5 life lessons from Pixar movies

MANILA, Philippines - Pixar hasn’t been Pixar these days. Our beloved animation studio seems to have succumbed to Hollywood’s franchise black hole, relying on sequels (Cars 2, Monsters University, and the forthcoming Finding Dory) instead of continuing its tradition of making original, innovative animated films. But studios do need to make money, right? With the exception of the poorly received Cars franchise (at least, critically speaking, the two films occupy bottom rung of the Pixar roster), every Pixar film deserves another turn on the big screen, granted the story doesn’t hinge solely on the need to extend the life of the franchise. Case in point, Toy Story. Pixar’s first feature film came to a full circle in 2010’s Toy Story 3, where Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the gang contemplated their mortality while their owner Andy moved on to more grown-up things, something inherent in every toy-owner story like Winnie the Pooh, and Calvin and Hobbes.

It’s themes like these that make Pixar films transcend the lighthearted fare usually associated with animated films. While Disney classics like Peter Pan, Aladdin, and The Little Mermaid thrum with the substance of fairy tales and happy endings, Pixar deals with more immediate concerns and issues that haunt both children and adults, while maintaining PG ratings.

Here are a few life lessons Pixar has taught us, 14 films into their dazzling filmography.

Growing pains

Toy Story may have a funhouse approach with its hoards of toys and patented characters (even Studio Ghibli’s Totoro made an appearance in the third film), but it told an eerily familiar story about shedding our innocence amidst the gnawing demands of the grown-up world. It reminded us how it’s like to let go of the things we’ve held dear, how it’s like to reluctantly turn our back on the things that we’ve kept close as the stronghold of our childhood dreams. It’s never this easy when you’ve grown up, but when you’re a kid playing with your worn- down (but cherished) toy, the world is a much better place to live in.

Coming home

The threat of the world looms large in films like Finding Nemo, a story of a grand quest that’s built on familial values. Overprotective dad loses his son and crosses the ocean, which turns the film into a great adventure underneath the sea, boasting visuals that still make it the most dazzling of all Pixar films. Mostly, the film centers on parental fears and wildlife conservation but along the way, we discover how our memories are anchored on emotions; that recollection is made more significant by the feelings we deeply associate with the faces and voices that come along with it. Dory’s amnesiac blue tang recognizes this fact when she finds home in with Marlin despite all the bumps they’ve encountered along the way.

Scare factor

In Monster’s University, we encounter Pixar’s first death-metal mom (possibly a natural step after Brave’s Merida). A mousy stay-at-home mom, who wears rollers and wiggles her butt when she does the laundry, finds raging death metal as her “tunes” of choice while waiting in the car. Much of what Monster’s Inc., as well as A Bug’s Life mines on is this deceptive nature of appearances. In both films, a gang of misfits bonds together to overturn expectations and uncover truths that are kept away from them by society’s expectations. Monster University reveals this best in a gripping moment when Mike and Sulley set up a terrifying trap to scare a room full of adults, proving that fear comes in a form we usually dismiss as harmless.

Love will keep us alive

Up’s prologue still remains an unparalleled triumph in animated storytelling. Carl and Ellie’s relationship, one that is built on a wide-eyed sense of adventure, brims with the purest evocation of love. Their relationship is an idyllic version of a life that we all aspire to: a good house to come home to and a loving husband/wife that never gives up on you. Even after Ellie’s death, Carl recognizes that she will live on, not in the picture frames or the album that they both made, but in his attempt to spend the rest of his days with the insatiable sense of adventure that brought them together in the first place.

Stories are king

“Legends are lessons. They ring with truths,” Queen Elinor tells stubborn Merida after a bedtime story is told for the nth time. Pixar understands the lasting grip of a good narrative. Folk tales, urban legends, and fables are necessary realities distilled at their most vivid form. Much like these films of talking fishes, rats who can put up five-star restaurants, and lonely robots, we live with these stories because they are essential in understanding the world through a wider lens.

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