Woody knows that making a kid happy is why he exists as a toy. He's a leader amongst the rest of Andy's toys for multiple reasons. For one, he's Andy's favorite. So he knows how to be special for Andy and make sure that he's always there for Andy when he wants to play. Another is because he cares about the well-being of the other toys. Mr. Spell's meeting on plastic corrosion awareness is essential to the health and longevity of the toys. No one likes to play with a toy whose paint is fading and Rocky Gibraltar doesn't want his muscles to deteriorate. Though they have dangers as well. The sight of Buzz Lightyear's "severed" arm is disgusting to them, even though there aren't broken bones or mangled muscle tissue.
Buzz has a background story that makes him believe he is a real space ranger and that he has a mission to complete. He doesn't believe that he's a toy because he's never been played with. He hasn't had the experience of being played with. He believes he is destined to serve Star Command because that's what he's been programmed as. He eventually realizes that Star Command is just part of a marketing ploy and learns first hand that he can't fly.
But when Buzz and Woody need the help of each other, Buzz realizes that he is in fact a toy. There is no Star Command. His laser can't stun or kill anything. Woody is then able to point out that while he isn't a space ranger on a finite mission, he is a toy that will serve a purpose for a much longer time.
4 - Toy Story 2. One of the perks of being a toy is that they last forever. An eternity. Even though their time is infinite, toys have to make the best of it.
A toy must know its purpose to help make the time worthwhile: to make a child happy. A child playing with his or her toy is just like some childhood relationships. Eventually you outgrow them and look for something new. And that's the lesson learned. Making the best of your relationships. The stronger a friendship is, the better the time together is.
Buzz reminds Woody of what he once taught him. Life's only worth living if you're being loved by a kid. Thinking that Andy won't love him for that long, he opts to go with Jessie, Bullseye, and Prospector to the museum in Tokyo. This way he'll be loved by kids forever. It isn't long until Buzz points out that being looked at and revered by countless kids in a museum isn't the life a toy should live. Jessie put it very well. When a kid is playing with a toy, even though they're not moving, the toy feels alive. And toys don't get that opportunity when they're preserved in museums.
Woody remembers how special his relationship with Andy is. And even though it's finite, it's the best thing for both kids and toys. Make the best of it while you can. Plus Woody and Buzz have each other to share the time together.
3 - Monsters, Inc. The interpretation of monsters living under the bed and in children's closets can be trite. But portraying them as average joes is original. The two main joes, James P. Sullivan, a.k.a. Sulley, and Mike Wazowski, live ordinary lives together. They work together and still have experiences that dwarf many we have. The attitudes they have differ in many ways. Mike is proud of his accomplishments that most would see as diminished. Mike is either too imperceptive to notice them (the company logo covering him in the TV commercial) or he doesn't let them bother him. While both are the answer, the former takes the cake. Mike's failure to sweet talk Roz so he won't be reprimanded for not filing his paper work is another case in point of how idiotic he can be.
The love Mike and his girlfriend Celia have for each other can be considered puppy love. Even though they don't show public displays of affection, their pet names for each other make you laugh and feel happy for them. Googly Bear (Celia's pet name for Mike) expresses his love for Schmoopsy Pooh (Mike's pet name for Celia) so much that she could do almost anything that would make some other person love her less.
But the love and care Sulley has for Boo is the heart of this movie. He's able to show her that she doesn't have to be scared of monsters. Sully will go through even the grittiest conditions like a blizzard in the Himalayas, and persevere anything and anyone to get her back home safely.
2 - Up. True love lives on long after the passing of one's soulmate. If it didn't, Carl Fredricksen's house would still be down on the ground in the city. His wife Ellie's lifelong dream is to live in a house atop of a cliff overlooking Paradise Falls, a land lost in time. The strength of Carl's and Ellie's love for each other puts Glenn Beck's love for the United States to shame.
After Ellie dies and he's about to move into a retirement home due to court orders, Carl embarks on the adventure of his life. He is soon joined by a little boy named Russell, a Wilderness Explorer who is willing to do anything to be with the person he wants.
Hindrances (some unexpected, others not surprising) start to deter Carl and his journey the same way kids prolong a drive to the family cabin by wanting to stop for fast food and needing to go to the bathroom every fifteen minutes. They meet Kevin, a bird that is the core reason of why Carl and Ellie wanted to go to Paradise Falls to begin with, the MacGuffin. And Dug, a dog who can talk with the help of a voice collar. Despite being bothered by the possible presence of a squirrel occasionally (SQUIRREL!), he is a devoted servant to Carl. He want Carl to be his new master.
The four of them encounter three other dogs with voice collars. The leader, Alpha, has a malfunctioning voice collar, leaving him with a high-pitched, squeaky voice. Can't imagine what helium would do to it. This idiosyncrasy undermines Alpha's toughness, like a paraplegic villain in a James Bond movie. The three of them are on the hunt for a snipe, the kind of bird Kevin is.
After being chased by Alpha and the other dogs, Carl and Russell meet Carl's boyhood hero, Charles Muntz. He is Dug's and Alpha's master, as Dug and the other dogs call him that. When Carl and Russell find out that Muntz sent the dogs to hunt and capture Kevin, they flee. But not without Muntz putting up a good fight and trying to stop him.
Carl and Russell try to flee Muntz with Dug and Kevin, but Kevin is almost immediately caught by Muntz. With Kevin now captive and Russell wanting to save Kevin so she can get back to her babies (yes, Kevin is a girl), Carl is stuck with a dilemma: tow his house on his own, or help Russell rescue Kevin. Carl chooses the latter, allowing him to achieve both while realizing that even though you have to let some things go, it can be for the best.
1 - WALL-E. The heart of this movie outweighs its humor. Though it's funny in a very cute way, the movie is more heart warming than ANYTHING. Passengers of the Axiom, the captain included, are so obese that they get around by using hovering lounge chairs with computers that appeal to whatever they desire, because walking isn't necessary. They prefer talking with someone via a Skype-like technology, which is a lot easier and more convenient than turning their heads to look at the actual person who's right next to them while conversing.
When WALL-E gets ejected from the Axiom and his escape pod blows up, EVE refuses to believe the worst. But he escapes with a fire extinguisher. Using the extinguisher for propulsion, he shows EVE that he has the plant, the MacGuffin. She's so delighted that a hug and kiss sends WALL-E into euphoria. EVE then invites WALL-E on a spacewalk that is reminiscent of a couple ice skating alone in Central Park at night. This is the quintessential moment of WALL-E and EVE's affection for each other.
Even though WALL-E does some foolish things involving EVE (which usually anger her), she eventually realizes that he is doing it simply because he fears something bad will happen to her and he wants to help her. EVE returns the favor when WALL-E needs help more than EVE possibly ever did.
