Pixar Franchises Ranked
Back in November 1995, Pixar released it’s very first film with Toy Story. Since the release of Toy Story Pixar has made 23 movies. Of the course of the 23 movies we have gotten 7 sequels and 1 prequel. And we have also gotten 5 franchises. Today, I wanted to rank the 5 Pixar franchises.
5. Finding Nemo Franchise: While this one is one last place I still really enjoy this franchise. Finding Nemo is one of the best movies that Pixar has ever done. It’s a movie that has a lot of heart in it and a set of fun characters. And Finding Dory is one of the weaker Pixar movies, where it feels too much of a rehash of plot points and plot lines from Finding Nemo. And it’s a movie that doesn’t have too much newness to it. So that is one of the things that puts it in last place because 1 of the 2 movies feels way too similar to the other one. Also, in a franchise I like when the two movies find a way to tie together. And this franchise simply doesn’t, Finding Nemo and Finding Dory don’t feel like they work together. Finding Dory feels more like a straight to DVD spin-off movie. And it might sound like I’m hating on Finding Dory, I don’t hate the movie. It’s a good movie inside of the Pixar cannon. So I think this franchise could have moved up if they found a way to tie both movies together.
4. Cars Franchise: For most people, this franchise will be in last place. But for me this franchise is filled with so much nostalgia that I had to put it in next to last place on this list. Finding Nemo and Finding Dory might be better made movies but these movies are a bit more watchable for me. Lightning McQueen I think does get a pretty good character throughout the three movies, or maybe in just in 1 and 3. Because 2 is focused on Mater. But at the beginning of the original Cars he’s just this hot shot racer who only cares about himself, fame, and winning. And the first Cars movie makes him appreciate the smaller things in life. And by the end of Cars 3 he is a mentor to this new young racer that is similar to himself when he was young. The characters are a lot of fun and the side characters with Sarge, Fillmore, Luigi, and Guido make for a nice ensemble of characters. And maybe Cars 2 isn’t the best, but I still view that movie as a guilty pleasure Pixar movie. So one that might not be one the same quality as some of the other movies. Nostalgia factors heavily into this placement.
3. Monsters Inc. Franchise: A franchise that I think is a very solid one inside the Pixar cannon. Of course Monsters Inc. is one of the most iconic and one of my favorite Pixar movies. And it built a great set of characters and a great world that I want to go back and visit. Monsters Inc. is the Pixar movie that I want a sequel to. Mike and Sully played by Billy Crystal and John Goodman are one of the best Pixar duos. And when Boo gets added into the mix, everything gets better. And then I think that Monsters University is a very solid Pixar movie. It’s not one of the best one, it’s not one of the worst ones. It’s just there in that good Pixar range, and I think ties into Monster Inc. in some nice ways. And it’s a prequel that doesn’t give a whole lot of embarrassing answers to questions that we were wondering. So this is one that unlike the Finding Nemo franchise I think the two movies tie together really nicely, and feel like one franchise with two movies. Not two movies that kind of tie together. Now you could make the argument that the quality difference between Inc and University is pretty big, and similar to the gap between Nemo and Dory. But for me I think the University is a better movie than Dory. So with the characters, world, and connectedness this is one of the better Pixar franchises.
2. The Incredibles Franchise: In a lot of ways this franchise is very similar to the types of the movie that I enjoy. Which are these action, superhero, and spy movies that can also have heart and emotion to them. And what Brad Bird and Pixar were able to do with these characters and stories is pretty INCREDIBLE. (Anyone? No? Ok, I’ll let myself out). They did such a great job with the world building in the original Incredibles movie that Incredibles 2 was able to build on the foundation of the original film and make the world feel bigger. They also created these sets of characters that are fun and interesting and you want to see more of. And played by these fun actors. And that is really the big thing here is they created a world and a set of characters that you want to see more of. The fight scenes, the animation, and the score help bring the movie together. This is also one of the more high quality Pixar franchises, and a franchise that both movies are in my top 10 favorite Pixar movies. And I like that Incredibles 2 picks up right where the original took place left of so we feel the connectivity of the franchise. So this is a pretty INCREDIBLE franchise (that is the last pun in this), that is easily my runner up.
1. The Toy Story Franchise: This is easily the best franchise that Pixar has done, The Incredibles is fantastic but Toy Story just blows everything out of the water. This is one of the most high quality film franchises of all time. Where Toy Story 2 is my least favorite but that is a movie that I will give an A- to. Each of them feel very different in tone and the story that is told, but they each feel like it gives our characters a sense of growth and moving on. And there is an 11 year gap from when Toy Story 2 was released to when Toy Story 3 was released, and they told the story years after the events of Toy Story 2. And you feel the sense of growing up and moving on and really all through-out the four movies you really feel that. Of course, Woody and Buzz are my personal favorite Pixar duo and their arc going from not liking each other, to being best friends and feeling like family in Toy Story 3 and 4, we see their relationship change overtime. The original Toy Story was the first computer made animated movie and maybe now some scenes don’t look the best, but at the time it was something new and different. And with Toy Story 4 it’s so colorful and I think it is the best looking Toy Story movie. All and all when you combine the story, characters, arcs, and animation style you get the best franchise that Pixar has done.
Thank you so much for reading this post, I hoped you enjoyed hearing my thoughts! What are your favorite Pixar franchises? Also, I have ranked the movies so that is a place to check out some more Pixar content.
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