The marvelous factor about Pixar is that although they develop incredible animations, that have come to be even realistic in a way, their main goal does not lie in the computers and their jobs do not end in just the “looks” of the film, and the company has become far more than technological advances. In that sense, the studio has managed to reach the emotional and humanitarian side of its viewers, by creating narratives that are appealing to children but also breaking the often erroneous idea that “animation movies are only made for children”.
How do they manage to do that? The reality is that to do such a thing they have to appeal to different sides of the human consciousness for each age division, with children they tend to reach out to them with cute and colorful images and character, but with adults, it ends up becoming even more interesting because they reach to them by making relatable narratives, that psychologically affects them, hitting very differently the adults when compared to children.
Pixar Animation Studios, a well renowned billion-dollar animation corporation owned by The Walt Disney Company, has come to be known as one of the biggest animation studios to date, maybe only surpassed by Disney itself. However, Pixar did not start out being the “empire” that it is in the current days, it started as a division of LucasFilm, noted for the original Star Wars trilogy, in which they developed 3-D short films, a huge technological advance for its time.
In 1985, the businessman Steve Jobs purchased the division and established it to be an independent company, now known as Pixar, leading to successful short films and later a variety of movies, with some even achieving The Academy Awards. Within these movies, the first-ever long film they developed was Toy Story (1995), which represented a landmark in animation history due to the fact that it was the first-ever computer-animated feature film and even became the biggest box office of the year.
Wall-E (2008)
“Wall-E” is maybe one of the first movies that reached out to the relatability factor in adults. The movie portrays a universe in which mankind had to leave Earth due to the extreme pollution and lack of trees caused by the exploitation of nature by men – leaving robots like Wall-E to solve the problem, a topic that “hits very close to home” and it is considered a timeless film since it launched because there have been little to no efforts from powerful people to revert the global scenario, leading us rapidly to the circumstances that the viewers see during the movie.
This film is easily understandable, whether it is by children or adults, but there is something quite breathtaking about its impact on grown-ups because it mainly became a critique of their way of life and their lack of environmental engagement. It made them reflect on what was so very wrong in the capitalistic way of life and what could potentially destroy not only their world but the world that they were destroying and leaving for future generations to fix. Therefore, Wall-E can be seen by the “pretty and cute robots falling in love and humans in space” lense, but for adults, it reached something far greater and bigger, like their flaws, something that often the humankind tends to like to ignore, which led it to be seen differently for each age gap, and enjoyable to everyone.
UP (2009)
Since the release of their movie “UP”, it has been a well-known fact that this is probably one of the saddest stories ever made by the animation studio, affecting both children and adults. The long portrays Carl, an old balloon salesman who mourns the loss of the love of his life Ellie, who he met as a child and never left her since, and since her death wishes to accomplish his wife’s lifelong dream to visit the Niagara Falls in the little yellow house by floating with balloons, having a series of other adventures and even making a few friends – and enemies – along the way.
But why did it hit the adults differently? It had a connection with them that is practically impossible to resonate with children because children are still able to be dreamers, they are encouraged to dream “to the moon and back — but adults have been consumed by their 9-5 jobs that seem to have forgotten their wishes, and maybe in a way made them realize that is never too late to reach for them.
Besides, “UP” put out there to the world what an old man was capable of doing for the love of his life, and reminded everyone that although they are busy and stressed, it may be their one last chance to be dreamers and lovers once more. On that note, the film also represents the constant possibility of idolatrizing or idealizing something that we dream of with every ounce of our being with Carl’s character, who dreamed of meeting the famous explorer Charles Munz, but when having the opportunity to meet him, ends up becoming extremely disappointed, because very often than not, idols tend to be far distant from what they appeared to be, due to the fact that humans have the necessity of believing in something even if it’s completely created from their imagination.
And finally, the most beautiful part about this piece is that it allows the viewers to reflect on the unconscious existence of cycles in life, and the importance of learning to keep moving forward without losing the love and appreciation for our old memories since nothing can stay as we wish it was. For Carl, his character development belongs in the hearts of many adults, although they have lost a piece of them, the people they love are still quite close to them, it may not be in a physical form, but they stay in our hearts and souls.
Toy Story 3 (2010)
“Toy Story 3” was the continuation of the beautiful and well-known saga, launched 11 years after “Toy Story 2”. The movie made its way into the telespectator’s hearts, even being declared by Vulture as the best sequence for an animation movie saga in history. Throughout the movie we see the challenges and pains suffered by the famous toys when their owner Andy is off to college and hasn’t played with them for a long time, having to deal with and accept their fate in their uncertain futures.
Although at first, the film seems to only focus on the emotions felt by the toys, Pixar does an amazing job to associate it with the adults and mainly those young teenagers that are close to the moment of leaving home and starting their paths. To the kids, “Toy Story 3” can only be seen from the toys’ point of view – which is still beautiful and magical — but for the older age categories, it became more than that, for the teens it was all about valorizing those mystical and childish moments and taking the courage to take their first steps away from the comfort of life and everything the knew.
On the other hand, for the adults, it was about reminiscing their childhood and in a way remembering simpler days. Although Andy ended up not taking any of his toys with him, he did take a little part of them to college – their memories – and once again Pixar Animation Studios demonstrated the importance of understanding the presence of cycles and how a little bit of childhood will always be there for everyone, and how we can carry those memories and allow new generations to come to create new ones.
Finally, the film also brings the reflection for both adults and kids about good and evil with the purple strawberry-scented bear known as Lotso, when they show his backstory and how he ended up becoming evil. They portray the possibility of your life experiences making you become something that is not true to your original soul, therefore bringing the question that we make ourselves every day: Can someone truly be a villain in every story?. The toys also make their way into the viewer’s emotions, because when accepting their new life with little Bonny, Pixar portrayed that people can be somewhat temporary in our life coming in and out of them, and their departure from us does not take away any of the love or memories that were felt by both ends.
Inside Out (2015)
“Inside Out” is probably one of Pixar’s saddest films to date, since they took the courage to represent the personification of human emotions, and the need for all of them to exist in us. During the movie, we can see the struggles that Riley has after moving to San Francisco, changing her whole life, and being left with the unknown. With that, a kid that was once represented by Joy seems to be losing that side of herself as the blue little character Sadness wants to take over a little more than she was originally allowed. This film affected everyone, but it resonated with older audiences differently.
When Joy and Sadness are lost in their adventures, Riley’s other emotions try to take over but seem to fail over and over again, putting Riley in what was associated with a depressive episode, which is a mental illness that a lot of people suffer with and was not expected to be portrayed in an animated film at the time, breaking once more the barrier that was created with animation and adults. Therefore, the movie allowed the viewers to understand that it is impossible to isolate certain emotions since doing that could cause them to collapse in a way, as little Riley did, but it also showed that although sadness can exist it does not mean it will take control over their lives, it becomes necessary to identify the happy moments.
Ultimately, Bin Bong’s character also becomes magical to the piece, because it reminds people of their old silly imaginations and what a little home and dreaming can create inside our minds, and even after years of not using this childish imagination it is always there for us to save us at our worst.
Coco (2017)
“Coco” was a Pixar Animation Studios film that led both the company and Disney to follow an approach that shows the representation of other communities and cultures, demonstrating not only their uniqueness and beauty but also managing to develop a story that could be relatable to every country, demonstrating once more how everyone could be similar even in their singularity. The movie follows the journey of Miguel, a young Mexican boy whose passion is music while his family is determined to eradicate every trace of it in their lives after Miguel’s great-great-grandfather, Héctor, supposedly left them to achieve his lifelong dream of becoming a musician.
The marvelous factor about this movie lies probably in how they represented Mexican culture, for a long time animated movies represented only tales in Europe or the USA, and this film finally brought a new culture, something so beautiful as seeing themselves on the screen. Thereby, Pixar not only showed the very well known tradition of the Day of the Dead but rather went further in it, showing tiny details about this significant tradition, like the creation of “Ofrendas”, a tiny altar for those who have left us to be able to visit us from the “Land of the Dead”, the presence of Mexican food other than what Tex’Mex food taught the world, the addition of the mystical creatures known as alebrijes and the well-developed music. Therefore, for Mexican people, this movie became far more than just the story, it was a very well-deserved portrait and a way to show their country to new people.
Although this film represented a lot more to people from this culture, there is something quite incredible about the way Pixar disinvolved the story, because it allowed everyone to find a little piece of themselves in this new land. But just as every Pixar movie this had a greater connection with adults, maybe because once in their lives they have experienced the pain of losing someone, but mainly with the lesson of giving forgiveness. This is made by the storyline of Héctor and how he supposedly left his family, with a lot of hatred and pain in their hearts, except for Miguel’s great-grandmother, Mama Coco, even as her memories slipped away from old age.
This resonates deeply with older age gaps because we have all felt the pain of feeling in a way abandoned or hurt by a mistake, but that is the beautiful thing about humans, we can also choose when to set that pain free, and allow ourselves not only to forgive others but ourselves. Besides, the film follows Miguel on the journey of achieving his dream of becoming a famous musician even without the support of his family, this teaches adults once again that it is never too late to follow their dream, but it goes deeper than just that, we live in a world in which dreams are no longer valorized and we have been passing that onto other generations, creating a big sense of frustration in our society, bringing the adults to reflect on letting their children and other individuals chase their life-long dreams.
soul (2020)
“Soul” introduced Joe Gardner, a band teacher with a passion for jazz music and the lifelong dream to become a professional jazz pianist, who at the beginning of the movie is allowed to play with a great jazz band and achieve his dreams, but while celebrating, he falls in the streets of New York and he ends up in The Great Before, a place where souls get their personalities and eventually go to Earth. This movie was designed to affect mainly the adults, because it portrayed a man who did everything in his power to get to where he wanted to be but still there was something in his way that never quite allowed him to get there, there was always something that seemed to tell him that his dreams were not accomplishable, and maybe he had been chasing something purely utopical. In reality, many adults have gone through the sadness of giving up something that they wanted from the depths of their hearts and feeling like their purpose was never meant to be found, but the film shows just how there is no need to have a purpose, people are meant to live life, that’s their purpose, and while they put their hearts out in the open, there is nothing wrong with them.
Therefore, throughout the film, Pixar exposes the toxic life purpose trap with the character 22, a soul that has been trying to find her purpose for a long time and hasn’t been allowed to go to Earth due to this. In reality, Joe Gardner shows 22 that her “spark” isn’t supposed to be her purpose and that she would find her spark when she is ready to come to live, and that is something that somehow affected adults because they have this unnecessary need to have a purpose, to be good at something when in reality they already are.
Turning Red (2022)
“Turning Red” is Pixar’s most recent production to be launched to date, although we are expecting the launch of “Lightyear” in June 2022, the film introduces the life of Mei Lee, a 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian girl who seems to struggle with her passions and making her mother, Ming, proud of the woman she is becoming, all that while suffering the angst and troubles of going through puberty, therefore being a film that becomes a representation of the Asian descendant culture, with curated details and references to this beautiful culture. Besides, the women of Mei Mei’s family seem to have been cursed to become giant Red Pandas whenever they have strong emotions, whether it is anger, excitement, or sadness.
So the movie resonated more with older age groups, like teens and adults, because they have gone through what it is to be awkward 13-year-olds, living experiences like having your first crush — which becomes quite embarrassing for Mei Mei, being obsessed with boybands and wanting to rebel a little bit with the help of your friends. Besides, the film had a 2000’s vibe, having a lot of references for adults to relate to from that specific period time, like the presence of Tamagotchi’s and the resemblance of 4Town – Mei’s favorite boyband – with ‘N Sync, giving the piece a nostalgia effect that captivated the older audiences.
Further than that, the movie showed something that a lot of individuals struggle with: the pressure of perfectionism in front of our families. We wish to show them that all of the work that they have put in was worth it, everything we do must make them proud, but at what cost? In the movie, Mei Mei has a powerful monologue in which she states that parents are “the supreme beings who gave you life, who sweated and sacrificed so much to put a roof over your head, food on your plate (an epic amount of food), the least you can do in return is… every single thing they ask”, but at the same time demonstrates how “honoring your parents sounds great, but if you take too far, well… you might forget to honor yourself”, which is exactly what not only her character went through but many other do daily, needing to learn that honoring yourself must come first.
On that note, the film serves as a way for parents to realize that putting an insane amount of pressure on their children will only push them away from them in the future,
which is what occurs with Ming’s character and her mom, who she ended up resenting and fearing a lot, showing once more that parents must accept their child’s path and imperfections, and watch over them instead of controlling their every move. Besides, the film also deals with the theme of Mei Mei possibly suffering a little bit of anxiety – caused by the constant necessity of perfection — but also demonstrates the importance of accepting those big emotions that humans tend to feel, and how they can be beneficial to us, or sometimes the people that we love most — like Mei’s adorable friend group – can be the ones to save us from a storm.
The thing about animated movies is that they were wrongfully categorized as “kids only” but the truth is Pixar has shown time and time again that their animated productions could have a lot more to teach to the adults, so… how about you watch an animated movie and have a little reflection moment?
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The article above was edited by Nicoly Bastos.
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