Pixar Movie Marathon

My kids attended parts of the 24-hour movie marathon I held last year. That got me to thinking about what a kid-friendly, high-quality movie marathon would look like.

My thoughts immediately went to a Pixar movie marathon. Pixar makes some truly stunning films – both in terms of visual beauty and engaging storytelling. I grew up too soon to see a Pixar film as a child, but watching them as an adult has been a real pleasure.

It turns out that the Pixar catalog of original movies almost fits perfectly into a 24-hour movie marathon format. You have to be willing to skip the derivative sequels Cars 2, Cars 3, and Monsters University. And you’ll have to skip the “Just Ok” The Good Dinosaur. But if you can do that, you get to watch 13 gorgeous feature films in one 24-hour period. I have a sample schedule for you below, arranged in chronological order of release of the film.

And this marathon comes with a bonus! By watching each film in one session, you can see for yourself if you believe The Pixar Theory.

The Pixar Movie Marathon Movies

Toy Story

My take: Toys come alive when no one is looking. Why they bother to pretend to be not alive when looked at is never explained. This is frequently cited as the major weakness of the film.

A Bug’s Life

My take: Remember the parable about the foolish grasshoppers vs. the frugal ants? What if the grasshoppers just did shakedowns of the ants to get their food? Who’s foolish now?

Toy Story 2

My take: Woody the toy is abducted by the Collector and put in plastic with Xena Warrior Princess, Dr. Who, and…oh wait – that was a Simpsons Halloween episode.

Monsters, Inc.

My take: Monsters scare children to generate electrical power. This movie is very similar to The Matrix, in that  implausible power generation sources are used in both films.

Finding Nemo

My take: If fish can all talk to each other, wouldn’t sharks eating other fish be kind of like cannibalism?

The Incredibles

My take: A superhero family lives a typical suburban lifestyle. The teenage years are going to be rough on the neighborhood.

Cars

My take: A race car learns that life isn’t all about racing. Wait, what?

Ratatouille

My take: A rat fulfills his lifelong dream of being a gourmet chef. Now that would have been an interesting episode of Gordon Ramsey’s “Kitchen Nightmares”.

Wall-E

My take: The life and times of a mobile trash compactor in the dystopian future where humans have trashed earth and spent the last 700 years in a space mall. Deep stuff for the elementary school crowd.

Up

My take: So…it seems like the villain in this movie could have made some serious bank with his talking dog collar invention. I might have just retired after that one. Just sayin.

Toy Story 3

My take: More unending sadness about loss and abandonment and the ways it twists the minds of those who experience it. But told in colorful toy form!

Brave

My take: The classic story of a mother-daughter fight which leads to the mother turning into a bear. Who hasn’t heard THAT story already?

Inside Out

My take: A psychology textbook brought to life in colorful Pixar form. An insanely good drama of a young girl dealing with moving away from her home to an unfamiliar environment, woven together with a strangely accurate depiction of her cartoon subconscious emotions. A stunning achievement of entertainment and education.

The Pixar Movie Marathon Schedule

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