Those who know me well know how much I love animation and more specifically, Pixar.
Pixar Animation Studios is to me, the absolute finest studio out there right now. With the release of their 10th feature length film “Up” this past Friday and now an estimated $68.2 million opening weekend and lots of critical praise (including this author), Pixar is now 10 for 10 in making great films.
Since I’m such a fan, a lot of my friends humor me and ask me how I would rank the films. I am going to attempt to do just that, but you’ll need to humor me first as to what I think makes Pixar so different (which gets into why this whole ranking thing is so difficult).
Pixar, I feel is a special place for a few reasons. Sure, they benefit from exceptional talent, but I feel a lot of their success comes from their process; a process that Disney has preserved since purchasing Pixar and frankly, has led to a lot of their newer films into being their best.
See, the studio does things differently. The directors all collaborate and share ideas with each other, but each movie still maintains it’s director’s heart and vision. Slate has a good piece about just this. As other studios tend to focus on having a screenplay done and getting it made, Pixar’s concepts are in-house and start out as just that, concepts. The concepts then come into focus and plot comes together from that.
The bold creativity displayed in Pixar’s films is also what makes them stand out. WALL-E’s dystopian future and a first act nearly dialog free was supposed to be a disaster for a film marketed to kids. Ratatouille was all about a rat in a kitchen, the absolute last place you would ever want to find one. Even Up starts out with a sobering 15 minutes where we fall in love with Carl’s wife only to have her die. It’s a gut check and strong way to start out a film, once again, perceived to be for kids.
Much of the success of Pixar though comes from the fact that they don’t target kids. They create films that everyone enjoys. The way a kid watches WALL-E and loves it is probably entirely different than my take away from the movie. The way parents watch Finding Nemo or Monsters, Inc. are probably very different from their kids’.
Which brings me to this list.
This list is quite dificult to put together, mostly because a low ranking implies that I don’t care for it. The problem, I guess, is that Pixar’s just too good right now… especially compared to the rest of cinema over the last 15 years. But without further ado, here’s my shot at ranking Pixar’s first ten films:
10. Cars (2006) dir. John Lasseter, co-director Joe Ranft
Pixar’s weakest film, but still a very fun movie nonetheless. Cars, to me, just doesn’t pull the same emotional weight as the other films do nor does it have as compelling of a story. It’s a fun movie, but it just doesn’t do it for me like some of Pixar’s finest.
9. Finding Nemo (2003) dir. Andrew Stanton, co-director Lee Unkrich
This one will probably be blasphemy to a lot of folks. Nemo has a great story, but it just doesn’t grab me like the other’s. Nemo’s strength is the emotional roller coaster that the father-son story puts you on, but compared to the emotional roller coaster of Up or even Toy Story 2, it’s not as thrilling of a ride.
8. A Bug’s Life (1997) dir. John Lasseter, co-director Andrew Stanton
I often talk about how underrated A Bug’s Life is and here I am putting it at 8. Either way, it’s a great film that not a whole lot of people have seen. Still remains the weakest performer in terms of dollars earned.
7. Toy Story (1995) dir. John Lasseter
Pixar’s first feature was an instant classic and still is. What can I say though, they were just warming up and they’d only outdo themselves later on… multiple times over.
6. Monsters, Inc. (2001) dir. Pete Doctor, co-directors David Silverman and Lee Unkrich
Monsters, Inc. gave us a preview of how bold Pixar would become. One of my favorite things about Pixar is how they don’t shy away from adult themes or ideas that may typical cautious studios would suppress. The idea of making a movie about monsters scaring little kids was very creative and it turned out to be heartwarming. Pete Doctor was just warming up.
5. Up (2009) dir. Pete Doctor, co-director Bob Peterson
Up is absolutely amazing for its range. To pull at the heartstrings with the death of Ellie in the first 10 minutes and then to pull harder and harder throughout the movie, all while being Pixar’s funniest film yet is a bold task. This showcases Pixar being Pixar.
4. The Incredibles (2004) dir. Brad Bird
The Incredibles finds an amazing way to pull off the humor of a silly comic book movie and still maintain a seriousness in the family dynamic which still impresses me each time I see it. Sort of like Mr. Bird’s other Pixar flim, Ratatouille, he takes an unconventional look at a conventional story, and is rewarded for the choice. In the case of The Incredibles, it’s the idea of super heroes going into hiding due to the overly litigious society the story takes place in. Tie that with the typical family problems that still plague the super hero family and together, we have a dynamic story.
3. Toy Story 2 (1998) dir. John Lasseter, co-directors Ash Brannon and Lee Unkrich
One of those rare instances where a sequel turns out better than the first, but in the case of Toy Story 2, this film not only outdoes the impressive Toy Story but elevates the Pixar standard. Toy Story 2 builds on the themes of it’s predecessor (jealousy, companionship) and does it all over again with a stronger story. This movie, for me, solidified John Lasseter’s genius.
2. WALL-E (2008) dir. Andrew Stanton
I remember reading about WALL-E in 2005 and getting very excited about this strange idea. All that was revealed was that this film took place in outer space and involved Earth being deserted due to it’s over pollution.
WALL-E, to me, is what making movies is all about. The risks it took, be it the lack of dialogue for the first 30 minutes, the anti-consumerism message (coming from Disney, no less), tackling global warming, obesity, the ‘cult of Wal-Mart’, all with a touching love story. WALL-E was bold like nothing else and probably like nothing we’ll see for a very long time.
1. Ratatouille (2007) dir. Brad Bird, co-director Jan Pinkava
I still remember going into Ratatouille not knowing what to expect. The movie was supposed to be the first one made without Disney. The original director, Jan Pinkava had a falling out with Pixar and Brad Bird took control of the ship at the last minute… and similar to Toy Story, a near complete re-write took place with little time left.
Ratatouille though, reflects a lot of the best of Pixar and a lot of the best of story telling. It’s a traditional fish-out-of-water story; a rat who cooks. Ratatouille’s story though, isn’t the strongest, but it is made up for in amazing filmmaking.
Ratatouille combines that story though with near-perfect dialogue epitomized by Anton Ego’s review of Gusteau’s restaurant to make it the stand out that it is. In fact, the last 15 minutes of that film are probably my favorite 15 minutes of any film. The curve ball situation and then the shock ending just tie a perfect bow on top of a treasure of a gift.
It’s a tough list to put together, and my reasons may be different from other’s. Feel free to post yours in the comments section, or tear my opinion apart, even.