Brock Swinson's video: How Pixar s Onward Solves the Happiness Equation Mo Gawdat Book

The plot behind the new animated film Onward is unusual, even by Pixar standards, but underneath this unconventional tale, as always, there’s more to the story. The story is about two Elven brothers voiced by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt. They discover a magical way to bring back their deceased father for one day. The youngest brother has not never met his dad, and the older brother only has a handful of memories with his father. But, something goes wrong and rather than a full being, the father arrives as a pair of legs. Regardless, the partial spell starts a ticking clock, as they only have 24 hours to reverse the spell, and see their father. Amidst the chaos, of course, there’s an opportunity to showcase a mirror on today’s society, as there always is within genre. So, in this previously magical world, magic has been given up in place for simple distractions. Here, we also see the difference between the two brothers. Pratt’s character Barley, the older brother, is obsessed with ways of the old, sort of like a young adult who still lives at home and loves Dungeons and Dragons. Meanwhile, Holland’s Ian, who is celebrating his 16th birthday, is trying to figure out who he is, which leads him to learn a little more about his dad, who turns out to be quite bold. But, he’s learning about instinct, yet still focusing too much on logic, at least according to his older brother. This is their story, but it’s also the story of every other creature they cross in their adventure. The Manticore, for example, formerly a knight-like hunter, has given up her strength to run a family themed breakfast. Likewise, the motorcycle group known as the Pixie Dusters have traded in their wings for wheels, or at least until instinct takes over. Even the boys’ mother Laurel moves from at-home workouts to an exterior adventure. All of these characters, other than Barley, are blind to inner strengths and adventures that await. And, just like our world, they’re subconscoiusly bored with the distractions. In the book Solve for Happy by Mo Gawdat, the author says… “Blind spots affect the way our brain processes information and blur our perception of reality. To ensure our survival, blind spots are combined with the brain’s tendency to be pessimistic. This interferes with our ability to solve the Happiness Equation, thus making us suffer needlessly.” The author’s main point is that this pessimism helped before we created civilization, when man wasn’t necessarily at the top of the food chain. But, we can’t let this inner roadblock, which formerly protected us, halt every decision. The author offers several solutions to this problem, but let’s focus on three that relate directly to this film. 1. Your Inner Voice is Not the Real You When you strip away everything, including friends, the body, and your perceived identity, the only thing left is an observer of the world. That’s the real you, and no one can take it away from you. If you expect nothing but to keep observing life, then life always exceeds your expectations. Here, we can think of Barley, who prefers to live in the moment as often as possible. He follows his gut as much as his mind. He’s always there with a big smile on his face, even if it means crashing his van to help his brother… Support Creative Principles Video Essays & Podcasts: https://www.patreon.com/creativeprinciples Listen to interviews with icons like Aaron Sorkin, Christopher McQuarrie, William Monahan, and Mel Brooks on the Creative Principles Podcast: SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/creativeprinciples/tracks iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/creative-principles/id1292130289?mt=2 References… Watch Onward on Disney Plus: https://bit.ly/39Vxyrc Solve for Happiness Book: https://www.amazon.com/Solve-Happy-Engineer-Your-Path/dp/1501157558 Ratatouille: How Labels Smother Talent https://youtu.be/VquFrtv9n8Q Music… "Epic Cinematic Adventure" by Roman Senyk