Your favorite stories

(clanking) - There are many ways to tell a story. And in simplest terms, a story is a sequence of events, or narrative, which unfolds through time. It begins, (soft music) something happens, (dramatic music) (screams) and it ends. (soft music) But, some stories, no matter how they're told, have a special quality. You've probably felt this. Some stories grab you emotionally, engage your mind and pull you in. Now, let's hear from our artists what stories pulled them in. - These little stop motion specials on at Christmas. And I remember seeing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer for the first time, and I knew the song, that's one thing. But then to see it illustrated and play out in the city, the Island of Lost Toys, how all these things were not what people expected or not of the norm, and I remember being very, very effective, affected by the injustice, and that really touched me as a kid. - In the case of Little Mermaid, I remember it was the first animated movie I had ever seen that took me somewhere else, and I remember just like being so transfixed with the idea of going under the ocean and swimming, and living a whole kind of other life. - A movie I saw called The Killing Fields. It was a war movie, and there's this whole section of this movie where the protagonist has to escape from bad guys, and it goes silent for like 30 minutes. It felt like 20, 30 minutes. And it's just so arresting to see this character trying to survive that I was just riveted. And when he finally finds his friend at the end like, I just remember, yeah, like breaking down. It was, felt incredibly emotional. - The Lion King. And I remember I was five years old and watching Mufasa fall to his death, and I was so traumatized that I had to leave the theater. It hadn't hit me before, but when I saw Simba nudging Mufasa's body, and he wasn't moving, and he, Simba was telling him to wake up, but his dad like wasn't waking up, and he just lay there. And that like stayed with me for a really long time. It traumatized me a little bit, but I think like I grew a little bit after watching it, too. - Imagine you're a castaway on an island. You can pick three of your favorite movies to bring with you. What would they be? (chimes) In the next exercise, you'll have a chance to think about what you would bring, and why these particular stories made such an impression on you. You'll reference these three stories in the exercises throughout the next six lessons. So, take the time to find your favorites.