brief look at the history of entertainment; first there were games like chess and hopscotch, then there was cinema and television, the new online games combine both and are a pioneering field for writers. Examples included secretlewis.com (Lewis Hamilton has a double life as an art thief) and Nikegrid.com where people… Read More »Guest Post: The Story Engine 2010 Pt 2 by Helen Bang

Share this: