12. Monsters Inc.
Monsters Inc is not the movie most people remember it to be. It’s cute, with Boo running around being all innocent and terrorizing Monstropolis. It’s full of heart, with Sully becoming a dad-like figure and Mike warming up by the end. But, it’s not a great performance from Billy Crystal, who sounds like he’s doing a physical comedy performance. Great, but it’s also in an animated movie, making it really out of place and uncomfortable at moments. It’s actually a terrible storyline, with Waternoose essentially kidnapping children to create energy for a species they don’t even know exists. The comedy style is random, jumping from joke to joke with no connection whatsoever. Messy execution for the most part.
11. Cars
For a many people, any fond memories of Cars are poisoned by the trainwreck that was Cars 2. But once you rewatch the original, it becomes clear why it was so popular in the first place. It offers a touching tale about a small town struggling for relevance, and a cocky no-good superstar getting knocked down a few pegs and shown what he’s been missing. It has the most memorable soundtrack out of all of Pixar’s films, and you’re left feeling warm and fuzzy inside.
10. Finding Nemo
Marlin is a horrible character. This wouldn’t be a bad thing if he wasn’t one of the leads in the film. Good thing you have a beautiful setting, groundbreaking computer animation (water is harder to animate than you think), and a stellar supporting cast to make up for it. Though this is the only Pixar movie that you know the ending of just by the title, it offers a fair amount of twists and turns along the way. It leads to a great adventure that may be just as big as the Great Barrier Reef.
9. A Bug’s Life
As Pixar’s second film, A Bug’s Life had a lot of expectations to meet. It fails to meet them, but that doesn’t make this film any less fun. The characters are charming, and you’re offered a real underdog story. Plus, the film offers a spectacular voice cast including Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Hayden Pattienere and Bonnie Hunt. Though this film will forever live in Toy Story‘s shadow, it deserves more credit than it gets.
8. Toy Story 2
There’s an unspoken rule for trilogies: the first movie is solid, the second movie is the worst and the third one is the best. Toy Story is proof of this rule, as its first sequel introduces Jessie and Bullseye, gives viewers the first signature Pixar tear-jerker scene that the studio has become known for, allows us to see Emperor Zurg in action… and that’s it. The script is sweet, but the plot jumps all over the place and leaves you wanting a bit more than you get. But even at its worst, Toy Story proves to be a top-notch movie trilogy.
7. Ratatouille
Patton Oswalt as a rat. Not exactly the way you’d think he would break out into film, but with Ratatouille as his first big screen role, Oswalt is fantastic. Remy deserves to be in the top five Pixar lead characters list. You follow him along as he is determined to live out his dream, regardless of a menacing chef, nasty food critic or overprotective father in his way. And can we all just acknowledge how wonderful the scene where Remy is seeing the flavor of his food is? It’s the most under appreciated scene in a Pixar movie ever.
Related Topics: Pixar
