Like the awesome parents that we are, we bribed Little Mister that if he pooped in the toilet five times in a row without any accidents that we would take him to Target and let him pick out a toy. Well, the fifth time happened while we were out visiting my dad this past weekend. So my husband and I talked and decided that, instead of a toy from Target, we would surprise Little Mister and take him to see Toy Story 4 tomorrow night.
This got me thinking about the Toy Story movies. These are movies that have had quite the influence on my life and been a part of it as I grew up. It’s really special how Little Mister loves them just as much.
I remember when I was younger, shortly after Toy Story came out on VHS, my parents had just gotten divorced and my dad took me on a trip to Lake Havasu in California. We spent a week on a HUGE house boat called The Mighty Yukon. I was seven years old and helping my dad maneuver a house boat made for 8-10 people around this large lake. So many fantastic memories came from that trip, but one of the ones that sticks out for both myself and my dad is the amazing number of times that we watched Toy Story. I think by the end of that trip, we both had the movie memorized.
This movie about two toys, sticking it out together even when they didn’t really like each other to begin with, had a message that you can find companionship even in the least likely of places. That even when things seem to be down, when you are afraid of being replaced, everything will be ok.
In a world of Disney movie princesses, I love the Toy Story franchise. There aren’t any princesses, no falling in love, just pure friendship, both between the toys and between the toys and their kid. There is a show of equality, that both new and old can be exciting and good friends.
When Toy Story 3 was released, I was in my final year of college. Most of my toys had been abandoned or sold, some still in storage, waiting for me to return from college so that I could make a decision of what I wanted to do with them (some still in my parents’ houses, waiting for me to sort through them).
Suddenly, I’m sitting in a theater watching a movie about toys that are trying to not feel abandoned, whose person is leaving for college, and it gets me right in the feels. Even writing this now, tears are coming to my eyes. This is probably why so many of the toys are still waiting for me in the garage and my American Girl dolls (originals from the Pleasant Doll Company) still sit on my closet shelf, in excellent condition, waiting for my children to be old enough play with them.
I know that these movies are fiction. I know that toys aren’t real. But the messages that these movies share are important for kids of all ages. As I await to see Toy Story 4, I wonder what messages my children are learning from my beloved Disney and Pixar movies.
Lessons of Friendship
If my kids get one message from the Toy Story franchise, I hope it’s the message of friendship. Though Woody and Buzz aren’t friends to begin with and Woody has definite jealousy issues, they stick by each other throughout the franchise. They don’t give up on each other and they see things through, just to make sure the other is ok.
They aren’t the most likely of friendship – a cowboy and a space ranger – but the melding of old and new demonstrates that the most unlikely of people may be your best friend. As my kids age, I want to encourage them to seek out people who they may not immediately see similarities with to find friends. They may find the best of friends from people who they don’t immediately “click” with. Being open to all kinds of people will help them grow.
Lessons of Hope
One of my favorite Pixar movies is Inside Out. When I first saw the movie, I was pregnant with Little Mister and I remember sitting in the theater and crying to my husband afterwards, asking him if he thought my islands broke when I was little and that made me broken. I’m pretty sure it was just hormones though. Now I can see that we don’t break like this. We all have emotions that may dominate our moods at any given time. Sometimes we may have moments where Joy controls us while other times it’s Anxiety. And all of that is ok.
It is absolutely ok to feel every emotion under the sun. The important message that I want my children to learn that it is ok to feel these emotions and to hope – to hope for a better time, to hope to feel better, and to hope for happiness and security. Life won’t always be happy and perfect. But we can have hope. The hope that Joy feels throughout the movie that she will get back to Headquarters, the hope that the other emotions feel that things will resolve, the hope that we feel as a viewer that life will get better are all important for my children to understand.
Lessons of Strength
It seems obvious that I should find lessons of strength in a movie about super heroes, but that is exactly what I see. Yes, Mr. Incredible is incredibly strong and Elasti-girl can stretch to unusual (and slightly creepy) lengths, but the movie is filled with messages of strength as a family. Though each member of the Incredible family has special traits that make them strong in their own right, when they are together, they create an unbreakable strength that can conquer even the scariest of bad guys.
I want my kids to know that no matter what, their families are here to support them and make them stronger. I want my kids to know that their father and I are here to back them up and encourage them in all of their endeavors. I want my kids to know that families build each other up, cheer each other on, and, that when we feel down or like we can’t make it, we can find strength in each other.
Lessons of Courage
It takes incredible courage to continue on a journey after facing obstacles and fears. And yet, that’s exactly what Marlin, Dory, and Nemo do in Finding Nemo and Finding Dory. Even when they encounter sharks, jellyfish, and Darla in Finding Nemo and then a confusing marine research center in Finding Dory, these fish continue to persevere, searching for their family and friends.
I want my kids to know this kind of courage – to know the kind of courage that will stare their fears in the face in order to achieve what goals they set. I want them to be able to see their dreams and to persevere through the hardships that they will encounter.
There are so many amazing lessons in the Pixar movies and I will always love watching them with my kids. I know that I will undoubtedly need Kleenex for the end of Toy Story 4, knowing that it is the end of this amazing franchise that has had such an influence on my life. But the wonderful thing about these movies is that my children can enjoy them for years to come (and so can I).