Top 10 Lessons Drawn from Animated Movies

What Animated Movies Can Teach Us About Hope, Courage, and Love

By Paul Asay

Before we told stories through novels or sitcoms, we sketched our lives on stone columns and cave walls. For centuries, it was how society taught its truths and delivered its lessons. The pictures we made were extensions of us in an almost magical way.

For over 70 years—-most recently with the release of "Shrek Forever After"—we've experienced a bit of that magic through full-length animated films. Whether they're drawn by hand, crafted by computer, or shaped through stop-action, these movies charm us, inspire us, and teach us lessons in ways that live-action films—-limited by the pesky shackles of reality—-sometimes struggle to do. From Disney's beautiful classics of yesteryear to today's CGI masterpieces, animation in many ways represents cinematic storytelling at its best: Few other art forms can bridge generational differences and inspire young and old with timeless lessons of hope, courage, and love.

Here are 10 of our favorite life lessons from animated films.

'Pinocchio' (1940): Listen to Your Conscience

People, particularly little wooden people, face a lot of temptation. It's so very enticing to skip school and find a Pleasure Island all your own, where you can drink and play pool to your heart's content. It all seems so enticing—until you start to grow longer ears and a tail and hee-haw like a donkey.

Yes, such shortsighted thinking leads right to the salt mines, as poor little Pinocchio painfully discovered. Had he listened more intently to Jiminy Cricket, his diminutive, dapper-dressing conscience, he might not have turned so mule-headed. Once our wooden wonder stopped pining for forbidden pleasures and started listening to his guardian insect, things got a lot better. Well, at least until the whale came along.

But even Monstro proved to be a momentary blip in Pinocchio's quest to be a real boy. The film shows that we're not really human until we stop living for ourselves and sacrifice for someone else. Thanks, Jiminy.

'Dumbo' (1941): Different Is Good

If Dumbo had been born in an age in which beautiful elephants were featured in "Sexiest Pachyderm Alive" spreads and perfection was just a plastic surgeon away, he might never have flown. His image-conscious handlers might have whisked him away, given his ears a quick bob, and made him look just like all the other elephants.

Dumbo would have gladly agreed to a little cosmetic surgery, most likely. Why, if he looked normal, he might have eaten with the cool elephants during lunch. And he certainly wouldn't have had mean elephants posting nasty messages on his Facebook wall.

But Dumbo had to keep his huge, awkward ears—and what a blessing he did. Turns out, they were way cooler than anything found on Facebook. Without his oversized ears, he would've been a perfectly normal elephant. With them, he became a perfectly wonderful one.

'Peter Pan' (1953): Find the Child in You

He was the boy who wouldn't grow up. Forever young, forever brash, forever wearing that silly hat, Peter Pan showed us what eternal youth looked like—and, in the end, it looked rather boring. How many times can you fight Captain Hook before the shtick gets tired? Perhaps that's why Peter liked Wendy so much. She was so…adult.

But if the eternal child secretly longs for maturity, adults can't shake loose the child lurking inside us, either. Dig underneath our duties and deadlines, our multivitamins, and steamed broccoli, we'll still find a desire to pick up a wooden sword and go dig for buried treasure. Sure, maybe it's unlikely we'll dig up a chest full of Spanish doubloons in our backyard—but if we give the child in us just a little bit of rein, we might uncover an unexpected smile. And that's treasure enough.

'The Jungle Book' (1967): Make Good Friends, Find Your Strength

By all rights, Mowgli should have lasted all of 30 seconds. Abandoned in the jungle as an infant, he was the equivalent of a light packaged snack for any number of beasts lurking among the leaves. Instead, the tyke was adopted by a company of wolves, educated by a black panther, and befriended by a bear, all out of the kindness of their wild souls. Even a quartet of Beatle-esque vultures found time to help— between songs, of course.

But as fortunate as Mowgli was to have such friends, they couldn't alone ensure his survival; not with the fearsome tiger Shere Khan hunting for his head. But while the boy lacked any sort of real strength, speed, or jungle sense, he also lacked the animal's traditional fear of fire. And that proved to be the difference between life and death.

The message of "The Jungle Book" is, thus, twofold: Cultivate friendships—good, sincere friendships that will carry you through your darkest journeys. But also search inside yourself for your own secret strength. It's in there, if you look, and it may help light your way.

'Yellow Submarine' (1968): All You Need Is Love

You gotta give credit to the Blue Meanies for one thing: They get straight to the point. They didn't give their society a PR-friendly name, like, "The Democratic Union of Cornflower-Hued Personages." They're blue and mean—no need to sugarcoat it. Their WMD was a glove called "Glove." They despise beauty, happiness, song, and goodness. So why make an excuse to obliterate beautiful, happy Pepperland when its very goodness is reason enough?

"Pepperland is a tickle of joy on the blue belly of the universe," the chief Blue Meanie says. "It must be scratched."

But all the blueness of the universe couldn't squelch the song of the film's psychedelic Beatles, and Pepperland just needed a little song from them to bring back its color and, um, animate it once again. The music—and, by extension, love—was so powerful that even the Meanies themselves began to sprout flowers.

Cute piece of fiction, right? Love might conquer Glove, a cynic might say, but it can't help the world in any meaningful way. Yeah, tell that to Jesus, Gandhi, or Martin Luther King, Jr. Wars may come and go, but real change is made through love.

'The Rescuers' (1977): You're Never Too Small to Help

Penny's in serious trouble. Kidnapped by evil Madame Medusa and guarded by Medusa's two alligators, Brutus and Nero, the little girl is forced to search for a fabulous gem called The Devil's Eye in dark, dangerous caverns. It's only a matter of time before Medusa's greed for the stone turns Penny into a stone-cold corpse. So Penny secretly writes an S.O.S., stuffs it in a bottle and throws it in the water—hoping that, against all odds, someone will rescue her before the Eye does her in.

She might have wished for someone taller.

Her rescuers turn out to be a couple of talking mice that belong to something called the Rescue Aid Society—an international circle of do-gooding rodents. Doesn't seem like much of a contest, does it? Two anthropomorphic mice vs. huge, ruthless, toothy evil? And you'd be right: Medusa and her lap reptiles didn't stand a chance. Which just goes to show that help can come from the most unusual sources—even the occasional well-dressed rodent with a Hungarian accent.

'Aladdin' (1992): Be Comfortable with Who You Are

Hey, the economy's been rough on everyone. And while most of us haven't resorted to stealing food, living on rooftops and fleeing from the local turban-topped constabulary, we could probably all find ways to put a magic genie to work.

Aladdin just so happens to have a genie—a surefire way out of the economic doldrums and into the local palace. Wanting to win the heart and hand of the beautiful Princess Jasmine, Aladdin has his big, blue buddy make him a "prince" with an unseemly gaudy entourage.

Clearly, Aladdin never watched a John Hughes film. Otherwise, he would've known that the beautiful and rich are always attracted to people from the wrong side of the income tax bracket. Jasmine is unimpressed with Aladdin's manufactured groupies and incensed when she learns they're all a lie. Money's not important to her. What she really wants is just a nice guy with a pet monkey and a flying carpet. And in the end, Aladdin shows that's just what he is, when he uses his last wish to set his all-powerful genie free. Real love is better than any sort of manufactured flotsam that might come from a lamp. Life is rarely perfect and it's almost never easy. But in the end, it's up to us—and no one else—to make something of it.

'Finding Nemo' (2003): Parents Are Crazy – in a Good Way

When it comes right down to it, the ocean is no place to raise a child. Most baby fish, frankly, have the life expectancy of an Amazonian snow cone. But, if you're a fish, what can you do? Move to Iowa? Single dad Marlin doesn't have the money—or the respiratory structure—for such a move. He and his son, Nemo, just have to make the best of it, and Marlin is determined to make sure his little boy stays out of danger.

Alas, danger decides to swoop in for a visit anyway, snagging the poor little flipper and swooshing him far, far away, and ever-cautious Marlin must make a ludicrously dangerous trip to save Nemo, going places perhaps no clownfish has gone before.

The remarkable thing about "Finding Nemo" is that most parents, if they were standing in Marlin's scaly shoes, would like to think they'd do the very same thing. Parents tend to be pragmatic, perhaps even boring, creatures…but they'll do practically anything to protect their kids and ensure they'll not just survive, but thrive. How else can you explain $40,000-a-year preschools?

'Dr. Seuss's Horton Hears a Who' (2008): A Principle's a Principle, No Matter How Strange

In the Jungle of Nool, few animals have a better life than Horton. He swims. He teaches imaginative lessons to other jungle creatures. Things are just peachy for the pachyderm until he hears a small cry from a little speck of dust as it floats by him.

He could've just ignored it. He could've just pretended he never heard anything and gone on with his merry life. Instead, Horton takes the speck underneath his ear and vows to help it find a new, safer home. But in the process, he becomes the jungle's laughingstock—Nool's fool, as it were.

"A person's a person, no matter how small," Horton tells his tormenters. And most of us believe in things, or ideals, that can seem outlandish or antiquated. In an age filled with temptations, instant gratification and world-weary cynicism, principles of any sort are often met with the same derision as invisible worlds. And yet, when all the skeptics are wrong, it seems like a good strategy to stand up for what's right.

'Fantastic Mr. Fox' (2009): Accept Responsibility

Midlife crises are never pretty. But they're particularly difficult when your life expectancy is seven.

There's nothing particularly wrong with Mr. Fox's life: He has a wife, a son, a comfortable burrow, and a reliable job. But writing columns for the forest paper lacks the pizzazz of his younger days—the days when he was a champion Whack-Bat player and a notorious chicken hunter and, well, simply fantastic. If foxes bought sports cars, Mr. Fox would surely be in the market for one.

Alas, Porsche doesn't make 911s for foxes, so instead Mr. Fox begins moonlighting on the sly—as a hunter.

This underappreciated stop-motion classic doesn't have a happy ending, precisely. But it's a good one. Mr. Fox must, in the end, make a choice. And, like the choices we humans often make, it involves sacrifice. But adulthood is all about making responsible choices, taking responsibility, and pushing forward for the good of others, isn't it? We all have a little wild animal inside us. But setting that nature aside for the good of others? Now, that's truly fantastic.

'How to Train Your Dragon' (2010): Dragons Are People, Too

In the land of Berk, Vikings hate Dragons. Dragons hate Vikings. For hundreds of years, the two have slaughtered each other with club-hauling, fire-breathing efficiency and, seemingly, mutual satisfaction. And really, why mess with a good thing?

Hiccup hates dragons, too. Killing one, he figures, would make his Pops proud and help him get a girlfriend. But when he gets his chance, he can't do it. He lets the beast go, nurses it back to health, and turns it into the best pet a boy could ask for. Imagine a beagle that could fly you to school, impress the chicks, and eat annoying bullies all at once.

"Everything we think we know about you is wrong," Hiccup says. It's a reminder of a lesson we should have learned long ago: ignorance breeds fear, and fear breeds anger, hostility, and war. If we try to understand those we're afraid of before we thwack them with clubs, we all might be better off.