Pixar

Even if the plots stray a bit from Scripture, it would be foolish to ignore the biblical themes they’re promoting. Here are 4 biblical lessons about life, death and the afterlife you’ll find in Pixar’s latest films.

Ian Lightfoot is an awkward, scrawny 16-year-old elf who wants to build courage and self-confidence. To accomplish that, he will become more like the dad he never knew. He was bold. He attracted attention. He was – in the words of a close friend – a “great guy.”“I wish I’d met him,” Ian says.Ian’s father grew sick and died before he was born. His older brother, Barley, has a handful of memories of their father. Ian, though, has none.But then Ian’s mother gives the two boys a gift from their dad – a magical staff – that could help answer Ian’s questions. It even has a spell that could bring their father back for 24 hours. The spell, though, doesn’t go as planned. Their father returns, but only from the waste down. Instead of a once-in-a-lifetime meeting with his dad, Ian is left with a “half dad” who can’t talk. Still, Ian and Barley have a plan. They’ll go on a road trip in search of a “Phoenix Gem” – a unique crystal required to make the spell work. And if they can find it within 24 hours, Ian can finally have the son-to-father chat he’s always craved.The new Disney/Pixar animated film Onward (PG) follows the adventures of Ian and Barley, two brothers who are opposite in nearly every way but team up for an extraordinary quest. It stars Tom Holland as Ian, Chris Pratt as Barley, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as their mom. The film is set in the suburban fantasy world city of Mushroomton and filled with elves, fairies and centaurs. Although their ancestors used magic, the citizens of this world don’t. They’ve replaced it with modern conveniences, and many of them no longer believe magic is real. (Their father, before he passed away, was an accountant.)Here are four things parents should know:Photo courtesy: ©Pixar

Forky is a toy that looks, well… different. His head and body were made from a plastic spork, his arms from a pipe cleaner, and his legs from a broken-in-half popsicle stick. The Disney/Pixar film Toy Story 4 opens this weekend, picking up in the storyline where Toy Story 3 left us – with Woody and his friends under the care of a new owner, Bonnie. Here are five reasons parents will love this new addition to the franchise:

Pixar Animation, now owned by Walt Disney Studios, recently named committed Christian Pete Doctor as their new Chief Creative Officer.

Once again Pixar stuns with the gorgeously rendered Coco, an emotionally poignant fable that reminds us to honor our past and put our families first. Crosswalk.com was there to talk to the the stars of Coco about their beautiful new film. Subscribe to the Crosswalk.com YouTube page! Like Crosswalk.com on Facebook!

Pixar's fifteenth feature-length film, Inside Out, is just around the corner! And here at Crosswalk, our editors and film critics love just about everything the studio has produced in the past 20 years. But how to rank them?

While Pixar is a powerhouse in the world of animation, some Christians may wonder if their movies have anything to offer people of faith.

Robert Velarde, the author of The Wisdom of Pixar: An Animated Look at Virtue, explains the appeal and value of Pixar films through looking at the virtues (and vices) of dynamic characters in movies like Up, Ratatouille, Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles. Posted by user 'crosswalk.com' on GodTube.com.

Shifting gears from its predecessor's carefree tone, Cars 3 is an unexpectedly mature (yet G-rated) entry in the Pixar franchise. Not only does this film explore ideas of aging and mentorship with quiet grace, but it delivers plenty of laughs and gorgeous animation along the way. If this is Lightning McQueen's final race, it’s a good victory to end on. 4 out of 5.

Many Christians overlook how scripture emphasizes the need for committed, mutually-respectful mentorship.

Finding Dory has all the laughter and tears we’ve come to expect from a Pixar film, making this sequel one of the best movies you’ll see this summer.

Parents, you may not be in the habit of taking advice from fish, especially not animated fish with short-term memory loss...but perhaps you should start.

Disney-Pixar's "The Good Dinosaur" was the studio's rare 'troubled project,' and it shows, but not in the visuals. The film looks amazing! Unfortunately, as Crosswalk's Steve & Shawn explain, it borrows too liberally from previous, better Disney fare and loses some of the Pixar charm, humor and originality along the way. Kids, however, will probably love it.

While The Good Dinosaur certainly has all the pieces of a classic Pixar film, they never quite form a unified whole.

Pixar's 16th animated feature is about a young dinosaur who, through many unexpected trials, struggles to prove himself. Oddly enough, the film and rookie director Peter Sohn took a similar journey.