Pixar fights tyranny

Being a parent affords a number of benefits. One of the sweetest perks that comes with parenthood is the ability to unashamedly enjoy kids movies and television shows. Since I became a father, I have particularly enjoyed the films produced by Pixar Studios (okay, so I have enjoyed them since long before I had children; now I just have a legitimate excuse). In a period in which children’s television and movies are dominated by either the mindlessly stupid (Spongebob) or the didactically liberal (Sesame Street, Happy Feet), Pixar consistently produces films that are morally serious and emotionally affecting. Perhaps more importantly, the films do not drip the blind progressivism of their usually inferior counterparts from other studios. By and large they feature realistic and complicated characters faced with consequential choices, characters who are—despite living in fantasy worlds often far removed from the real world—stunningly and delightfully human.

Many of Pixar’s films treat themes of special urgency in modern society—the threat of tyranny within democratic societies; the “chronological snobbery” identified by Lewis and Barfield that almost invariably characterizes today’s youth—with surprising sophistication and sensitivity. Toy Story 3 and WALL-E in particular, stand out for the admirable way in which they handle important questions about how modern society can tend towards tyranny.

In Toy Story 3, the main characters, toys dealing with the threat of their longtime owner growing up and forgetting them, find themselves accidentally donated to Sunnyside Daycare. Sunnyside at first seems a heaven for the toys, who have been relegated to the toy bin during their owner’s teenage years. At daycare they can look forward to playtime five days a week with fresh and lively children.

Unfortunately, what at first seems to be the perfect place for forgotten toys turns out to be a prison run by Lotso Huggin’ Bear, a cast off and bitter teddy who smells of strawberries. While Lotso acts the part of a cuddly old bear who walks with a cane and speaks with a soothing southern drawl, he turns out to be an embittered nihilist who treats those closest to him with contempt, who can only interact with other toys by fear and coercion.

Lotso’s will to dominate those around him is a direct result of his terminal pessimism. Like many dictators, Lotso’s view of his fellow toys is materialistic—and thus nihilistic: “We're all just trash waiting to be thrown away! That's all a toy is!” Lotso must exert power over the toys at Sunnyside because that is all that remains for so complete a nihilist. He cannot have a real relationship with the other toys because meaningful relationships based upon mutual consent are not possible between “trash.”

Lotso was not always the villain that he became at Sunnyside. His turn to pessimism came as a direct result of his being lost and replaced by his first owner, a young girl who was the love of Lotso’s life. When the girl accidentally leaves him by the side of the road, Lotso walks for days until he returns to her house, where he finds that she has replaced him with an identical teddy.

Lotso’s devastation ultimately colors his view of all toys. Because the most important relationship in his life turned out unfortunately, Lotso concludes that there is nothing worthwhile in the world except the exercise of power.

Although Toy Story 3 is too sophisticated to end with “the moral of the story,” Lotso’s life is a clear warning, and it is one that children need to hear in today’s world—a world in which institutions and bureaucracies create blanket policies that regulate all for the mistakes of a few; where long-cherished institutions like the family are regarded as failed and false because some people have been abused by their families; where loyalty is discounted because some people are disloyal; where honesty is viewed with suspicion because some people lie. Tyranny—whether on a large or small scale—will always result from such approaches to human society.

A very different film, WALL-E explores another ground in which the tyrannical urge can root and grow. In the distant future, the earth has become overrun with trash and all humans have escaped into deep space on huge starliners. The starliners counterfeit many features of earthly human life, but the people themselves have become so dependent upon technology that they hardly resemble humanity at all: they are so enormously fat that they cannot walk, and they communicate with other people by electronic means only, even when they are right next to each other. The humans have become too comfortable for responsibility: they are happy to allow robots and computers to do everything for them. The captains of the starliners, for example, have no real responsibility for the ships they run. The ship’s centralized computers have real control over both the ships and the lives of their passengers.

It is ironic—or perhaps even fitting—that such a warning about the tendency of technology to lead to complacency and finally to tyranny should come from a studio that produces computer-animated films (not to mention that Steve Jobs was at one time Pixar’s CEO). The studio deserves tremendous praise for giving such a warning about the risks inherent in technological societies through a children’s movie. This is especially apparent when one considers that we live in an age when many kindergarteners are using tablet computers in their classes.

By all relevant criteria, Pixar’s films are far superior to comparable offerings in children’s films. Films like WALL-E, Cars, and the Toy Story series exhibit the best qualities of any art, children’s or otherwise. They consistently offer excellence of craft, delight for the mind and the senses, and incisive and relevant commentary on issues that become increasingly important in modern society.