I also thought I’d bring up, for the sake of discussion, the idea of purpose in Pixar movies. For instance, the characters in Toy Story are Andy’s toys; their purpose, to paraphrase Woody, is to be there for Andy. Dug loves and serves his master. Eve is bent on completing her mission. Particularly in the case of these three examples, their role places them in a position of subservience to humans. How would this work into Kyle’s theory? Is cooperation necessarily equality? This is just for discussion and does not reflect my personal views, or all Pixar films.

Hey, Hey just kidding cowboy. Good thought went into this.

As for all of you “haters,” you throw ad hominems at the author as another way to make you sound smart. And many of you, take the opportunity to call out the “haters” so you can validate the compassionate side of your being. You think that defending the author against cheap attacks makes you look like a good person, but you really have no vested interest in the author. After all, the internet is merely a conglomerate of individual, anonymous minds. My suggestion is to stop seeking for validation on the internet. You don’t have to sound smart, you don’t have to sound moral, and you don’t have to sound wise. If it gives you confidence, then fine, just know that that confidence was always in you, and you don’t need blogging and posting to bring it out. But then again, sometimes its good just to hear yourself speak, no? However, I think the author would prefer if we stayed on point in their discussion…

If the author means to say that animals can be people too, I think they are mistaken. They share some traits that we do, after all, we are animals, but in no way are you obligated to treat an ant as you would a human.

I think Pixar uses the age old storytelling technique of personification, because they want to make good movies, that make good money. Very few writers try to make their points with everyday plots, and dialogues. And why should they? If people can’t find meaning in ordinary, everyday life, then why would movie makers attempt to share their message through mundane anecdotes? Writers use many techniques to captivate their audience, and anthropomorphic figures are particularly captivating to children. That’s why pixar uses them.

I will admit that Pixar tries to promote acceptance and compassion for others, this is pretty well undisputed, although someone felt the need to convince us anyway…

I don’t want to dismiss the author’s point, but acting like there’s a big secret message in Pixar films is a little far-fetched, when there are perfectly reasonable explanations that author clearly did not explore.