The Pixar Movies Ranked

Toy Story – 9/10 / The Incredibles – 8.8/10 / A Bug’s Life – 6.2/10 / Ratatouille – 8.9/10 / Cars – 8/10 / Cars 2 – 5/10 / Finding Nemo – 8.9/10 / Monsters University – 5.6/10 / Monsters, Inc. – 8.8/10 / Up – 7.6/10 / Finding Dory – 6/10 / The Incredibles 2 – 4/10 / Soul – 9.2/10

Plot Synopsis: Building one of the most impressive & diversified cinematic portfolios/resumés since being a small Cali-based computer division of Lucasfilm back in the 1980’s, Pixar is the king studio of animation & family adventures. Coco, Onward, Toy Story, Up, Finding Nemo, Cars, WALL-E, Monsters Inc., Brave, Inside Out, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, etc. Ranked.

Soul – A powerful, existentially-complex, dazzlingly-ambitious panegyric to musicianship and 9-5 vs. dreamers exposition w. the loftiest philosophical thematization ever in animation: Pixar in ~complete mastery of its craft like jazz experimentalism. 9.2/10.

Finding Nemo – A craftsman’s tale of underwater-odyssey bursting with resplendent tropical marine animation juxtaposed by magnificent characterization, FN is a beautiful reaffirmation of Pixar’s status atop the food-chain of children’s adventure. 8.9/10.

The Incredibles – A new-classic with delicate animation pushing technological boundaries, epic comic book world-building/action, fine characterization, bombastic score, and cogent depth of mature analytical themes & humor on 9-5 & family superheroicism while denunciating societal mediocrity-sustenance over dreams, TI continues Pixar’s streak of – well, incredible – motion pictures. 8.8/10.

Cars – After taking moviegoers into the world of toys, bugs, monsters, fish, & superheroes, Pixar takes it storytelling prowess & emotional skillset to V8 essence and racing – with a strong cast, nostalgic adventure, & panegyric to Small-Town America. 8/10.

A Bug’s Life – A pixel adventure into the world of nature’s biggest demographic: insects, ABL’s imaginative concept, frivolous characters, and child’s animation may not hold up to the high standards of later-Pixar [or time], but is a passable family-fine tale. 6.2/10.

Finding Dory – The wackiness and shrillness of DeGeneres’ Dory quickly wears on your last nerves [some characters are perhaps only meant to be supporting and not major], but FD’s a beautifully-animated/diverse, passable sequel to Nemo’s 2003 sea-odyssey. 6/10.

The Incredibles 2 – Vividly animated & scored with a potential-rife script, but weak villain in parallel to extreme politicization in what’s supposed to be a family movie ’90’s kids waited 14 years for, Inc. 2 is a massively disappointing sequel to the fantastic original. 4/10.

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