Here is every Pixar movie listed chronologically by original release date:
Toy Story (1995)
A Bug’s Life (1998)
Toy Story 2 (1999)
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Finding Nemo (2002)
The Incredibles (2004)
Cars (2006)
Ratatouille (2007)
Ratatouille could only be as effective as it is with these voice actors and this concept and director, and it all comes together to make one of Pixar’s most unique and loveable movies. Brad Bird conceptualizes a ridiculous premise to perfection, delivering a meta story about the intersection of art and criticism.
WALL-E (2008)
Over fifteen years later, I’m not sure Disney Pixar Studios has made a movie nearly as insightful, colorful, and ambitious as WALL-E. As an allegory for corporate greed and environmental neglect, the film operates on such a concise and straightforward manner – Pixar’s strongest thematic statement in their catalogue.
Up (2009)
Toy Story 3 (2010)
Cars 2 (2011)
Brave (2012)
Monsters University (2013)
Inside Out (2015)
Inside Out is still the best iteration of personifying emotions or concepts through animated films, choosing to live inside of the mind of youngster Riley moving from her Minnesota townhome to the big city of San Francisco. Pete Docter directs arguably his best film under the Pixar brand.
The Good Dinosaur (2015)
Finding Dory (2016)
Cars 3 (2017)
Coco (2017)
Incredibles 2 (2018)
Incredibles 2 is about as action packed, well-conceived, and carefully executed as sequels can get in the superhero (and animated) genre. Brad Bird and Pixar Studios manage to inject new life into a world we haven’t visited in well over a decade.
Toy Story 4 (2019)
I was certainly in that camp in 2019, always favoring original stories over rehashes of the same material over and over (I’ll probably act the same way when Toy Story 5 nears because I clearly haven’t learned my lesson). Toy Story 4 quickly expels any notion that it shouldn’t exist – the different themes and new characters actually make the franchise as engaging as ever.
Onward (2020)
Soul (2020)
Luca (2021)
Whether its shortcomings are the result of its direct-to-streaming release or broader creative decisions, Luca ultimately stands as Pixar’s weakest effort of the 2020s so far. It’s not a misfire, but it is a forgettable entry in a filmography that typically sets the standard for original animated storytelling. For all its good intentions and lighthearted charm, Luca just doesn’t make much of a splash.
Turning Red (2022)
Despite feeling a bit like Pixar is borrowing heavily from their contemporaries, Turning Red is the first movie from the studio to actually move the needle in a while. It’s a story for generations to enjoy, and I always prefer when Pixar aims to appeal to older audiences in conjunction with the usual kids demographic.
Lightyear (2022)
There’s a lack of interesting, personable characters within Lightyear, as if they were all typecast from other Pixar movies. They’re either sentimentally sweet, aloof, or arrogant. And maybe the movie could’ve been saved had these characters had more time to develop and interact, but that aspect of the film is tossed aside frequently for big action set pieces and rambunctious chase sequences.
Elemental (2023)
Elemental acts as a surprising return to the roots of Pixar. It’s a movie with a host of relevant themes and messages rolled into a sincere and effective love story. It’s been a a minute since Pixar landed an original story with such a clear balance of narrative and comedy.
Inside Out 2 (2024)
I found the overall package of Inside Out 2 enjoyable, with Sadness (Phyllis Smith) and Joy (Amy Poehler) as captivating and cartoonishly real in the sequel as they were in the original. It’s a new entry worthy of the title, despite enough material here to expand on over the course of multiple movies.
Elio (2025)
Conceived by Adrian Molina and then handed off to Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian, Elio bears the fingerprints of multiple creative voices. You can feel the push and pull in its structure. Elio (voiced with wide-eyed sincerity by Yonas Kibreab) is accidentally identified as the leader of Earth and whisked to the Communiverse, a galactic council where rival species debate, posture, and search for common ground. Back home, a clone holds his place while his guardian, Aunt Olga (Zoe Saldaña), an Air Force major who shelved astronaut dreams to raise her nephew, tries to keep life steady. The movie toggles among coming-of-age comedy, interstellar diplomacy satire, and family melodrama, which gives Elio scope, but also leaves it feeling overstuffed and under-shaped.
