Ever since making its groundbreaking debut withToy Story,Pixarhas been one of the most revered studios in Hollywood. Each one of their movies is expected to bea cerebral, beautifully crafted, heartstring-pulling masterpiece, thanks to the studio’s initial string of hits. They didn’t make a misstep untilCars, more than a decade into their run, by which point their reputation was set in stone.
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Not every Pixar movie has ranked among the studio’s best, but this is rare. There’s only one movie in the entire Pixar library with a “rotten” score on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s a much better track record than most animation studios can boast.
23Cars 2 (39%)
A lot of more beloved Pixar movies should’ve gotten a sequel beforeCarsgot one, but sinceCarswas the brainchild of now-disgraced studio boss John Lasseter, a weird world full of living, breathing automobiles was dragged out into a trilogy.
The second movie, a spoof of the Bond franchise by way of a sequel toCars(which doesn’t work at all), received the franchise’s worst reviews by far.
22Cars 3 (69%)
TheCarsthreequel received much better reviews than its predecessor, mainly because it has a darker tone than the previous movies, which felt like a breath of fresh air. But it was still much more maligned by critics than the average Pixar offering.
21Cars (74%)
The entireCarstrilogy makes up the three lowest-rated Pixar movies on Rotten Tomatoes. The first movie received the best reviews out of the three, but was still criticized for ripping off the plot ofDoc Hollywood.
20The Good Dinosaur (76%)
The first Pixar movie to underperform at the box office,The Good Dinosaurwas sort of swept under the rug and forgotten about. But this movie has a novel premise – it’s a boy-and-his-dog story where the boy is an anthropomorphic dinosaur and the dog is a feral boy – and it’s filled with gorgeous animation.
19Brave (78%)
When Pixar finally made a movie with a female protagonist after being around for almost two decades, the studio was criticized for going with the most obvious choice: a princess.
ButBraveisn’t an average Disney princess story. It’s more concerned with the mother-daughter relationship between the princess and the queen than telling a problematic love story.
18Monsters University (80%)
After making a couple of unnecessary sequels, Pixar moved into unnecessary prequel territory withMonsters University, a movie that takes fans back to Mike and Sulley’s college days. There’s a lot to enjoy in the movie, especially Billy Crystal and John Goodman’s reunion, but it didn’t need to exist.
Riffs on adult-oriented college comedies likeAnimal Housedidn’t work in a kids’ movie for the same reason references toThe Godfatherdidn’t work inShark Tale– kids don’t get the joke.
17Onward (88%)
Marvel superstars Tom Holland and Chris Pratt paired up to play brothers inOnward,one of the last theatrical releases before the coronavirus shut down movie theatersindefinitely. With a strong emotional core and a captivating, quick-paced story that keeps audiences guessing,Onwardis a delight.
16A Bug’s Life (92%)
After breaking all kinds of new ground withToy Story, the first-ever fully computer-animated feature film, Pixar told an underdog story about ants suffering under the rule of grasshoppers inA Bug’s Life. Not many animation studios would homage Kurosawa in their sophomore effort, butA Bug’s Lifehas been widely accepted as Pixar’s nod toSeven Samurai.
15Incredibles 2 (93%)
WhenMarvel took over Hollywoodand superheroes became the hottest new thing, it was only a matter of time before Pixar dragged their own superhero characters out of the woodwork for a sequel.
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WhileIncredibles 2’s focus on Helen as opposed to Bob ensures it feels fresh, its story is too disjointed and predictable to match the near-perfection of the original.
14Finding Dory (94%)
While the originalFinding Nemomovie explored the vastness of the ocean, taking audiences on an epic adventure through various ecosystems of marine life,Finding Doryis mostly confined to an aquarium – it’s much smaller-scale, and thus feels like a step down.
