Ranking 22 Pixar Movies - here's my list. What's yours?

karly05

DIS Veteran - "I found the Snipe!"
Joined
Mar 7, 2009
I’ve seen a lot of Pixar Ranking lists and, after seeing Coco, finally did one of my own – which has of course been revised since. This is completely subjective and totally emotional. If anyone else wants to post their own Pixar list in this thread, please do!

I’m going to split this up into Movies 22-16, 15-11, 10-6, and 5-1. I’m expressing my feelings but trying not to be too long winded. I will say up front, while I appreciate the visual artistry, the biggest hook for me is characters, characters, story, characters, and story.

I’ll try not to be explicit, but there could be SPOILERS ahead!

Here we go:

22: Cars 2. IMO the only “bad” movie Pixar has made – and the reason I find it bad instead of just mediocre and forgettable is the way they play Mater. In “Cars,” he works pretty well as silly hayseed comic relief. Here, he is played as a developmentally challenged object of pathos, which I find really off-putting.

21: Brave. I was put off by the idea that this girl is about to be handed off to a random stranger in marriage and she’s supposed to be OK with that, and I didn’t connect with the mother/daughter plot the way I was supposed to. Just not one that clicked with me.

20: The Good Dinosaur. I didn’t dislike this one as much as some people, and it kept me engaged in the theatre, but it’s not one I care to watch over and over. I know Pixar often deals with life-and-death situations, but the peril in this one feels especially brutal. I do like the cattle-herding T-Rexes.

19: Cars 3. I think this one is the most forgettable for me. Again, I was engaged enough in the theatre, and I know there were some things I liked, but it just doesn’t stick with me.

18: Finding Dory. I have to give props to Ellen, because I don’t think anyone else could pull off this character. That said, this feels scattershot and disjointed, and I didn’t really connect with the new characters. I do have to give a shout-out to Idris Elba as one of the Sea Lions, completing his 2016 Voice Acting Trifecta after voicing Shere Khan in the Jungle Book remake, and his awesome work as Chief Bogo in Zootopia.

17: Incredibles 2. Another one I enjoyed well enough when I saw it in the theatre, but just don’t have the attachment to. Any excuse to put Edna Mode on screen is welcome, and I could feel how much fun Michael Giacchino was having with the score. But I really wanted to come out of this wanting to see more of the new Supers, and I didn’t. They were a majorly wasted opportunity; even though the movie wasn’t about them, they could have been much more interesting and appealing. Instead, I found them ranging from forgettable to underdeveloped to just obnoxious.

16: Monsters University. OK, right off the bat, Little Mike Wazowski as the Brainy Misfit Kid was something I could totally connect with. Yeah, the first 2/3 of this movie are predictable, but I really enjoyed Act 3 with Mike and Sulley in the human world. Nice to get a little more background on Randall, although he still feels kind of underdeveloped to me. Silly fun, and my highest ranked sequel that does not have the words “Toy Story” in the title.
 
15-11:

Man, there are some things in here that hurt to rank so low, but there are more than 10 Really Good Pixar Movies, and someone has to get bumped down.

15: WALL-E. This is the one I’m gonna get flamed for, but I admire it a lot more than I like it. I think it’s great that Pixar went “outside the box” for something so creative and challenging, but I just didn’t get hooked in. The one thing I love about it, and could hug Andrew Stanton for, is the use of “Hello, Dolly!” a much-maligned movie I grew up on and love.

14. Cars. Yeah, you heard me. It’s not ground breaking, it’s not great, but it’s solid and works for me. Love Paul Newman’s Doc Hudson, and the retro Route 66 vibe. I still think that if this movie had been made by any other studio, including Walt Disney Animation at the time, it would have been deemed a pretty good movie, but it couldn’t reach the high bar Pixar had set.

13: Inside Out. So creative, with some things I really love, but for me I think some of the parts are better than the whole. I love Sadness, love her scene with Bing Bong where she demonstrates how sometimes you just have to let people be sad. And oh, my gosh… Bing Bong! Nooooo!!!!

12: Toy Story 2. So much great stuff, good development for both Woody and Buzz, the introduction of Jessie, and the meet-cute of one of my favorite Pixar couples (Buzz & Jessie). But this is my lowest of the Toy Story movies, I’d say mostly because it has my least favorite TS antagonists. Al is just repugnant, and Stinky Pete works for the story, but I like all the other TS villains more.

11. Monsters Inc. Man, it breaks my heart to put this one so low. So clever and charming. Boo is so adorable, I love her storyline with Sulley. The Door Vault is still after all these years one of the very best Pixar action set-pieces, and the final shot of Sulley arguably the very best final shot. And “Put That Thing Back Where it Came From” is the all time best closing credits scene.
 
10-6:

10: The Incredibles. Smart, entertaining, plenty of quotable moments, great score by my hero Michael Giacchino, and one of my all-time favorite Pixar characters in Edna Mode. He’s not my favorite Pixar villain, but I have no beef with the people who consider Syndrome the best Pixar villain.

9: Finding Nemo. When I made the list, I really considered Nemo, Incredibles and Monsters Inc as a trio of films, three landmarks that solidified the bar for Pixar going forward, and when I lined them up side by side, I was a little surprised I ended up with Nemo the highest. In theory, it shouldn’t be as good as it is: episodic, characters scattered all over, and a major character I literally hated in the teaser trailer – Dory was so painfully dense in the teaser, I didn’t think I could handle two hours of her in the movie. But in the movie, she’s wonderful, the multiple supporting characters like Gill, Crush, Nigel and Bruce are great, and the story hits a nice balance of simple sweetness and strong life lessons.

8: Onward. Man, has this one snuck up on me. I did see it in the theatre opening weekend, and enjoyed it. Then I saw it on Disney+, then I got the Blu-Ray, and put the digital on my Movies Anywhere on my tablet, and… I think it caught me in just the right mood, but it has seriously grown on me, and my deep, irrational, personal emotional reaction to it has pushed it this high on the list. I love the brothers and their story arc, and while I don’t really want a full sequel, I’d love to see more of them (as long as Pratt and Holland are on board). I absolutely did not see this coming, but Barley Lightfoot has ended up as one of my favorite Pixar characters.

7: Toy Story 4. Like many people, I was totally opposed to the mere idea of this, and was resistant for a long time. Then I saw the Teaser Trailer Reaction Trailer that introduced Ducky and Bunny and I laughed so hard, I decided that if these two were in the movie for five minutes, it would be worth my Saturday matinee ticket. This was another that took a couple of viewings to really climb this high, but I love, and I mean LOVE the new characters, including Gabby Gabby and her Boys, and the things I thought I would oppose, like Super Girl-Power Bo Peep and Woody’s final choice, I ended up happy with.

6: Toy Story 3. This movie is genuinely epic and has so much going on, and it all just works. I loved Bonnie from the moment we met her, long before we knew her importance; her toys manage to be immediately engaging in an already overstuffed cast; Barbie and Ken are classic; Jessie and Buzz get their romance (bonus points for Spanish Buzz and double bonus points for the end credits dance scene). And Lotso – he has to be one of the best Pixar villains; Ned Beatty hits it out of the park, and I truly thought he would redeem himself by the end – that last betrayal actually surprised me. I haven’t even mentioned the furnace, or the box-of-tissues finale. This one is so good, it’s almost overwhelming.
 
And now, into the home stretch:

5: A Bug’s Life. OK, maybe this shouldn’t really be quite this high, but it is here on principal. I have loved this movie from the first time I saw it (and yes, I was an adult when it came out), and I think it is seriously underrated and in need of some love. Not the most groundbreaking, but charming and sweet. I still think the Circus Bugs are the best motley-crew-ensemble of supporting characters outside of the Toy Story movies, and Hopper is still my favorite Pixar villain and one of my favorite overall Pixar characters. And, as with the Monsters Inc door vault, despite it being such an early, early Pixar movie, I still love the Flight of Flik’s Bird as an action sequence.

4: Toy Story. Where do I even start on this? Classic classic classic. Great characters, great cause-and-effect plotting, great introduction to the Pixar world, where remarkable things are happening right under our noses if we could only see them, and where the lesson is, your dreams DON’T magically come true – and that’s OK. After all these years of technological advances, Toy Story still stands as one of the greatest because of the story and CHARACTERS. And may I just say, I love Sid and the Mutant Toys.

3: Ratatouille. Another surprise, and another one that has grown on me over the years. I always knew what my top two were, but was a little surprised when this one rose all the way to number 3. Beautiful, quirky, funny, with a gorgeous Giacchino score, and an utterly perfect Act 3 that never gets old. And, as much as I love a good Pixar punch to the feels, it’s nice to have something this engaging that doesn’t require Kleenex.

2: Coco. This is more accurately number 1.001, but my #1 choice is so deeply rooted in my heart, not even this could budge it. Where do I even start on Coco? I remember reading after Toy Story 3 that Lee Unkrich was planning a Dia de los Muertos movie, and I was instantly on board (even though I knew little-to-nothing about the holiday, or Mexican culture). I remember seeing the teaser trailer and being charmed by Miguel’s character and wowed by the world. Coco lived up to my very high expectations for it and I still cannot get over the brilliant set-up-and-pay-off plotting, the wonderful characters, the emotion, the immersive world. Hector is one of my absolute favorite Pixar characters. And even though I warned about spoilers, I don’t want to say too much, except I did NOT see the twists coming. And, without naming names, this movie features another of my favorite Pixar couples.

1: Up. If you’ve been keeping score, you saw this coming. I don’t know how this happened, I can’t remember the process of falling in love with this, but fall in love I did, and it is still entrenched as my number 1. It is such a tight little gem of a movie where everything works and I love it from first to last, not just the (brilliant) opening, but all through the adventure, talking dogs flying planes and all. Giacchino’s iconic score is like an extra character in the movie. The characters are wonderful, the whole thing is just so charming and unexpected, it’s a little hard for me to point to any one thing. It just makes me so happy.

So, there you have it, my totally subjective, emotion-driven Pixar list. What’s yours?
 


Absolutely agree with your #1 !!!!!! My favorite day at Animal Kingdom was March 9th when I got to "meet" Kevin and show her my iphone case...IMG_0886~photo.JPG
 
Compared to your list; Up, A Bug’s Life, and Onward would be at the bottom. Wall-E would rank higher. Inside Out and Finding Dory would be in the top 5.

“Sigourney Weaver! Where are you?”
 
Compared to your list; Up, A Bug’s Life, and Onward would be at the bottom. Wall-E would rank higher. Inside Out and Finding Dory would be in the top 5.

“Sigourney Weaver! Where are you?”

That's what makes this so much fun - we all have different reactions.

I know Bug's Life and Wall-E are my two big outliers that I rank waaay differently than most people.

And I do enjoy all the Sigourney Weaver business in Finding Dory.

For those who have read and not replied: Even if you don't want to rank all the movies, please share a few of your top (and bottom) choices.
 


I'm glad Coco was up near the top. It's my favorite. I haven't seen all the Cars movies since they're really not interesting to me. And I though Inside Out was way overrated.
 
I loved Inside Out and Monsters University! They would be up wayyy higher for me. I wasn't a big fan of WALL-E (might be my least favorite) and I know this is an unpopular opinion but I actually quite liked Cars. I also liked Finding Dory better than Finding Nemo...
 
I don't know that I could rank them all, but I could say arrange them into teirs. This is not to say that I don't like the movies in my bottom tier - I think they are all at least good and enjoyable, it's just that some aren't my favorites that I will rewatch over and over again.

TOP:
Ratatouille, Up, Inside Out, The Incredibles, Coco, Monsters Inc., Cars

MIDDLE:
Brave, The Incredibles 2, Cars 3, Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3, Monsters University, Onward

BOTTOM:
Finding Nemo, Cars 2, A Bug's Life, The Good Dinosaur, WALL-E

Actually haven't seen:
Finding Dory, Toy Story 4
 
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I loved Inside Out and Monsters University! They would be up wayyy higher for me. I wasn't a big fan of WALL-E (might be my least favorite) and I know this is an unpopular opinion but I actually quite liked Cars. I also liked Finding Dory better than Finding Nemo...
No worries about what you might consider an unpopular opinion here. We all like what we like and that's great! If we all liked the same things what a boring world this would be, right?
 

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