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.