Study Guides

The films of Pixar Animation Studios offer Christian leaders an invaluable opportunity. Not only do their stories engage children, youth, and adults alike, but they do so by exploring universal dimensions of the human condition…

Monsters, Inc. is a film about fear. It taps into childhood fears common to the human experience, and it also speaks to the collective fears of a terrorized society—fears of the unknown, the outsider, and most importantly, the other…

This desire to live an extraordinary life informs everything we do. Regardless of what I, as an individual, commit my time and energy to, I want it to matter that I am the one who does it. This basic impulse, although fundamentally good, has a tendency to become disoriented…

Fear and anxiety have paralyzed Marlin. He is unwilling to take even the slightest risk because he fears that he might lose something or, worse, someone else…

Pixar’s Ratatouille is a movie that gets better with each viewing, because it helps us understand the various sides of our identities—as artists, as critics, and most importantly, as a member of a family, a greater community, and the world…

Lightning wants to be a champion, but he longs even more for the sponsorships, the preferential treatment, and the many other privileges that come with being a celebrity…

If we only consider the perspective of Mr. Incredible, then the film is about his longing for what he has lost. His is an unhealthy nostalgia, a kind of glorification of the past. In this way, the film resonates with the words of Ecclesiastes…

How do our losses shape the stories we tell about our lives? What is the difference between having numerous companions/acquaintances and having a true friend?

Within moments of meeting WALL*E, we are faced with a series of questions that strike at the heart of the human condition. Does my work matter? Does anyone care? Will I always be lonely?

Merida has a mother, Queen Elinor, and their tempestuous relationship is at the center of Brave’s story. That Brave explores the mother/daughter dynamic makes it remarkably different than every other Disney princess movie that has come before…

What makes the three Toy Story films so endearing and so timeless is that they tell a fundamentally human story. Used in the broadest sense of the term, each film focuses on our shared longing to live a life that is an expression or extension of our calling—our core identity…