What were they trying to get at with that teenager bit?

That was fantastic. Thanks for sharing.

Quote from Kieran.

What were they trying to get at with that teenager bit?

I understood it at first, but then kind of lost my theory after the last bit, where the kid goes cross at the old guy in reality.

The beginning of it was self explanatory. The teen was depressed. He was hiding it inside, while outside he appeared completely fine.
One theory I have on the second stage is that the teen was telling the adult about how he was doing and what he was doing with his life, saying how wonderful it was being that age. Maybe the adult didn't want to hear it, and felt like the teen was mocking his age and his life, throwing in his face that he's doing better than him entirely, and that the man should be ashamed. Basically reminding the man that he can't do all the things he used to.

Evidence supporting this is when the man in reality was playing with the little child in reality, while in appearance he just stood and watched. The man wanted to break out and become young again, or playful again, but he couldn't due to what his age deemed "acceptable". Even though it is acceptable, the animation obviously exaggerated to get to the point. I'm probably completely wrong, though.

The animation was incredible, though. Blew me away!

That was an amazing cartoon. Thanks your sharing it.

Quote from Kieran.

What were they trying to get at with that teenager bit?

That was my problem too.

It got pretty confusing when the reality started to act on its own but it's not happening in the "appearance" bit, so it's like, a new world rather than a representation on how they're feeling.

Quote from Stickly

I understood it at first, but then kind of lost my theory after the last bit, where the kid goes cross at the old guy in reality.

The beginning of it was self explanatory. The teen was depressed. He was hiding it inside, while outside he appeared completely fine.
One theory I have on the second stage is that the teen was telling the adult about how he was doing and what he was doing with his life, saying how wonderful it was being that age. Maybe the adult didn't want to hear it, and felt like the teen was mocking his age and his life, throwing in his face that he's doing better than him entirely, and that the man should be ashamed. Basically reminding the man that he can't do all the things he used to.

Evidence supporting this is when the man in reality was playing with the little child in reality, while in appearance he just stood and watched. The man wanted to break out and become young again, or playful again, but he couldn't due to what his age deemed "acceptable". Even though it is acceptable, the animation obviously exaggerated to get to the point. I'm probably completely wrong, though.

The animation was incredible, though. Blew me away!

The teen was depressed? He looked more pissed than sad.

yeah, it seemed more like "shit, here comes this old guy that I really don't want to talk to, but am socially obligated to because he's my elder" at the beginning with the older dude excited to see the young guy
it kinda lost me near the end of the exchange though

This is something you expect as an opener for those Pixar movies.

But yeah, the interpretation is kinda... iffy.