Importance of Narrative

Why is narrative so important?

Narrative in animation helps the audience keep interested, and makes the events that they are watching cohesive and enjoyable - or at least a good narrative does that. Narratives are usually linear, though not always, and gives the audience a character or characters to root for and support, making them emotionally invested in what they are watching.

Simple narratives can be much more effective, especially when there is a wider range of audiences. Children can easier understand it, and people who may not have as much of an interest in the sort of thing they are watching can at least follow along easy enough without having to put in the extra effort - this is why animations aimed at families tend to be much less complicated.



Making them relatable is also another of way of keeping your audience interested. The Monsters Inc series does a very good job of this - in the first film it shows children of all ages being scared by 'the monster under their bed' - something that everyone will have heard of, and many will have been scared of themselves at some point in their lives. It also shows a child who wants to befriend he monsters and doesn't find them scary - almost like an imaginary child. And then there is Mike and Sully, two people working at Monster Inc who aren't quite happy at where they are in their career - they want to be better, more recognised, and that is something that a lot of parents in the audience could sympathise with.




12 years later, Pixar released Monsters University - the prequel to Monsters In. This shows Mike and Sully in the college days, meeting each other and striking up and unlikely friendship - eventually. It shows that you may work well with the strangest of people, that college isn't for everyone and you can still be just as successful without it. This is relatable both to a lot of the parents bringing their children to the cinema and the returned viewers for the first film - it was released around the time that a large portion of the audience that will have watch the first film are starting to go to university, and gives a reassuring message to any of the students with worries or doubts about their future. This is what I think makes the films so successful, and it a great example of making the stories simple yet relatable, and very effective.