Pixar’s successes of the 2000s are some of the most beloved films of this generation. They tell universally entertaining stories, about family and finding one’s purpose in life, with an appeal to a uniquely broad audience. Pixar’s recent films, however have highlighted an incompatibility of the company’s ethos with the aim to tell culturally specific stories. Films like Turning Red, Elemental and Soul have suffered from this incompatibility with the traditional model Pixar model.

“The simple ‘us vs them’ dichotomy of Pixar’s earlier films falters when applied to people of colour”

By anthropomorphising anything from robots and rats, to monsters and ants, Pixar’s ‘what if x had emotions’ formula has built a lucrative and acclaimed set of works. In recent years, Pixar has attempted to expand its perspectives by allowing young creators to tell autobiographical stories related to their specific upbringing. In doing so, their magnifying glass has been refocused, not to animals or robots or monsters, but to ethnic minorities.

Turning Red is not a noughties Chinese-Canadian experience, it’s ‘bear girl’; Elemental is not interracial relationships and immigrant families, it’s ‘fire girl and water boy’; Soul is not a Black jazz musician on a journey of self-discovery, it’s ‘cat and soul blob’. The simple ‘us vs them’ dichotomy of Pixar’s earlier films falters when applied to people of colour; instead of humans vs creatures or machines, it is person of colour vs unfamiliar audience, with the latter pacified by a cartoonish transformation.

“The Pixar system is incompatible with these stories when they are not given the freedom to explore cultures in-depth”

The Pixar system thrived on universal stories about family and purpose. This is not to say that these earlier films did not have autobiographical material; Brad Bird based the character dynamics of The Incredibles on his own family. The difference is that in these films the cultural nuances or idiosyncrasies of his family do not have to be explained because the audience is already expected to associate with and understand its cultural viewpoint. Newer Pixar films about ethnic minorities are required to explain themselves, and they should, as these young creators want to tell their stories from a non-mainstream perspective. They are however not given the space to talk about these cultures or their concerns, and alongside this are limited to Pixar’s convention of portraying a fantasised reality. The Pixar system is incompatible with these stories when they are not given the freedom to explore cultures in-depth.

The studio is now at a crossroads, at which it must reconcile fantasy with reality, universal tales with autobiographical musings. Pixar’s own heads have stated that they want to tell fewer autobiographical stories, with chief creative officer Pete Docter stating he does not think that we can ever “let ourselves off the hook’’ for ensuring the studio “[delivers] the best possible and most relatable films”. But what, or who, exactly is relatable? This summer’s Inside Out 2 became a smash hit, grossing over $1 billion in just a few weeks, foreshadowing it appears that the course has been set for more sequels with a ‘universal’ appeal.

“The question remains whether Pixar’s willingness to engage with cultures outweighs their desire for profit”

There may yet be hope for unique perspectives in Western animation. Disney’s 2021 hit Encanto, which follows a Colombian family with magical abilities, explores generational trauma that is inextricable from its high-concept plot. Coco broke the mould by presenting Mexican culture not as the exception by forgoing a transformation subplot and by refusing to ‘other’ its protagonists. Investment in international creators has loudened new unheard voices; Iwaju is a Disney+ series that follows a young girl in an Afrofuturism-inspired Nigeria. Its protagonist bears the same name as my own, a privilege I have not had outside of the occasional Nollywood drama. There is an audience for culturally specific stories in animation. There is power in the representation of marginalised voices.

We should aim to get to a point where a culturally specific story can be told with a big budget and not have its culture merely presented as touristic discovery for the audience, but an accepted reality for the story being told. The question remains whether Pixar’s willingness to engage with cultures outweighs their desire for profit.