1: Toy Story 3 - could use a better storyline, though.
2: Ratatouille
3: Toy Story
4: Toy Story 2
5: The Incredibles
6: WALL-E
7: Finding Nemo
8: Monsters, Inc.
9: Monsters University - a lame sequel.
10. Brave - easily the worst.
The ones I’ve seen and can remember (in tiers):
Fantastic:
The Incredibles
WALL-E
Up
Finding Nemo
Toy Story
Inside Out
Toy Story 3
Very good:
Ratatouille
Toy Story 2
Pretty good:
A Bug’s Life
Monsters, Inc.
Brave
Just okay:
Cars
I was also really disappointed with Inside Out. Even if I ignored the mess they made of the whole internal logic symbolism and tried to enjoy it as a popcorn flick I still found the characters boring, the story simplistic, and the CGI settings uninspired.
It felt “cartoony” which is something I’d never say about Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Incredibles, etc.
Toy Story 2
The Incredibles
Toy Story
Inside Out
Toy Story 3
Up
A Bug’s Life
Finding Nemo
Monsters, Inc.
WALL-E
Ratatouille
Monsters University
Brave
These two are so bad, they go waaaaay down here:
Cars
Cars 2
Haven’t seen:
The Good Dinosaur
GREAT
The Incredibles
Toy Story
Up
Monsters, Inc.
Toy Story 3
Wall-E
GOOD
Finding Nemo
Toy Story 2
MEH
Ratatouille
Inside Out
Monsters University
BELOW AVERAGE
Brave
Cars
HAVEN’T SEEN OR DON’T REMEMBER
A Bug’s Life
Cars 2
The Good Dinosaur
They did go for accuracy. The first movie is about a race (the Red Bull race, then around the world), the second is a search-and-rescue story, and in both they tried to emulate the real way planes are involved. They’re better than you might expect, but aren’t as nuanced as the best Pixars.
*Edit: Or maybe the Red Bull Air Race is in the second one.
Great and endlessly rewatchable:
Finding Nemo
Incredibles
Great for a couple viewings only:
Toy Story 1,2,3
Wall-E
Watched once, not bad, and that was enough:
All the rest (but haven’t seen Up or Inside Out)
WALL-E
Finding Nemo
The Incredibles
Inside Out
Up
Toy Story 2
Toy Story
Monsters, Inc.
Toy Story 3
A Bug’s Life
Ratatouille
Cars
Brave
Cars 2
Monsters University
Haven’t seen The Good Dinosaur.
The fact that “A Bug’s Life” is 10th on my list is a stunning testament to the volume of brilliant work Pixar has done. “A Bug’s Life” is a terrific movie. “Cars” is by the numbers and I’m not a fan at all,. but it’s *still *a better movie than most movies. That’s how good Pixar is; their bad movie is better than most movies.
Monsters University, which it had some good gags, is the only Pixar movie where I’ve ever found myself checking my watch.
There’s one thing I’d especially like to check out. The posters for Planes 2 show a small waterbomber; looks like he’s even the main character. I happen to know a company that built a plane just like that, modified from a crop duster. Last I heard, the real plane never caught on with firefighting outfits. I’d love to find out how Pixar chose that for their movie, and if they had any contact with the company while they were developing the film.
Toy Story
WALL-E
Toy Story 3
The Incredibles
Monsters, Inc.
A Bug’s Life
Finding Nemo
Ratatouille
Up
Inside Out
Toy Story 2
Brave
Cars 2
Cars
Monsters University
The Good Dinosaur
I should add that I have seen Inside Out only once so am open to reevaluating it in the future, for it definitely is one of the most ambitious films from the company, but the sum of its parts (some of which are quite ingenious or powerful) were less than the whole I felt at the end. So that might easily bump up a notch, as Nemo has over the years (another one I didn’t care for much the first time).
Up
Toy Story
For the Birds (short)
Lifted (short)
The Incredibles
Finding Nemo
Monsters, Inc.
I haven’t seen any of the others.
I found it quite disturbing in some ways, and did think “this is not something you’d show to someone with mental problems”.
Basically, its an 11 year old kid having a nervous breakdown…
Liked
Inside Out
Reasonably Entertained
Monsters, Inc.
Ratatouille
Up
The Incredibles
Forgettable (can’t sort due to having forgotten)
Toy Story
Toy Story 2
Monsters University
Finding Nemo
A Bug’s Life
Didn’t Like
WALL-E
Haven’t Seen
Cars
Ratatouille 2
Toy Story 3
Cars 2
Brave
I realised there’s quite a few Pixar movies I haven’t seen. From the ones I have:
Up
Finding Nemo
Toy Story
Toy Story 3
The Incredibles
Toy Story 2
A Bug’s Life
Monsters University
Monsters Inc
Cars
I wonder how my rankings would change if I was a child for any of the Pixar movies – I was 15 when Toy Story came out, and I loved it, but I’m sure it would have felt quite different if I was 7 or 8.
I haven’t seen all that many of the more recent Pixar films. However, of the ones I have seen:
Toy Story
Toy Story 2
The Incredibles
Finding Nemo
Monsters, Inc.
A Bug’s Life
Up
Cars
I notice that Up is near the top for most people and near the bottom for me. I don’t hate it, but I always felt that Pixar shot for “profound” and hit “trite”, even by the standards of a children’s film.
Whereas I’ve noticed that a lot of people rate Finding Nemo highly, but it’s my least favorite of the ones I’ve seen. I think it has something to do with whether one has children: I can see how it might resonate more strongly to a parent.
Loved:
The Incredibles
Toy Story
Inside Out
Toy Story 3
Monsters, Inc.
Really, Really Liked:
Toy Story 2
Ratatouille
Up
Enjoyed, probably will never watch again:
Cars
Finding Nemo
A Bug’s Life
Brave
Mysteriously haven’t seen but will probably love:
WALL-E
More understandably haven’t seen:
Cars 2
Monsters University
The Good Dinosaur
I divide Pixar films into two categories: those I will continue to watch perhaps for the rest of my life and those which I enjoyed but don’t much care if I never watch again. Within each category, my opinion keeps shifting.
The first category:
The Incredibles
Toy Story 3
Toy Story 2
Inside Out
Up
Wall-E
Ratatouillie
Finding Nemo
Toy Story
The second category:
Monsters Inc
Cars 2
A Bug’s Life
Brave
Cars
Monsters University
I haven’t seen the Good Dinosaur yet but I expect it will fall in the second category.