Pixar movies are amongst some of the greatest ever created, with the animation company setting a ridiculously high bar with each film, not only for itself but also for its competitors. The company has created amazing films such as Toy Story and Up, and therefore it isn’t a surprise that they have a legion of fans. Anytime there is a legion of fans, there is always some crazy theories and the Pixar movies are no different from that. There are tons of different theories about these movies, but the main one is the ‘Pixar Universe’ theory.
This theory is the belief that every single Pixar movie, from Toy Story all the way to Coco and most recently Toy Story 4 belong in the same universe. That’s right, monsters, talking cars, and medieval bears all belong in the same world, and within this article, we’ll highlight 10 reasons that back it up.
Brave’s Magic
Brave might not be one of the most-talked-about Pixar movies, but it is still an incredible movie that breaks the stereotypes of what a classic ‘princess’ movie should look like, and it really does reap the rewards from doing so. However, when it comes to the ‘Pixar Universe,’ this is actually one of the most important films in the theory. With Brave being one of the earliest settings in-terms of timeline in the Pixar world, this is one of the areas where the theory begins.
The belief is that the magic within this world is the reason that creatures other than humans can talk and behave as they do. This movie sees Merida’s mother become a bear and still act like a human, and that is the starting point for future movies.
Buy N’ Large
Buy N’ Large plays a huge role in the movies and most people don’t even notice, but the ‘Pixar Universe’ theory links the company as one of the biggest reasons for why the movies exist in one universe, with this company being part of nearly all the films. While Buy N’ Large plays its most obvious role in Wall-E, the company is referenced in other films such as Toy Story and Finding Dory, with this company being the main reason for the pollution and problems that come to earth, as well as the eventual war (we will get to it).
The company is behind the scenes pulling all of the strings, and that connectivity is one of the key selling points to why this theory could be accurate.
A Rift Develops
One of the big beliefs for the theory is the relationship between humans and animals, which plays a key part in many of the Pixar films. This is why Finding Nemo and Finding Dory play such a pivotal role in the theory because this is where the rift between humans and animals begins. While it is through these films that we learn fish are advanced enough to speak, but we also see the fear of humans begin due to the fact that many fish are kept in captivity.
This captivity is evident in the dentist’s fish tank and far more obviously in Finding Dory with the aquarium, which is why it is easy to believe that a rift between animals and humans could take place.
Toys Join The Fight
The theory of a rift involving humans who try to control everything in the universe continues to be developed in Toy Story 3 via the character of Lotso Huggin Bear, who may seem friendly at first, but in reality, is vengeful against the human race. Lotso is sick of toys being disregarded and thrown to one side to be treated poorly, which is also shown in Toy Story (with Sid) and Toy Story 2 (with Jessie). The strawberry-smelling bear does his best to try and turn the toys against humans.
While his plan doesn’t quite work out, it is further proof of a rift. On top of that, within Toy Story 3 there is also an easter egg of a letter from Carl and Ellie Fredrickson to Andy, continuing the idea that the movies are linked.
Buy N’ Large Expand
The movie Up isn’t just one of Pixar’s greatest but it plays a big part in the ‘Pixar Universe’ theory and how it continues to develop. Remember the company Buy N’ Large? Well, they play a big role here as this company rapidly expands at this point. The reason that Carl is forced to create the incredible balloon image that is so famous with Pixar is that Buy N’ Large have taken up all of the property in the area, and want to kick Carl out of his home.
Obviously, what happens after is well known, but when Carl finally finds his feet on land again he discovers that animals can talk when he meets Dug. Continuing the relationship between humans and animals, and once again, there are rifts.
The WAR
You might be thinking at this point, how do talking cars come into this? The answer: war. The theory claims that due to the growing tensions between humans and animals an all-out war takes place, with Buy N’ Large and its autonomous machines winning out. Those machines are seen in the Cars movies, which end up polluting the earth so bad that humans are forced off Earth entirely, as we are aware of in the film Wall-E, which Buy N’ Large plays a big role in.
This is why there are no humans in the Cars movies because they have all gone to space to try and survive, while the cars themselves end up polluting the Earth to the point it is seen in Wall-E. Even on Buy N’Large’s website online it refers to a ‘hostile takeover,’ which is referencing this war.
The Boot
At the end of Wall-E, the human species are able to make their return to Earth due to the boot that is saved in the movie that grows a small little plant. Well, that is where the film links to A Bugs Life and the world being reborn. During the credits of Wall-E, it is shown that the tree can sustain life and that just so happens to be the tree that A Bugs Life is centred around and how the world ends up growing again and developing back to how it is known right now.
You can tell this film is in the future as the animals involved act like humans, they go to bars, they have a circus etc, which isn’t anything that has been done before, with animals just acting like animals.
Monsters
Obviously, monsters haven’t been mentioned yet in the theory and they certainly stick out as something very different to both the human and animal-related movies in Pixar, but once again it is Buy N’ Large that causes the change.
This belief is that the radiation left behind began to really change animals and that is how the monsters were created and why some of them do look quite similar to other animals such as slugs and crabs. From there they are taught that humans are bad, which is why they scare them to get energy.
Boo
The character of Boo from Monster’s Inc has a huge role in the theory, and it’s one you have to wrap your head around as the belief is that she is actually the witch from Brave and is the key to everything. There are reasons it makes sense. The idea here is that Boo and Sully learn how to time travel through the doors, and this is how she visits different moments from the Pixar universe.
She eventually stumbles into the Brave world and is the witch, and the fact there is a wooden carving of Sully and the Pizza Planet truck in the woodshop is further proof that it is her. After all, how else would the witch know what those items were?
Disney Admitted It
The biggest piece of evidence to suggest that the ‘Pixar Universe’ theory is true is the fact that Disney itself has admitted that the movies all exist in one universe, which proves that, yes, someway they are all linked.
Now, that doesn’t mean that this (very long and detailed) theory is actually *the* theory, but it does prove that there is some link throughout them, which is why there are so many hidden easter eggs amongst all of the different films, with characters popping up everywhere.
