Can you imagine what a Pixar movie written by Aaron Sorkin might look and sound like? Sorkin can and did. Way back when, the acclaimed Newsroom and West Wing writer got a phone call from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. As it turns out, it was not about the “not a biopic” biopic Sorkin would come to develop years later. No, this was about his thoughts on penning a Pixar movie. At the time, Sorkin remarked, “I don’t think I can make inanimate objects talk,” and that, more or less, seemed to be that. However, the screenwriter revealed in a new interview the story idea he had been mulling over.
In a conversation with Digital Spy that quickly turned into an impromptu pitch session, Sorkin said his idea centered around everything we use to write coming to life (i.e. walking, talking papers, laptops, staplers, etc.). The writer would be a secondary character, kind of like how we see Riley as more of the setting for Inside Out’s true stars, her emotions. The story would be based on “this old joke” about a leprechaun and a screenwriter who can’t pay his bills because he’s suffering from writers’ block.
The story, as Sorkin described, is as follows:
One day [the screenwriter] comes down to his kitchen and right there on the table is a screenplay, and it's got his name on it. He reads the screenplay, and it's fantastic, and he takes it to the studio, and they really like it, and straight away say, 'We're going to make this movie! Here's your cheque!’ The next morning, the writer goes down to his kitchen and there's another screenplay with his name on it. He reads it and it's also fantastic, so he takes it to the studio, and the same thing happens. So finally, the next night, the writer decides to tip toe downstairs in the middle of the night to see what is going on. Sure enough, there's a little leprechaun in his house, typing away, and the writer says, 'I don't know how to thank you! You've saved my life! You've revived my career! I'm celebrated! I can pay my mortgage! I'm so happy - is there anything I can do to repay you?’ And the leprechaun says, 'Well, it would be great if you could share screenwriting credit with me...' So the writer says, 'Go f—k yourself.’
Instead of the leprechaun — and I assume the “go f—k yourself” part because it would be a Pixar movie, after all — Sorkin would have these office supplies writing the scripts. But, as he joked, he doesn’t have a second or third act. “I hear they're important in movies!” While we won’t be seeing a Sorkin-ese Pixar movie (at least, not for now), the next story from the animation studio, The Good Dinosaur, will be in theaters on November 25th.
