Pixar Movies Ranked
In a year that hasn’t given us a lot of movies. The 23rd Pixar movie, Soul has released on Disney+. I have watched Soul and I wanted to rank all of the Pixar movies.
23. The Good Dinosaur: A movie that has beautiful animation to it, the way running water looks is incredible. Spot is a fun side character. But besides that, I don’t really care for this movie. Arlo is one of the weaker protagonist of a Pixar movie he just complains the entire movie and the big problem is that it tries to have a lot of emotions but it fails at all of them. The Good Dinosaur certainly isn’t a GOOD movie. This is the Pixar movie that I’m least likely to put in and watch.
22. Cars 2: Most people have this movie in last place, but I was six when this movie came out so I was the perfect age to love this movie. And over time it’s certainly not the best. But I can still get entertainment out of this movie, it’s still watchable to me. It is a bit weird that they took the comedic side character in Mater and promoted him to the lead of this movie and maybe it doesn’t work the best. There are tone issues with torture in one scene and funny Mater jokes and those don’t sit well together.
21. Brave: This is a bit of a tough one for me to rank on the list, because this movie has so much stuff that I enjoy and a number of things I didn’t enjoy. I like the world that was built and a world that I want to see more of, the animation style is quite good, and I enjoy Merida as a character. But once the mom turns into the bear around 40% of the way through he movie, it goes down hill for me. If the entire movie was what was in the first act of the movie, it would have bumped up 5-10 spots on the list. And the themes that are in this movie don’t connect with me all that much.
20. Finding Dory: I would give Finding Dory and up a B- to an A+ so I like this movie. I enjoy the side characters that they introduced and they are played by fun actors. It’s fun enough I can enjoy this movie enough. But it’s a movie that feels to much like Finding Nemo which did all of the things this movie was trying to do better. So as a stand alone movie it’s good, but when comparing it Finding Nemo it’s not on the same level as that movie. So a movie that doesn’t have anything that I love and or anything that I hate it’s just a movie that is kind of there and doesn't make to much of an impact on me.
19. A Bug’s Life: Like Finding Dory, this is a movie that doesn’t make to many mistakes but doesn’t do to many things right also. I think this movie has one of the better Pixar villains in Hopper who is menacing and poses a threat toward the heroes of the story. I enjoy all of the rest of the character, they can be fun, and Flik is a solid protagonist. If I was to rank the Pixar movies based off of animation, I think this movie would be toward the bottom of the list. Because the animation style is dull and not very exciting.
18. Monsters University: A movie that I think is a good and fun movie, but not a super memorable movie. It’s nice that they took the revenge of the nerds story template and mixed with these characters. The movies moves quickly I’m never bored with the movie, and it I like getting to see where Mike and Sully meet and how there relationship began. But, the movie is a prequel so we know that all of the characters in their sorority group aren’t in Monsters Inc. And it’s also predictable you know where the movie is going to end up by the end of the movie because you’ve seen this type of movie before.
17. Cars: This is was a movie that for a long time was my favorite movie of all time, and whenever I watch it I have some nostalgia for it. The characters are a lot of fun and are voiced by these fun actors. Lightning McQueen gets a character arc where at the first he’s this hotshot racer and in the third act he helps his friend and that loses him winning the race, that is a great character arc. The animation style and the sound track are also quite good. Now, the story here isn’t original you’ve seen this template before but this is a good and fun edition to Pixar.
16. Cars 3: This is a movie that not very many people have as there movie in the Cars trilogy. But for what ever reason, this is my favorite Cars movie. And I don’t know what it is about this movie but I really enjoy it and I think that it is good. This is a very solid Pixar movie. I think this is the movie that best captures the racing aspect of the trilogy. And the final race in the movie I think is the best final race in any Cars movie. And the relationship between McQueen and Ramirez works for this movie, and I want to see a Cars 4 and exploring their relationship. So a very good Pixar movie.
15. Soul: The latest Pixar movies is a very mixed bag for me. I liked the characters, they were interesting and layered characters that I really enjoyed. There is plenty of humor and greatly down animation style for this movie. But, I thought that Pixar didn’t do a good job of packaging this movie to be a family movie. I found the movie to be more prestige than entertaining. And when it’s Pixar I go in expecting a family movie and not a movie that is trying to get a lot of nominations. I still like this movie, I gave it a positive review but I found this movie to be very mixed for me.
14. Ratatouille: We are at the point of this list where it starts getting really hard, because if Ratatouille is at number 14, this just shows that Pixar makes a lot of fantastic movies. Because this a B+ a movie. And this is such a weird concept for a movie, a rat is being taught by a ghost to cook, but the rat teaches a human to cook by pulling his hair. That concept sounds weird but the execution of that idea is great. This is one of the most original Pixar movies and it works on almost every level. I don’t have any big issues with it, like I said this this is a great movie that is at number 14 because I have to rank these movies.
13. Inside Out: Like Ratatouille, Inside Out is one of the most unique and original Pixar movies. It deals with growing up and parenting but packaged in a way that kids and adults can enjoy it. The characters are lively and fun and are voiced by fun actors with Amy Poehler, Mindy Kaling Bill Hader, and Phyllis Smith. And since they are different emotions they have a different since of humor that makes them funny. Some of Pixar’s best animation is in this movie and it’s also one of the most colorful Pixar movies. The one holding this back is Sadness is to frustrating and annoying for a lot portion of the movie. But besides that, a fantastic movie that works on a lot of the things that it is going for.
12. Coco: A movie that I re-watched this year during 2020, and watching it again it was afirmed how great this movie is. I think this is the most beautiful looking Pixar movie, when we go to the land of the dead it is colorful and looks stunning. Miguel and Hector are a fun duo and they each get a character arc. And all of the other characters get a nice character arc. And there are some fantastic songs in here “Remember Me” is a great song. Now, Ernesto de la Cruz isn’t the best Pixar villain and is underutilized. But besides the a pretty fantastic Pixar movie.
11. Incredibles 2: A great follow-up to one of my favorite movies of all time. When I first watch this movie I wasn’t to much of a fan, but on re-watch and watching it a number of times I think this is one of the better Pixar sequels. This movie builds out the world of the Incredibles very nicely and makes the world feel bigger. And I like that they reversed the roles where Elastigirl is out fighting crime and Mr. Incredible is staying home with the kids. Jack Jack is a scene stealer and his scene with the raccoon is the best sequence in the movie.
10. Toy Story 2: If this is the weakest of the Toy Story franchise, then this franchise is fantastic. Because this does what great sequels do, go bigger with story but not feel overstuffed with plot line. Woody is at the heart and soul of this movie and learning on where he came from and what his origin story was. Jessie, Bullseye, and Stinky Pete are great new editions to the franchise. And the stuff involving Buzz with Zurg is some of the best of the franchise and all of the Star Wars nodes with Zurg being Buzz’s father. A fantastic movie in a fantastic franchise, and made a by a fantastic studio.
9. Onward: This is one of the more surprising films from Pixar for me. Because, I wasn’t a fan of the trailers all that much and the reviews were all good, and not great like how Pixar movies get. But I went to go see it and I loved it. The brother dynamic between Ian and Barley is one of the better duos in a Pixar movie. But at the heart and soul of this movie are the emotions. I was tearing up in that final 5 minutes of the movie, and I don’t want to see why but if you have seen the movie. Then you know why. So in general this is one of my favorite movies of the year and just a movie that I love.
8. Up: The opening scene of this movie is one the most emotional in any movie ever. Where it hooks you and makes you want to see more and there is hardly any dialogue. After that the movie goes on this fun adventure with likable characters and nicely down animation. Carl Fredrickson is one of the most well rounded and most developed Pixar characters that he marries the love of wife while being married has this heart breaking journey. His wife dies and then he lives by himself for years and meets Russell and his life changes. It is done so well in this movie and it is one of Pixar’s best movies.
7. Finding Nemo: A movie that I’ve never loved as much as some people do but this is still a fantastic movie that is one of Pixar’s best. This is a great example of a movie that kids can enjoy it and appreciate it. But adults can enjoy it but can appreciate it in a whole different way from kids. Of course some of Pixar’s most iconic character are in this movie with Marlin, Nemo, Dory, Gill, and Bruce being these fantastic and fun characters. And I know I’ve been saying this is a lot but the animation style is great and even though it is animation it looks so real.
6. Wall-E: This movie will always have a special place in my heart because it is the first movie I ever saw in the theaters. Like Up, this is a great example of visual storytelling. The first line of dialogue isn’t said until about 30 minutes into the movie. But the first 30 minutes is one of the best things that Pixar has ever done. Wall-E and Eve make for one of the best romantic couples in Pixar where it is a love story between two robots and hardly talk to one another but you care about them. This might have my favorite story inside of any Pixar movie that is pretty incredible when our main characters only say a few words.
5. Toy Story: The first Pixar movie is still one of the best, and some people might say that it still is the best one. This introduced us to Woody and Buzz Lightyear, two of my favorite Pixar characters and two of my favorite movie characters. And Woody gets a great character arc where at first he’s the selfish toy that has been Andy’s favorite for a long time, and Buzz comes in and Woody is jealous of him. So Woody is the character that changes all through-out the movie. And the side characters with Mr. Potato Head, Rex, and Ham that are these fun characters. So a fantastic movie.
4. Monsters Inc.: One of the most fun movies made by Pixar and arguably the greatest duo in any Pixar movie. It takes the familiar concept of monsters under the bed and them terrifying children. But it takes that concept and flips it on his head and it turns out that they are nice guys just trying to do their job. Like I said, Mike and Sully are some of the best Pixar characters and when Boo comes into the picture everything gets better. This movie has a razor sharp since of humor and filled with great characters. This is a fantastic movie filled with fantastic characters.
3. Toy Story 4: A movie that when they first announced it, it sounded weird but I watched the movie and I loved it. The first three movies were about the gang’s relationship with Andy. But since the toys are with Bonnie now and not Andy there is a different type of story to tell. This is the best that Woody has been because more so in the other movies he gets to take the lead of the story. And the ending to this movie I think is better then the ending to Toy Story 3. This is one of Pixar’s best and one of the best Toy Story movies.
2. Toy Story 3: It was a tough decision picking between Toy Story 3 and 4, but at the end of the day I think that Toy Story 3 is the better made movie. The opening scene is my favorite all of the Toy Story movies and all four of the toy story movies have great opening scenes. Losto is my favorite Toy Story villain and his backstory his heartbreaking and you understand where he is coming from when he makes the decisions that he does. And the third act of the movie is great at the dump and the scene where they are heading down toward the fire is one of the most edge of your seat scenes in any animated movie that makes you feel like that the toys might die. I love this movie and it does so many thing well.
1. The Incredibles: This is one of my favorite movies of all time and depending on the day mt favorite animated movie of all time. I love superhero movies, and since this is a superhero movie and a Pixar movie you get one of my favorite movies of all time. The action is great and is shot in a way that is dynamic and makes you feel like that you are in the action. The world that was built is great and one that you want to explore more of. Syndrome is a very solid villain that is an iconic Pixar villain. And the thing that puts this movie together is the score which is INCREDIBLE.
That is my ranking of all 23 Pixar movies, this was a difficult list to make because Pixar has made a lot of fantastic movies. Also, my review for Wonder Woman 1984 will be coming tomorrow, along with a ranking of the DCEU movies. And in January I think I will do ranking of the 5 Pixar franchises.
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