Few animation companies have made such an impact on the industry as Pixar. After releasingToy Storyin 1995, Pixar spearheaded the rise of CGI animation in cinema, replacing hand-drawn animation as the most common form of animation. Unfortunately, Disney bought Pixar in 2006, and with the rise of other companies like DreamWorks and Illumination, Pixar finds itself facing steep competition.
Pixar’s earliest stretch of films from the 1990s and the 2000s are still regarded as some of the best animated films ever made. However, Pixar’s lengthy catalog has numerous films that are sometimes overlooked.Though they might not reach the heights of Pixar’s golden age, these films are still entertaining and have strong, emotional themesthat can help audiences make sense of the tricky trials and tribulations of life.
10’Elemental' (2023)
Directed by Peter Sohn
Within Elemental City, fire elemental Ember (Leah Lewis) and her family operate a shop called the Fireplace, which Ember is set to inherit if she can control her temper. When one of her outbursts damages a water pipe, she meets Wade (Mamoudou Athie), an emotional water elemental who submits a report to city hall that could get the Fireplace shut down. To save the shop, Ember and Wade team up to find the source of a city-wide leak, and in the process, the two form an emotional bond.
Elementalbecame a sleeper hit on the financial side, but opinion remains rather mixed due to the predictable storyand animation that feels beneath Pixar’s usual standards. That said,Ember and Wade’s relationshipis rather cute due to their opposing personalities and the different ways they bring out the best in the other. Ember’s family history is also very solid and touches on issues faced by immigrant families trying to adjust to new homes.
9’Turning Red' (2022)
Directed by Domee Shi
Thirteen-year-old Meilin Lee (Rosalie Chiang) lives with her parents in Toronto, Canada, and helps to maintain their family temple while trying to hide her love of boy bands from her overbearing mother, Ming (Sandra Oh). One day, Mei wakes up to discover that she can transform into a giant red panda due to a family blessing passed to all the women of her bloodline. While at first upset by the change, Mei soon realizes she can use her panda to raise money so she and her friends can go to a concert.
Turning Redwas a financial disappointment at the time due to COVID and being released on Disney+, and while its story isn’t one of Pixar’s best, there are a few things to love.Mei and Ming’s relationshipis the strongest aspect,offering a strong depiction of a mother-daughter relationship and the dangers of generational trauma. Mei’s arc of coming to love her panda is also an interesting way to depict someone coming to love themselves, faults and all.
Turning Red
8’Cars' (2006)
Directed by John Lasseter and Joe Ranft
The final race for the Piston Cup ends in a three-way tie between reigning champion Strip “The King” Weathers (Richard Petty), his rival Chick Hicks (Michael Keaton), and upcoming rookie Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson). On route to the next race in Los Angeles, Lightning falls out of his trailer and accidentally damages the road of a middle-of-nowhere town called Radiator Springs. Though the town judge, Doc Hudson (Paul Newman), wants to have him removed, the motel owner, Sally (Bonnie Hunt), convinces Doc that Lightning should do community service to repair the road.
Carslaunched a franchise due to how marketable its characters are, but the story is one of Pixar’s weakest, coming out as a cliché tale of a hotshot who needs to learn humility. The strongest moments revolve around the character of Doc, who it’s revealed used to be a famous racer until his career was ended by a bad crash, and thus has a cynical view towards Lightning and his self-centeredness. Their relationship leads to one of the strongest climaxes in Pixar, where Lightning chooses to help someone else over achieving glory.
7’Onward' (2020)
Directed by Dan Scanlon
In a world inhabited by magical creatures who have lost their power, the elf Ian Lightfoot (Tom Holland) receives a magic staff from his late father, who died before Ian was born, which will allow him to come back to life for one day. Unfortunately, Ian’s casting is interrupted, so he’s only able to restore his father’s legs. With his older brother, Barley (Chris Pratt), to guide him with his knowledge of role-playing games, Ian sets off on a journey to find the materials to cast the spell again before the sun sets.
Onwardwas slammed hard by COVID, and its undercooked worldbuilding wasn’t able to immerse audiences. However,Onwardhas a wonderfully emotionalthird act thanks to its themes about the different roles family can play, self-confidence, and the importance of finding closure. It’s also got a lot of fun references to nerd and fantasy culture, including iconic monsters fromDungeons & Dragons.
6’Brave' (2012)
Directed by Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman, and Steve Purcell
Merida (Kelly Macdonald) is a Scottish Princess who seeks a life of adventure, but is constantly hindered by her royal duties and her mother, Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson). During a tournament to decide who will marry Merida, she humiliates all of her suitors and runs off after fighting with her mother about tradition, arriving at a witch’s (Julie Walters) cottage. Merida convinces the witch to give her a spell to change her mother, which transforms her into a bear.
Bravehad a tumultuous production, and the end result feels more like a traditional Disney film than a Pixar one. It’s not bad though: the animation on Merida’s hair is gorgeous even a decade later, and the climax sees her and her mother realizing the importance of finding a balance between when to use diplomacy and when to fight.The film also has engaging lore and mystery weaved into it, especially when it focuses on history and magic.
5’Luca' (2021)
Directed by Enrico Casarosa
Young sea monsters Luca (Jacob Tremblay) and Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer) befriend one another and agree to one day acquire a Vespa so they can travel around the world together. When Luca’s parents learn of this, they try to send him to live with his deep-sea uncle, prompting Luca to run away from home. He and Alberto flee to the human city of Portorosso, where they befriend a girl named Giulia (Emma Berman), who convinces the boys to join her in the local triathlon so they can use the prize money for their dream.
Lucais a much smaller story than Pixar usually puts out, whichallows it to focus entirely on character interactions and a solid coming-of-age tale about acceptance and inner courage. The friendship betweenLuca and Alberto is phenomenaland captures all the complexities of being friends at a young age, with all its emotional highs and lows. Meanwhile, the use of sea monsters is a solid allegory for feelings of otherness, allowing them to relate to anyone who has felt like an outsider.
4’Soul' (2020)
Directed by Pete Docter and Kemp Powers
Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx) is a music teacher from New York City who longs to one day play jazz music professionally. He gets his chance when one of his students offers him a chance to play with famous jazz musician Dorothea Williams (Angela Bassett), but in his excitement, he falls down an open manhole and his spirit is sent towards the Great Beyond. Joe flees to the Great Beginning, where he meets 22 (Tina Fey), a soul who is trying to avoid being born, and who agrees to give Joe her pass to Earth if he can help her find her “spark.”
Soulis another financial failure thanks to COVID, but the filmfound an audience thanks to its powerful themes, concepts, and character interactions. It focuses on the complexities of life and, while it’s important to follow your dreams, it’s also important to set realistic expectations and find enjoyment in the smaller things, even if it’s not what you hoped for. Joe is a great protagonist to explore these themes thanks to his relatable situation as someone who feels they’re stuck in an unfulfilling life, andJamie Foxx’s brilliant voicework.
3’A Bug’s Life' (1998)
Directed by John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton
Flick (Dave Foley) is an eccentric inventor ant whose colony is forced to collect food for a swarm of grasshoppers. When he accidentally ruins the offering, the grasshopper’s leader, Hopper (Kevin Spacey), demands double the usual quota, prompting Flick to offer to go find warrior bugs to fight the grasshoppers. Princess Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) agrees to let him go, if only to get him out of the way, but through a misunderstanding, Flick returns to the colony with some out-of-work circus bugs.
A Bug’s Lifeis often overlookeddue to being sandwiched between the first twoToy Storyfilms, and while it doesn’t reach the same emotional heights, it’s still a fun movie.The diverse side characters are a great source of comedy, and the story is a decent taleabout standing up to bullies. It also does a wonderful job of presenting the film from a bug’s perspective, turning mundane items and animals into cities and eldritch horrors.
A Bug’s Life
2’Monsters University' (2013)
After a positive experience touring the scare floor of Monsters Inc., Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) works hard and enrolls in Monster University’s scaring program, where he meets James P. Sullivan (John Goodman), the cocky son of a prestigious scarer. Unfortunately for both, they are kicked out of the program by Dean Abigail Hardscrabble (Helen Mirren) because Sully relies too much on natural talent instead of technical knowledge, and Mike for not being scary despite his knowledge of scare theory. Refusing to give up, the two make a deal with the Dean that, if they win the campus Scare Games, she’ll let them back into the program.
Monsters Universityfalls into the trappings of many college films in terms of its jokes and character archetypes, but it alsopossesses tremendous heart and a great message. Mike’s situation in particular is a harsh lesson in that, even if you put in the hard work, you can still fail for reasons outside your control. Despite this, Mike is able to use his knowledge of theory to help Sully unleash his full potential, also demonstrating roundabout ways people can use their skills, and turning the duo into the unbeatable team seen inMonsters, Inc.
Monsters University
1’Ratatouille' (2007)
Remy (Patton Oswald) is a common rat who longs to become a great chef like his idol, the deceased master chef Auguste Gusteau (Brad Garrett). After being separated from his family, Remy makes his way to Gusteau’s restaurant, now run by his sous-chef, Skinner (Sir Ian Holm). Remy befriends a garbage boy named Alfredo Linguini (Lou Romano), who caught Remy fixing a soup he accidentally ruined, and the two team up to become the greatest chef in Paris.
Ratatouilleis the second Pixar movie made by famed directorBrad Bird, and while not on the same level asThe Incredibles, it possessesgreat character interactions, a strong story regarding creativity, and delicious-looking food. It also has numerous little bits of creative storytelling sprinkled in, such as Remy conjuring a ghost of Gusteau to represent his inner conscious, and the notorious and jaded food critic Anton Ego (Peter O’Toole), who is reminded why he loves his craft through Remy’s cooking. This leads to one ofPixar’s best movie endings, where Ego delivers a poignant speech regarding the role of critics and that while not everyone can be a great artist, a great artist can come from anyone.
