{"id":856597,"date":"2025-06-19T12:12:01","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T17:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/19\/all-29-pixar-movies-ranked\/"},"modified":"2025-06-19T12:12:01","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T17:12:01","slug":"all-29-pixar-movies-ranked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/19\/all-29-pixar-movies-ranked\/","title":{"rendered":"All 29 Pixar Movies, Ranked"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Disney, Pixar<\/span>\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

This article was originally published on June 13, 2018. Once or twice a year Pixar releases a new movie, and when that happens we update our ranking accordingly. Out latest addition is <\/em>Elio<\/a>, now in theaters. <\/em><\/p>\n

Trying to rank every Pixar feature film in order of quality is like trying to rank your children by how much you love them. None of these movies is bad<\/em>, but when you\u2019ve made 29 films, one of them has to be No. 29 and one of them has to be No. 1. We tried to keep context in mind \u2014 Toy Story <\/em>had an ability to blow your mind in 1995 the way nothing could today \u2014 and also ambition: In the world of children\u2019s entertainment, nothing has set Pixar apart more than its burning desire not to coast or mail it in. Some of these movies work better than others, but all of them are trying to do something special \u2014 even if, in recent years, it seems like the studio\u2019s magic has started to wane. Still, Pixar\u2019s competition lags behind. The worst you can say is that, at this point, Pixar is fighting a losing battle trying to live up to its own glorious past.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Pixar\/Disney\u2022Pixar<\/span>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Year: <\/strong>2017
Director<\/strong>: Brian Fee
Runtime<\/strong>: 1h 49m<\/p>\n

Early reviews of Cars 3<\/em> praised the latest installment in the Lightning McQueen saga for, essentially, not being Cars 2<\/em>, the only Pixar film to receive a \u201crotten\u201d rating on Rotten Tomatoes<\/a>. Not exactly a high bar \u2026 and we\u2019re not even convinced this film gets over it. Yes, the dopey Tow Mater is, blessedly, back on the periphery where he belongs while Lightning (Owen Wilson) squares off with two new foes: a sleek race car named Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer) and, more imposingly, the growing realization that he\u2019s not the king of the track anymore. But where at least Cars 2<\/em> consciously tried to go in a radically different direction, Cars 3<\/em> feels like a tame holding pattern, providing the race sequences and heartwarming homilies that were rampant in the first film \u2014 except without the same level of inspiration. There isn\u2019t one interesting new character, despite the effort from Hammer, Kerry Washington, Nathan Fillion, and Chris Cooper as Lightning\u2019s cranky new trainer. And from Randy Newman\u2019s by-the-numbers score to every single one of Mater\u2019s tired quips, Cars 3<\/em> plays out like a rival studio\u2019s lukewarm attempt to mimic Pixar\u2019s magic. It\u2019s not so much bad as it is deeply dispiriting.<\/p>\n

Year:<\/strong> 2022
Director:<\/strong> Angus MacLane
Runtime:<\/strong> 1h 45m<\/p>\n

This is not, inherently, a terrible idea: What if Pixar actually made the movie that first got kids in the \u201990s psyched about Buzz Lightyear toys? What would that movie look like? What kind of character would Buzz be? Unfortunately, Lightyear<\/em> is a letdown, not only because it doesn\u2019t satisfyingly answer those questions, but because it\u2019s not an especially great \u201990s action movie in its own right \u2014 or, conversely, a sharp parody of one. This origin story follows the adventures of Buzz (now voiced by Chris Evans) as he works with a ragtag bunch of recruits to defeat alien invaders on a distant planet. Not surprisingly, Lightyear<\/em> looks terrific, and it\u2019s got some really funny moments \u2014 most of them provided by Sox, Buzz\u2019s faithful robot cat. (Sox is voiced by Peter Sohn, who has worked at Pixar since the early 2000s, starting out as a story artist and doing voices on several of its films, not to mention directing The Good Dinosaur<\/em>.) But this may be the first time that Pixar hasn\u2019t fully justified one of its projects, at least creatively. After a few years of taking chances, Lightyear<\/em> feels like the safe, obvious, slightly lazy play from a studio that used to pride itself on not thinking that way. We\u2019re not mad at Lightyear<\/em>, we\u2019re just disappointed.<\/p>\n

Year:<\/strong> 2011
Director:<\/strong> John Lasseter
Runtime:<\/strong> 1h 46m<\/p>\n

Larry the Cable Guy<\/a> was Cars<\/em>\u2019 secret weapon, lending his blue-collar earthiness to a character whose regular-folks demeanor had real pathos and sweetness. But that didn\u2019t mean we wanted to see Tow Mater in a James Bond spoof. Give Cars 2<\/em> points for audacity: The follow-up shifts away from the original\u2019s small-town, homespun charm to become a sleek, globetrotting action-thriller focusing on Lightning McQueen\u2019s country-bumpkin sidekick. And then take away those points because Cars 2<\/em> proves that even the mighty Pixar can\u2019t transcend the central problem with sequels: You can make everything bigger, but you can rarely replicate what was novel and charming about the original.<\/p>\n

Year: <\/strong>2023
Director:<\/strong> Peter Sohn
Runtime:<\/strong> 1h 49m<\/p>\n

Elemental <\/em>continues a trend of recent Pixar movies that leave you thinking, Well, at least it looked<\/em> amazing. And, indeed, the fantastical realm of Element City is gorgeously imagined, both futuristic and romantic. It\u2019s just the story that keeps causing the problems. Ember (voiced by Leah Lewis) is a fire element that ends up having to team up with Wade (Mamoudou Athie), a water element, to prevent their city from being destroyed by a mysterious canal leak. The four elements are turned into feuding factions in Elemental<\/em>, and as you might imagine, this Romeo and Juliet\u2013<\/em>esque tale wants to preach the importance of tolerance. That\u2019s a laudable message, but there\u2019s something frustratingly undeveloped about this love story. The Pixar brain trust used to brag about how it took years to crack their scripts, the months of futility and false starts eventually leading to brilliance. By comparison, Elemental <\/em>feels dashed off, with the bulk of the creativity spent making sure the visuals were stunning. Which they are. But Pixar is better than that. At least it should be.<\/p>\n

Year: <\/strong>2012
Director:<\/strong> Patrick Doyle
Runtime:<\/strong> 1h 33m<\/p>\n

In the late 2000s, Pixar finally set out\u00a0to fix its lack-of-female-protagonists problem \u2014 but unfortunately, it did it with an undercooked story that feels more like a response to criticism than a well-thought-out Pixar adventure. This is a textbook Idiot Plot movie, in which the whole dreadful second half could have been eliminated if (spoilers here) Merida \u2014 who is beloved in the kingdom and would have little reason to be doubted \u2014 just said, \u201cHey, my mom was just transformed into this bear, everybody chill.\u201d (Heck, her mom could have even written her name in the ground with her claw to prove it, were anyone to ask.) This is also the first Pixar movie whose comedic tone is entirely out of whack; it\u2019s dumb slapstick that reminds you of some subpar early Dreamworks movies. (We wouldn\u2019t have thought Pixar was capable of making irritating, un-cute children, but here they are.) They would finally come up with a terrific female lead three years later, but Brave <\/em>was the first time you thought, Wait, have they really lost something?<\/em><\/p>\n

Year: <\/strong>2013
Director: <\/strong>Dan Scanlon
Runtime:<\/strong> 1h 44m<\/p>\n

How many of us had been clamoring to see how Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sulley (John Goodman) became friends in college? Anyone? One of the sizable faults with Monsters University<\/em> is that it\u2019s a prequel that doesn\u2019t have much need to exist \u2014 just do a short before one of the studio\u2019s features and be done with it \u2014 but there\u2019s enough heart and humor to make this cash-grab amusing enough. Still, Monsters University<\/em> uncomfortably <\/em>sums up Pixar\u2019s post-Toy Story 3<\/em> era: It\u2019s pleasantly entertaining just so long as you will yourself to forget the inspired storytelling and freewheeling imagination that used to be the studio\u2019s trademarks.<\/p>\n

Year: <\/strong>2015
Director:<\/strong> Peter Sohn
Runtime:<\/strong> 1h 33m<\/p>\n

Pixar\u2019s lowest-grossing film, pre-COVID,\u00a0The Good Dinosaur<\/em> was beset with story problems, production delays, and reports of directors being replaced midstream<\/a>. It was hardly the company\u2019s first movie to have a difficult birth (No. 4 on this list is Pixar\u2019s most famous example of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat), but it is the one film that felt most hamstrung in the public\u2019s mind, never escaping the cloud of bad buzz and relative disinterest that greeted it over Thanksgiving 2015. All that said, this tale of an Earth on which dinosaurs weren\u2019t wiped out by a meteor is visually stunning, imagining an unspoiled American Northwest in which the mighty reptiles rule. The Good Dinosaur<\/em> is oddly conventional for Pixar from a narrative perspective \u2014 a young apatosaurus (voiced by Raymond Ochoa) gets lost and has to find his way home \u2014 but as a meditative, hero\u2019s-journey travelogue, it\u2019s a thoughtful addition to the company\u2019s canon. This may be the one Pixar film most deserving of a reappraisal in ten years.<\/p>\n

Year:<\/strong> 1998
Directors:<\/strong> John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton
Runtime: <\/strong>1h 35m<\/p>\n

We might be in the minority preferring that year\u2019s Antz \u2014<\/em>\u00a0which was famously part of a race between Dreamworks and Pixar to make computer-animated insect movies \u2014 but this is still a charming, ultimately harmless little tale that basically has the same plot as Antz <\/em>but is aimed more squarely at children. As the years went by, Pixar became unusually skilled at making movies as appealing to adults as they were to kids, but the scale is still being balanced here: This is not one adults will rewatch, like The Incredibles <\/em>or Toy Story. <\/em>It still wins big points for having the queen of an ant colony voiced by Phyllis Diller<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Year:<\/strong> 2019
Director<\/strong>: Dan Scanlon
Runtime<\/strong>: 1h 42m<\/p>\n

An uneasy feeling sets in for\u00a0Onward<\/em>\u2019s first half, as we slowly realize the movie\u2019s flimsy high concept (what if old fantastical creatures all became boring and suburban?) is being asked to carry some uninspired, familiar characterizations and yet another Let\u2019s Go On A Quest! plot. (And that the movie\u2019s idea of a sight gag is having a stop sign that reads \u201cHALT.\u201d) But just when you\u2019re about to give up on it,\u00a0Onward\u00a0<\/em>takes its first interesting turn, slyly flipping the concept of the destination being the journey all along, and the movie begins to feel like Pixar again, somehow finding a way to squeeze a little (if just a little) out of your tear ducts. The movie still feels a little half-baked, but it gets considerable mileage out of the simple visual of a pair of bodiless khakis, along with the most likable Chris Pratt since\u00a0Parks and Recreation.\u00a0<\/em>They can do a lot better than this. But even at Replacement Level Pixar, they still find a way to crawl across the finish line.<\/p>\n

Year:<\/strong> 2025
Directors: <\/strong>Adrian Molina, Domee Shi, Madeline Sharafian
Runtime:<\/strong> 1h 39m<\/p>\n

One of the reasons there is a sense that Pixar has been spinning its wheels in recent years is that its sense of\u00a0wonder\u00a0<\/em>seems to be off: The studio is more likely to fall back on familiar (and previously successful) tropes than risk swinging big and reaching for the stars. Elio<\/em> would seem constructed to solve this issue. It is, after all, about a kid who, after losing his parents, dreams of being taken away by space aliens \u2026 and then has that very thing happen. But as charming as Elio<\/em> is at times \u2014 and it has a very cute alien sidekick in Glordon, one of the more memorable in a long series of adorable Pixar side characters \u2014 you can sense its conference-room calculation: its familiar story beats, its well-trod narrative swerves, its now-getting-repetitive \u201cmain character runs away to go on an adventure\u201d plotline. The movie is also a little too busy, packing in too many subplots and characters into a short running time. It still gets you in the end \u2014 Pixar has not lost that ability to get your throat tight. But this is average, safe Pixar fare.<\/p>\n

Year:<\/strong> 2006
Director:<\/strong> John Lasseter
Runtime:<\/strong> 1h 57m<\/p>\n

By 2006, Pixar had been making features for more than a decade, and so a backlash was inevitable; perhaps overdue. Into that awaiting storm walked Cars<\/em>, a sweet, modest family comedy. Essentially Doc Hollywood<\/em> starring a cocky stock car, the film imagined a world ruled by living automobiles, wringing laughs from a hot-rod-out-of-water scenario in which ultracompetitive racer Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) gets stuck in a Podunk filled with ordinary folks like good-ol\u2019-boy tow-truck Mater (Larry the Cable Guy). Cars<\/em> is Pixar\u2019s most nostalgic work, lamenting the sleepy communities and small-town values lost to the endless march of progress, which may explain why the movie feels so recycled, drawing from different genres without the studio\u2019s usual freshness. Still, it\u2019s consistently amusing \u2014 and for a whole generation of car-loving boys who grew up on it, Cars<\/em> is as important as Star Wars<\/em> or Batman.<\/p>\n

Year:<\/strong> 2020
Director:<\/strong> Pete Docter
Runtime:<\/strong> 1h 40m<\/p>\n

After the frustrating, half-baked\u00a0Onward<\/em>, Pixar course-corrected a bit with\u00a0Soul<\/em>, a goofy, weird charmer about a jazz musician (voiced, well, by Jamie Foxx) who dies and is sent to the Great Beyond, where he tries to get back to his life and fix all that he regretted during his life. That sounds a little like a reverse Up<\/em>, but the movie isn\u2019t mournful: It\u2019s mostly silly, with some fun gags mixed in with yet another dull let\u2019s-go-on-an-adventure! plot (with partner Tina Fey, who doesn\u2019t rise to the occasion). The movie has a strong ending, and its heart is in the right place, but it\u2019s also all over the place<\/a> and has a very dumb subplot involving a cat. It works, it\u2019s fine, but that this is probably the best we can hope for from a non-Toy Story<\/em> sequel from\u00a0Pixar\u00a0right now feels like a very bad sign.<\/p>\n

Year<\/strong>: 2017
Directors:<\/strong> Adrian Molina, Lee Unkrich
Runtime<\/strong>: 1h 45m<\/p>\n

Family is often a theme in Pixar films, but it\u2019s rarely been explored so deeply as it is in Coco<\/em>, which tells the story of Miguel (voiced by Anthony Gonzalez), a 12-year-old living in Saint Cecilia who wants nothing more than to be a singer and guitarist. Unfortunately for the boy, his family has forbidden music ever since his great-great-grandfather abandoned his wife and child to pursue his art years earlier. Told with magical realism and an array of terrific traditional folk songs<\/a>, Coco <\/em>sends Miguel on a journey into the Land of the Dead, which allows Pixar\u2019s genius animators to produce one of their most dreamlike and colorful visual environments. The studio spent significant time researching Mexican culture and history, which adds authenticity and vibrancy to a quest-like tale about redemption, understanding, and forgiveness that will be familiar to Pixar fans. Still, it\u2019s heartening that the Pixar braintrust, amidst pumping out Cars <\/em>and Incredibles<\/em> sequels, still tries to give itself fresh challenges.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Pixar\/Disney\u00efPixar. All Rights Reserved.<\/span>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Year:<\/strong> 2018
Director<\/strong>: Brad Bird
Runtime<\/strong>: 2h 6m<\/p>\n

This sequel may take place immediately after the events of The Incredibles<\/em>, but for audiences, the movie world has changed immensely since the first film blasted into theaters 14 years ago. For one thing, a superhero film is no longer a novelty \u2014 it\u2019s now a Hollywood staple \u2014 but in a more general sense, Brad Bird\u2019s original vision of a rollicking, action-packed animated family film has been duplicated by Pixar\u2019s competitors. (The Despicable Me <\/em>franchise in particular owes The Incredibles <\/em>a huge debt.) So naturally, Incredibles 2<\/em> can\u2019t match what was startlingly innovative about the 2004 film \u2014 even the movie\u2019s glorious retro-cool production design and groovy score lack surprise \u2014 but it\u2019s still a pretty nifty piece of high-quality entertainment. This time around, Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) has to play Mr. Mom while his wife Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) goes out in search of a masked villain named Screenslaver, leading to a winning mixture of domestic misadventures and comic-book heroics. Like a lot of recent Pixar films, Incredibles 2 <\/em>mostly reminds you of the company\u2019s once-formidable talents, but it\u2019s a nostalgic, very fun ride.<\/p>\n

Year:<\/strong> 2021
Director:<\/strong> Enrico Casarosa
Runtime:<\/strong> 1h 35m<\/p>\n

One of Pixar\u2019s great challenges is managing expectations. When you\u2019re known for groundbreaking animation and whip-smart storytelling\u00a0\u2014\u00a0when you\u2019re praised constantly for being at the vanguard of your field\u00a0\u2014\u00a0how do you downshift and do something that\u2019s a little more modest in scale? That dilemma is what makes\u00a0Luca<\/em>\u00a0such an interesting outlier in the studio\u2019s catalog: It follows two teenage sea monsters who become friends in the human world, where they can blend in just so long as they don\u2019t get wet, which isn\u2019t advisable since people think those underwater beasts are horrifying creatures worth destroying. Where other Pixar entries want to knock your socks off,\u00a0Luca<\/em>\u00a0drifts along on its gentle wavelength, examining male friendship and the pain of being an outsider with compassion and light chuckles. This isn\u2019t the film you\u2019d show first to someone who\u2019d never seen any Pixar movies, but as the company reaches middle age, it\u2019s an encouraging sign that its filmmakers are still willing to try new tones and moods.<\/p>\n

Year: <\/strong>2001
Director:<\/strong> Pete Docter
Runtime:<\/strong> 1h 32m<\/p>\n

The placement of Monsters, Inc. <\/em>on any Pixar list depends on one question: How much of Billy Crystal\u2019s shtick can you stand? If Aladdin<\/em> is Robin Williams Unbound, this buddy comedy gave the Oscar host his chance to go full Catskills, voicing Mike Wazowski, the insecure, long-suffering, wisecracking partner to the lovable James P. \u201cSulley\u201d Sullivan (John Goodman), who travels to the human world to give sleeping kids nightmares. The first of Pete Docter\u2019s directorial efforts<\/a> \u2014 he\u2019d go on to make Up <\/em>and Inside Out<\/em>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Monsters, Inc. <\/em>argues that you can never go wrong pairing exasperated adult characters with an impossibly cute kid (Boo, voiced by Mary Gibbs, who was only 5 when the movie came out). Mike\u2019s kvetching gets tiresome, but the movie zooms along with whiplash speed. (The third-act chase set in the Monsters, Inc.<\/em> conveyor belt of doors thrills.) And c\u2019mon, Sulley\u2019s final reaction shot is just beautiful.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Year:<\/strong> 2022
Director: <\/strong>Domee Shi
Runtime:<\/strong> 1h 40m<\/p>\n

In recent years,\u00a0Pixar\u2019s movies have been directed by a new wave of filmmakers,\u00a0a younger generation who were kids when\u00a0Toy Story<\/em>\u00a0first hit theaters, and the most promising of the bunch is\u00a0Domee Shi, whose 2018 short\u00a0Bao<\/em>\u00a0won an Oscar. Her feature debut is about boy bands and Toronto, friendship and motherhood, puberty and bullies. It\u2019s also really funny. (Seriously, why\u00a0are<\/em>\u00a0there five members in 4*Town?)\u00a0Rosalie Chiang is delightful as the voice of Mei,\u00a0Turning Red<\/em>\u2019s 13-year-old heroine, who has reached the age when she\u2019s getting boy crazy \u2014\u00a0and discovering to her shock that she turns into a big red panda when her emotions take over. It\u2019s a metaphor for girls getting their period,\u00a0but perhaps more pointedly, it\u2019s a commentary on how women are punished in society for being \u201ctoo emotional.\u201d\u00a0Turning Red<\/em>\u00a0also has a lot to say about the impossibility of understanding our parents, who themselves are carrying around the baggage of their complicated relationships with their own parents. If Shi\u2019s movie doesn\u2019t quite reach the heights of\u00a0Pixar\u2019s finest moments, it does suggest that the fretting over the end of the company\u2019s golden age is misplaced. With filmmakers like her onboard, maybe\u00a0Pixar\u00a0is merely rebuilding and preparing for an exciting new era.<\/p>\n

Year:<\/strong> 2024
Director: <\/strong>Kelsey Mann
Runtime:<\/strong> 1h 36m<\/p>\n

Some of the original voice cast has been replaced. (Tony Hale, we love you, but you\u2019re no Bill Hader when it comes to portraying Fear.) And some of the novelty of\u00a0Inside Out<\/em>\u2019s conceit has faded with this sequel. And yet, part two ends up being a nice reminder of what made the first film so special\u00a0\u2014 while successfully building on its legacy. Adorable Riley is now 13, which means Anxiety (Maya Hawke) has made her way to Headquarters, usurping Joy\u2019s (Amy Poehler) authority and turning this precocious teen into a self-conscious stress ball desperate to be liked. Anybody who was ever a teenager will relate, and\u00a0Inside Out 2\u00a0<\/em>keeps finding funny bits of business about how we let our worries guide our actions. Nothing in this sequel will make you cry as hard as the original did, but we\u2019d be surprised if you walked out of the theater without wiping away a tear or two.<\/p>\n

Year:<\/strong> 2016
Director:<\/strong> Andrew Stanton
Runtime:<\/strong> 1h 45m<\/p>\n

Thirteen years after the marvelous Finding Nemo<\/em> hit theaters, it\u2019s debatable whether audiences were clamoring for a sequel. Yet, Finding Dory<\/em> is a pretty stellar follow-up, with director Andrew Stanton returning to the original\u2019s themes of family, loss, and reconciliation to deliver another action-packed, emotion-soaked comedy. The title\u2019s double meaning \u2014 it\u2019s Dory (again voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) who\u2019s doing the searching, both for her long-lost parents and for her own sense of self-sufficiency \u2014 speaks to the depth of the movie, which serves as an example of how Pixar should be making sequels: by investing in intelligent, heartfelt stories that expand the first film\u2019s scope without radically altering the characters\u2019 personalities to serve hackneyed narrative conventions. Of the new additions, a gruff octopus voiced by Ed O\u2019Neill is Dory<\/em>\u2019s highlight, but the movie\u2019s heart and soul remains Stanton, who rebounds terrifically from the embarrassment of John Carter<\/em> for this second delightful dip into the ocean. Also: You may never hear Sigourney Weaver\u2019s voice again without chuckling.<\/p>\n

Year: <\/strong>2009
Director: <\/strong>Pete Docter
Runtime:<\/strong> 1h 35m<\/p>\n

All right, all right: We know this is lower than you think it should be. But take a step back and try to remember what comes to your mind when you first think of this movie. Yes, the wondrous image of the balloon raising the house into the air, and yes, maybe the cute dog that keeps being distracted by squirrels. But plot-wise, this whole film is completely overshadowed by the heartbreaking preamble<\/a>, in which we learn the crushing story of Carl and Ellie\u2019s life together. Yes, this will make you cry \u2014 just watching it again choked us up \u2014 but in retrospect, the rest of the movie is your fairly standard cute-kid, cute-dog, central-casting villain story. We\u2019re not sure the whole movie should have been as powerful as those opening minutes \u2014 we might still <\/em>be weeping \u2014 but take that away and this movie is a lot <\/em>thinner than you remember. Sorry.<\/p>\n

Year: <\/strong>2007
Director:<\/strong> Brad Bird
Runtime:<\/strong> 1h 51m<\/p>\n

As close as Pixar will get to an art movie, this story of a rat who is secretly the greatest chef in all of Paris is a delight, owing largely to a generous heart, a witty, Richard Dreyfuss\u2013esque vocal performance from Patton Oswalt, and some legitimately democratizing\u00a0notions about art and the act of creation. It\u2019s not quite as viscerally thrilling <\/em>as some other Pixar films \u2014 the main setpiece is about impressing a food critic \u2014 but it is funny and almost compulsively likable. After this film \u2014 which, we repeat, is a comedy about art and food and rats in Paris \u2014 became a huge hit and won an Oscar, it seemed as though Pixar could do no wrong.<\/p>\n

Year: 2019
Director: Josh Cooley
Runtime: 1h 40m<\/p>\n

You can understand why so many were fretting about Toy Story 4<\/em>. <\/em>Pixar sequels have led to diminishing returns in recent years, and Toy Story 3 <\/em>ended so perfectly. Why even risk the most beloved animated franchise of the last two decades? Turns out: We shouldn\u2019t have worried. Toy Story 4 <\/em>may not reach the emotional heights of the third installment, and it might not have the simple perfection of the first one, but it\u2019ll still knock you over. The story focuses more intently on Woody this time, but the overarching theme of what it means to love and be loved is as foregrounded as it has ever been; these remain the most generous and good-hearted of all the Pixar films. And this honestly might be the funniest film of the entire franchise, from Key and Peele\u2019s Plush Rush to Keanu Reeves\u2019s Duke Caboom, and, of course, Tony Hale\u2019s Forky, a surrealistic, existential touch that happens to make you keel over with laughter every time you see him. Did they need <\/em>to make a fourth one? Probably not. But you\u2019ll be delighted they did \u2026 and more trustful of Pixar, if they ever decide to make a fifth.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Courtsey of Disney Pixar<\/span>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Year:<\/strong> 2015
Director:<\/strong> Pete Docter
Runtime: <\/strong>1h 35m<\/p>\n

Those going through Parks & Rec <\/em>withdrawal, rejoice: Amy Poehler\u2019s adorable Inside Out<\/em> character Joy isn\u2019t that far removed from her hyperpositive, smilingly pushy Leslie Knope, running the emotional headquarters inside the brain<\/a> of a happy tween like it\u2019s her own little sunny fiefdom. Inside Out<\/em> can get bogged down a bit in plot busyness \u2014 Joy and Sadness (a terrifically gloomy turn from The Office<\/em>\u2019s Phyllis Smith) have to find a way back to HQ after being sucked into the girl\u2019s mind \u2014 but this is the cleverest, most emotionally pure Pixar film in years, offering plenty of teachable moments for both parents and kids about the need to embrace all of life\u2019s emotions. And Bing Bong is going to break your heart.<\/p>\n

Year:<\/strong> 2010
Director:<\/strong> Lee Unkrich
Runtime:<\/strong> 1h 43m<\/p>\n

Ranking the three Toy Story <\/em>films, all of which are wonderful, is nearly impossible, and there was much disagreement even among the two of us. (One of us had this as his best movie of 2010<\/a>, after all.) You really can\u2019t go wrong with any of them, but we\u2019ve got this one third if only because the Great Escape<\/em>\u2013type plot feels more familiar than we\u2019re used to from these movies, and because the ending resembles some sort of cruel Disney-funded Pepsi Challenge to see if grown adults can keep from sobbing in the company of their children. Also: It\u2019s not fair, but the fact that they\u2019re making a Toy Story 4 <\/em>does, in fact, hurt a bit of the finality of this one that made it so powerful.<\/p>\n

Year:<\/strong> 2004
Director: <\/strong>Brad Bird
Runtime:<\/strong> 2h 3m<\/p>\n

It was obvious, in retrospect, that director Brad Bird would move on to making live-action blockbusters: This is as exciting and riveting an action film as we\u2019ve seen in American animation. If all blockbusters were like this one, we\u2019d never object to a fifth Transformers <\/em>movie. The key to The<\/em> Incredibles<\/em>\u2019 success is its economy of action: We are introduced to an entirely new universe, meet and empathize with a likable and close-knit family, discover the parents\u2019 quiet dissatisfaction with what their lives have become, and then watch as everyone unites to overcome an evil force that wants to destroy the planet. It does all this in under two hours and never seems to be rushing or cramming anything in. Take note, Marvel: You can<\/em> create a world, balance a huge cast of characters, and still wow your audience without making them look up everything on Wikipedia afterward.<\/p>\n

Year:<\/strong> 1999
Director:<\/strong> 1h 33m
Runtime: <\/strong>John Lasseter<\/p>\n

Toy Story 2<\/em> should have been a disaster. Designed to be a straight-to-DVD feature but then slotted for a theatrical release by Pixar\u2019s Disney bosses, who were much happier with the in-progress film than the Pixar brain trust were, the sequel had to be reconceived on the fly and rushed to completion, grabbing story beats that had been rejected from the original film. Miraculously, Toy Story 2<\/em> shows no signs of the panic that went into making it. Expanding Woody and Buzz\u2019s universe without losing focus on the characters, laughs, or sentiment, this follow-up deepens the themes of the original while keeping a wistful eye on childhood\u2019s end. Joan Cusack is the MVP as the rootin\u2019-tootin\u2019 cowgirl Jessie, and her \u201cWhen She Loved Me\u201d flashback sequence<\/a> remains one of the great cries in Pixar\u2019s rich history of tearjerking moments.<\/p>\n

Year: <\/strong>2003
Director:<\/strong> Andrew Stanton
Runtime:<\/strong> 1h 40m<\/p>\n

Director Andrew Stanton wanted to make a movie set in the ocean, but he also wanted to address his own guilty memories of being an overprotective father to his young son. So he made this emotional, exciting, visually gorgeous story about a nervous clownfish (voiced by Albert Brooks) on a desperate search to find his lost son Nemo (Alexander Gould) with the help of a lovably loopy blue tang (Ellen DeGeneres). Finding Nemo<\/em>\u2019s lessons about the importance of letting our children live their own lives are only strengthened by how scary this movie can be. Stanton and his animators load the film with plenty of terrors \u2014 the opening remains a nerve-shredder \u2014 and yet still insist that we have to learn that rather than smothering those we love, we need to release them into the scary world if they\u2019re going to survive on their own.<\/p>\n

Year<\/strong>: 1995
Director:<\/strong> John Lasseter
Runtime<\/strong>: 1h 21m<\/p>\n

30 years after\u00a0Toy Story<\/em>\u2019s release, some of Randy Newman\u2019s songs come across as creaky, and the once cutting-edge animation looks rudimentary. Otherwise, though, the best comedy of the 1990s remains perfect. Pixar\u2019s first feature is still the template for every great movie the studio has made since: earned emotions; ripping action sequences; dead-on insights into human nature; and lots of giddy, witty, silly laughs.\u00a0Toy Story<\/em> is so funny because deep down, it\u2019s actually a very melancholy film. Woody and Buzz\u2019s battle for Andy\u2019s love speaks to everyone\u2019s fear of being replaced, as well as our shared recognition that the innocence of childhood cannot last. As for the voice cast, they\u2019re impeccable: Tim Allen was never better, and even though Tom Hanks has won two Oscars, it is very likely (and completely appropriate) that Woody will be the role that immortalizes him.<\/p>\n

Year:<\/strong> 2008
Director:<\/strong> Andrew Stanton
Runtime<\/strong>: 1h 38m<\/p>\n

We went back and forth on the top two here, but we ultimately had to go with this one, the most original and ambitious of all the Pixar movies. The first half-hour, which basically tells the story of the destruction of the planet and the devolution of the human race without a single line of dialogue, is total perfection: It\u2019s almost Kubrickian in its attention to detail and perspective, though it never feels cold or ungenerous. Then we get to know WALL-E himself and realize that he sees humanity for so much more than it has become, and what it can become again. WALL-E <\/em>is an unprecedented achievement<\/a>, the absolute pinnacle of what Pixar can do. And not for nothing, WALL-E<\/em> also happens to feature Pixar\u2019s greatest love story. They\u2019ve never been better. This is our pick.<\/p>\n

Grierson & Leitch write about the movies regularly and\u00a0<\/em>host a podcast on film.<\/em><\/a>\u00a0Follow them on\u00a0<\/em>Twitter<\/em><\/a>\u00a0or visit\u00a0<\/em>their site<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

All 29 Pixar Movies, Ranked<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Tim Grierson,Will Leitch<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Disney, Pixar This article was originally published on June 13, 2018. Once or twice a year Pixar releases a new movie, and when that happens we update our ranking accordingly. Out latest addition is Elio , now in theaters. Trying to rank every Pixar feature film in order of quality is like<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":856598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1798,1309,22225],"tags":[11759,48048],"class_list":{"0":"post-856597","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"category-movies","9":"category-pixar","10":"tag-movies","11":"tag-pixar"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=856597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}