Pixar movies ranked: the 15 best films from the studio

How we ranked the Pixar movies

Films that won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature rank above those that did not, with two Best Picture nominees at the top. Within each group, we ordered films by how much they changed animation and how often they are rewatched. Toy Story is placed high despite predating the animated category, because it changed the medium.

Pixar movies ranked: 1 to 5

The top five are the films that best combine awards recognition with a lasting place in popular memory.

• 1. Up (2009). The wordless opening montage of Carl and Ellie's life is one of the studio's finest sequences. It won Best Animated Feature and was nominated for Best Picture.
• 2. Toy Story 3 (2010). Andy's goodbye to his toys closes the original story with real emotional weight. It also won Best Animated Feature and earned a Best Picture nomination.
• 3. Toy Story (1995). The first fully computer-animated feature launched the studio and the medium. It came out before the Best Animated Feature award existed.
• 4. WALL-E (2008). Its near-silent first act tells a love story through sound and gesture alone. It won Best Animated Feature.
• 5. Inside Out (2015). It turns a child's emotions into characters and makes sadness the hero. It won Best Animated Feature.

6 to 10

Every film in this group won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

• 6. Ratatouille (2007). A rat who wants to cook becomes a film about art and criticism. It won Best Animated Feature.
• 7. Finding Nemo (2003). A father's search across the ocean gave Pixar its first Best Animated Feature win.
• 8. The Incredibles (2004). Brad Bird's superhero family is as much about marriage as action. It won Best Animated Feature.
• 9. Coco (2017). Its Day of the Dead story builds to a quietly devastating final song. It won Best Animated Feature.
• 10. Soul (2020). A jazz musician's journey asks what makes a life worth living. It won Best Animated Feature.

11 to 15

The final five mix two more Oscar winners with three films whose reputations rest on audience affection.

• 11. Toy Story 4 (2019). Woody's final choice gives the series a braver ending than expected. It won Best Animated Feature.
• 12. Brave (2012). Pixar's first fairy tale centres on a mother and daughter rather than a romance. It won Best Animated Feature.
• 13. Toy Story 2 (1999). The sequel deepened the toys' fear of being outgrown, especially through Jessie's story. It is often ranked above the original.
• 14. Monsters, Inc. (2001). Its premise, monsters powered by children's screams, pays off with a moving final door. It lost the first Best Animated Feature award to Shrek.
• 15. Inside Out 2 (2024). The sequel adds Anxiety and catches the rush of adolescence. It shows the studio can still make a sequel that feels personal.

Honourable mentions

A Bug's Life (1998), Luca (2021), Turning Red (2022) and Elemental (2023) all have strong defenders. Each just misses this list, either because it lacks the awards record of the films above or because its reputation is still settling.

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