I did a BA in literature and I struggled with this for years. There always is a deeper meaning in the sense that we can analyze what the characters represent in

I did a BA in literature and I struggled with this for years. There always is a deeper meaning in the sense that we can analyze what the characters represent in a political, social or other context. We can also analyze the author through similar lenses. But rarely is there a code hiding just below the surface. Unfortunately, that didn't stop me from incessantly searching for them, even to the detriment of my education. My advisor finally said plainly in class, "there's no hidden meaning - save your energy." I read the article and I think what the author is saying is that Pixar is trying to condition us to deal with non-human intelligence, whether that's man-made (AI) or extraterrestrial. Another way to look at it is that Pixar knows stories of redemption are compelling. They use that arc as artfully as they use color or big eyes on their characters. I'm not sure how much influence he has had overall, but Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille and pre-Pixar, The Iron Giant) uses redemption as the central theme in most of his work.