Disney has been a method of relaxtion for me since, you know, I was at a normal age to watch them. But I do find in college that the familiarity of the stories and the songs and the characters are a really great way to relieve stress. And Pixar movies, like Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and the Incredibles, are all movies that our generation grew up with and still love (given the insane amount of us who waited so patiently for Finding Dory and Toy Story 3). But aside from that, Pixar releases an animated short with every movie that comes out, and you can learn from and relate to them all so perfectly, especially in a college setting.
1. For the Birds
Released with Monster’s Inc. “For the Birds” is basically what everyone deals with at some point in college, especially as a freshman. Feeling out of place and different is a common thought when starting in a new place. As college students we might deal with a small form of this every semester as we get new classes and meet new people.
2. La Luna
Shown before Brave, La Luna is about three generations and family expectations. And I think that college students often deal with expectations of parents and pressure to constantly have a plan for your life and what you want to do with your degree. But like the boy in La Luna, we are a new generation with changing traditions and it is important that we see our own path and make our own decsions.
3. The Blue Umbrella
This one is shown before Monsters University, and I think this is a perfect representation for when you see a really cute guy on campus and then he disappears from sight forever… But in the rare occaision that you run back into him take advantage of it. Even more so, when becoming interested in someone it is important to see that if it’s meant to work out, everything will fall into place.
4. Day and Night
PIxar paired this short with Toy Story 3, and I think shows an important lesson that sometimes is diffcult for everyone to see. Sometimes depsite our differences, there are always similarities, even in people you would least expect. It is important to give everyone a chance without judgement.
5. Piper
Finding Dory opened up with the adorable story of Piper. This very tiny fluffy bird shows us how difficult it can be learning something new, which is the entire point of college. New subjects all the time and new skills being tested. Piper shows that with committment learning something new can be done, even though it can be hard.