Best and Worst Pixar Films

1. Inside Out — This is partially a function of having two daughters and partially a function of being one of those parents who constantly wishes he could slow down time, but it's so wonderful and creative, IMO. Every voice is perfectly cast, but Poehler does such an incredible job of playing the important moments right.

INSIDE OUT SPOILERS: There is a moment when she and Bing Bong are in the memory dump pit, before she escapes, where she's picking up old memories where she's trying not to cry and she says "Look at this one: Remember how Riley used to stick her tongue out when she colored?" Well, my youngest does that still, but a little less each day, and when I heard that like, I lost it. It just gutted me. Pete Docter, to me, is the most important guy in Pixar. And my god, when Richard Kind says "Take her to the moon for me, okay?" that's one of the all time great Pixar lines.

Also, I love the fact that:

A. when Bing Bong says that, Joy says "I'll try, Bing Bong." No promises, because there are no guarantees for happiness, or fulfilling your dreams in life. All you can do it try.

B. Joy's hair is blue, which you understand later hints at the fact that joy and sadness were intertwined all alone. (All the other emotions have one color.)

C. Bing Bong seems like he's set up to be the villain, like he's going to betray Joy and Sadness during the journey because he's bitter that he's being forgotten, but then you realize there is no antagonist in the film and Bing Bong is the fucking hero. Ack.

D. Anger's joke about hair bears in San Francisco. Sadness getting a participation medal in imagination land. The Brazilian helicopter pilot boyfriend. Dad's emotions watching hockey at dinner. GIRL! GIRL! GIRL!

SPOILERS END.



2. The Incredibles: This was my No. 1 until recently. Again, every voice is perfectly cast, and it's the most thrilling of all the Pixar films. I love how Edna's foreshadowing about capes pays off on the end. I also get a little emotional when the ship blows up and Elasta Girl is telling her kids to be calm. It's just a great family flick.

3. Wall-E: I think the second half of the film is a little trite, but the first half is amazing. That and the first 10 minutes of Up are the best things Pixar has ever done.

WORST:

1. Cars
2. Cars 2
3. Toy Story 2

 

I hated Wall-E. I would like to see Up in its entirety, but the first 20 minutes were a non-starter for the kid. FWIW, I thought Cars was pretty fun (and the racing scenes were exceptionally well animated), but Cars 2 was absolute shit. And Planes was a pale imitation of Cars.

It's funny how the Incredibles foreshadowed how good Brad Bird would become at directing action films.

 

Best

1. Nemo - love that movie, holds up really well and has a great balance of laughs and story.
2. The Incredibles - what Dad does not want to me Mr Incredible. Saw this first when I became a step dad and then many more times when I had more kids of my own.
3. Brave - I am not really sure why I like it so much. I think as a Dada with girls it appeals to me with the whole girl power thing.

Worst

Cars and Cars 2. My boy loves these movies and the ride at Disney is fan-freaking-tastic but I find McQueen to be an unlikable douche. I thought Cars 2 had a terrible plot and was not funny.

Have not seen Up yet, seeing Inside Out soon.

 

Favorite Pixar moments:
1. Carl and Ellie's life story in four minutes at the start of Up
2. Ego's review about what a critic risks in Rattatouille
3. The space walk/dancing scene between Wall-E and Eve (Wall-E)
4. Bing Bong in the memory dump pit (Inside Out)
5. Frozone "Where is my supersuit, woman?!!" (Incredibles)
6. Bo Peep saying "I've found my moving buddy" and Buzz flies around the room. (Toy Story)
7. Edna's "No capes!" speech (Incredibles)
8. Andy plays with his toys one last time. (Toy Story 3)
9. "Forget it, Jake. It's Cloud Town." (Inside Out)

 

I am a Pixar fanatic. I pretty much love all Pixar movies, so it's really hard for me to definitely rank them, partially because my "favorite" might be more based on my daily feelings than really the quality of the movie.

Top-tier Pixar movies: Inside Out (holy shit I was blown away. Plus, I moved at the same age that Riley did in the movie and the feels were real. Also, Lewis Black was perfection. AND BING BONG.), Toy Story trilogy, Ratatouille, Wall-E (I know a big part of why I love Wall-E...at the beginning, Wall-E learns about love from Hello! Dolly. Back in the day, I was in a production of Hello! Dolly and still remember all the songs.), Up, The Incredibles (the only superhero movie that I think I could watch over and over again), Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo.

Middle-tier Pixar movies: Cars, Brave, Monsters University.

Lowest-tier Pixar movies: Cars 2, A Bug's Life.

 

Loved: Monsters Inc. great plot, fun characters, a lot of laughs

Liked: Cars, some good laughs, and special effects. Kinda found the whole copying from Doc Hollywood script to be a bit annoying.

Liked certain scenes, but the rest of the movie was meh: Up (Beginning is awesome) and Toy Story 3 (the end with Andy giving up his toys)

Disliked: Cars 2 (boring as hell), Monsters U. (Found it to be just OK, which was a disappointment since I loved the first one)

Overrated: Wall-E: Nearly put me to sleep.

 

Can't seem to find it all in one piece, but here's the last four minutes of Carl and Ellie, from their wedding day to him walking back into the house alone after her funeral. The whole thing, including when they were kids, takes about eight minutes.

My favorite Pixar moment as well, though I was underwhelmed by the rest of the movie.

 

Totally forgot to include Big Hero 6 in my list. It's probably my favorite ahead of Monsters U. and Brave. And the animated short, Feast, that accompanies it is fantastic (won the Academy Award this year).

 

I don't think Big Hero 6 was Pixar, just Disney?

Enjoyed it immensely as well.

If we're being off to Disney Pixarish movies I would have to say Frozen has been a favorite since it came out.

 

Oops, you're right. I thought it was a Disney/Pixar movie, but it was Disney Animation Studios.

 

Saw Inside Out last night.

Was really expecting a gut punch and it instead left me feeling a little flat.

I think it was mostly because of Amy Poehler. To me, when you see a cartoon character and hear the voice you should identify the voice as the character.

But with Joy, everytime she talked all I heard was Poehler.

And, really, I don't think she's funny. Really.

 

I don't care how many times I see Up, that relationship montage of Carl and Ellie always gets me every single time. I was on a campout with Cub Scouts and we were watching that as a group and I had to walk away.