Ranking the 30 Pixar Movies by Tiers

A Pixar movie ranking is hard, but we can all agree on which the worst ones are.

There have been 30 Pixar movies. Some theatrical. Some direct-to-streaming. But we've seen that lamp (Luxo Jr.) pounce on that "I" 30 times before a feature-length film.

The studio, founded in 1986, has won an incredible 11 Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature since their first film release (Toy Story in 1995). They've explored the ocean, space, the mind, and the afterlife. They've shown us the lives of cars, toys, bugs, superheroes, and monsters. They've made us laugh, cry, and think. Pixar remains the gold standard in animation, and any list of the best animated films of all time is incomplete without several of theirs at or near the top.

But they've had their share of stinkers, too.

The pace of Pixar movies in the 90s and 2000s was unsustainable. Forget a 4:00-mile. These guys were sub-4 with regularity. It was only natural that eventually a Pixar film wouldn't become an instant classic, as we saw in the 2010s and into the 2020s. Still, they are a studio littered with talented young storytellers who continue to push the boundaries for what the medium can portray.

Their latest feature, Hoppers, is the big 3-0 for the company. Here's my ranking of all 30 Pixar movies, organized by tiers (and in no particular order within the tiers):

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Inner Circle Hall of Famers

1. Toy Story (1995)

2. WALL-E (2008)

3. Finding Nemo (2003)

4. Monsters, Inc. (2001)

5. The Incredibles (2004)

Elite

1. A Bug's Life (1998)

2. Coco (2017)

3. Inside Out (2015)

4. Ratatouille (2007)

5. Up (2009)

6. Toy Story 3 (2010)

Upper Middle-Class

1. Toy Story 2 (1999)

2. Incredibles 2 (2018)

3. Cars (2006)

4. Brave (2012)

5. Soul (2020)

6. Hoppers (2026)

   
   

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That'll Work

1. Inside Out 2 (2024)

2. Elio (2025)

3. Finding Dory (2013)

4. Toy Story 4 (2019)

5. Onward (2020)

You're Probably Not Walking Out

1. Cars 3 (2017)

2. Monsters University (2013)

3. The Good Dinosaur (2015)

4. Luca (2021)

What The Hell Is Even That?!

1. Cars 2 (2011)

2. Turning Red (2022)

3. Elemental (2023)

Lightyear

1. Lightyear (2022)

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