Dave Made a Maze (2017) — AI Story Visualization

Plot Analysis Summary

Dave's unfinished artistic impulse becomes a living cardboard labyrinth that forces him and his friends to confront creativity, responsibility, loss, and escape.

Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases

A Fort Larger Inside

Dave builds a cardboard art project while Annie is away. When she returns, she discovers that the small fort contains an impossible interior and calls Gordon for help.

Key Events

• Dave Builds the Fort — Dave works intensely on an unfinished art project and begins building outward from its center. Characters: Dave Location: Dave's apartment
• Annie Discovers the Maze — Annie returns and discovers that Dave's small cardboard fort is supposedly larger inside. Characters: Dave, Annie Location: Dave's apartment
• The Walls Sound Alive — Annie shakes the exterior and hears extensive noise and machinery within the structure. Characters: Dave, Annie Location: Dave's apartment
• Friends Gather — Annie calls Gordon, who brings friends and Harry's documentary crew to investigate. Characters: Annie, Gordon, Leonard, Brynn, Jane, Harry Location: Dave's apartment

Into the Paper Labyrinth

Friends and Harry's documentary crew gather at the apartment and enter the maze. They encounter living origami creatures and begin to understand that the structure is supernatural.

Key Events

• The Group Enters — Annie and the group enter after Harry realizes how deeply she cares about Dave. Characters: Annie, Gordon, Brynn, Jane, Harry, Boom Operator Location: Cardboard maze entrance
• Origami Creatures Appear — The group encounters living origami birds and other surreal creatures inside the maze. Characters: Annie, Gordon, Harry, Boom Operator Location: Maze rooms
• Jane Triggers the Axe — Jane steps on a lever and is decapitated by an axe that releases yarn and confetti. Characters: Jane, Annie, Gordon, Harry Location: Maze corridor

The Maze Takes Its Due

Jane dies in a trap, Greg disappears after being impaled, and Gordon connects the evidence to the Minotaur. Annie discovers that the walls themselves are alive, but Brynn is killed during the group's escape.

Key Events

• Greg Enters the Catacombs — Greg and Brynn become separated, and Greg is impaled after triggering a wire trap. Characters: Brynn Location: Maze catacombs
• The Minotaur Takes Greg — Greg's body disappears, and Gordon identifies paint-can prints suggesting the Minotaur took it. Characters: Gordon, Minotaur, Brynn Location: Maze catacombs
• The Maze Is Alive — Annie cuts through the walls and realizes that the maze itself is alive. Characters: Annie, Gordon, Harry, Brynn Location: Living maze wall
• Brynn Is Killed — The group jumps through a wall, but the Minotaur kills Brynn during the escape. Characters: Annie, Gordon, Harry, Brynn, Minotaur Location: Living maze passage
• Dave Leads Them Safely — Dave finds the group and leads them toward safety through the growing maze. Characters: Dave, Annie, Gordon, Harry, Boom Operator Location: Maze passage

Finding the Missing Heart

Dave explains that the maze is growing and may be connected to his imagination. The survivors learn that the maze has no heart, then construct one while using a cardboard Brynn puppet as a dangerous distraction.

Key Events

• Dave Leads Them Safely — Dave finds the group and leads them toward safety through the growing maze. Characters: Dave, Annie, Gordon, Harry, Boom Operator Location: Maze passage
• Dave Explains the Maze — Dave admits the maze grows on its own and reveals that one hand has become entirely cardboard. Characters: Dave, Annie, Gordon, Harry Location: Maze interior
• The Missing Heart — The survivors realize they must attack the maze's heart, which Dave neglected to build. Characters: Dave, Annie, Gordon, Harry, Boom Operator Location: Maze interior
• The Puppet Trap — A cardboard puppet resembling Brynn repeatedly asks for high fives, revealing itself as a trap. Characters: Dave, Annie, Gordon, Harry, Boom Operator Location: Maze chamber
• The Puppet Is Distracted — Gordon, Harry, and the crew interview the puppet while Dave and Annie search for the heart. Characters: Gordon, Harry, Boom Operator Location: Maze chamber
• The Heart Is Built — Dave and Annie create a heart resembling a zoetrope and cut through the surrounding wall. Characters: Dave, Annie Location: Maze core

Collapse and Escape

The group faces the demonic hand, Leonard's death, and the Minotaur's pursuit. Dave and Annie cut the heart, collapsing the maze, but the surviving Minotaur escapes into the dumpster.

Key Events

• The Heart Is Built — Dave and Annie create a heart resembling a zoetrope and cut through the surrounding wall. Characters: Dave, Annie Location: Maze core
• The Demonic Hand Emerges — The fake Brynn produces a giant hand that drags away the cameraman, who throws the tapes to Harry. Characters: Gordon, Harry, Boom Operator Location: Maze chamber
• Gordon Draws the Minotaur — Gordon leads the Minotaur away, but Leonard is killed by cardboard saw blades while passing nearby. Characters: Gordon, Minotaur, Leonard Location: Maze corridors
• The Heart Is Cut — Dave, Annie, Harry, and the Boom Operator set up the heart and slice it with a wakizashi. Characters: Dave, Annie, Harry, Boom Operator Location: Maze core
• The Maze Collapses — The heart's destruction causes the walls and entire maze to collapse, returning the survivors to the apartment. Characters: Dave, Annie, Gordon, Harry, Boom Operator Location: Dave's apartment
• The Threat Survives — After the cleanup, the Minotaur climbs out of the dumpster with an origami bird unnoticed. Characters: Dave, Annie, Minotaur Location: Apartment dumpster

Story Breakdown

• Dave's Cardboard Breakthrough — Dave creates a project that becomes larger and more dangerous than he intended.
  • Unfinished Artist — Dave works intensely on another project despite his habit of not finishing things.
  • Impossible Interior — Annie discovers that the small cardboard fort is much larger inside.
• Friends Enter the Maze — Annie gathers help, and the group crosses from ordinary apartment life into the supernatural structure.
  • Gordon Investigates — Gordon joins Annie after hearing about the impossible sounds inside the fort.
  • Documentary Crew — Harry and the crew enter to record the group's experience.
• Surreal Traps Awaken — The maze reveals living creatures and lethal mechanisms that turn exploration into survival.
  • Origami Creatures — The group encounters living origami birds and other strange beings.
  • Jane's Fatal Lever — Jane triggers an axe trap that sprays red yarn and confetti.
• The Minotaur Hunts — The supernatural creature becomes the central threat as the maze claims members of the group.
  • Greg Disappears — Greg is impaled in the catacombs, and the Minotaur takes his body.
  • Brynn Is Lost — The Minotaur kills Brynn after the group passes through a living wall.
• The Missing Maze Heart — Dave reveals the maze's uncertain origin, and the survivors identify its structural weakness.
  • Living Cardboard Walls — Annie cuts the walls and realizes that the maze is alive.
  • Zoetrope Heart — Dave and Annie construct a heart that can be attacked.
• Distraction and Sacrifice — The group buys time to reach the heart while the maze produces increasingly dangerous threats.
  • Cardboard Brynn — A puppet resembling Brynn lures the group with repeated requests for high fives.
  • Gordon's Diversion — Gordon leads the Minotaur away from the heart team.
• The Maze Collapses — The survivors destroy the heart and escape, though the creature survives outside the ruined maze.
  • Wakizashi Strike — The heart is sliced with a wakizashi, causing the maze to fall.
  • Dumpster Escape — The Minotaur and an origami bird emerge unnoticed after the cleanup.

Directed by

Bill Watterson

Key Cast

• Nick Thune — Dave
• Meera Rohit Kumbhani — Annie
• Adam Busch — Gordon
• James Urbaniak — Harry
• Stephanie Allynne — Brynn