In our third era of these Pixar movies is what I call the Growing Up Era. There are a couple of reasons that is the definition I decided on but the first being this is where most of the sequels to those first couple of era’s live. Most of these movies are about growing up, getting older, moving on, taking responsibility and they are geared toward the high school seniors who were the target audience of the original films. They all came out as we were graduating or shortly after.
I love this era because it’s not nostalgic exactly, but it brings that same kind of comfort. The fact that a company put intentional, conscious effort into creating something for its original audience that told us that it was okay to grow up. And to continue to pass on these stories to the next set of kids who need a little guidance.
https://vocal.media/geeks/ranking-pixar-movies-by-era-2w2l0c7f
Overall this Pixar era is about getting older, moving on and making your own decisions and I think that these films were just as impactful for the older audience as they were for the kiddos watching. Arguably more so.