For the Birds

           Andrew Stanton says, “It’s not the story that’s important, it’s how you tell it.”  I find this quote perfectly displayed in Pixar’s short, “For the Birds”.  It’s important to avoid telling the same story over and over again because that devalues the original meaning.  This short puts a new and comical twist on the idea of exclusion or bullying.  Pixar told the same story most cartoons tell, but they accomplished this without a single word or even a human being.  They advertised the importance of being unique in the end, and not necessarily like everyone else.  Most bullying stories will end with finally being included or popular, but this one celebrated the idea of being confidently independent.  It’s not about the moral, but finding a new point of view and expressing that in a different way.

            Stanton also explains that animation should be interpretive, not realistic.  Unless the moral behind this short is to stop bird bullying, then it also accomplishes Stanton’s quote regarding interpretation.  I think every child, at some point or another, has been amazed by birds.  It may be their feathers, or their vibrant colors, or just because they can fly, that children are drawn to birds.  Pixar took advantage of child-like wonder to interpret their message to their audience. 

“For the Birds” portrays the significance of discovering new ways to tell stories and the importance of using effective interpreters.  Storytelling is valuable to me and I think Pixar does a great job of telling them in creative ways.