5 Pixar Movies With A Deeper Meaning

Did you know your favorite movies are sometimes commentary for something more?

We don’t always notice the underlying significance of some of our favorite animated and kids’ movies. Pixar loves to send messages to its audience through its storytelling and does so in an extremely effective way because we don’t even know it’s happening! Here are some of the incredible lessons we have learned from Pixar along the way. 

1. Zootopia 

When Officer Judy Hopps discovers that one’s biology doesn’t define who they are through her relationship with Nick the Fox, she is really uncovering that no matter what we look like or what is in our DNA, we as humans are all the same. Zootopia is a celebration of the differences in the world and encourages us to celebrate our differences as well. 

2. Inside Out

This animated feature focuses on our emotions and how they work to help us. The character “Sadness” is repeatedly put down in the film as useless, but Pixar successfully shows us that sometimes we need to feel sad in order to feel better. It isn’t good to keep our sadness bottled up inside ourselves and a good cry is sometimes in order to let our emotions out. 

3. A Bug’s Life

For all you 90s kids this one will definitely hit home. When Flik tries to help defend his community from a group of grasshoppers, the other bugs laugh at him and think his ideas don’t matter. As kids, this movie discreetly taught us not to be afraid to show what we’re thinking and not to be afraid to stand up for what we believe in. 

4. Monsters, Inc.

The perfect example of how you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, Monsters, Inc showed us that things aren’t always what they appear to be. We are predisposed to think monsters are scary, but we see in this movie that they aren’t all that bad. Through this, Pixar reminds us not to judge other people and to get to know them instead. 

5. Finding Dory

This extremely anticipated movie follows our favorite fish, Dory, who is trying to find her family. On the surface, this movies appears to be about family,  but it is not. Finding Dory tells the riveting story of a character who struggles with a disability and must learn to cope and find ways to continue despite those struggles. Dory shows us that no matter what life throws our way, we can find ways to “just keep swimming.” 

What’s your favorite Pixar movie?