Goals

Andrew establishes that stories need two things: goals (characters must want something) and conflict. He quotes Vonnegut: "every character should want something, even if it's only a glass of water." Using Up, he shows how Carl's surface want (reaching Paradise Falls) masks his deeper need (to feel love again after losing his wife).

He then gets into Pixar's technique of "handcuffing" two opposing characters together. Using Monsters University, he maps out Mike and Sulley's opposing wants, beliefs, goals, and lessons. He shows Pixar's pattern of juxtaposition: Woody/Buzz, Mike/Sulley, Carl/Russell, Wall-E/Eve. He extends this to opposing the hero with their world: Mr. Incredible can't be incredible anymore; McQueen is stranded in a town that doesn't care about racing. He also explains how Finding Nemo was broken for two years until they added the opening trauma, which made the audience instantly empathize with everything Marlin does afterward.