zwolanerd

In honor of Brave being released today on BD/DVD, I thought I’d post my top ten Pixar movies list. My list looks different from most other ones I’ve seen, so be nice, eh?

10. Cars (2006) / Cars 2 (2011) – I haven’t actually seen Cars 2, but I’m lumping sequels together because I lump the Toy Story movies together so these are getting lumped together, too. I disliked Cars enough that I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t much care for Cars 2, so I feel safe in ranking these together here.

9. WALL·E (2008) – I liked the first 40 minutes well enough, but once they get to space the only thing I enjoy is the OCD cleaning robot.

8. Ratatouille (2007) – I’ve only seen this once. I liked it well enough, but could stand to see it again.

7. Finding Nemo (2003) – There’s a lot of great stuff in this movie, starting with the cast.

6. Brave (2012) – I won’t lie to you – the accents are a big part of why I like this one so much. I also like that there wasn’t an actual villain, really. The main conflict was family relationships. Strong female character with a strong family message.  Good stuff.

5. Monsters, Inc. (2001) – Listen, you put Miracle Max and Walter Sobchak in a movie together, even as voices, and I’m going to line up for that one. I also love that Boo’s dialogue was just the film makers following a little girl around with a microphone and recording here while she played.

4. A Bug’s Life (1998) – I’ve seen this one more than any other on this list, mostly because the kids I was around really liked it.  I’m willing to admit it ranks higher because there’s a nostalgia factor, but I also love that Dave Foley and Julia Louis-Dreyfus are in it.

3. Toy Story (1995) / Toy Story 2 (1999) / Toy Story 3 (2010) – Fantastic movies all around. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are perfect together, and the way so many classic toys are brought to life is just beautiful.

2. Up (2009) – The first ten minutes of this movie are better than most other full movies released that year, beautiful and heart-wrenching. I’m sure that part of the appeal of this one is that I’m getting older, and its “Live your life!” message is a reminder I often need, but it’s a great movie on its own without me piling anything else on it.  Doug the Dog is one of my favorite movie characters ever, and his “I hid under your porch because I love you” line is delivered so dead-on perfectly that it will never fail to make me smile.

1. The Incredibles (2004) – I heard this movie described as “what the Fantastic Four movies should have been,” and it’s hard to disagree. The strong family themes, the all-out superhero action, the middle-age weariness, the desire to do what a person is uniquely gifted to do… it all adds up to my favorite Pixar movie so far.

I already know that most people rank WALL*E a lot higher and A Bug’s Life a lot lower and will usually put the Toy Storys(ies?) at the top, but this is my list and I feel very strongly about it. And, really, from 8 up I unequivocally like all of them, so arguing that most of them are good is… not really an argument.

Tags: Pixar, Tuesday10

Written by: Mark