For Earth Day being just a few days ago, I thought it was only fitting to talk about my top 3 favorite animated movies that cover environmental issues.

3: Rio (1 and 2)

Rio 1 (2011) and 2 (2014) are a pair of movies produced by 20th-Century Fox that are about two blue macaws who fall in love. The birds are ‌ Spix’s macaws that until 9 months ago were thought to be extinct, named Blu and Jewel, and the films follow the adventure and journey their love takes them on. While the environment might not be the focus of the movie, both movies go over important environmental topics like the conservation of endangered species, animal trafficking, and the climax of the second movie ends with all the animals in the Amazon Rainforest teaming up to save their home from deforestation and clearcutting, a major environmental problem, especially in the Amazon Rainforest.

2: Lorax

Based on the book of the same name published in 1971, written by Dr. Seuss, The Lorax (2012) produced by Illumination, teaches us about the importance of trees, air and water pollution, and how greed plays a part in the causes of climate change and the importance of respecting nature along with how to coexist with it. The adaptation of the short children’s book into a movie allowed the story to go over more of the causes and effects of the environmental issues listed earlier while not going into too much detail that it takes away from the childlike nature expected from a Dr. Seuss story.

1: WALL·E

WALL·E (2008) is a Disney Pixar movie about a lonely trash-compacting robot named WALL·E that was built to clean up Earth, which has become a trash-filled dystopian wasteland causing humanity to migrate to outer space for centuries. After being lonely for centuries WALL·E meets another robot one day named EVE and immediately falls in love with her as the two set out on a mission to save humanity. Despite the movie ending on a hopeful note with Earth becoming habitable again, the movie serves as a reminder of what could happen if we keep trashing our planet. On top of going over the importance of taking care of the earth, WALL·E also goes over other topics like the importance of nature and the damage overconsumption does to the environment.