Bells and whistles I don’t do

In 1995, the first-ever feature-length film made entirely with computer animation was released. It pushed the limits of 3D animation, blended storytelling, humour and emotional depth not often seen before in animation, and it paved the way for a new era of digital cinema. That film was Toy Story.

 

I took my boys, then just six and four, to see it, and I was totally mesmerised. The creativity, the realism, the genius, the sheer cleverness of it all blew me away and I was in absolute awe.

But, the problem was, I was so distracted by its technical brilliance and the imagination behind it, I left the cinema without a Scooby-Doo what the actual story was about.

 

Fast forward a few decades, and that experience has stayed with me. It’s very much in my mind when I design training presentations.

 

Yes, I can do the bells and whistles, champagne-popping, all-singing, all-dancing, confetti-exploding kind of thing, but I don’t and that’s because I don’t want anything to deflect from the learning in the same way Toy Story’s plot was completely lost on me.

 

So I just keep it interesting.