Skip to main content

Plot Elements (Disney Alert)

-Brynbellion-



Plot elements are what makes a story a story. Romance, betrayal, impossible odds, to name a few. In this post I'm going to look at classic plot elements, discuss them, and put a spin on them.

Classic Disney Princess Plot Elements:
Romance
Rebellion
Magic
Good vs Evil
Unhealthy Social Systems

Remember that Disney Princess movies are, for the most part, based off of some of the first fairy tales. So these elements are in both pop culture and writing history.

Romance
Romance is timeless. It's relatable, desirable, and adorable (it's a matter of perspective, okay?). Romance is somewhat overused, yet is not cliche. It's a good way of endearing your characters to readers and pulling these readers into the story (aka shipping). To surprise your audience, pull a cliche-breaker. The girl can end up with the sidekick or the comic relief character. Your protagonist could have a hard time choosing a girl, given the inevitable fawning crowd.

Rebellion
This is a good element that gets a story going, it provides conflict. It gives the protagonist a goal. Readers love rebellion. Everyone loves a rebel. Is this plot element overused? Yes, probably. To spin it, the protagonist could be trying to stop a rebelling society, or when the rebellion gets going there merely aren't enough followers [insert plot twist].

Magic
Magic entrances characters and readers. It's necessary in a large portion of fantasy. There is a huge amount of variation, nearly cliche proofing it. However, why is it the protagonist and mentor that gets all the magic? What if the protagonist enlists his sidekick because the sidekick DOES have magic? Perhaps the mentor lost his/her magic and teaches by memory? Endless variety means endless cliche-benders.

Good vs Evil
Good vs Evil is classic, morally good, and sound. Playing with characters that are grey toned is risky. However, characters like Megara from Hercules can be interesting to play with. Good intentions? Bad choices? Vice versa? While making sure to be clear that your character, though flawed, is good or bad, conflict can be twisted many different ways.

Unhealthy Social Systems
Examples of this are the extreme honor culture in Mulan, the close-minded village in Beauty and the Beast, or the mermaids’ extreme fear of humans in The Little Mermaid. Unhealthy social systems are effective yet common. Often protagonists are outcasts, or considered different in some way. This does make them relatable, but is also overused. A spin would be to provide a supportive community for the protagonist that unexpectedly betrays them.

That's a wrap! I hope you enjoyed this.
-Brynbellion





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sonnets

We studied Romeo and Juliet in English, discovering the foolish protagonists and their sappy sonnets. An activity in class was to write our own, so we picked strange themes and twisted the idea of a sonnet. What we produced is as follows: Oh, My Fair Sonnet Oh, my fair Sonnet, how lovely art thou, Thou tellest most flattering descriptions, Thou entrancest me with stunning words now, If told by others, I’d think were fiction. Thou enchant me with thy pretty quatrains, In which there are many wonderful rhymes. I’d  listen always without any pains, For leaving would be committing bad crimes. Alas, my fairest love must leave me, My misfortunate heart must wave goodbye. My fair love won’t listen to any plea, Even though this leaving makes my heart die. Goodbye, goodbye, with a couplet you leave, I wish for you to know how much I grieve. By Grace Death to Romeo Oh Romeo, thou art Darth Sidious We love uncovering your many faults Delight in fi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Palaces and Purposes - A Short Story

I wrote this for school when I was almost 16 and I think the fact that I still like it speaks to some degree of quality. I hope you enjoy it, too. It's got a very different feel to my novel, so it was nice to have some variation while writing it. Palaces and Purposes With shallow breaths and bare feet unmoving on the marble floor, I gazed at the dais. What were they? Strange contraptions, some made of wood, with strings running parallel down the middle, across large holes. Others were all of metal and seemed to be twisted into knots. Still others seemed to be nothing more than smooth sticks with evenly placed holes down their lengths. All were relatively small and looked lightweight. What kind of crazy country had I come to that a platform in such a vast, opulent hall, beautiful beyond any of my imaginings, was home to simple wooden chairs and these objects of no conceivable use? All my instincts, trained and honed by months of unnoticed thievery and silent spying, scr...
Post a Comment
Read more

Originality in Writing is Over-Rated

People are stupid. Really, really stupid. And this isn't me pretending to be Khepri or Mina, looking down in disdain on all the poor, ignorant peasants around me (you'll get that reference later) - I am 100% including myself in 'people' here. And this isn't to say that people aren't wonderful creations of God, beautiful, unique, brilliant and individually filled with huge potential. I believe every one of those things is true, but we are also stupid. For example, I once lit a match in church, during the service. Why? Because it was there, obviously. What else was I supposed to do with a match? Don't worry, I didn't burn down the building or anything, it was just an incredibly dumb move. And it wasn't all that long ago, either. (More than a year, but definitely while I was a teenager, not a young child.) But doing dumb things isn't the only way in which humans prove that we're idiots. We also forget important lessons, and this is the t...
Post a Comment
Read more