Toy Story 3 vs. Incredibles: So What’s the Best Pixar Movie, Anyway?

I can’t remember when it happened, when I first started to just assume that each and every Pixar project would be gold.

I’m guessing it happened around the time of “Monsters, Inc.” which, ironically enough, wasn’t even one of my favorite Pixar films. One of my least favorite, actually. But the worst Pixar film is still laps ahead of the pack. That realization actually says it all: The worst Pixar film is still usually good enough to make my year-end top ten list.

(More on Techland: Toy Story 3 Q&A: I Didn’t Want to Be the Guy Who Made the Cruddy Sequel)

That was in 2001, which means that I – along with a whole universe of Pixar fans – have a had a decade’s worth of fail-proof, genius Pixar creations. And with last weekend’s “Toy Story 3” – read my review here - the tradition continues. It was a comedy that worked as a family drama, an existential tragedy, a daydream. It was brilliant, one of Pixar’s best. And so all of us at Techland thought, when will there ever be a better time.

Here’s our list of how the Pixar epics stack up. The best to the worst. Tell us which you agree with! And, of course, which are bunk.

View the list on your mobile device here.

Related Topics: animation, best pixar films, Incredibles, movies, pixar, toy story 3, wall-e, Gaming & Culture

@Techland

Latest on Techland

Gaming & Culture February 10, 2012

Rickrolling Coming to Rock Band

Strap in, friends. Harmonix has just announced that Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley will be making its way to Rock Band by way of a downloadable content pack that’s being made available on Valentine’s Day.
From our Partners
The Thermostat WarsSlate

Mark Zuckerberg's Bonus: Facebook Discloses Bonuses For Top ExecsHuffington Post
Mobile Phones Will Not Save the Poorest of the PoorSlate
Steve Jobs FBI File Reveals Bomb Threat, 'Tendency To Distort Reality' And MoreHuffington Post
Robotics February 10, 2012

WATCH: Japanese Scientist Controls Avatar-Style Robot Surrogate

In another case of science catching up to science fiction, Japanese researchers have developed a robot that can be controlled through a special head-mounted display and a pair of gloves. According to AFP, the robot operator sees, feels and hears all of the things that the robot — named Telesar V — does.

http://loonyboi.com/ loonyboi

I haven’t seen Toy Story 3 yet, but my vote is for Ratatouille.

But they’re all great.
richardsrussell

Leonardo or Michelangelo? Beethoven or Mozart? Newton or Einstein? Gandhi or Mandela?

Personally, I’m simply grateful we had them all.
charlieromeobravo

It’s crazy hard to choose. I like The Incredibles but it’s basically a good film done in cg animation. Same with Ratatouille though I think Ratataouille was better executed. Up was very moving and very beautiful. I think Wall-E is my favorite though. It’s such a fun, clever, beautiful film. And I like the films they did prior to those films too, but I think of the Toy Stories and Bugs life more as kiddie movies than the movies they produce now, though they’re very well executed kiddie films.

They’ve had such a consistent track record it really is tough to come down on a real favorite though. That’s what makes Pixar so special. They make great films and computer animation happens to be the medium they work in.
guymont

I completely agree with Wall-E as #1. It truly approaches Miyazaki’s greatness in animation.
fltm29

10) Cars: A weak plot (jumping on the NASCAR craze) and dumb characters (Mater, Lighting McQueen…. along with those voice acting being awful) make this the weakest of pixar’s greats
9) A Bug’s Life: Great condensing of “seven samurai”
8) Ratatouille: Oswalt gave a great voice-over performance, and Bird did a great job with that chase scene.
7) Monster’s, Inc.: Doctor taps into something that all kids (and adults too) know, things do go bump in the night. However, they are more scared of us than we are of them!
6) Finding Nemo: Pixar’s top grossing (20th of all time!). Parents need their kids just as much (more?) than their kids need them.
5) Toy Story 3: A fitting conclusion to the trilogy that I (and many other twenty-somethings) have grown up with
4) The Incredibles: Watchmen for kids = Awesome (actually, that is a horrible concept. However, Stanton(?) has gone on record saying that all Pixar films start off as the worst film ever conceived). Bird delivers the best action film of the decade
3) WALL-E: the most ambitious of all of Pixar, and certainly the one that most deserved a Best Picture nom
2) Toy Story/Toy Story 2: TS tapped into what every kid (and thus, every parent) knows, toys are alive. (Jessie says so in TS2, “when Andy plays with you it’s like… even though you’re not moving, you feel alive, because that’s how he sees you.”) The sequel that actually does this better than the first. The Sarah McLachlan kills me every time.
1) Up: Most heart-felt (the house represents carl’s sadness!) and funny (star wars references FTW!)
rully06

My personal favorite is Ratatouille. The Toy Story films are up there as well!
http://steveemily.wordpress.com emilysteve

Another vote for Wall-E. The “love” scene flying around in space was priceless!
zelig1

My Top 11:

1. Wall-E: An art/love/adventure/life lesson/comment on human existence film disguised as popular entertainment. Perfection.
2. Toy Story: The one that started it all. There are few better debuts ever.
3. Up: For the first 11 minutes alone, it belongs high on any list.
4. Ratatouille- Admit it, when you read the plot line the first time, you must have done a double take. It takes genius to pull it off. Well, genius is being served.
5. Toy Story 2: More emotional than the first one (the song in the middle still beings a tear), the two Buzzes plus the climactic fight (“Father!”) make for glory on all levels
6. Toy Story 3: The mix of laughter, tears and terror (sometimes in the same scene!) makes this a fantastic conclusion to the franchise. Two words: Spanish Buzz
7. Monsters Inc. : Yeah I said it, shmoopsee pooh!
8. The Incredibles: This one was the challenge. All humans (well, sort of), and the need to make them believable. Sounds easy, but the Pixar team add such depth it’s impossible to see how they could have done it any other way. A gleeful surprise.
9. Finding Nemo: An under-the-sea Cold Mountain, only fun and interesting, and colorful and you know, good. Remember, “Just keep swimming.”
10. A Bug’s Life: The one that made me really fall for Pixar. The Circus scenes are the best, along with anything involving Hopper. Proof that Toy Story wasn’t a fluke .
11. Cars: Has great stretches (The great Paul Newman), and plenty of silliness (Mater tipping tractors. How, uh, classy.) Hardly a bad film or a merely good film, it’s just when your competition is so strong, well, someone has to be number 11.
gminnj

Love Toy Story and the Incredibles, but I have to say that in my house we have HUGE love for Cars.

May have more to do with sentiment for us. It was the first movie my daughter really fell in love with, and the toys played (and play) a huge role in that.

Having said that, I’ve watched it a ton of times, and I never get sick of it.
ezekiel222

It’s not even a question… Up is the greatest Pixar picture ever made and probably the best movie of last year, next to District 9. It’s one out of 2 movies that got me close to crying; the other one was “The Shawshank Redemption”. It’s heartbreaking, heart warming, full of profound meaning on emotional loss and rediscovery, relationship complexities, broken dreams, dreams fulfilled, death of your love, father/son dynamic, cherishing what is truly good and beautiful, and just plain absolutely hysterical.
jaffarguy

1) Toy Story – The one that started it all.
2) Toy Story 2 – The perfect sequel.
3) Wall-E – First to be in an Oscar debate.
4) The Incredibles – Bird proves outsiders do well too.
5) Finding Nemo – The proto Wall-E.
6) Up – First to receive a Best Pic Nom
7) Toy Story 3 – May move up with age.
8) Monsters Inc. – Squandered potential.
9) A Bug’s Life – Dreamworks stole its thunder.
10) Ratatouille – Read above.
11) Cars – The only one with a sequel in the works…
http://autonomousroboticorganism.wordpress.com autonomousroboticorganism

My top 5:

1) WALL-E Superior art and animation, a conceivable and exciting story with adorable and believable characters that’s waaay different than anything else I’ve seen, and those great sound effects.

2) Up It’s entertaining in every minute of the film, the characters have a ton of personality, and the plot is beleivable.

3) Monsters Inc They took something every kid has beleived at one time and turned it into a great story. I find it remarkable because it focuses on the lives of the ‘monsters’ and their problems but manages to revolve smoothly around the purpose for terrifying children. It’s a power struggle we can all feel a connection to somehow.

4)Finding Nemo For me this is the film that made PIXAR great, not Toy Story. It’s so cute! And all the characters interact beautifully (and most of time, hilariously).

5) Cars Of course, I’m already biased towards it because it involves talking vehicles, but it really teaches you a lesson after you watch it a couple times. I also thought the scenery and the artwork was fabulous–especially the detail they paid to Radiator Springs. Even now i look at a truck or a car and see a face there.