Best Pixar movies

WALL-E▲ Rising

A nearly wordless first act about a lonely trash-compacting robot falling for a sleek probe named EVE is one of the boldest gambles in mainstream animation history, and it pays off completely. It's a silent-film romance and an environmental parable wrapped in a Pixar package, proving the studio could go full art-house and still make audiences weep over beeps and boops.

Year: 2008Director: Andrew StantonIMDb: 8.4/10Oscars: 1

added by IJRin 9 rankings

Coco▲ Rising

The moment Miguel strums 'Remember Me' to his ancient, memory-fading great-grandmother is one of the hardest gut-punches Pixar has ever delivered, transforming a lullaby joke from earlier in the film into a devastating meditation on legacy. Coco earns its place by treating Día de los Muertos with genuine reverence and specificity, proving Pixar's best work comes from digging into a culture instead of a generic universal fable.

Year: 2017Director: Lee UnkrichIMDb: 8.4/10Oscars: 2

added by IJRin 6 rankings

Toy Story 3▲ Rising

Sending the gang to Sunnyside Daycare and then to the terrifying furnace of an incinerator, this sequel had the guts to stare down mortality and obsolescence in a kids' franchise, and the toys silently holding hands as they accept their fate is one of animation's all-time gut-wrenching sequences. It closes Andy's story with 'so play with her for me' and gives an entire generation permission to cry about growing up.

Year: 2010Director: Lee UnkrichIMDb: 8.3/10Oscars: 2

added by IJRin 6 rankings

Toy Story▲ Rising

The film that started it all, Toy Story didn't just launch a franchise, it launched an entire industry, proving computer animation could carry real feature-length emotion rather than just be a tech demo. Woody and Buzz's rivalry-turned-friendship, capped by that flying-slash-falling-with-style leap, remains the blueprint for every buddy story Pixar has told since.

Year: 1995Director: John LasseterIMDb: 8.3/10Oscars: 0

added by IJRin 10 rankings

Up

Nobody talks about the plot of Up first, they talk about the opening ten minutes that chart an entire marriage, love, loss, and grief in near silence before a single balloon lifts off. That prologue alone justifies its spot near the top, a masterclass in visual storytelling that turns a movie about a floating house and a talking dog into one of the most emotionally efficient films ever made.

Year: 2009Director: Pete DocterIMDb: 8.3/10Oscars: 2

added by IJRin 7 rankings

Inside Out▼ Falling

Turning the inside of an 11-year-old's head into a control room run by Joy, Sadness, and company, this film made abstract psychology feel as vivid as any physical world Pixar had built, and the reveal that Sadness needs to be allowed to do her job reframed how a generation talks about emotions. Bing Bong's sacrifice on the way to the memory dump is Pixar's cruelest and most brilliant use of a sidekick, a five-minute detour that levels audiences of every age.

Year: 2015Director: Pete DocterIMDb: 8.1/10Oscars: 1

added by IJRin 6 rankings

Finding Nemo▼ Falling

A clownfish crossing an entire ocean to find his son turned parental anxiety into an adventure epic, and Dory's 'just keep swimming' became genuine cultural shorthand for perseverance. It's Pixar's most rewatchable comfort watch, balancing terror (that anglerfish, those jellyfish) with warmth in a way that made it the studio's first true blockbuster phenomenon.

Year: 2003Director: Andrew StantonIMDb: 8.2/10Oscars: 1

added by IJRin 7 rankings