Hollywood’s three-act film structure was designed as a modified version of the five-act tragic structure used in Shakespeare’s time. It shifts the climax from the midway into the film to its end and organizes the movie into acts based on a beginning, containing an introduction, middle, comprised of a complication, and an end, resolving the events of the beginning and the middle. This structure situates two plot points to close out the first two acts and the climax at the conclusion of the third act, with minimal falling action. The organization of this structure works with best with goal-oriented stories containing a single protagonist and told in chronological order so as to leave little to no ambiguity.
A prime example of the three-act structure is the film Toy Story. The first act introduces a group of toys owned by a boy named Andy who come alive when he is not around and eagerly await the arrival of new toys given to Andy as presents for his birthday. The exposition establishes Woody, a cowboy toy, as the leader of the toys and the favorite of Andy. It also explains that Andy’s family is moving soon and presents that as a future complication. The act closes with the first plot point, the arrival of a new, awesome toy in the form of a Buzz Lightyear action figure, setting up the conflict between him and Woody for the favorite toy of Andy. This is the shortest act of the film.
The second act further develops the complication of the film, as Buzz garners more and more attention from Andy and Woody’s jealousy festers. It is also revealed that Buzz does not realize he is an action figure and believes himself to truly be a space ranger. The act peaks when Woody accidentally knocks Buzz out Andy’s bedroom window and the other toys accuse him of intentionally doing so, seeking to brutally punish Woody for his crime. By a stroke of luck, Woody and Buzz both end up in the car with Andy as he is taken out for dinner to a restaurant called Pizza Planet. Act two is slightly longer than act one, though it requires little time to present its message.
Act three opens with Buzz confronting Woody when the car stops at a gas station. The two engage in a brawl and eventually get separated from the car, effectively becoming “lost toys”. Buzz, however, still does not understand that he is a toy. After hitching a ride with a Pizza Planet delivery truck, Woody and Buzz arrive at the restaurant but are taken by Andy’s sadistic neighbor, Sid. As the two toys seek to escape the confines of Sid’s house, Buzz realizes that he is but a toy and slumps into a depression. Woody is able to convince Buzz of his rightful place in the world, but before they can escape to Andy’s moving van, Buzz is taken by Sid and strapped to a rocket set to explode. The climax of Toy Story is a lengthy series of scenes in which Woody enlists the help of Sid’s other tortured toys and together they scare Sid by revealing themselves to be alive. Woody and Buzz then finally catch the moving van by using the rocket on Buzz’s back to propel them, landing safely in Andy’s car. The movie then closes with the whole gang of toys preparing for the arrival of toys at Christmas, all issues resolved. This film is a perfect example of the three-act structure’s potential for portraying quest stories with triumphant endings, presented in chronological order with a clear resolution.
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