Every Pixar film, ranked from worst to best

Pixar had already had two successful sequels with Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3, so by the time Cars 2 came out, audiences were expecting the same consistent level of quality. Those expectations, it turned out, were set way too high. The filmmakers vastly overestimated the appeal of the original film’s hillbilly sidekick Mater (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy), and thrust him into a convoluted espionage plot that heavily relies on his fish-out-of-water antics. Whatever reputation Pixar had earned for creating thoughtful stories that parents could enjoy with their kids went out the window with this pandering, lackluster sequel that attempts to capitalize on the success of the original while completely misunderstanding its appeal.

Pixar plus dinosaurs—what could go wrong? Plenty. The Good Dinosaur is one of the least remembered (and likely least rewatched) films in Pixar’s history, and for good reason—it’s boring as hell. The creative disconnect, both visually and narratively, within the team that worked on it is so obvious it’s distracting. The film is appealing to look at, but the luscious landscapes and backgrounds are constantly at odds with the cartoonish dino characters. Even the potentially interesting ones don’t have enough screen time to give the audience anything to latch onto. There are some good ideas here and there, but no clear vision tying them together in any cohesive way.

The Cars franchise has always relied on sports-movie clichés, but the third film leans so heavily into them that it actually gets in its own way. Lightning McQueen’s Rocky-inspired arc finds him facing his own obsolescence, with younger, more advanced cars now dominating the racing circuit. The predictable, formulaic culmination of Pixar’s most regrettable trilogy requires so little brain energy to follow that you might find your mind wandering back to those ever-present, never-answered questions about how this abstractly illogical world full of vehicles is supposed to work. But hey, it helped sell more toys, which was probably the goal all along. So from a consumer products standpoint at least, it could be considered a success.

A lot of things went wrong with Lightyear. Although Disney/Pixar continues to milk their most popular characters for every cent they can get out of them, the once seemingly infallible Toy Story franchise has been experiencing steadily diminishing returns. The idea behind this offshoot, or “legacyquel,” is that it’s the “real” story of space ranger Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Chris Evans) as opposed to the toy based on him (voiced by Tim Allen). But Buzz is the least interesting character in his own origin story. This time-bending, space-traversing adventure never quite manages to soar to the heights dictated by the premise—that this is the movie that supposedly sparked Andy’s lifelong affection for the character. That’s the most unbelievable thing about it.

If we expect more from a Pixar film than your average animated feature, that’s because the studio has trained us to. Even if it has been stumbling of late, Pixar’s early successes gave it a reputation for being the best in its field. So when a new release is merely passable, or just mediocre, we might judge it more harshly than a film by anyone else. That’s the case with Elemental, a fine attempt at telling a Romeo and Juliet story in which the young lovebirds are literally made of fire and water (voiced by Leah Lewis and Mamoudou Athie, respectively). That’s the problem, though—it’s just fine. Not great or groundbreaking or even terrible. Simply fine. There’s not much going on beneath the surface of this forbidden romance. It’s a solid premise, but lacks the emotional depth we’ve come to expect from Pixar at its best.

The original timing of its release—in March 2020—was unfortunate, but even if Onward had gotten a normal theatrical run, we still don’t think it would have had much of a lasting impact. It follows two elf brothers (voiced by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt) on a quest to bring back their dead father for day, with the help of his reanimated bottom half. The premise is somewhat interesting and there’s some clever world-building, but without a compelling cast of characters or a fully realized story, it’s a pointless exercise. It’s like playing a poorly thought-out game of Dungeons & Dragons with just two players instead of a full party.

Did the world need a fourth Toy Story movie? Not really, and it doesn’t need a fifth one either. But that won’t stop Pixar. As long as moviegoers continue to turn out for the further adventures of Buzz and Woody, the studio will keep going back to that well. As for the movie itself, it’s probably better than it needed to be. After years of being Andy’s sentimental favorite, Woody (Tom Hanks) isn’t really connecting with his new kid, Bonnie. So, much like an unhappy spouse hoping a new baby will save the relationship, he brings a craft project named Forky (Tony Hale) into the mix. Then he meets up again with Bo Peep (Annie Potts), who shows him the joys of single life, and he peaces out of his former family. Or that’s one way you could read it.

The most surprising thing about the existence of Finding Dory is that it took so long for Pixar to make it. Once Finding Nemo had blown the studio’s previous releases out of the (ahem) water at the box office in 2003, a sequel to the wildly popular film seemed inevitable. Yet it would be 13 years before audiences got to see a follow-up. This one trades in the deep blue sea for the Marine Life Institute in Monterey, California—a long, long way from the original’s Australian reef setting. There are new characters to liven things up, including an ornery octopus voiced by Ed O’Neill and a self-conscious beluga whale voiced by Ty Burrell, but the sequel ultimately adds little of substance to the world.

You’ll notice quite a few sequels landing here in the bottom half of the list. Pixar can’t seem to help itself when it comes to capitalizing on established IP. Although they make sense commercially, few manage to equal or surpass their predecessors in terms of quality storytelling. Monsters University falls into the category of those that come close, but don’t quite measure up. It’s not a continuation but a prequel, an origin story of the longstanding friendship between Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) and James P. “Sulley” Sullivan (John Goodman). Though it’s set in the same universe as Monsters, Inc. and aims for the same comedic tone, it has more in common with college movies like Animal House and Revenge Of The Nerds than it does with the original film. That may work for some fans and not others, depending on your attachment to these characters and their evolving dynamics.

This literal fish-out-of-water story is one that improves upon multiple viewings, if you’re inclined to return to it. The charms of Luca are subtle, and mostly to be found in the beautifully rendered Italian seaside town that provides the film’s land-based setting. It’s here that two young sea creatures (Jacob Tremblay and Jack Dylan Grazer) disguise themselves as ordinary human boys in order to experience the simple joys of village life, like riding bikes and Vespa scooters. Those who go looking for it may also relate to a deeper subtext exploring the challenges of being different and the desire to live as one’s authentic self despite societal pressure to conform. It may not be as sophisticated as some of Pixar’s other offerings, but it’s a sweet fairytale that can be as meaningful as you want it to be.

Coming in just behind The Incredibles 2 and, more distantly, the first three Toy Story films in the Pixar sequel rankings, Inside Out 2 expands on the themes of the original in interesting ways. Rather than coming off as an unnecessary addendum, it feels like the second half of a two-part story. In the first we saw Riley preparing to leave her childhood behind; in this one she’s entering the early stages of puberty. Like the first Inside Out it offers valuable emotional insights and new ways to frame discussions of mental health. Besides bringing in a handful of new, complicated emotions, it introduces concepts like the formation of belief systems and how those beliefs create our sense of self. Heady stuff, if you’ll pardon the pun.

Of all the Pixar sequels that don’t start with Toy and end with Story, we consider The Incredibles 2 the best by far. What a pleasure to return to Brad Bird’s stylized retro-futuristic world and catch up on the adventures of the world’s greatest family of superheroes (and no, we didn’t forget about The Fantastic Four). This time it’s Bob (Craig T. Nelson) who stays home with the kids while Helen (Holly Hunter) is out saving the world as Elastigirl, but to its credit, this film doesn’t attempt to reinvent the wheel or mess around too much with the winning formula of The Incredibles. It takes what worked and gives us more of it, in the same way comic books progress from one complete story arc to the next without missing a beat.

Following in the footsteps of its corporate parent, Pixar got into the princess business in 2012 with Brave, though Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald) is anything but your typical Disney princess. With a spirit as wild and unruly as her flaming red hair, this royal Scottish lass isn’t a proper or dutiful daughter, and she has no interest in marriage. Not to say this isn’t a love story—it is. In this case, it’s a love story between Merida and her mother, Queen Elinor (Emma Thomspon). It’s a welcome feminist sentiment, though somewhat undercut when you realize that it took a dozen films before Pixar finally produced one with a female protagonist, and that Brave’s original female writer-director Brenda Chapman was replaced by a man during production.

Turning Red is the rare kind of film that can be specific and universal at the same time. It’s centered around a 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian girl named Meilin (Rosalie Chiang) who has inherited a family curse (only affecting the women) that turns her into a giant red panda whenever her emotions get out of control. Aside from the thinly veiled allegory for female puberty, it touches on themes of generational pressure and the high expectations put on immigrant children by their parents. It also gets points for its authentic voice and lived ethnic experiences by avoiding stereotypes and generalizations. The characters feel like people you know, or at least want to know.

While it’s not great that Pixar took so long to give us a female lead, its track record with characters of color is even worse. Soul was Pixar’s 23rd production, and its first to center on a Black character (whose actual physical form is only present for about half the film). That shouldn’t take anything away from the warm, sweet tale about finding yourself, though. It asks big, philosophical questions like “What makes a person who they are?” Is it just some combination of various traits and interests? Or learned experiences? Or is there something deeper at work? Those complex themes are accompanied by some lovely visuals of a soothing afterlife and a jazz-inspired score that hits all the right notes.

We’ve already talked about the seemingly endless logistical questions the world of Cars brings to mind if you think about it too much. At least the original is entertaining enough to distract you from them after a while. The plot about up-and-coming hotshot Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) who learns to appreciate small-town life is essentially a retread (there’s a tire pun for you, in the spirit of the film) of the 1991 rom-com Doc Hollywood, starring Michael J. Fox, but aimed at a much younger audience. If its simple joys and nostalgia for a disappearing American frontier are a little too simple for more sophisticated viewers, at least it has some pretty landscapes to look at and a complex visual language that expresses a love for car culture in every frame.

A Bug’s Life might be the most underrated gem in Pixar’s loaded treasure box. Toy Story was a hard act to follow, but the studio’s sophomore effort pushed the technical boundaries further to create natural features like sandy burrows and lush hideaways beneath the tall grass. The film’s hero, Flick (voiced by Dave Foley), is instantly likable, a bumbling inventor with big dreams, for an ant. The film also has a great villain in Hopper (voiced by real-life villain Kevin Spacey), and coding his swarm of grasshopper pals as a biker gang was a stroke of genius. Another genius idea: combining the fable of The Ant And The Grasshopper with The Magnificent Seven, and a dash of Three Amigos. It somehow works together, the way a colony should.

If you’ve ever been told that your dreams are too big or you’re not suited to pursue them, Ratatouille will speak to you on a soul-deep level. On the surface, it may be about a rat who loves to cook, but it’s really an argument against elitism and an affirmation that great art can come from anywhere. As Remy, Patton Oswalt is, well, Patton Oswalt, but he pairs well with Lou Romano’s Linguini once they team up to create mouth-watering dishes. Few Pixar films have tackled modern urban settings in the way Ratatouille recreates the fringes of Paris, with its waterways, rooftops, narrow streets, and back alleys. It’s a visual feast that somehow manages to evoke all the other senses too.

For a film about grief, primarily set in the land of the dead, Coco is a surprisingly vibrant, even joyful experience. Pixar has always put an emphasis on creating exquisite, immersive worlds as the backdrops for its emotional stories, but the team that created Coco took that world-building to another level. For instance, the image of young Miguel Rivera (Anthony Gonzalez) crossing over into the Land of the Dead via a bridge overflowing with glowing orange marigold petals is breathtaking. The story also incorporates the Mexican Día De Muertos tradition in a respectful way that doesn’t just depict a rich cultural heritage, but celebrates it. Listening to the Oscar-winning song “Remember Me” still brings a tear to our eyes.

All of Pixar’s films have some comic elements to them (with varying degrees of success), but Monsters, Inc. (and its sequel) might be the closest thing to a straight-up comedy it’s delivered so far. Much of that can be attributed to the casting of Billy Crystal in the role of Mike, but there are a lot of fun visual gags and plenty of quippy dialogue delivered by the rest of the cast too. John Goodman’s Sully is a solid straight man, as well as the film’s sentimental hero, immediately appointing himself as the protector of adorable little human Boo after she wanders into Monstropolis. The film’s world of monsters is imaginative, if a bit cartoonish. By this point, Pixar had made only three other films, which makes the ambitious visuals and tight storytelling here even more impressive.

The legacy of Finding Nemo will always be wrapped up in its astounding success at the box office, bringing in a whopping $871 million when it was first released back in 2004. It held onto the record for the highest-grossing Pixar film until Toy Story 3 came along in 2010. An enthusiastic response like that can sometimes color our impressions of a film’s quality, but Finding Nemo actually lives up to the hype. As clownfish dad Marlon, Albert Brooks has a strong and believable arc, learning the lesson that at some point you have to let go and trust your kids to make decisions for themselves. If that message goes over the heads of the younger viewers, Dory’s advice to “just keep swimming” is also a useful, and simpler, takeaway. Whatever your age, the gorgeous visual pleasures of the deep blue sea are universal.

Generally speaking, Pixar films are made for all ages, but Inside Out hits differently if you’re a parent. Sure, kids might have fun watching Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), and the other emotions in pre-teen Riley’s (Kaitlyn Dias) head fight for supremacy, but parents will see it for what it is—the story is a girl on the cusp of puberty, tearing down the constructs of her childhood in preparation for a major hormonal upgrade. What seems at first like an imaginative romp becomes a deeper reflection on the beauty of life’s imperfections and the importance of recognizing every emotion, even the uncomfortable ones like sadness. What other movie could get you choked up over the sacrifice of an imaginary character?

The Toy Story franchise is the jewel in Pixar’s crown for a reason. Setting aside the fourth installment, which is decent but suffers in comparison to its predecessors, a streak of films this consistently good is rare in any Hollywood franchise. Many fans balked at the attempt to continue the storyline, because Toy Story 3 wrapped it up so neatly. Why undo that poignant finale when a grownup Andy plays with his pals for one last time before handing them down to their new kid, Bonnie? The soaring score, the dappled sunlight, the frozen face of Woody that somehow conveys so much emotion—it’s a perfect ending. And no matter what comes after, nothing can take away from that.

When The Incredibles came out in 2004, superhero movies weren’t a dominating force in pop culture the way they are now. Marvel was still four years away from launching the MCU with Iron Man and DC had just released the trainwreck that was Catwoman earlier that year. Into that void stepped this film about a superpowered family that took as much stylistic inspiration from James Bond movies as it did from comic books. With its sharp, mid-century designs and a jazzy score by Michael Giacchino, The Incredibles has got to be the coolest franchise in Pixar’s stable. Besides introducing Mr. Incredible—strong on the outside, squishy in the middle, and going through a mid-life crisis—and his capable partner, stay-at-home mom Elastigirl, it also gives us an all-too-recognizable villain in Jason Lee’s Syndrome, the fantastic Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson, pre-Nick Fury) and his infamous “Where’s my super suit?” scene, and the unforgettable Edna Mode (voiced by the film’s director Brad Bird). Simply fabulous, darling.

There’s a lot in Up that shouldn’t work. The first five wordless minutes are engineered to turn you into a blubbering emotional wreck. The main character is a cranky old man (voiced by the late, great Ed Asner) who reflexively pushes away anyone who tries to get close to him. The motley crew of sidekicks joining him on his adventure, mostly against his will, are an attention-starved kid (Jordan Nagai), a talking dog (Bob Peterson), and a human-sized, mythical bird named Kevin. Yet they all go perfectly well together, somehow. While other Pixar films are easy to sum up—the secret lives of toys, a world of living cars, a workplace comedy with monsters, etc.—there’s too much going on in Up to summarize it concisely. There’s never been anything like it before, and that’s its greatest strength. It’s a tribute to the spirit of adventure, and carrying on in the name of those we’ve lost along the way.

Following the success of Toy Story, Pixar immediately jumped into production on Toy Story 2. It was initially intended as a direct-to-video release before the studio decided it was good enough to release in theaters. The sequel, considered by many to be just as good as or even better than the original, cleverly flips the script on its main characters. Now that Buzz fully accepts his status as a toy, it’s Woody’s turn to get in touch with his IP origins and fall into the fantasy of being a cowboy hero. He still knows that he’s a toy, but he begins to doubt the value of that calling, especially after he meets Jesse (voiced by Joan Cusack), a cowgirl with a sad story about the girl who outgrew her. Sarah McLachlan’s heartbreaking song “When She Loved Me” (written by Randy Newman specifically for the film) provides the soundtrack to Jesse’s flashback montage, kicking off the Pixar tradition of reducing viewers to a pool of tears. So thanks for that, Toy Story 2!

Pixar’s science-fiction-inspired adventure WALL-E is really two films in one. The first is a sweeping, mostly dialogue-free yet moving story of a lone robot left behind on a post-apocalyptic Earth to pick up after humankind once they’ve used up the planet’s resources and taken off for the stars. This first act is sad and whimsical, with a grungy aesthetic that’s kind of beautiful, in its own way. WALL-E is masterfully animated with human traits that make us instantly connect with him, even without dialogue. There are also lovely elements of romance once he meets EVE, a sleek probe sent to search for signs that Earth has become habitable again. The second half, while still entertaining, is less special. Set aboard a starliner that holds the surviving human population—who spend most of their time in floating chairs, consuming content on virtual screens, and drinking their meals from a cup—it becomes more of a conventional animated caper. It’s a bit of a disconnect, but not enough to detract from the magic of the film’s opening sequence.

Yes, this may be a conventional pick for the top Pixar film, but in our opinion, the studio has yet to surpass its original groundbreaking and influential masterpiece. Though the second and third films came close, we’re still partial to the one that started it all. It’s difficult now to imagine a time when computer-animated films were not the norm, but when Toy Story came along in 1995, it revolutionized the animation industry. As visually innovative as it was, that wouldn’t have mattered at all without memorable characters, sharp dialogue, and a smartly crafted story. Even with all the technological improvements that have come along since, you can still go back nearly three decades later and feel the same sense of wonder, laugh at the same jokes, cheer at the same triumphant moments, and feel the same attachment to the characters you did the first time around. And now it comes with the benefit of nostalgia, too.