For my takeaway, I’m going to go with special subcultures. Pixar is HUGE with this: toys (Toy Story), bugs (A Bugs Life), monsters (Monsters, Inc.), superheroes ( The Incredibles), aquatic life (Finding Nemo), automobiles (Cars), fine cuisine (Ratatouille), etc.

In Coco, it’s Mexican culture (general subculture), but even more specifically the special subculture of the land of the dead. Pixar likes to explore a subculture and do it with a twist. Miguel being thrust in the land of the dead is that twist: a live human dwelling among the dead.

So when we, as writers, think of subcultures, which is a great way to generate potential story ideas, what twist can we give them to make them a SPECIAL subculture experience for a script reader?