By Amy Turner
According to Jon Negroni, every Pixar movie is connected. And he has backed this up with some compelling evidence. If you have not heard of this theory before have a look at this clip to fill you in… and if you have not yet seen inside out, maybe bookmark this page for until after you have seen it at least once… There will be spoilers below.
According to Jon Negroni, every Pixar movie is connected. And he has backed this up with some compelling evidence. If you have not heard of this theory before have a look at this clip to fill you in… and if you have not yet seen inside out, maybe bookmark this page for until after you have seen it at least once… There will be spoilers below.
In the Pixar Theory, all Pixar movies exist in the same universe, and are part of a cohesive timeline. The theory covers every Pixar movie in production since Toy Story right up to and including their most recent film, Inside Out.
We learn early on in Inside Out that Riley (the main character) grew up in Minnesota, before moving to San Francisco when she’s 11 years old. At this point it appears to be set in the present, judging by the technology of Riley’s smartphone and the laptop she ‘skypes’ on.
That implies the movie opens in late 2003 to 2004, depending on Riley’s birthday, meaning that the movie opens during the same year as Finding Nemo according to Negroni’s timeline.
One main theme of Negroni’s Pixar Theory is the idea that humans emit ‘energy’ seen all throughout the films. In Monsters Inc., we learn that the emotion of a child can be harvested as energy. In The Incredibles, this energy is seen tangibly through the exploits of super-powered humans who can do amazing things.
So where does this energy fit into Inside Out? The whole premise of the movie is that our emotions are what truly power our actions. And the most powerful emotion for a child is Joy, demonstrated by Joy being the most dominant of Riley’s emotions. This causes most of Riley’s memories to be positive, just as is the case for most other children.
The monsters of Monsters Inc. use fear to power their society, but they eventually learn that laughter is far more effective. And why is that? Well, Inside Out explains that joy is one of the first emotions we experience. Joy, the character, is a literal light source. She’s fast, tough, and clever. And she’ll do anything to make Riley happy. The other emotions in comparison are much more passive.
Monsters Inc. raised a lingering question that Inside out hints at the answer to: Why are adults so difficult to scare? Inside Out answers that by showing how the inside of adults’ minds work. They’re more emotionally balanced, for example, so you don’t see one emotion overpowering the others. When we see inside the heads of Riley’s parents, the emotions don’t bicker like they do in Riley’s head. Instead, they all work together to accomplish the same goal.
But perhaps the strongest link between Inside Out and the Pixar Theory is Bing Bong. An imaginary friend, yes, but according to Jon Negroni, Bing Bong was based on a monster. Riley’s monster from when she was still very small. This would make sense if children perceive the monsters that appear in their rooms as their imaginary friends in attempt to make sense of what they saw.
At the end of Monsters Inc., Sulley and Mike decide to make kids laugh instead of scream because it generates more energy. We know that monsters have animal characteristics, explaining Bing Bong’s part-cat/part-elephant appearance. And of course Riley thinks he’s made of cotton candy. Why else would he be pink? Perhaps the dolphin noises he makes were part of his routine to make Riley laugh which was what caused her to think he’s part dolphin, too.
Waternoose, the boss of Monsters Inc. explains that the persistence of technology and television is starting to numb children. Riley stands in contrast to this. We see her video message a friend once and ignore a call from her smartphone the one time it shows up. When she sits down to eat a lonely lunch, her eyes aren’t glued to her phone. She’s always in the moment. Is this because she has never built a reliance on technology because of growing up with an imaginary friend always waiting to play with her or take her on some adventure?
Compare that with the humans of WALL-E. In a way, the humans on Axiom are just as joyful as Riley. These people seemed genuinely content and happy. But at the same time, they were completely numb to the outside world thanks to their over-reliance on technology.
So we know the Monsters use doors to travel back in time, where they can scare (or entertain) humans, and those emotional reactions fill the canisters that power their world. To prevent a fluid timeline, they keep the time travel aspect a secret and banish monsters who break the rules. They even have an agency devoted to propagating the myth that humans are toxic.
So what if the timeline is changing? What if the result of the monsters time travel and change from scaring children to making them laugh is that the events of WALL-E won’t happen because humans ultimately reject the brainwashing of BNL and their complete reliance on technology?
Perhaps this whole time, we’ve been watching two Pixar timelines diverging thanks to the funny side effects of time travel, and the real story is just beginning?
What do you think about this theory… Do you have anything to add, or do you have a completely different theory? Let us know what you think below.
We learn early on in Inside Out that Riley (the main character) grew up in Minnesota, before moving to San Francisco when she’s 11 years old. At this point it appears to be set in the present, judging by the technology of Riley’s smartphone and the laptop she ‘skypes’ on.
That implies the movie opens in late 2003 to 2004, depending on Riley’s birthday, meaning that the movie opens during the same year as Finding Nemo according to Negroni’s timeline.
One main theme of Negroni’s Pixar Theory is the idea that humans emit ‘energy’ seen all throughout the films. In Monsters Inc., we learn that the emotion of a child can be harvested as energy. In The Incredibles, this energy is seen tangibly through the exploits of super-powered humans who can do amazing things.
So where does this energy fit into Inside Out? The whole premise of the movie is that our emotions are what truly power our actions. And the most powerful emotion for a child is Joy, demonstrated by Joy being the most dominant of Riley’s emotions. This causes most of Riley’s memories to be positive, just as is the case for most other children.
The monsters of Monsters Inc. use fear to power their society, but they eventually learn that laughter is far more effective. And why is that? Well, Inside Out explains that joy is one of the first emotions we experience. Joy, the character, is a literal light source. She’s fast, tough, and clever. And she’ll do anything to make Riley happy. The other emotions in comparison are much more passive.
Monsters Inc. raised a lingering question that Inside out hints at the answer to: Why are adults so difficult to scare? Inside Out answers that by showing how the inside of adults’ minds work. They’re more emotionally balanced, for example, so you don’t see one emotion overpowering the others. When we see inside the heads of Riley’s parents, the emotions don’t bicker like they do in Riley’s head. Instead, they all work together to accomplish the same goal.
But perhaps the strongest link between Inside Out and the Pixar Theory is Bing Bong. An imaginary friend, yes, but according to Jon Negroni, Bing Bong was based on a monster. Riley’s monster from when she was still very small. This would make sense if children perceive the monsters that appear in their rooms as their imaginary friends in attempt to make sense of what they saw.
At the end of Monsters Inc., Sulley and Mike decide to make kids laugh instead of scream because it generates more energy. We know that monsters have animal characteristics, explaining Bing Bong’s part-cat/part-elephant appearance. And of course Riley thinks he’s made of cotton candy. Why else would he be pink? Perhaps the dolphin noises he makes were part of his routine to make Riley laugh which was what caused her to think he’s part dolphin, too.
Waternoose, the boss of Monsters Inc. explains that the persistence of technology and television is starting to numb children. Riley stands in contrast to this. We see her video message a friend once and ignore a call from her smartphone the one time it shows up. When she sits down to eat a lonely lunch, her eyes aren’t glued to her phone. She’s always in the moment. Is this because she has never built a reliance on technology because of growing up with an imaginary friend always waiting to play with her or take her on some adventure?
Compare that with the humans of WALL-E. In a way, the humans on Axiom are just as joyful as Riley. These people seemed genuinely content and happy. But at the same time, they were completely numb to the outside world thanks to their over-reliance on technology.
So we know the Monsters use doors to travel back in time, where they can scare (or entertain) humans, and those emotional reactions fill the canisters that power their world. To prevent a fluid timeline, they keep the time travel aspect a secret and banish monsters who break the rules. They even have an agency devoted to propagating the myth that humans are toxic.
So what if the timeline is changing? What if the result of the monsters time travel and change from scaring children to making them laugh is that the events of WALL-E won’t happen because humans ultimately reject the brainwashing of BNL and their complete reliance on technology?
Perhaps this whole time, we’ve been watching two Pixar timelines diverging thanks to the funny side effects of time travel, and the real story is just beginning?
What do you think about this theory… Do you have anything to add, or do you have a completely different theory? Let us know what you think below.
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