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Abridged from The Wisdom of Pixar, new from InterVarsity Press.

Pixar movies and their themes resonate with us not just because of the attention-grabbing animation, but also because of their stories and characters. Whether it's toys or cars brought to life, or monsters or even rats, these characters contain a quality of reality to which we can relate. Moreover, in our often dark world, Pixar films offer hope, imagination, beauty, and a degree of purity and innocence that is countercultural in our age.

Pixar

Human nature's dark side is capably depicted—in much detail—by many gritty, non-Pixar films. But Pixar calls our attention back to the almost forgotten world of virtue. We sympathize and perhaps even empathize with the characters because we relate to their struggles. Pixar's characters help us understand how to better build our own characters—morally speaking, that is. But Pixar doesn't preach to us; there is no First Church of Pixar to offer us sermons, pews, committees, incense or flowing choir robes. Instead, we come to better understand virtue through entertaining and engaging stories—the kind of stories that Pixar tells, stories that have the power to wholly engage us, heart, soul and mind.

Characters and plots need not be overtly Christian to instruct us in virtue. Christ engaged his listeners by telling parables, not by preaching or delivering dry lectures. He shared stories that have, at their center, practical moral lessons that stick with us. We remember the tales of the Good Samaritan and the prodigal son not because they sound like they come from a textbook on ethics, but because they are stories that resonate with us as human beings.

In Finding Nemo, after they have escaped from a hungry shark and massive minefield explosions, the fish Marlin and Dory are exhausted. Marlin is anxious to find his missing son, Nemo, but now he has lost his best clue for finding him—a scuba mask inscribed with the address of the diver who captured Nemo.

Dory (right) helps Marlin find hope

Discouraged, Marlin says, "That was my only chance at finding my son; now it's gone!" But Dory is not so easily deterred. "Hey, Mr. Grumpy Gills," she says. "When life gets you down, you know what you gotta do? Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do? We swim, swim." Dory continues joyfully singing about swimming, while leading Marlin into the dark ocean depths in search of the mask. Dory remains hopeful in the face of adversity. Pixar films do that, moving us to "just keep swimming" no matter what our circumstances.

Pixar films are also full of imagination. In their first, 1995's Toy Story, toys come alive when humans aren't around. Woody the cowboy doll climbs onto a bed and sees an imposing action figure—Buzz Lightyear, a Space Ranger. Buzz, who doesn't know he's a toy, attempts to contact Star Command and is puzzled by their silence. Distraught over the damage to his "ship"—the cardboard box he came in—Buzz makes a voice recording in his mission log, noting that he has crash landed on a "strange planet." Woody greets Buzz, as do the other toys in the room. When Woody refers to Buzz as a toy, the Space Ranger is not amused, resulting in some banter as to whether or not Buzz can really fly. Buzz sets out to demonstrate his flying prowess and as he prepares to jump from a bedpost, he utters the now-famous phrase, "To infinity and beyond!" Buzz's words may well be a call to creativity and imagination too. That's certainly been the case for Pixar, as the studio continues to dream up fantastic adventures that are also grounded in realities to which many can relate.

Trends in filmmaking come and go, but there's always room for hopeful films, such as the classic It's a Wonderful Life. Some films, however, emphasize the ugly reality of a world ripped apart by sin (The Dark Knight is a good contemporary example). While it's important to understand depravity in the world, it's also important to affirm its joys, opportunities, and hopes. Pixar films excel in this—to the point that some might consider them countercultural in their positive affirmations. This does not mean that Pixar avoids challenging topics; rather, the studio handles them in such a way as to leave hope intact.

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