Jon Negroni has put together a dizzying theory on how all Pixar movies fit into one universe. Jon has created a narrative around the idea that major events and characters within every Pixar film are connected by an overarching story about technology. His narrative attempts to explain the anthropomorphized animals in Pixar films and why easter eggs about unrelated films appear throughout the Pixar filmography.
Jon’s theory offers new possibilities and perspectives for a Pixar marathon viewing party. The chronology is fluid since there are parallel storylines and the theory involves time travel. Animation geeks and Pixar fans rejoice, here’s the Negroni timeline and a reason to watch every Pixar movie again:
- Brave explains why animals and inanimate objects talk. The witch’s experimentation leads to an increasingly large population of intelligent animals, bringing us to…
- Ratatouille establishes that animals can “[transcend] their instincts and performing duties better than humans.”
- In Finding Nemo, the animals’ intelligence grows and we see that they are rescuing one of their own from the humans. This can’t be kept secret for long.
- Charles Muntz, the baddie in Up, the enterprising adventurer that he is would have heard this rumor and learned to harness the powers of animals.
- There are a few easter eggs that shows Andy from Toy Story (and Toy Story 2 and 3), was pen pals with Carl and Ellie Fredricksenn from Up.
- Meanwhile, in The Incredibles, Syndrome creates A.I. and advances technology as a means to fight the supers (whose power can be explained my the magic established in Brave).
- The advancement in technology and ensuing pollution makes the world uninhabitable for humans. That’s why there are no people in the world of Cars (and Cars 2); they have already left the planet.
- … which brings us to Wall-E, a dystopian world, a result of the technological revolution. The movie paves way for life to be born again on earth.
- … resulting in A Bug’s Life.
- Meanwhile, a new sub species of creatures evolve: monsters. In Monsters, Inc, (and Monsters University)energy from the screams of children are needed to fuel that world. They use teleportation and time-travel to visit these children, including Boo, the little girl. She now has a glimpse of the future and know that time travel is possible…
- and goes back into the dark ages, as the witch in Brave. She may not really have been using magic, it was just sufficiently advanced technology indistinguishable from magic.
This creates a paradox. Boo, as the witch, is the catalyst for all of this universe to exist. Her experimentation with anthropomorphizing inanimate objects causes a chain of events that results in her future self her being able to go back in time to become the witch.
Like any film buff theory, it requires some suspension of disbelief. However, when a company crafts worlds where story is king and self-referential material abounds, you can expect to find continuity even when the storytellers didn’t intentionally plan for it.
Significant story content contributed by Dennis Bonilla
Jon Negroni’s theory found via io9
All images Copyright © Disney Pixar
