Pixar Movies: Ranked

Pixar has become a revolutionary force in the world of animated film. While other major movie companies have been producing more work compared to Pixar, I think it's safe to say that Pixar has set the bar when it comes to delivering content. Not only does an animated flick be filled with color, but there has to be more - it's the content that also has it appeal to viewers of all ages. While there are a number of upcoming Pixar movies in production, I'm quite excited for their newest movie, Inside Out. It's looking to be a contender for another Pixar hit. So while waiting for its release, I thought I'd rank the rest of their movies based on my preference.

It’s no surprise this is at the bottom of the list. While it’s certainly glitzy, it followed a sequel phenomena that consists of disposing that quality that made the first movie work, in favor of maximizing the basic premise (in this case, the whole car racing theme) of the same movie. It’s generally not so bad, but compared to Pixar standards, it’s so bad. 

Despite its popularity when it was released, it didn’t really hold up its relevance throughout the years (and was seriously seen as the poster movie of racing for children). Owen Wilson does a great job voicing the lead character; his character’s arrogance was very spot-on. 

This is making the bottom of the list only because I think it’s the most forgettable Pixar movie there is. I used to get this confused with a similar looking movie. This movie was all right; it revolves around the story of the food chain, where the grasshoppers rule the ants, but all that was about to change because of one visionary ant.

The prequel that establishes the friendship of Mike and Sulley, it takes us back to their student years when both were enrolled in their school’s scare program. It establishes the differences between the two characters, and how in the end, it was their differences that brought them together. This was a fun movie, and it puts a spin on things considering that the end of Inc complicated things when it comes to the sequel. I’d still like to see that Sulley-Boo reunion though, or a Boo spin-off! 

Honestly, I do not understand what the big deal was with this movie and how everyone was raving that it was so sad, etc etc. I think it was the hype that ultimately destroyed this movie for me. Yes, the montage was sad (and the parts toward the end) but when you hear people say they were crying throughout...*raise eyebrows*. It was a good movie, but it wasn’t worth its hype. 

While it dives into the bond between mother and daughter, and being able to forge one’s own path and all that, there was still something missing that makes Brave stand out amidst its Pixar peers. It does boast a strong female character (and is the first female-led Pixar film), but it pales comparison to other family-relating, character independence movies. 

It took me a longer time to truly appreciate this movie (Billy Crystal does great work voicing Mike, but I was more irritated and less amused with his character at first). Boo and Sulley were really adorable, and I liked how their friendship has inspired change, that not every notion we know is actually a fact, that there might be something different if we keep our minds open. 

Ok, I’m going to admit it: Woody the Cowboy is annoying. He is quite bossy (I think it’s because he’s Andy’s favorite toy) and placed a lot of his fellow toys in danger more than he knew. He gradually grows a heart and accepts Buzz in his life, eventually being best friends with the guy despite his attempts to rid of him. The kid neighbor was scary in this one, as well as his disfigured toys. I think this was why I avoided seeing this when I was a kid (why do you have to be a crazy person, neighbor kid?!). It’s a chaotic movie (chaotic in the sense that there was a lot of trouble), but a great movie about friendship.

When I was younger, I wasn’t much of a fan of this installment, but after a recent rewatch, I did not know what I was missing. This was actually a great sequel, and had more content than its predecessor. I initially found Jessie to be annoying, but ended up liking her in the end. I also liked the Buzz side story - I wished there was a feature film featuring Buzz since we already got Woody’s origin story.

This was quite awesome, and I’m surprised a sequel hadn’t been released sooner (it’s something I’m looking forward to). A superhero family? Yes please! I can’t wait to see where the creators would take the family, and meet the new villains as well. Plus, there’s never too much of Edna Mode. 

Finding Nemo is a great movie depicting a father-son relationship (or a parent-child relationship in any manner). Not only does Marlin and Nemo face their own fears and triumph over obstacles, the separation they had lead to a healthier, happier relationship between the two. 

One of the movies that make me hungry, it teaches us that we could do whatever we want to do in life, no matter what our current lives might be. This was a delightful movie, and though I’m not the biggest fan of rats, I’d watch this over again. 

The movie that sent me bawling at the final act (it’s so hard not to!), this ends the Toy Story trilogy beautifully - or at least the story of Andy’s involvement in it. Hopefully they don’t push through with Toy Story 4; it would ruin the effect of this finale. 

This is my favorite Pixar movie (and it's pretty hard to dethrone, although Toy Story 3 came close). Wall.E is so adorable, and I love how innocently devoted he is to Eve. Their scene floating in space: wonderful.

19 comments:

  1. So many great movies here. I truly love all of them except both Cars movies which I hate or Brave which I do like, but feel its notch below the rest. Might do my own one if these at some point.

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    1. I'm actually sick of Cars; I see them everywhere at children's parties and I don't even know if these kids like Cars. Apparently the novelty of it hasn't worn off, kind of like the Frozen craze.

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  2. Great post! Not sure I agree with everything (I'd probably swap Up and Ratatouille around) but on the whole it's hard to disagree with your choices! :) I wrote a similar thing last year (prior to Monsters U) check it out here: http://feelinfuzzier.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/rank-films-6-pixar.html

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    1. I'm not a big fan of Up (I liked the talking dog, if it helps), but to each their own! I checked out your list, and you have great insights about the movies as well!

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  3. Yes! I would have WALL-E as my favorite too, and A Bug's Life second. You're right that it gets forgotten, but it always has a special place in my heart. I still remember the day I saw it in theaters very well.

    My kid has made me watch Up about a million times, but I think I like it a little more now. The score is beautiful and I get it stuck in my head often.

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    1. The score for Up is beautiful, and it adds to the atmosphere of the movie. I don't find a lot of people talking about A Bug's Life when it comes to Pixar movies, but it is a good movie.

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  4. Nice list! Personally, I totally forgot about Ratatouille and always do, so it'd definitely be more towards the bottom for me (and A Bug's Life closer to the top- it was a favourite of mine as a kid). As well, I don't really understand the hype over Wall-E and will forever have Finding Nemo as my number 1. But I always love seeing other peoples ranking of things like this!

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    1. Finding Nemo is amazing, and it gets better every re-watch. I can't wait for the sequel, I'm hoping it's as good as Nemo,

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  5. Love this list! Shockingly I still haven't watched WALL-E, I really have to soon! A Bug's Life was one of my favourite childhood films so that would be higher up for me, but other than that my list would look very similar :)
    - Allie

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    1. Wall-E became an absolute favorite the moment I saw it. I hope you get to see it soon!

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  6. Love this post! Toy Story 3 and Nemo are my clear favorites. Cars, yeah...bottom of the pile!

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    1. I guess Cars has an appeal to a certain age group. Kids love it over here (I think it's less of the movie and more in the lines of 'the car is red and looks really shiny'), and it's still making money for Pixar; they are developing a third movie and a spin-off was hatched from the franchise's success.

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  7. I enjoy this post a lot and I think this will be a fun thing to post on movie blog, so thank you for the inspiration to do this.

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  8. Nice list! I commend you for ranking the Pixar movies because I wouldn't even know where to begin, though I think Toy Story would rank pretty high. It's refreshing to see Wall-E on top of the list too, though I haven't seen it yet. :)

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  9. I'm not entirely sure how I would rank the films, I would definitely put Cars up higher because I grew up with my dad watching Nascar racing every Sunday and we took road trip vacations along parts of Route 66 every summer so it really reaches that nostalgic part of me. I'd also put Ratatouille down a bit lower, it's got a lot of great stuff in it, but I just don't quite connect to it as much as I do some of the other movies. The rest of your top 5 is pretty spot on, though I'd probably want to put Incredibles higher, but I'm not sure if I honestly could.

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    1. I think I understand your point about Ratatouille, there is something that makes it emotionally distant as opposed to other Pixar movies that touch on relationships.

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  10. Great list here. Wall-E is such a lovely film, it'd probably be my number one as well. Pixar has made so many great films, it's insane.

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