10.) Coco (2017)
Kicking off this list is a movie that surprised me from minute one to the very end. Coco is the story of Miguel who longs to become a musician in a family that has banned music due to their past. What was that past you ask? Well it may have a lot do with Miguel's great great Grandfather leaving his wife and child to go on tour. After a series of events leads Miguel to believe that a famous singer was his great great Grandfather he ends up in the land of the dead, trapped until he can get a family member's blessing to return to the living world. Coco is an absolutely beautiful movie in every way. Pixar went way out of their way to portray Mexican culture surrounding Dia De Los Muertos and the importance of family. The music screams Mexico and is everything from beautiful to tear your heart out emotional. Coco was a movie I wasn't really expecting much from, but ended up blowing me away.
9.) Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Monsters, Inc. is a story of two monsters, Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan (Sulley) who turn the monster world upside down after discovering that a human child has somehow found its way in. Full of good humor, corporate life, and a story that will have you laughing one second and crying the next, Monsters, Inc. remains an incredibly memorable part of the Pixar library. The movie moves at a high pace throughout and culminates in an incredible chase scene as Randall, one of the antagonists, chases Mike and Sulley through the Monsters, Inc. conveyor belt system. It's great fun throughout and the final shot we see is enough to bring a smile to anyone!
8.) Ratatouille (2007)
Ratatouille tells the story of a rat that wants to be a chef, and a no talent garbage boy working in a restaurant. This movie I can sum up as a hilarious journey of a rat in Paris chasing the dream of becoming the world's largest chef. The humor in this movie comes in all forms from a crazy old lady using a shot gun in her home to try to kill rats to the main character, Remy, manipulating the garbage boy, Linguini, by hiding under his hat and pulling his hair to move him. Wrapped around all of this is a simple plot of trying to restore a restaurant to it's former glory by impressing a food critic. While the movie isn't as flashy or crazy as a lot of other Pixar movies, it is still a lot of fun, has great moments, and at the end of the day is a comedy about a rat and food. What more can you want?
7.) The Incredibles (2004)
Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe was a thing. Before superhero movies were a dime a dozen. Before Disney seemingly took over the cinematic world, there was a superhero movie called The Incredibles. The movie tells the story of a family of superheroes whom are forced to live a normal life with no powers as superheroes are deemed illegal due to the amount of damage they cause. Mr. Incredible ends up not being able to take a normal life and begins doing some superhero work behind the family's back until things go south and the rest of the family is forced to come out of retirement. It's a high paced movie filled with tons of superhero action and a soundtrack that is nothing short of incredible. I still find it interesting that the magic of The Incredibles was never found again in superhero movies. By that I mean I cannot think of a superhero movie other than this one where we meet an entire world of characters complete with one of Pixar's best villains, have a compelling story, and have the movie not feel rushed at all in the process.
6.) Toy Story 2 (1999)
Did you know that Toy Story 2 was originally going to be a straight to video sequel? Did you know that the plot was basically rewritten in its entirety in a single weekend? No, well no one would have expected that to be the case when Toy Story 2 came out and blew our minds. Full of charm, humor, and a bizarre twist that sees Pixar take a play out of the Star Wars playbook, Toy Story 2 became a massive success. This movie sees Woody getting stolen from a yard sale and set up to be sold to a museum. Meanwhile Buzz Lightyear and the rest of the Toy Story gang set out on an epic quest to find him. Fan favorites Jesse and Bullseye make their debuts in this movie as well. Toy Story 2 is just a fun trip full of nostalgia, lots of laughs, and is overall one of the best adventures Pixar has come out with.
5.) Toy Story 3 (2010)
It is so hard for me to choose between this movie and Toy Story 2 for the number 4 spot on this list. Both movies are incredible, but Toy Story 3 is literally the perfect way to wrap up the Toy Story story. Of course Toy Story 4 has put a little bit of a damper on that, but still, Toy Story 3 is just perfect as an ending to a trilogy. As someone who has grown up with the Toy Story franchise, seeing a movie where Andy's toys go on one final adventure to get back to their owner after they are accidentally donated to a daycare. The finality at the end of this movie, and multiple other scenes throughout were more than enough to bring a ton of people to tears. Yet at the same time it left fans like myself with a good feeling knowing that the characters we have known and loved since 1995 were in good hands. Well then Toy Story 4 came out, but that's a different story.
4.) Finding Nemo (2003)
It's funny, I'm not sure if I have seen another animate movie in theaters more than I saw Finding Nemo (5). As someone who has grown up with the Ocean being mere blocks away, Finding Nemo was instantly a special movie to me. The story of Marlin trying to find his son Nemo after he is taken away by a scuba diver is nothing short of magical. Both funny and emotional, Finding Nemo is a ride that kicks off fast and doesn't let go until the credits are rolling. Speaking of not letting go, Finding Nemo also has several scenes of intense suspense not seen in other Pixar movies. For example, at one point Marlin and Dory find themselves face to face with a terrifying angler fish. In another scene we see our heroes trying to get through a school of deadly jellyfish. Even after completing their goal, there is still one final scene of suspense that leads to just a beautiful ending.
3.) Toy Story (1995)
What can I say about Toy Story that hasn't been said before? The movie that kicked off Pixar's rise to dominance remains one of the most revered movies of all time. It certainly doesn't hurt that it was the first movie to be completely done in CGI. That in itself makes it a landmark movie that will forever be remembered. It is so much more than that though. The story sees a cowboy doll named Woody having to come face to face with his fears of being replaced by another toy, in this case a Buzz Lightyear action figure. The story sees Woody's jealously getting the best of him as Buzz gets knocked out a window. What follows is a brilliant journey in which both Woody and Buzz learn to put their differences aside and work together to reunite with Andy and the other toys. Again, I cannot really say anything about Toy Story that hasn't been said before. It is the definition of a classic Pixar movie and it laid the framework for everything that the studio would put out after.
2.) A Bug's Life (1998)
Here is the big surprise on this list. Well I guess it's only a surprise if you hadn't read one of my previous blogs where I mention that A Bug's Life is one of my favorite Pixar movies. This criminally underrated movie tells the tale of a clumsy ant named Flik and his journey to rescue his colony from starvation and a gang of grasshoppers. The movie was in direct competition with Dreamworks Antz and unfortunately got sandwiched between Toy Story and Toy Story 2. The plot is pretty simple throughout and is quite similar to Antz, but it is still an epic adventure. Shrinking down to an ant size we get to see just how big the world is. We see everything from towering flowers, to rain drops that are basically bombs, to a bird that essentially acts as the t-rex from Jurassic Park. Top all that off with a variety of circus bugs masking as warriors and you have an adventure way bigger than any ant should ever be a part of. Add in one of Pixar's best and most sadistic villains in the grasshopper, Hopper, and you have a complete movie that has continued to fly under the radar for a real long time. With the amount of Pixar sequels and short series that have come out since 1998, A Bug's Life remains one of Pixar's movies that reminds us all that the studio is way more than the Toy Story, Cars, Monsters, and Incredibles franchises.
1.) Wall-E (2008)
Wall-E is one of, if not the most mature and unique of the Pixar movies. Outside of some music lyrics we don't really hear any spoken dialogue from characters for the first thirty minutes. It is the first Pixar movie to feature live action (albeit it is on an old T.V. that Wall-E is watching). It has the biggest message of any Pixar movie. Top it off with the story of a robot that falls in love and ends up proving to humanity that they themselves are way more than what they have become (Mufasa reference yes) while stuck out in space. The message of the movie is clear, that we need to take care of our planet before it becomes a wasteland and that there is certainly still time to do that. It is portrayed in such a fun and beautiful way that Wall-E manages to deliver the message without screaming about it. I can't think of another movie where so much character development happens without a word being spoken by the main characters other than saying their own name as well as each others. It's an incredible movie that much like A Bug's Life typically flies under the radar. The biggest difference here is when this one is actually brought up it's normally met with the response of it being an incredible movie.
So there you have it, my favorite Pixar movies. Yes, there are a couple odd ball choices in there, but hey, that's the fun of it right? I want to make note that this list is certainly not set in stone as new Pixar movies can certainly upset this balance. One such movie is Onward which I really enjoyed seeing in theaters. As a huge fantasy fan I had a ton of fun watching it, but I'm not sure if I'm quite ready to knock any movie off this list to put it on there yet. So I guess you could call it an honorable mention for this list. I had a lot of fun making this list, but to be honest, outside of my top three, it was really hard. Pixar is a monster studio when it comes to putting out quality movies so trying to pick ten out of the twenty two movies was by no means a simple task. Thank you all as always for reading and stay tuned for the next blog coming real soon! To wrap up this Pixar countdown, check out the Together Forever fireworks show that ran in 2018 at Disneyland California as a part of Pixar Fest.
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