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I took my daughters to see the new animated Disney/Pixar flick,Up, last night. After hearing early reviews, we made sure we saw the 3D version. Truth be told, however, I didn’t notice the 3D or killer animation. The story was that good.

And this morning it hit me: What Disney/Pixar did with Up is what all PR pros should be striving for. Despite the whizbang technical prowess and army of the world’s best animators at their disposal, Disney/Pixar is first and foremost a storyteller. If we as our clients’ storytellers are doing our jobs correctly, the reporters and bloggers we pitch shouldn’t even realize they are being pitched. Because we shouldn’t be pitching; we should be telling (or helping to tell) stories (minus the traditional hard news stuff we do).

All too often, PR pros get lost in their clients’ marketing-speak, forgetting that the best stories — the best pitches — have heros, villains, supporting characters, conflict and resolution. Disney/Pixar knows this. We associate Disney/Pixar with great animated movies not because of the animation, but first because of the stories they tell and later because of how they employed their animation expertise to tell those stories better.

Because at the end of the day, it’s the stories we tell, not the products we pitch, that make us (and our clients and the reporters and bloggers we work with) successful.