Comments on: REEL List: Top Pixar Films

By: Kev

Kev — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 01:45:05 +0000

It’s cool to see everyone’s view of this, Pixar films are indeed hard to rank because unlike most studios there are no real stinkers. Of course, they have been around as a features studio for only 15 years or so, but they have worked hard to keep true to their “story-first” ethos and director-driven vision for each film. I doubt anything bad will come out of Pixar while most of the current generation of animators there are still breathing.

That said: Here is my ranking of the films so far.

1: Monsters, Inc.
2: The Incredibles
3: Finding Nemo*
4: Toy Story 2
5: Ratatouille
6: Toy Story
7: Bug’s Life
8: Cars

The asterisk by Finding Nemo is due to my mixed feelings about the film. As a film buff, I cannot deny the superior storytelling and acting (let alone the animation) of this one, which is why it is at #3 for “best films” However, as personal favorites go, I would probably put it around 5 or 6. The pure enjoyment and “rewatchability” factors of the two Toy Story films and Ratatouille are much stronger for me. I have seen all of these at least four times, sometimes after a very long time, and these rankings seem not to change for me too much. Bugs Life and Cars kind of alternate for the bottom. Bugs Life had a good story and was more involving than Cars for me, but the animation and some of the acting felt below Pixar standards. Cars is visually beautiful and filled with clever in-jokes for us car buffs, but story was a problem for me. I know the pacing was supposed to vary between the “city” world and Radiator Springs to show contrast, but things got a little too slow for me in parts. Also, it was very hard for me to enjoy a film with such an unlikable protagonist.

As for the best, The Incredibles is in a class by itself, and I truly hope more adventures of the Parr family are in the offing. But for the “Cadillac of Pixar Films” I will pretty much always feel that belongs to Monsters, Inc. I must have seen it 12 times and I have never gotten bored by it, and am sometimes still surprised by it.

By: theREELaddict

theREELaddict — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:33:20 +0000

I totally agree with you Philip Fry (you must be annoyed Futurama totally stole your name) about the choke-factor of Toy Story 2. The “When She Loved Me” number demolishes me every single time. Man-tears dribble everywhere.

By: Philip Frey

Philip Frey — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:36:02 +0000

Well for the longest time it was a debate as to which was my favorite, Toy Story 2 or Monsters, Inc., but Cars swept right past them. There’s something about the fact that, despite it being about cars, it’s just a regular movie. I love that. The other ones are about extraordinary, world shattering circumstances that the characters find themselves in. This one is just about regular folks.

Anyway, the new debate is for the end of the list, once firmly held by A Bug’s Life. Ratatouille is a fine film and all, but it lacked cohesion (no doubt the result of its troubled production) and never really came together for me.

So here’s the list as it stands at the moment (and I watch them all regularly, so let’s just say it’s a short walk on the enjoyment scale from 1 to 8):

1 - Cars
2 - Toy Story 2 (still the only Pixar film that gets me choked up)
3 - Monsters, Inc.
4 - Toy Story
5 - The Incredibles
6 - Finding Nemo
7 - A Bug’s Life
8 - Ratatouille

By: Heather

Heather — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 02:19:13 +0000

Reel Addict,

I was about to post my personal list and then I read your updated list. I think your new list is perfect. I agree with you 100%.

Monster’s Inc and Toy Story 2 are my sentimental favorites (both movies have moments that bring me to tears), but I do believe that Finding Nemo is probably a better movie overall.

By: theREELaddict

theREELaddict — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:49:19 +0000

So, one of the perks of working part-time at a video store is that you sometimes get the opportunity to watch movies while you’re working. Since I made this list, the order of the top choices irked me a little bit, therefore I decided to throw on a few of them to see if my mind would change. Turns out it did. Maybe this is a bit unconventional to re-order my list after making it up in the first place, but having rewatched some of the films, I would be hard pressed not to do otherwise.

So, with some big changes, here are the top places re-ordered:

4. The Incredibles
3. Toy Story 2
2. Monster’s Inc
1. Finding Nemo

By: Tim G.

Tim G. — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:53:13 +0000

Mmm, gotta disagree. My list:

1: Toy Story 2
2: Finding Nemo
3: Ratatouille
4: The Incredibles
5: Toy Story
6: Monsters, Inc.
7: Bug’s Life
8: Cars

By: Todd W in NC

Todd W in NC — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:55:51 +0000

It is very difficult to rank the Pixar movies. They are all good to excellent. Plus, it’s been a while since I’ve seen some of them, especially the two Toy Story movies, and I think I’ve only seen Cars and Incredibles once each.

Here’s my best attempt to rank them from least to most favorite:
8. Ratatouille
7. Toy Story
6. Toy Story 2
5. The Incredibles
4. Cars
3. Monsters, Inc.
2. A Bug’s Life
1. Finding Nemo

Ratatouille disappointed and bothered me for several reasons, and, I ranked Toy Story 1 next lowest, simply because I remember its sequel being better. If Toy Story 2, and The Incredibles were fresher in my mind, I might have positioned them differently.

One thing I’m certain about… Finding Nemo blows all the other seven out of the water, pun intended. It is the Cadillac of Pixar movies.

By: theTVaddict

theTVaddict — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:17:16 +0000

Aside from CARS, which hands down is the only Pixar film I didn’t aboslutely love. Picking your favorite Pixar film is (I’d imagine) the equivelant of picking your favorite child. Who can decide!