Alright! With the recent release of Pixar's Soul on Disney+ last Christmas, and Luca not coming out for a while yet, I thought that now would be a good time to go back and rank all of the Pixar movies, just for the heck of it, and then consistently updating the post to include the new flicks.
Ranking Pixar movies is always fun. As I get older I grow to understand and like some movies better, or I like some less. But Pixar just keeps making quality movies! The more time that passes, the more the Pixar empire of excellentness grows! Plus, this will serve as a nice companion piece for my Ranking Every Disney Film post.
Regardless, this is where the fun begins.
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| Let's begin. |
26. The Good Dinosaur
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To put it plain and simple, The Good Dinosaur is not a good movie. At all. This was Pixar's first true flop - You can say anything you want about Cars 2, but it definitely wasn't a box office flop. The Good Dinosaur actually lost money, the first Pixar movie to do so, losing the studio $85 million.
The film had a lot of potential going into it, but through some very complicated backstage drama (The original directors not being able to figure out the third act), the entire movie was reshuffled and redone, and it turned out as an extremely generic buddy road trip. The plot is The Lion King+buddy road trip, the characters are mildly unlikeable, and the overall message of the movie is nonexistent.
But, other than the most absolute genericness of the story, a huge gripe for me is how good the animation is, which is really strange to have as a negative aspect of an animated movie. But, this animation is so good that the overly cartoony designs of the characters detract from the story. I mean, this animation was just absolutely amazing, but these annoying cartoon dinosaurs keep getting in the way of it! How am I supposed to appreciate that?
25. Lightyear
Just because it boasts Pixar's most photorealistic animation doesn't make Lightyear a great movie, although it certainly does make it go down easier. Despite the first act promising a riff on Interstellar starring Buzz Lightyear, the movie quickly derails to become a wacky oddball team-up with one too many fetch quests.
There are genuinely emotional moments in the movie, but they drown in the stereotypical story beats of an underdog team going up against a drone army with a plot twist straight from The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part that broke Toy Story 2 lore. It ultimately amounts to Pixar's Solo: A Star Wars Story, which is to say a prequel about a pilot loosely connected to the original films that no one asked for and consequently bombed.
24. Luca
Luca has a very strange problem. At its core, it is an absolutely solid movie with little to no discernible weaknesses. It's a perfectly fine movie - and that's where it fails. While it has no weaknesses, it also has no strengths. Fairly unremarkable animation, a generic hook, and a simple story just make Luca.... "fine."
There's nothing inherently wrong with the movie. But there's also nothing terribly great about it either. Emotion is felt, but depth is never really present. It's average.
23. Cars 2
Unfortunately, the protagonist was switched from Lightning McQueen to Tow Mater, the dumb Southern hick side character who is only fun in small doses, and that really hurts the film. And the disconnect between Cars' "Slow down and enjoy life" message to "Spy explosions and action set pieces" message of Cars 2 was an... extremely large disconnect.
For the most part, I liked Cars 2. I like the idea of it, and if the movie focused only on the World Grand Prix, it would be a lot better. Unfortunately, it doesn't. The highs of Cars 2 do place it a step above The Good Dinosaur and Luca and compensate for its lows.
22. Finding Dory
Finding Dory was the beginning of Pixar's "Unnecessary sequel phase" that they went through that climaxed with Toy Story 4. Finding Dory was basically a perfectly adequate adventure that, for some reason, made 1 billion dollars. Wait... what?
Finding Nemo is a completely standalone story. Having a sequel was completely uncalled for, and was a definite money grab on Pixar's part, even if they were able to craft an above-average movie around it. It was good. Just unnecessary.
21. A Bug's Life
Pixar's second film, Antz - I mean A Bug's Life - was never really a film I loved. Perhaps my biggest complaint against the film is the animation. I get that it was their second film, but even their 1995 Toy Story looked better. A Bug's Life takes place in a grassy field and a tree. The CGI was just not ready to animate these things.
But, the story is adequate, and the characters are likable enough. But, the animation for this really holds it back. I would love to see Pixar revisit this and Toy Story and touch them up to have Lightyear level animation.
20. Cars 3
I really, really liked Cars 3. This was the proper sequel to Cars that Cars 2 wasn't. I really dig the story of this one - Lightning McQueen is being upended by the newest generation of cars, just like what Lightning was doing to the cars in the first Cars. He even gets into the same type of wreck that Doc Hudson got into, which played fantastically in the trailers.
My issue with Cars 3 comes from the pacing. We have a really enjoyable movie that just stalls for 10 minutes to have a school bus in a demolition derby. I also take issue with the film's ending, namely how I don't even remember the film's ending. There's a deleted alternate ending that would've catapulted this movie up to at least #14, but here we are. We got a really predictable and thematically lame ending, and that's the weight dragging it down.
19. Turning Red
An admirable character-driven movie featuring cute red pandas and a surprising amount of period talks and twerking, Turning Red is a fun but rather unremarkable adventure that's sure to please children and adults alike. If it were any other studio, Turning Red would likely be the crown jewel and one of their strongest efforts - but for a film catalog as great as Pixar's, well, it was good but not good enough.
Featuring enough fun humor and a breezy enough air to pass as background entertainment, it's not exactly a win for Pixar - but it's also not exactly straight-to-Disney+ material.
18. Incredibles 2
I really enjoyed Incredibles 2. It was an above-average movie (Actually, everything after this will be above-average movies), although highly derivative of the first. The Parrs learn to fight crime as a family after one of them is recruited by an eccentric billionaire who later turns out to be the villain.
And, speaking of the eccentric billionaire, this has the same twist as Cars 2. The wealthy genius recruits a team to actually discourage the thing they brought them there to promote. In Cars 2, however, it was promoting Allinoll/destroying Allinoll, and in Incredibles II they were making superheroes legal/making superheroes illegal. Just a fun parallel.
17. Toy Story 4
I have two primary criticisms against Toy Story 4: The lack of screentime for franchise favorite characters like Jessie, Slinky, Rex, or Ham is a huge detracting factor for the finale of a franchise that's been going for 24 years. The second is that it's unnecessary. Toy Story 3 was literally the perfect ending, and they kind of undid that by splitting the gang up. It was touching, but it hurt.
16. Up
If the Married Life sequence of Up was just a short film, it may very well be the best film ever made. But, it's just a blip in an hour and a half movie. Up is actually about the story of an old man who floats his house to Paradise Falls and accidentally takes a young boy scout with him. Along the way, he encounters his past childhood hero, Charles F. Muntz, who has gone insane looking for an elusive bird.
It's Pixar's best until the finale. I love Up, but I point to the scene where they send the dogs out in biplanes that shoot via squeak toys to kill the main heroes as where the movie crumbles. Compared to the previously very grounded story, the random action scene just throws the entire movie off for me. I would've preferred a much more "Realistic" ending, and I know, I know, I hate it when people want things to be "realistic," but the movie's core is a very personal tale about a man trying to fulfill his late wife's dream and the giant zepelin setpiece doesn't compliment it well.
15. Toy Story
Toy Story crafts an iconic story, iconic characters, catchphrases, and the fear that your toys are secretly alive, so play nice. Every moment of Toy Story is absolutely iconic. For the very first CGI film, you couldn't ask for anything better. It's amazing. And, bringing up my idea again, we need Pixar to reanimate this and A Bug's Life with Toy Story 4 level animation. That would be amazing.
14. Brave
I've seen a lot of people hate on Brave. I don't know why, honestly. Brave is a perfectly fine movie. And that's it - Just fine. I think a lot of the criticism comes from it being Pixar's first original movie to not be absolutely amazing. People get that sequels are inherently inferior, so Cars 2 could be forgiven. But Brave was also Pixar's first movie to not be directed by "The big five." The big five are John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, Brad Bird, and Lee Unkirch. Their directorial efforts make up 70% of the Pixar catalogue. Every movie not directed by them (Brave, Onward, Monsters University), have been marked as not feeling very Pixar-y and unmemorable.
But Brave is actually great. It was Katniss Everdeen for kids, an always admirable Beowulf-ish fantasy adventure, and is often overlooked.
13. Soul
Soul is a very grand and cosmic adventure about what makes a person a person - What gives people the spark that gives them the energy they need for life. For the most part, Soul is very adept in a fun depiction of an afterlife (Technically beforelife) and the questions it asks, and for the human drive of the film despite all of the cosmic elements.
But with storylines so grand as Soul presents paired with the extremely basic ending of Soul, it feels like a letdown. Additionally, an untimely ending leaves every single character's plotline unresolved. What we got was good, but not good enough for questions so big.
12. Ratatouille
This movie holds a weird place in my heart. On one hand, every time I think about it, I'm like, "I remember it being good but not as good as some of Pixar's other stuff." But then I'll watch it and I can't look away. The story and charm of it all just win me over, even if Raccacoonie would later usurp it.
11. Finding Nemo
Is it sacrilege to place Finding Nemo this low on the list? Possibly. Finding Nemo is an absolutely amazing movie. For Pixar's fifth film, it's amazing how much the quality of the animation has improved since Toy Story. But even if it is Pixar's fifth film, their stories hadn't decreased in quality at all. The opening sequence is heartbreaking, Marlin's quest to find his son Nemo by crossing the Pacific Ocean is amazing, the heart of the story has a healthy beat, and Dory is bobbing in every now and then to lighten things up.
In a very literal way, Finding Nemo is a movie about a father's desperate attempts to find his kidnapped child. And it's a kids movie. And it's really good. And it almost made a billion dollars! Pixar's iconicity streak was only solidified this.
10. Onward
Onward is my go-to example of unfortunate timing. The movie opened just a week before the Covid-19 pandemic shut movie theaters down, and the film was forgotten because of it. If that's not unfortunate, I don't know what is.
Onward is the tale of two brothers who are given a magical staff that will bring their father back to life for one day. Through an unfortunate mishap, they now have to go on a quest before their day with their dad is up. The film takes every single complaint I have about road trip movies (Repetitive, biker gangs), and flips it on its head. It's not inventive, but it's different enough to be enjoyable.
And unlike a couple of other Pixar films I've mentioned, the movie just gets better in its final act. Everything it sets up is paid off, and it creates a heart-rending ending that will have you close to tears.
9. Monsters University
A lot of people dislike Monsters University. I have... no idea why. I assume it's because of the expectations of those who grew up watching Monsters, Inc. being too excited for the movie and crushing it with hype. I wasn't a big Monsters, Inc. fan growing up, so this movie was what it was and made for some great entertainment.
Are any of the new supporting characters particularly fleshed out? Nah. Does it contradict some of the things they said in Monsters, Inc.? For sure. But is it a load of fun anyways? Most definitely! The fun college setting and monsters world feels like something you could actually live in, and that's always a great feeling. I love this movie unconditionally, but I'm not blind to its several flaws, like a forgettable finale or the underdeveloped villains.
8. Toy Story 2
the first one, joining the ranks of Empire Strikes Back, The Dark Knight, and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. Toy Story 2 does literally everything better than the first one - the characters they introduce are great, the villain is better, the animation is better, and the story is better. It's the ultimate deal.
For other general praise, Toy Story 2 is a solidly rousing adventure that never lets up on the fun of childhood toys, who, once again, are watching you constantly, so play nice. That really... freaked me out at the time.
7. Coco
In the 2010s, Pixar produced four truly "Great" original films - Inside Out, Coco, Onward, and Soul. Coco is about a young aspiring musician named Miguel, who, on Día de los Muertos, is transported to the Land of the Dead, where he tries to reunite with his great-great-grandfather, who he believes to be Ernesto de la Cruz, a famous singer whom he idolizes.
Along the way, Miguel reaches out and connects with his dead relatives and finds out why his family has had a hatred of music for the past century or so. I don't want to spoil much since there are some genuine twists that shocked me, so let's go with some basic praise: The soundtrack is beautiful, the songs are inspired, the animation dazzles, and there are practically no faults with this movie. Actually, anything on this list after Toy Story 2 is basically a perfect movie.
6. Monsters, Inc.
Monsters, Inc. was Pixar's fourth film, and the animations still holds up. Let that sink in - the CGI in a movie from 19 years ago still looks good to this day. It's especially mind-boggling when you consider other CGI movies that came out after this one that don't hold up, like Chicken Little, A Christmas Carol, or The Bee Movie.
Monsters, Inc. packs genuine twists, humor, and heart. It's one of Pixar's best efforts, and it deserves to be held in high regard. The premise of the movie was so unique it didn't start a wave of genre copycats, so that's great. It's new and unrepeatable. Nothing else really comes close to how inventive this idea in particular is - In fact, I would say that this is Pixar's most original film.
5. The Incredibles
And even the animation here holds up! Once again, I am astounded at it. This was Pixar's first film to star only humans, so they put in an extreme amount of labor and detail into the movie to make it as realistic as possible, and it shows. Pixar outdid themselves here.
And, let's take a moment of silence to appreciate the villain of the story, Syndrome, who is not only one of the genre's best villains but also one of cinema's best villains, with a fleshed-out motivation and a master plan that is both evil and semi-realistic.
4. Cars
I don't care who you are, entitled critic. Cars is an instant classic and deserves its spot in the limelight. Just because kids loved it doesn't make it any less of a movie. Cars is basically perfect, in my opinion. I grew up watching this movie (Born 2004, movie released 2006). This movie was like crack for my wave of Gen-Z. Every one of us has watched and probably loves it.
Is it completely perfect? Probably not. Sometimes the pacing in Radiator Spring can get repetitive and lag. Is it iconic? Absolutely. The movie's opening ("Speed. I am speed.") is probably one of cinema's best, up there with Saving Private Ryan and The Dark Knight.
Cars also has one of the best musical scores and the best pop soundtracks of the Pixar collection, featuring hits like Sh-Boom, Real Gone, and Route 66. Cars is like a road trip movie without a road trip and I love it.
3. Inside Out
The majority of the film takes place inside Riley's mind as her Joy and Sadness personifications battle with one another for control of Riley's emotions until they are ejected from the emotion HQ and now have to make their way back, learning to work together and reuniting with the forgotten imaginary friend Bing Bong.
The film is inventive. The film is colorful. The film has so many ideas whizzing around it's insane that it makes as much sense as it does. The voice acting is particularly noteworthy here - Amy Poehler (Leslie Knope) as Joy and Phyllis Smith (Phyllis Vance) as Sadness are some of the best castings to come out of the entertainment industry in a long time.
2. Toy Story 3
After achieving the near-impossible craft of making a sequel better than the original, Pixar one-upped themselves once again by making a third movie better than both that came before it, joining the ranks of Return of the King, and Avengers: Infinity War. Toy Story 3 was the finale of the Toy Story series that wrapped the series up perfectly. I mean, Toy Story 4 was welcome, but completely unjustified based off of how good Toy Story 3 was.
This movie was the ultimate package for everything. The animation is beautiful, the villain is deep and complex, the movie will make you laugh, the movie will make you cry - It will do everything to you. Toy Story 3 provides the ultimate cinema experience. It introduces new characters but never lets them overtake the story while also having a character-driven plot. It packs twists and turns and it feels large despite having small characters. Toy Story 3 is literally the perfect movie.
1. WALL-E
WALL-E is a testament to visual filmmaking. Here we have a movie made for kids with nearly no dialogue for 40 minutes. The fact that kids watched it, liked it, and went on to make $533 million is insane. Shows you what the most likable character ever invented [Citation needed] can do for a movie.
WALL-E succeeds at everything it tries at - Dystopian sci-fi? Yep. Romantic comedy? Yeah, we got that. Likable merchandising opportunity? Most definitely. A kid-friendly adaptation of 2001? Sure. An animation achievement and visual wonder? Assuredly so. And the best Pixar movie? Why yes, I do believe so.
This is perhaps the most likable film ever made. You never hear people say, "I disliked WALL-E." You don't even hear people say, "WALL-E was just okay."
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