I will confess that the older Disney movies like Snow White (1937), Cinderella (1950), and Sleeping Beauty (1959) are fun in a quaint and cutesy kinda way, and I have really enjoyed the beautifully scored and visually impressive trio of The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), and Aladdin (1992). Disney knows how to make your heart swell and your imagination expand.

I sometimes wonder, though, what ethical messages my girls are gleaning from these now-classic movies. They have probably learned something useful about showing kindness to animals, and have undoubtedly picked up the cold but practical truth that physical beauty and a lovely singing voice can trump any number of other feminine virtues in the real world.

It’s unfortunate that these movies’ reproduction of the western cult of beauty also reproduces—and normalizes—our society’s gaping divide between young and old. Excepting King Triton of The Little Mermaid, every adult in these six movies is either evil or incompetent. Pursuing your dream in the Disney versions of these tales usually involves looking past, ignoring, rebelling against, or running away from authority figures.

The recent Pixar films, by contrast, prompt viewers to reexamine their relationships with the older and younger generations. Monsters, Inc. (2001) encouraged my wife and me to delight more fully in the shenanigans of our first-born (she was almost the same age of the young “Mary”/Boo when we first saw the film), Finding Nemo (2003) reminded us that letting go and trusting God with our children’s safety needs to begin sooner than we’d like, and the oft-watched, near-perfect The Incredibles (2004) continues to reiterate for everyone in our family the vital importance of interdependence and teamwork.

Cars (2006), while not a personal favorite (particularly when compared with their last two films), does successfully, entertainingly round out the Pixar team’s treatment of this important theme. The latest installment pulls us alongside the swiftly moving Lightning McQueen, a young race care with a lot o’ pride and very little common sense. McQueen’s sojourn in a small town during the week separating two big races teaches him a grab bag of family values including selflessness, compassion, and a Protestant work ethic.

He also learns to respect the town’s wise patriarch, Doc Hudson, an experienced but old and weathered Hudson Hornet who teaches the young whippersnapper that caring for others is much more important than careening past them in a race. It’s a simple and hackneyed lesson, perhaps, but one that today’s performance-driven youngsters can’t hear too often.