With six Oscar’s for Best Animated Feature, and a total of 23 Academy Awards, I see Pixar as the gods of animated cinema. You could debate for hours on which of the 12 Pixar movies are the best. I have taken it upon myself to make a list of my five favorite Pixar films of all time.
Now, this is just my opinion, this does not reflect the opinion of the lhsimage.com or any of its affiliates. I understand that people are very passionate about their favorite Pixar movies, and that things can sometimes get violent.
I think it is important that since we are talking about the best Pixar movies, we should talk about the worst Pixar movies. You may be thinking, “A bad Pixar movie! How can that even exist?” Well let me explain.
Ever since Toy Story came out in 1995, Pixar has been seen as the “best of the best,” and rightfully so. So when a movie comes out and it obtains the label of Pixar, it is expected to be amazing. When Cars came out in 2006, it was disappointing. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good movie, but it was not a good Pixar movie. Had Cars been produced by any other company, the criticism would not have been as harsh.
It’s like Van Gogh painting a cow. It is a very good picture of a cow, it is very realistic, but where is the creativity? Now imagine a two year old painted the cow. You see the cow painting as an amazing piece of art. Pixar is Van Gogh, and any other animated movie company is the toddler.
Now don’t even get me started on Cars 2. I must admit, I did not bother seeing Cars 2. I did not want to waste my parent’s money on a movie I was not excited to see, at all.
I don’t know what was going through the Pixar executives heads when they thought of the idea of creating a sequel to the mediocre film Cars. My guess is it went something like this, “Hey remember that movie we made about cars that we called Cars? It didn’t make as much money as all of our other films and it wasn’t as good, but let’s make a sequel!”
So now that I have ranted about the worst Pixar movies, it is time to list the best.
5) Up
Release Date: May, 29, 2009
List of Notable Characters:
Russell: The chubby wilderness explorer who must help everyone.
Carl: Grumpy old man that just wants to live out his wife’s dream of exploration.
Dug: A clueless talking dog that resembles that kid who was always picked last for dodge ball.
Plot: Carl, a widowed old man decides to tie thousands of balloons to his house so he can fly himself to an island that he and his late wife always dreamed of visiting. While on the way he picks up Russell the young wilderness explorer and Dug the talking dog.
Memorable Scene: When Carl and Russell first meet Dug, and are dumbstruck by the fact that he can talk.
4) The Incredibles
Release Date: November, 5, 2004
List of Notable Characters:
Dash:
Super Power: Speed
All Dash wants is to be able to play sports like everyone else, but his parents will not let him due to the fact that he would beat everyone and his power would most likely be discovered.
Violet:
Super Power: Her super powers include the ability to turn invisible and create force fields.
She is very shy and wants to live a normal life like all of her peers.
Bob Parr or Mr. Incredible:
Super Power: Super Strength
He is a middle aged man who is going through a midlife crisis, which gives him the urge to go out and relive his golden days of saving lives, even though he is incredibly out of shape.
Helen Parr or Elastigirl:
Super Power: She has the power to stretch out her entire body like a rubber band.
She is a concerned mother who just wants the best for her family, and for her husband to live in the present and not the past.
Edna: A 2-foot tall fashion designer who specializes in super suits and judging everyone.
Syndrome: A psycho man-child, whose ultimate goal in life is to make everyone super, which ultimately means “no one is.”
Lucius or Frozone:
Super Power: The ability to create ice out of thin air.
He is Mr. Incredible’s best friend and essentially partner in crime. The two both lie to their wives that they go bowling once a week, when they are actually listening to a police scanner to find a criminal to stop or a person to save.
Plot: Bob Parr gets himself into trouble when he accepts being hired by a mysterious man to help defeat a giant robot that is destroying an island. His family must come to his rescue in order to not only save him, but all of the superheroes in the world.
Memorable Scene: When Syndrome’s giant robot is destroying the city, and Frozone is unable to find his super suit, which leads to a hilarious fight between himself and his wife.
3) Finding Nemo
Release Date: May, 30 2003
List of Notable Characters:
Marlin: A worrisome clownfish father who is determined to do whatever he can to find his son.
Dory: A clueless fish with a need to please everyone. She is voiced by comedian Ellen DeGeneres making the character 10 times better.
Nemo: Marlin’s son, who finds himself in a fish tank in a dentist’s office with many other sea creatures.
Crush: A stoner sea turtle who with the help of his tiny stoner sea turtle son, helps Marlin reach his son.
Plot: Marlin, a father clown fish must go on an adventure in order to get his son, Nemo, back when he was suddenly taken away by an undersea diver. On his way he meets vegetarian sharks, turtles with a laid back lifestyle and Dory, the quirky memory loss prone fish.
Memorable Scene: When Dory and Marlin are trapped inside of a humpback whale, and Dory proceeds to “speak whale,” which instead of sounding like whale dialect, sounds more like someone in immense pain giving birth.
2) Toy Story 2
Release Date: November, 24 1999
Notable Characters:
Andy: The young boy who owns a majority of the toys in the movie.
Woody: A toy cowboy who is the leader of all of Andy’s toys.
Buzz Lightyear: A brave space ranger, and Woody’s best friend.
Rex: A plastic dinosaur, who is more plastic than dinosaur.
Mr. Potato Head: A narcissistic plastic potato with an attitude.
Al: An overweight toy collector, with a love for Cheetos and being angry.
Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl: A confident and strong cowgirl, who only wants to be played with and cherished.
Emperor Zurg: Buzz Lightyear’s arch nemesis, with a slight resemblance to Darth Vader.
Stinky Pete the Prospector: An old man with a beer belly, whose box “has never been opened,” and is not who he seems.
Bullseye: Jessie’s horse, who is more dog than horse.
Plot: Woody is stolen at a garage sale by Al the toy collector, and Buzz and all of the other toys go on a man hunt to rescue him.
Memorable Scene: When Buzz and the other toys venture into Al’s toy store and meet a group of Barbie’s that are having a pool party.
1) Toy Story
Release Date: November, 22 1995
Notable Characters:
Woody: (see above list)
Buzz: (see above list) except take away the fact that he is Woody’s best friend, and add the fact that he is completely oblivious to the fact that he is not in outer space and that he cannot fly.
Sid: A twisted young boy, whose hobbies include creating creepy toy mutants and blowing up toys in his yard.
Plot: Andy is given Buzz Lightyear for his birthday, which makes Woody jealous that he is no longer Andy’s favorite toy and is no longer the top dog among the toys. Buzz and Woody eventually end up imprisoned by Sid, and must work together to save themselves from being blown up.
Memorable Scene: When Woody sends out the Army Men to give a play by play of Andy opening his presents.
