Well, there's this really old book I have (out of print for years and years now) called "A Toad for Tuesday" about a toad who gets captured by an owl. The owl tells the toad he will eat him next Tuesday, and the toad must think of a way to escape. I'll read the book again and give you a more detailed synopsis, but basically, when Tuesday rolls around, the owl finds the toad was theo nly real friend he'd ever had, and decides not to eat him. It's a great story for kids, and Pixar could execute it perfectly.
Also, they don't have to animate ANY humans, so we wouldn't have that plagueing the animation. Once again, I'll give you a more detailed synopsis later.