There are probably a couple of thousand of the lists like this one on the Internet in various blogs and web pages. With Cars Land set to open and Pixar characters firmly entrenched in Disney California Adventure (along with Buzz and Nemo over in Disneyland), here are my rankings for the 12 Pixar films that have been made over the years. It should be noted that all Pixar movies are successful and have made money (lots of money) but not all of them have exactly been works of art as the very best of them are. So here is my list from worse to first.
12) A Bug's Life: I saw the movie - on video - I don't remember a thing about it. Not the movie's fault it came in last, more my fault (memo for the To-Do List - see A Bug's Life again).
11) Cars 2: Visually stunning but one of the most lazy disappointing efforts I have ever witnessed from a group of people who should know better. I am on a personal quest to rid Larry the Cable Guy and his buffoonery from show business.
10) Finding Nemo: Along with Toy Story 3, Nemo is Pixar's most profitable movie. Never has the Pixar formula of cute little misfit in peril put more prominently displayed. I just didn't like it. Ellen Degeneres voice annoys me (but not as much as Larry the Cable Guy).
9) Monsters Inc.: My opinion of Monsters Inc. seems to waver. I saw it in a theater and liked it a lot. I remember being sick at the time so the movie was much better than I was. When I saw it on video the first time, I didn't like it. Then I watched it again last year and enjoyed it thoroughly. I guess it depends how I feel.
8) Cars: Mrs. DisneylandTraveler drug me to the theater to see Cars - she had already taken The Boy to see it and loved it - she thought I would too. I was kicking and screaming all the way. But guess what, I enjoyed the original Cars movie though I did think it was a little too long. Cars had more Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, and Holly Hunter and less Larry the Cable Guy - a very wise choice.
7) Ratatouille: This one may have been one of Pixar's best efforts with an Oscar to show for it and I did like Ratatouille. Its just not a movie I can watch over and over again. Maybe its too good.
6) Toy Story 2: Even the weakest effort of the Toy Story trilogy is a very, very good movie just not quite as good as the other two.
5) Up: I kink of put Up in the same category as Ratatouille. Excellent movies, great stories, and a visually stunning. But like Ratatouille, I just can't watch Up over and over again. It is a bit too emotionally fetching and yes, maybe too good.
4) The Incredibles: Now you're talking. A Pixar super-hero story. A Pixar movie that doesn't intentionally try to make you cry. Just good, fun, entertainment.
3) Toy Story: I saw Toy Story in a movie theater and walked out in amazement at what I had just seen. Pixar set the bar high right from the get go and created a truly American film experience with its Toy Story Franchise. Having Tom Hanks in the lead doesn't hurt.
2) Toy Story 3: Supposedly the TS trilogy ends here and if it did, it went out in grand style. The ending of Toy Story 3 is about the most beautiful ending for a movie I have ever seen.
1) Wall-E: If Toy Story 3 soared off into the sunset at the end, Wall-E blew me away from the beginning. The love story of Wall-E and Eve is one of the greatest in movie history. This movie did not need any of the humans that showed late in the movie. The hearts of Wall-E and Eve, two robots, are greater than 99% of everyone on this planet. This movie did not need a spoken word to convey the richness of all emotions. Wall-E is one of the greatest movies of all time.
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