Ranking Pixar's movies

With the release of UP, Pixar has hit the ten movie mark, which is perfect for a list. These are in a specific order, but the movies that finish from 1-7 are all at the very least B+'s. Of course, I have only not liked one Pixar movie and so it will come as no surprise to anyone which one ranks number 10.

10. Finding Nemo- I just do not get this movie. It is annoying and the only redeeming quality is the animation, but since every Pixar movie has incredible animation, it is not enough. I thought Ellen Degeneres was obnoxious and there just was not enough in Nemo for me to enjoy. I liked some of the stuff that happened in the fish tank, but not enough time was spent there. The best thing about the movie was that kids everywhere went home and flushed their fish down their toilets thinking the fish would be reunited with their families. Nice!

9. A Bug's Life- This is generally the forgotten Pixar movie, but I enjoyed it, for the most part. It is very much the beginning of Pixar and is directly aimed at young people, but I thought the supporting cast was good and Kevin Spacey as a villain is always fun. I have not watched it years, so the details are pretty fuzzy for me, but I do remember that it was the first Pixar movie to have outtakes, which I thought was pretty ingenious at the time. Plus, any movie that puts Denis Leary as a male ladybug annoyed with being consistently taken for a female, gets points, just for that. I should probably go back and watch A Bug's Life to see if I still enjoy it, but maybe the fact that I have not gone back to see it is reason enough that it is so low on the list.

8. Cars- If you want to see a movie just for the animation, this is the movie to do that. The details are incredible all the way through. If you pay close attention you can see how amazing the reflection of everything looks in the windows of the cars. it is truly remarkable. I love Owen Wilson and Paul Newman and I think the story, while a rehash of Doc Hollywood, is interesting enough. The supporting cast is pretty standard stuff, but I love the little machines that can change tires super quickly. The races are pretty thrilling, but it is a pretty long movie and I did not have a real emotional connection to any of the characters, so I did get bored at times. I believe it is the worst reviewed Pixar movie, but it is a pleasant enough movie. Plus, it let Paul Newman play an old race car. He really did wonderful voice work.

7. The Incredibles- I have to admit, I was expecting something completely different the first time I saw this, so I did not appreciate it until a second viewing. Pixar movies, up to this point, had all been super funny, but The Incredibles was not meant to be super funny. It had comedy for sure (and really great reasoning for not wearing a cape), but it is an action movie and it is the best Fantastic Four movie we are likely to see. The climatic battle is awe inspiring and watching the team use their powers together shows why superhero teams are such a good thing. The animation is cool, but not as impressive as some of the other movies, but I don't think it detracts from the viewing, so it does its job. The voice work is great especially Samuel L. Jackson and I think this is a movie that grows on you. I know it grew on me.

6. Ratatouille- I do have some issues with the theme of "Everyone can cook" since the movie shows that not everyone can cook. It should be that "any species can cook." To me this was the beginning of Pixar's era of stretching themselves commercially. I am not sure this movie should have worked, but it does. The lead is played by a comedian who most people do not know, the story is about a rat in the kitchen and there are thousands of creepy looking rats in the movie. How did they sell this movie? It helps when you have Brad Bird (the master animation director of The Iron Giant) directing. He is a wizard with directing animated films. Ratatouille also features the single most thrilling Pixar moment, to me. It is the scene where Remy is running through the kitchen trying to stay hidden and it keeps cutting to shots of open flames and knives and features an incredible score. It is a brilliant moment of action in an otherwise action free movie.

5. Toy Story 2- This might be a bit of a sentimental choice, as I know there is a large faction of people who are super high on this film. I love the characters so much and I thought the story was interesting. yes, maybe a little too much attention was put on the Round Up gang, but I think that is the point. The movie sets up Woody to make the incredibly hard decision of living forever in pristine condition, or going back home, where he knows eventually he will break and be tossed aside. Woody chooses his friends over eternal life, which is a powerful decision. But, the movie is not totally weighed down by these big life decisions. We get an entire fleet of Buzz Lightyear's and the Buzz Lightyear villain, doing a sort of Star Wars thing and the voice work is, one again, top notch. I am already excited at the prospect of Toy Story 3, if just to hear all of my favorite characters come back to life.

4. Monsters Inc. - Very few movies capture a wonderful childlike joy quite like this. The story is infinitely interesting and creative; the animation is wonderful and Boo is the cutest little girl, ever. Billy Crystal and John Goodman are perfectly cast as the lovable heroes and Steve Buschemi is amazing as the villain. The colors are vibrant and the movie is totally funny and silly and lifts the spirit with its cuteness. The climatic scene where all the characters are moving in and out of doors into different places is one of the most creative sequences I can remember seeing in a family movie and it would make an amazing ride at Disneyland. We get a super happy Yeti and the wonderful moment of the two leads pretending they are rehearsing a musical, leading to all kinds of fits of laughter. Of course, the moral of the story being that laughing is more powerful than screaming is a wonderful lesson for kids and adults. This movie will lead to the kind of uninhibited laughter that could keep the lights on Monstropolis for years and years.

3. UP- I am willing to admit this could actually end up higher with more viewings, it is that good. I am not going to spend much time recapping it because you can just go read my review of it from last week, but I do want to say that it is a heart warming story with laughs, beautiful colors, great voice work and five characters worth our time and love. Animated movies do not usually fill me with tears (Wall-E is the only other one to do it) but this one had me in the first ten minutes with an amazing montage of scenes. I cannot wait to see it again.

2.Toy Story - The original Pixar film is still one of the very best. The idea was totally original, but played on the minds of anyone who ever had a toy and wondered would would happen if they were alive. The animation was worlds beyond what we had seen at that point, but it was also about the story. Pixar has time and time shown that a great story is what matters and what could be better than a story about friendship and loyalty? Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are incredible, breathing life into these two very different, but kind of alike characters and the supporting cast does wonderful things as well. There are crazy awesome jokes and bits, and great physical bits as well. The road trip aspect is totally cool and, of course, the little aliens crack me up, even to this day. There is genuine terror at Sid, and genuine warmth and heart from Woody's loyalty to Andy and his fellow toys. Few movies really capture the wonder and joy of friendship quite like Toy Story. It is a movie that will probably hold up forever, to me and will be one that kids for generations should enjoy.

1. Wall-E- Again, this is a movie that should not work. There is no dialog for the first 15 minutes and the lead character never talks. He barely has the ability to make sounds, but it is a revelation of a Sci-Fi film. Wall-E, as a character, is by far the cutest thing I have ever seen. His desire to just hold hands with someone else only makes him that much more adorable. He is a hard working robot with a curious mind and he seems the least likely thing to save humanity, but he does it. I know people complain about the movie being heavy handed towards its politics, but I think those people are missing the point. The movie is not really about that, it is about longing for a connection. It is about getting so lost in our own worlds that we forget how important connection with someone else is. It is about the importance of just holding some one's hand, letting them know we are there for them. Wall-E excels in every aspect of film making. It is funny, has interesting characters, a wonderful story, great morals (key for a family movie) and it allows you to fall in love with Wall-E so we care about his struggle. If you do not have tears in your eyes at the end, I would think you are a heartless, soulless creature of the night.

I am very interested in the order for other people. So far, I have talked to 4 other people and no one has the same top 3. I would love to see everyone's top ten, but I I would really like to see what people put as their top 3. I think cases could be made for any of these movies, yes even Nemo, even though I did not get it, I think I understand why people love it. So please, let me know what your favorites are. I know you all watch them!