Cars 2
It's pretty easy to say that Cars 2 is the worst Pixar movie so far (and hopefully it will stay that way). Cars 2 has the same problem a lot of other sequels and spin-offs have, making the side-kick comic relief the main character. Larry the Cable Guy plays himself in car form as Mater. Mater just isn't an interesting enough character to have to spend a whole movie with. It makes sense from a business stand-point to make a Cars sequel, since the first Cars movie was one of the most profitable movies ever made. By the time this sequel came out, Cars had made around 10 Billion in just merchandise alone. Adding lots of new cars to the mix for new toy opportunities just made so much sense. The problem was, the story just wasn't that interesting or compelling. While the movie still looked as good as any other Pixar movie, the story-telling you expect from Pixar just wasn't there. The heart that the first movie had just wasn't there. Still, to say that this is Pixar's worst movie is really not that bad. It's not a terrible movie, it's still watchable, just lacking in a lot of areas. It's a great movie for younger kids, but it won't keep the older watchers interested for very long I think. This is still Pixar's only massively negatively reviewed movie to this date.
Cars 3
I guess it's no surprise that Cars 3 is the second worst movie by Pixar. The thing is though, it's actually much better than the second one. It really improves on the last movie by getting rid of Mater as a leading man and by adding some heart back into the franchise. There's actually character growth and a decent story to follow in this one. By this point I didn't really care much about these characters or what happened to them, but this movie at least made me care a little more. It's an okay movie by normal standards, but by Pixar standards it's still a bit of a letdown.
Brave
Here's another good movie that just fell short of the Pixar standard. As with all these movies, this movie looks fantastic and was groundbreaking in visuals at the time. It was also a nice story of Mother and Daughter connections, which I think isn't really touched upon a lot in animated kid's movies like these. It was also the first Pixar movie to have a solo female lead, and a tough one at that, so that was also very cool to see. Another cool moment I remember, is the lead "princess" not wanting to get married, which is usually what the princess characters seem to be seeking in a lot of classic Disney movies. This really felt more like a Disney movie than it did a Pixar movie though, complete with a witch and transforming mothers into bears and other fairy tale cliches. The weird part was later on in the year, Disney released the very unique Wreck-it Ralph, which is still one of my favorite animated movies ever made. It really felt like they had switched movies because Wreck-it Ralph totally seems like something that Pixar should have done instead of this. Still a very enjoyable movie though, one that's worth a watch if you missed it (Brave that is).
The Good Dinosaur
Another pretty good Pixar movie, The Good Dinosaur was the second original story by Pixar in 2015 (the other being Inside Out). If there's one thing that this movie got right, it was the breath taking animation and visuals. I know i'm probably going to be saying this a lot more in this post, but the visuals in this movie are just so amazing. The story in the movie isn't so bad, following a Dino named Arlo and his human buddy Spot. It's another pretty good Pixar movie, which sadly had to follow one of the most quickly beloved Pixar movies in Inside Out. This movie went on to become Pixar's worst performing movie, but still fairly well received. It's definitely worth a watch of course, but it's easy to see why it didn't become an instant classic. Maybe Dinosaur movies weren't "in" anymore? Oh wait, Jurassic World came out the same year and broke box office records? Never mind.
Monsters University
Pixar really seemed like it was in a bit of a rut from 2011 to 2014, releasing three movies on the bottom of my list here. Another sequel that I think a lot of people weren't really clamoring for, but was still made was Monsters University (a prequel sequel!). I still really like this movie honestly, Mike and Sulley are just so lovable it's hard not to be excited to see more of them. Lots of great new characters added here and the movie turns out to be a very fun and enjoyable one. Still, the great charm, world and heart from the first one doesn't seem to be completely present here. It just doesn't work as well as it did the first time around, which lead to slight disappointment. Another good Pixar movie for sure, but not a great one.
Cars
John Lasseter's passion project about talking cars that he had been wanting to make for years finally became a reality and it was...pretty good? There really was a great story in the background of the Lightning McQueen movie here. A story about how big highways are being made for people to get places faster, but causing people to ignore the small businesses by not taking the old roads that used to be more often traveled. A story about learning to take it easy once in a while, slow down and enjoy the little things around you might not notice in your busy life. Those are the best parts of this movie really, all of the NASCAR racing stuff isn't really that great. Lightning McQueen himself isn't the best character, but it's really everything else around him that makes this a good movie. It has a unique message behind it that I think will resonate more with adults, but it also has the racing action and humor to keep the kid's attention. The simple car designs for the characters were pretty genius in terms of marketing and merchandising and it lead to the most successful movie merchandising since Star Wars. Of course the idea of talking cars creating great merchandise isn't exactly unique, Chevron doing it back in 1995 and i'm sure they weren't the first to think of it. For a lot of kid growing up though, the first Cars movie meant the same to them as the first Toy Story meant to the previous generation.
Finding Dory
On a personal note: I don't really like Dory as a character. I find her to be a little too annoying, but maybe that's because I also don't like Ellen? Either way, a whole movie that revolves around Dory wasn't all that exciting for me. The movie does introduce one of my favorite Pixar characters in Hank the octopus who is just a very fun and awesome character. The animation on Hank is some of the most impressive animation ever created, period. The story is also very heart-warming and has quiet a few laughs to go along with it. While there are things I didn't like, some of the new characters weren't that great and the whole Nemo and Marlin side-plot felt kind of forced, it's still a very good movie. It fell just short of being great.
A Bug's Life
This is where it starts to get tougher, from here on out it's just great movies. "A Bug's Life" was only the second full-length film by Pixar, and it's still one that holds up today. Despite the dated visuals that go along with a movie this old, the story and characters are just as memorable and lovable as they were back 1998 when it first came out. A pretty simple story following a clumsy ant named Flik, who accidentally ruins the food that the ants give to the grasshoppers in return for safety. This leads him to meet a bunch of circus bugs who are some of the funniest and memorable in any of the Pixar movies. This movie also features one of the better Villains in Pixar with Hopper played by... Kevin Spacey? Oh boy.
Ratatouille
Is there anything more romantic than a love story in France, where a rat controls a young man to make incredible dishes to make his cooking dreams come true. This was famed director Brad Bird's second Pixar movie (Incredibles being the first) and was another huge success for him. The idea behind this movie is so bizarre, but it ends up being an incredibly charming and heartfelt story. I guess the message is simple: don't let what others think of you stop you from doing what you want to do, even if you're a rat who people find disgusting. The setting of France is always a film favorite of mine and Pixar does a great job of giving that romantic feeling that goes along with it. It makes me really want more Pixar movies in European cities, like how awesome would a Pixar movie in Venice or Prague look. The dishes looked really good in this movie too. It always impresses me the amount of detail that Pixar puts into their movies, and in this case the dishes that were made just looked amazing.
Up
If I was judging these movies by how quickly they made me cry, Up would easily be in the number one spot. The first 5 minutes of this movie are some of the best use of music and animation ever. The bad thing is, when a movie starts off as amazingly emotional as this one did, it can only go down from there. The movie never reaches the heights of those first 5 minutes again, but that's not to say it's a bad movie. In fact, it's still a great movie with lots of great laughs and some great emotional moments throughout. It was really nice to see an animated movie that was lead by a much older character, complete with walking stick along with an Asian boy named Russel. The relationship between Carl and Russel is what makes this movie so great, and it all leads to a tear-jerker of an ending. Pixar always has a great way of making every single movie they make look unique and not like the others, and whenever I watch this movie it always reminds me of that. The square design on Carl is perfect for his character, as is the rounder design on Russel.
Toy Story
Now we've reached the point of Pixar movies that I just straight up love, and I have no idea how i'm going to decide the order of these. Toy Story was the one that started it all, it's the movie that changed movie making forever and really launched the studio we all know and love. I have nothing but good memories about the first Toy Story. It's a movie that I watched at least one thousand times growing up and a movie that sparked a love of animation in me. But, to say that this is the best Pixar movie there is or even my favorite would not be true. As a studio, Pixar has improved so much as story tellers and animators that there's really no way I would put this on the top of the list. It's still a movie that I love and it holds up despite it's age. The story is still as relatable as it was back then, but thankfully Pixar has released many films that surpass this original. It will always have a special place in my heart and will go down as a movie that changed the way the world sees animation. A movie that almost didn't exist and took a miracle to be put together.
Coco
It might still be too early to tell how much I love this movie and what position it really should have on this list, but I know for sure that I loved this movie. It's got an incredible way of showing the topic of death to a younger audience and mixing that with Mexican culture and art. This movie shows that Pixar still has the ability to create some amazing stories with lots of attention to detail and a story that is great for all ages. Being the latest Pixar movie at this point, the visuals are the best there are to be seen in an animated movie right now. Mix that with the cool Dia de Los Muertos art and character design and you got one of the best looking Pixar movies so far. The music is also really good and a big part of the movie, since the main character has a passion for it. It was nice to see that they actually made the instrument playing look realistic, unlike most other animation where it looks fake. The ending also provides one of the most emotional scenes since the opening of Up, where Pixar once again, makes you cry using music. Jerks.
The Incredibles
Before comic book and super hero movies dominated the box office and were released 10 times a year, there was The Incredibles. A story similar to Fantastic Four, but instead centered around a family with super powers in a world where no body wants super heroes. The whole first act of this movie is one the best and most clever in any Pixar movie. Mr. Incredible saves a man who is attempting suicide, and is sued for not letting him go through with it. This leads to several other lawsuits against other heroes that eventually leads to all super heroes going into hiding. The opening of the movie, with the documentary style presentation, is one of the funniest openings to any animated movie. This movie also has the fortune of having the best Pixar villain created so far, Syndrome. A Mr. Incredible fan-boy who wanted to be a superhero more than anything, but was ignored because he didn't have powers. Instead, he used science to create his own powers and will use them to kill every hero in existence so he can be the only one to stop his own evil robot creations and become a hero. It's a great story that puts an emphasis on family and working together as a unit to get things done. It also has some of the best music that any Pixar movie has ever had to this point as well. The early 20th century comic book inspired art style is also a nice touch to add to the movie.
WALL-E
A Sci-fi Pixar movie featuring a destroyed earth where humans no longer live, sign me up. WALL-E is an interesting movie, mainly because the two main characters don't really speak. Any connection we have to these two characters of WALL-E and EVE come from their actions and nothing else, and the fact that it works amazingly shows how great Pixar is at animation. A movie like this couldn't work without great character animation and design. WALL-E and EVE's designs are perfect, small and cute robots that are easy to sympathize with and instantly connect with. The whole movie is a simple love story between two robots, with a call to take care of the earth more and maybe spend less time on technology/ourselves. It's also pretty funny to see that the earth was taken over by one giant company by the name of "Buy n Large", sort of a message to watch out for consumerism, by a company like Disney... yep.
Monsters, Inc.
The world created in Monsters, Inc is an incredibly wonderful and fun place to set a movie in. The idea of a world where monsters live that is powered by the screams of children is both a little scary and really clever. The monster designs in the movie are all super memorable and fun, which i'm sure made for great merchandising, but also made for some great characters. Mike and Sulley really have great chemistry together, even though they don't technically exist, I really believed their friendship. Billy Crystal as Mike is still probably my favorite Pixar character of all time, even surpassing my childhood favorite Woody (sorry Tom Hanks). He's just such a funny character, with great slapstick humor and great dialog too. The funny Mike put together with the adorable relationship between Sulley and the little girl Boo are what make this movie work so well. It always seem that the best Pixar movies always find a way to make you cry, and this one uses the farewell scene at the end to really push your emotional buttons. Jerks.
Finding Nemo
Before Up came along and destroyed you emotionally in the first five minutes, Finding Nemo came along and did it in even less time. There's nothing quite like the impact this movie left after first watching it. Every single scene in this movie was memorable in some way, and not having watched it in quite a few years, I can still remember every little bit of this movie. That's how good this movie was. All the characters, even the ones that appeared a short time, were memorable. The story was both relatable to older audiences who probably knew exactly how Marlin felt losing his son and younger audiences who knew how Nemo felt being trapped by his dad's overprotective nature. Yet again, Pixar proved how great they are at attention to detail by creating this perfect undersea world where the movie takes place. The way the characters move underwater and the plant life and sand all look amazing, much improved in the sequel, but still looks great in this first movie. There's also a character named Dory or something, I don't know.
Toy Story 2
How can you take an already amazing movie in Toy Story and make it better? Well Pixar sure showed us that they are fully capable of taking something great and making it even greater. This movie was funnier, sadder and more epic than the first one. Putting Woody on the opposite side of where he was in the first movie, where this time around he's the one battling with the realization of him being a toy that could eventually be forgotten. It leads to some pretty great emotional scenes from Woody and also leads to one of the most heartbreaking scenes in any animated movie... you know the one (Jessie). Toy Story 2 is the perfect example of how to make a sequel to a movie that is beloved, without it feeling like a cash-grab or like you are running out of ideas.
Inside Out
After several in a row disappointments from Pixar, Inside Out looked to be the movie that could turn that around for Pixar. It didn't just turn things around, but it quickly became my new favorite Pixar movie... at least for a while. The subjects this movie tackles are so important and well done, that I couldn't help but instantly fall in love with this movie. Amy Poehler as Joy is one of the best voice casting decisions ever made, she fits the role so perfectly I couldn't imagine anyone else doing it. The rest of the cast does a great job too though, not to take away from them. The message of the movie is, that sadness is actually an important emotional to feel and shouldn't be thought of as a bad thing. In fact, it shows that all emotions are an important part of keeping us safe and making us who we are as people. That's a really great message and one that Pixar presented amazingly in this movie. This is one of the few Pixar movies I would actually like to see a sequel for, because I think there could be some interesting concepts done as the main girl gets older. It was a really tough choice between this and my favorite, but ultimately I had to go with...
Toy Story 3
I mean...what else could it have been? Toy Story 3 happened to come out in 2010 the year I finished High School and was about to start college, which was what the movie was about. Andy is all grown up and about to head to college, he hasn't played with his toys for years now. This later leads to Andy passing his toys down to a little girl named Bonnie in one of the most emotional scenes ever, especially if you grew up with these movies. While I think that Inside Out might be a better movie overall, I have way more emotional attachment to the characters of Toy Story, which made for a movie with much more powerful moments. It was the end of an era, saying goodbye to the characters I grew up with and possibly never seeing them again.
Huh? What's that? There's a new Toy Story movie coming out next year?
.... I change my favorite to Inside Out again.
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