Pixar's Heroes: An Overview

With the release of Pixar’s Up, I want to take a moment to go through the list of protagonists or “heroes” of each movie. It seems to me that with each Pixar movie, the protagonist becomes less and less heroic. Just for clarification, a protagonist does not always equal a hero and vice versa. A hero in a movie, in my mind, is someone who helps a larger group or at least other than him or herself, although there may be danger

Woody from Toy Story (1995)
I wouldn’t really call Woody the traditional epic hero. He helps other toys from Sid but that wasn’t the main focus of the movie. However, he did do heroic acts to save Buzz, but Buzz didn’t really risk anything. It was all Woody saving and rescuing, after his fit of jealousy. His heroics did not extend very far. He saved himself, he saved Buzz, and he saved a bunch of mangled toys from being more mangled. But of course he’s the hero, he’s a cowboy. He’s oozing with courage and wit. That’s what cowboys do. Just because he’s a toy doesn’t make him any less of a cowboy. So Pixar starts with a pretty generic hero, although he doesn’t really act like one.

Flik from A Bug’s Life (1998)
He’s ant, that’s a very unlikely hero. And not just an ant either, a nerdy, clumsy, awkward ant. But he makes a bigger contribution than Woody. He saves his whole colony. And he’s healthy and smart, although just an ant. Since everything is to his scale, he could be seen as a regular human, who has to worry about birds and rain….never mind. The point is that he’s still seen as a respectable hero. Now if Flik was in our world, then he would be seen as an even more unlikely hero. But he’s not so he’s a little less likely hero but still one.

After that movie is Toy Story 2 in 1999 but we already discussed it. Buzz is more of a hero in this one than in the previous one though. Woody is still my super hero though by risking himself to be shipped off to Japan to save Jessie. How romantic….

Sulley in Monsters, Inc. (2001)
We have Mike and Sulley. Of course these guys are going to be the heroes, Sulley is a giant blue monster. He is going to save the day. There isn’t a doubt in anybody’s head. And he does it with the help of Mike as the semi-loyal sidekick and saves Monstropolis and a cute little girl.

Marlin from Finding Nemo (2003)
Marlin is a neurotic fish with forgetful Dory; that makes one of the most unlikely pair ever. There is no way this guy is going to get his kid back. Yet he does and it makes it more powerful because, as strange as this is going to sound but, it makes it believable. We can see people like Marlin on the streets, who are overprotective of their kids and just want the best for them. So he’s a strange hero but he only helps Nemo and Dory out, not really anybody else so you could make the argument that he’s not a hero. And the neurotic dad is somewhat a common trope used so we move on.

The Incredibles in 2004 with Mr. Incredible. He’s a superhero, of course he’s going to succeed. Moving on.

Lightning McQueen from Cars (2006)
I don’t really count McQueen as the traditional hero, risking life and limb for others, etc. He’s never at risk or puts himself at risk for someone else. But I do like the ending when McQueen risks fame and fortune to help a fellow racer. In that sense, he’s a hero. So points for him. He’s still pretty heroic on his own.

Remy from Ratatouiile (2007)
This is where the decline of likely heroes begin. Before, we had cowboys, space rangers, cars, superheroes, and monsters as the hero. In this though, it’s a rat. It’s not to say that a rat is unlikely because of its stature or any physical limitations but because it’s a rat. Rats are not liked by many. While we look onto a beloved mouse with red shorts, the rat is sneered at and is repulsive. So Remy is unusual in this sense. But I can’t really call him a hero. Yes, he does risk his own life many times but it’s for his own benefit. He’s kinda selfish, pushing only to his goal to be a chef. While I don’t frown upon this, I can’t call him a hero either.

Wall-E from Wall-E (2008)
Here we have a very unlikely hero. He saves the human race, he counts as a hero. But he’s dirty, banged-up, clunky and cannot compare to the technology that we see on the Axiom. He is a complete contrast to Eve. He looks like he would fall apart any moment (and he does). But we cheer him on because we like the underdog

Carl Fredricksen from Up (2009)
I haven’t seen this so this is all prediction. I think Carl is the most unlikely hero imaginable. He is an old man that walks with a cane. How can this be a hero? He’s limited so physically. He could injure himself so easily or worse! And to add to that, his sidekick is a cubby boy-scout type. I want to see this movie just to see how they fare in a jungle with giant colorful birds and other dangers. I can’t think of a more unlikely hero than Carl.

Pixar picks their heroes so well. They do not rely on muscle and looks alone. Sometimes their heroes are filled with stuffing or gears. Pixar doesn’t try to make likable heroes. They try to make believable heroes. So sometimes they are neurotic, sometimes they make huge mistakes. Their heroes are not perfect, they are not the traditional sword-drawn, racing off to battle knights. They hesitate, they refuse, they are selfish. So it doesn’t matter if they are a bug, a toy, a fish, or a rat, we can still see us, the audience, through them. That is why I am so excited about Up. Because I will see a new side of human nature that has always been evident but never realized. I will see a hero form out of an old man and it will be more dramatic than seeing a already developed knight in shining armor.