Episode 18: 'Toy Story 5' and Pixar Rankings

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On today's episode, we are reviewing the newest entry in the Toy Story franchise, Toy Story 5. We also are going to be going through all 31 of Pixar films and rank them!

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Transcript

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Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome back to Watch More Movies. I'm your host, Ricky, and today we are talking about Pixar and their newest sequel release, Toy Story 5. Toy Story was incredibly sentimental for me as a kid and even as an adult, as nearly all of Pixar's filmography was and is. Right around Toy Story 3 is when I kind of grew out of it for the time. I didn't even care to see it until it was on home video and my little brother wanted to see it. I just watched it to let him watch it. But after that, I was instantly drawn back into Toy Story and Pixar. This franchise and their belt has been consistent for me even on Rewatch as an adult. They have always nailed these characters and stories and grown with their audience as opposed to trying to appeal to younger audiences, save for one or two exceptions. When Pixar is at its best, it reaches both adults and children on a comedic and on an emotional level. I'll probably repeat myself when I get to the Toy Story film specifically, but even with weights in between the sequels, when they do those, they find a needle in a haystack of emotion that reaches kids who are expecting them for the first time, or adults like me who are different emotional stages in their life being spoken to through these characters that feel like our own friends or toys. I'm not going to talk about Toy Story 5 immediately. I'm going to do the entire Pixar ranking and then talk about each one individually. I am going to go in ascending order, so it will go from the 31st film all the way up until number one for me. I don't like to talk too negatively as much as I possibly can about films. I'm going to go through the quote unquote worst ones. But the nice thing about Pixar is that aside from one or two, there isn't really any bad movies. Some that just don't work as well, but most of them are all either good to amazing, and there's only one or two that are absolutely just either bad or not good. Number 31 is probably also everyone's least favorite. It's Cars 2. Here we begin with a really low low for Pixar. Cars 2 finds Lightning Queen being called out to race by a Ferrari. What follows is an espionage, bomb-like story that follows Mater trying to help British intelligence track down some bad guys or something. Just really, really not good. What was a charming character in the first cars becomes an unbearable annoyance in the sequel. Not just in quality, but in terms of its indirect cynicism. Just making a movie with a bunch of new cars in different situations to sell toys. You can do that while also making something more endearing and not just constant immature jokes from a character who was just the right amount in the first film, now being wrung out and dried out to no end after this. And it's just really bad. Number 30 is 2022's Lightyear. Light Year is essentially the movie that the toy Buzz Lightyear is based on in that Toy Story world. No other connections of the franchise, other than that. I have two very different trains of thought on this that are pretty contradictory, but on one hand, a spin-off or story like this is completely necessary. It's a complete cash grab with trying to jingle keys in front of the audience of a character you know and love, but something completely different. On the other hand, if you can innovate and create a unique story around something like this, with a giant IP like Toy Story, and a spin-off in some ways, I am all for it. This just did not do it whatsoever and was really not good. The story itself in plot was fine and it could be interesting with some intense action for a kid's movie, but it just felt so boring and lacking the heart of a Pixar film. Not to mention the beginning 15 minutes felt like an emotional manipulation that never paid off. We can forgive these cases with things like Up and both Finding Nemo movies. Those two both followed through with that emotion and heart. This one just felt very thinly layered, not much put into it, and just really cold to me personally. 29 is one that I know a lot of people really liked recently. I was really excited about it. I loved, you know, the marketing for it, I guess, so to speak, but it just did not do it for me. It's this year's Hoppers. Hoppers fellows a 19-year-old college student, Mabel, who has been pro-animal and activist and environmentalist ever since she was a little girl. When a glade in her town is being threatened of being destroyed, so highway can be built over it, she accidentally discovers that her college professor has developed technology that can help communicate with animals by putting your consciousness inside of a machine that is designed to be exactly like these animals. I was, like I said, really, really looking forward to it, just very, very disappointed. It is middle-of-the-road Pixar that did not feel like it had the heart to any of the characters besides the animals, but given that they're cute animals, it didn't feel like it was earned, but just a given in their circumstance and their design and how cute they are. Even the main character Mabel, I was not really drawn into and did not connect with. And while I support the messages in this movie about, you know, environmentalism and you know trying to protect those things, it just didn't have any character or heart that worked for me. I would have had been a lot more invested if it did. Instead, I just found the Beavers to be very cute and it gave me a few laughs, and that's really it. Number 28 is Inside Out 2 from 2024. Inside Out 2 picks up a little bit after the first film with Riley heading into high school and inviting to a training camp for a hockey team for the high school team. I can't say I'm particularly over the moon about this sequel. I remember really liking it when I first saw it, and on rewatch, I think bringing the emotion and anxiety into the mix is something smart at that age with Riley, but the way the story unfolds is just so messy and convoluted. What made the first so smart and emotional is that the way these emotions are connected to each other and how they affect big moments in our lives as one and not just one or the other. And while this event is a big deal and anxiety is a big part of adolescence, it doesn't hit the emotional chord that you would hope for in a franchise like Inside Out. It just became overstuffed and not the same emotional power weight that the original was. Number 27 is one that I am pretty sure I had seen before, but I'm not 100% confident. I did go back and watch it though. It is 2012's Brave. It follows the daughter of a Scottish king and her about to be courted by a future husband. She is someone who does not want to be courted by anyone, doesn't want to do any sort of royal duties, embark on journeys and interests that she wants to do, nothing else. After wishing that her mother would change her mind, Merida poisons her mother with a potion made by a witch that will make her change her mind on making her be courted. What ends up actually taking place due to many things is her mother being transformed into a bear until the relationship can be truly amended. Some charming Pixar emotional through lines, but a lot more surface level than it should have been. There is a really cool, rich lore here, a small, tight-knit family at the center, and really good characters. I just feel the impact it was trying to make was not fully realized, and sometimes sacrifice heart for goofs and gaps. The film is beautifully made, has a great message, it just didn't flesh out more than it could have, and didn't really hit me as much as I wanted it to. Number 26 is one that also holds a lot of nostalgia for me. On rewatch of A Bug's Life, it doesn't quite hold up as well for me. It just doesn't feel as emotionally hitting as almost every other Pixar film does. And the one before, the first in the studio's history, Toy Story, now for nostalgia reasons, it was still effortlessly rewatchable. The cast of eccentric insect characters are traditional Pixar with enough humor and cuteness, but the rest of the story was just pretty paper thin, and like I said, the emotion was just not quite hitting like the other Pixar films do, but I'd probably still rewatch this at some point just for nostalgia reasons. Number 25 is 2006's Cars. Cars is a franchise that Pixar gets a bad rap for. Some part of it is justified, but Cars 1 and 3 I think are pretty underappreciated. They aren't the tour de force that 90% of the rest of Pixar is. But the first cars can be pretty endearing, even if a bit at times a bit tiring, no pun intended. Ultimately, it is a safer kids movie, easy jokes, but at the heart, I think it is about remembering the past and honoring it and not letting life get in the way of you and hold on to things and people that do love you. Some of that is a bit thinly layered in the movie and gets muddled as you deal with McQueen's ego-driven journey, but I do think the original cars is a lot less harmful and a lot more innocent than people give it credit for. Number 24 is the Incredibles 2. It picks up right after the original, seconds later, but now supers have been outlawed still with all the destruction, despite them saving the city. An outside company is recruiting Elastic Girl to show the world that supers still matter and can help make a difference. This kind of holds similar sentiments as Monsters University, Cars 3, Inside Out 2, Finding Dory. It's a solid, decent enough sequel with a good message, but kind of becomes a clone or retread of its original without that originally impacting emotional beats to it. There isn't anything new or exciting that was fully fleshed out and borderline surface level. The characters are all 100% spot on and perfected, at least with our main cast. The new characters introduced just feel very one note, but the Incredibles family is also fun to be with and see them grow, and I just love spending time with that core family. It's a solid sequel, but feels like a product of all superhero sequels today, as opposed to when it was origin the original came out and it was something innovative. Number 23 is Cars 3 from 2017. What I find most surprising about Cars 3 is just how mature it is for a Cars movie. It is a total 180 from the sequel, Cars 2. Now, it is not any of the top-tier Pixar, but does a much better job and makes an effort for this franchise to end the trilogy on a high note. Mater has taken a much bigger backseat here, and when he is on screen, he's toned down dramatically and comedically. The Arc of McQueen was really special to finally see his ego walk out of the door and pass the torch to a younger car who is more focused and morally guided person than he was at the beginning of his own career. I think some of the deeper themes are a bit thinly layered, but still makes it for a solid entry nonetheless and a decent high note to end on. Number 22 is 2016's Finding Dory. It's an immediate follow-up to Finding Nemo, when Dory begins to remember her past and how she became lost in the first place. She embarks on her own journey to find her parents and reunite. I think the emotional beats of Finding Dory really do hit, but some of the humor and lighthearted moments really don't work. Not to mention the ending is just so long for a movie like this. But the whales at the exhibit in the film, absolutely hilarious and perfect side characters for a Pixar movie. I think that when you have too much of a side character or the lead focus of a sequel around them, it tends to hamper down the image and be too much. Not to the horrendous extent of Mater and Cars 2, but still a lot of Dory can really just become a bit much and tiring at a certain point. Overall, still solid though, not bad, like some you know, Cars 2, but could have been much, much better. Number 21 is Monsters University from 2013. This tells a story of almost all the characters from the original Monsters Inc., but in an origin story about their time in college at the school Monsters University. When the dean of the college finds Mike not even remotely scary and Sully is almost kicked out, they join a team of non-scary monsters in the school scare games to prove themselves. This was a charming follow-up, despite it being a prequel, which does not always work or feel completely necessary. Seeing these characters we know and love and how they became friends was a treat and was about how you should find what you love and what you're good at and find a middle ground between the two. Something you might love not always being what you are meant to do, but you can still be a part of that or make a difference in that field or what you're doing in some way. I do think it gets back to what I love about Pixar, where their humor is subtle and not feeling like it's pausing a scene to tell a joke. It lets the little things linger in the background or quickly to keep it moving. I think the third act drags a bit and is long, but it does not make this movie any less charming, and I really do hope more people give Monsters University a shot. I know it wasn't really well received when it first came out. Now, number 20 is 2025's Elio. Elio follows a young boy, Elio Solas, who lives with his tia Olga. He is someone who just wants to look at the stars and be taken away by aliens, but more than that, he just really wants to get away. You can tell the loss of his parents has been hard on him and his aunt, and he feels like he doesn't belong, so every day he's obsessed with going out, trying to communicate, and be abducted by aliens until one day he is. For about 30 minutes in the middle of the movie, I was really, really not on board. It felt very CARS 2-ish and was goofy for the sake of it, and had an interesting setup until it went off the rails. About 45 minutes in, it picks up as he befriends an alien cult Glordon, and that is where the story picks back up in terms of keeping my attention personally. It isn't a home run by any means, and I think some of the payoff is a bit thin, but to say it is bad or as bad as something like Cars 2, and I'm just sorry, using that for example for a lot of them, would be exaggerating. I think it has its charming scenes, and Elio is a really likable character, as has his buddy Glordon. Just the absolute best buddy duo. It felt like there were several themes and messages it wanted to get across, but never felt like it went together or thrown in and just easily tied up. Which is a shame because as the story was progressing, I saw the horizon and what it could have been, and it didn't feel like it quite sucked the landing, but the emotional beats do have hints of what Pictar can do in a great movie like this, or what it could have been. Number 19 is 2022's Turning Red. Turning Red follows a young girl, May, a middle schooler living in Toronto. Always the best in her class, wanting to impress her mother and parents, having a core group of friends who all love boy bands, a relatable coming-of-age story. When she has the most embarrassing night of her life at the hands of her mother, she is affected by a family curse passed through her lineage where she turns into a giant red panda, which is brought on by excitement or stress. Luca in Turning Red took steps in a different direction for animation with Pixar, adopting a lot of small nuances from anime and bringing them into 3D animation. Now, not a hundred percent of course in terms of it working for me, but a lot of the influence here with the visual flair is heavily inspired by it. This is quite an entertaining story, sometimes a bit too goofy for my personal taste and a bit over the top. I'm just not a huge fan of the anime style in terms of dialogue and how characters sometimes will act. It just isn't for me personally. But the family dynamics between May and her mother are what is the heart of the story that makes something like this a signature for Pixar, and something that can help someone going through this specific time in their life understand and at least process these emotions. So for that I have to at least give it a bump up from a lot of these other movies. Number 18 is 2015's The Good Dinosaur. It follows Arlo, a dinosaur that is separated from his family and forced to find his way back, accompanied by a little boy he encounters to which he names Spot. While it certainly follows a lot of similar beats as something like The Lion King, I think this one is charming in its own right and has brushes of the emotional gut punches that Pixar is so good at. Not to mention to this day, one of the most beautifully animated films they have ever done. And while Spot and the rest of the animals don't look realistic and do look like exaggerated animal characters, the environments they are in are so photorealistic. Some B-roll type of shots they have here are just jaw-dropping. I know a lot of people don't like the good dinosaur, but this one just works for me, and I hope it finds an audience. Every time I've seen it, it charms me. Number 17 is 2021's Luca. Luca follows our titular character, Luca, a sea creature off the coast in Italy, wanting to explore more and be more confident and happy in his life. One day, he meets another sea creature, Alberto, and Alberto takes him to the shore of this little town, and he realizes that they can turn into humans out of water. What follows is a story about two young boys forming a brotherlike friendship and young boys growing up through teenage years wanting to explore and live on their own and life outside of the ocean and outside of being a child. While not as emotionally or thematically heavy as some other Pixar, the charm is just so easy to fall in love with. From the beautiful Italian village to the characters and the girl they befriend in this village, it definitely is a much safer Pixar movie and not as standing out as I remember, but really, really good, and the good moments really are great. Number 16, which surprised me when I finally sat down to my rankings, was this low, but on rewatch, it's not that it's less good or bad or worse. It just doesn't quite hit as much for me as I remember. It is 2001's Monsters Inc. Monsters Inc. is set in a world where monsters from another world or dimension enter the human world to scare children by way of passage doors. The screams from the children are the way that the monster world is powered, like electricity. I think the emotion of this one is slightly removed for me, only slightly, as and it just doesn't quite hit me on a personal level, but I feel for these characters by the end still. Some other Pixar films have are special that make you feel something and look into yourself. Not as much this one personally. Billy Crystal and John Goodman are absolutely incredible as these characters, some of the best that Pixar has ever done. After this first one, they are a conic to your generation, and I hope they make more follow-ups aside from Monsters University. Obviously, much more toned down than any horror, but it gives you the real creep factor for kids that acts as thrills for adults too. I know there's a TV show that's a follow-up, I have not seen it, but Monsters Inc. is still very sentimental for me, and I do still very, very much love it. Alright, we're past the halfway point, and what a better way to get to that halfway point than to talk about the main movie at the center of the episode, Toy Story 5, which is number 15 for me. Toy Story 5 takes place about two years after the previous, where Woody parts ways with the gang and sets off with Boat Peep on their own adventure to see the world. Bonnie is now older and struggling to make new friends, even more so now in a world where all the kids around her are glued to their tablets and screens and she seems like the only one playing with toys anymore. When Bonnie gets a new tablet named Lillipad, the gang of toys try to keep her off it in order to help Bonnie make real life friends. Now, to my surprise and not surprise, I did love this entry. But on a disappointing note, it's the first from the franchise I had notes for that did detract it from being perfect. Or at least on a very sort of superficial level at five out of five. I don't like giving scores, but um, it is a five out of five the rest of the franchise, just not this one. I genuinely think that one through four are five out of fives, no notes. Now it sounds ridiculous to be nitpicking a Toy Story movie, so I will just get my negatives out of the way. The side plot with the group of Buzz Toys that was there just was ridiculous. It did not need to be there. That did not mean that they weren't enjoyable and there were some funny moments and gags with them. But all of they were were a plot device and only serviced the story when they were needed later. My other critique is that for about being only a hundred minutes or so, it felt way too long. If you had gotten rid of the Buzz Brigade storyline, I think that would have helped a lot. The Toy Story films have always done wonders when it comes to two simultaneous storylines or sets of characters and pacing everything perfectly. I think that this buzz part really took me out of the story. Now, to some of the aspects that really did work for me and I loved, centering the story around Jesse was just absolutely fantastic. A refreshing change of pace that was much needed if you're going to do a fifth entry. Her relationship developing off-screen with Bonnie really feels like her own, but a natural stepping up in Woody's shoes. Slight spoilers, but the choice to use flashbacks and naturally bring back in a way her original owner Emily was just beautiful and really hit hard emotionally when it pays off, seeing as how we haven't really heard about her original owner Emily since Toy Story 2. To say the worst film in a franchise is a bit cruel because that kind of reduces it subconsciously to people as being bad, and by no means is it bad. If this didn't have the Toy Story label on it, it would have been one of the great animated feature films of the last several years. It just did not To live up to my expectations of this franchise, but this is still an absolutely stunning achievement and terrific. And PS picks are I will not personally forgive you for not bringing back Key and Peel for Ducky and Bunny, but you have started to earn my forgiveness by bringing in Conan O'Brien as Smarty Pants. Number 14 is 2023's Elemental. Elemental fellows, a family of fire immigrating to a city where it is not just fire elements, but there are every other two. An obvious allegory, but well done one about the immigrant experience. It obviously does not get too into the weeds as it is a kids' movie still, but it does a great job at showing the little things that impact the immigrant experience and make it digestible for kids. Another film like Soul, but maybe not to the same extent, is one I did not realize was not liked as much as I personally do. It is an absolutely beautiful story about a daughter trying to become her own person and love who she wants to without also disappointing her parents on who she loves more than anything, and vice versa. The charm that radiates from all these characters is just so warm and inviting, especially as our lead character Ember develops a friendship and love for Wade, someone who's water. But even further than the immigrant experience, it's a story about a daughter who wants to have her own independent life and loves her family, and the father who's done everything for her, what he thought has always been best for her, and giving her something that he never had or could have. It's a really, really sweet and emotional movie. I hope if you didn't like it the first time, you do give it another shot because this one is just incredible for me personally. Number 13 is one that's an interesting step for Pixar. Because it hit another stretch of original films, and I have seen some say that is their several year stretch of aura just a downfall. I wholeheartedly disagree. I think the COVID pandemic hitting basically the opening weekend of Onward, or right before, has this negative connotation on it and is just really wholly unfair. Onward follows Ian and Barley, two brothers in an earth-like world, but where all these mythical creatures are surrogates for humans, once believed to have magic everywhere in the world, now gone due to innovations of convenience. They receive a gift on Ian's 16th birthday from their late father, a spell with a staff that can magically bring him back for 24 hours. What ensues is a story about sibling Bond and the chance to process grief that might have just sensed your mental growth for some. The voice cast is really terrific here, and surprisingly, from Chris Pratt too. He's the backbone and the heart of the story, and his nerdy big brother character just absolutely hits that feeling for you. Onward hit my personal notes and emotional chords so hard. Just for me. I know it didn't for a lot of people, but for me, so of course I may be slightly biased, but this is truly a special Pixar movie and higher up than I think most people would think it would be. So if you really did not like Onward or was lukewarm on it, please give it another shot. This next one and everything going forward is going to be, if you're looking at this in a superficial letterbox kind of way, are all five five out of fives. They are all perfect in their own way, and it is very hard to genuinely rank them and say objectively, but these are my personal rankings and my personal top 12, and despite them all being perfect, they all have one edge over the other. So take that you know how you will going forward, but from 12 on, five out of five perfect movies for me. Toy Story 2, the third film from Pixar, finds Woody being taken from the owner of a toy store and collector, who has been searching for a Woody toy for some time. Now that he has him, it is up to Buzz and Friends to save Woody from being shipped off across seas. I also do really love Toy Story 2. I think it wants to take us on this journey of friendship and test it further, seeing how much it can be strengthened or not when faced with choosing your original family over your chosen family. And what true purpose means outside of the zone you put yourself in on your life when everyone expects it of you, but it's not what you want. More than Nemo or Cars or The Incredibles, Toy Story is a franchise that can keep making and just nail completely every time, even if it's not perfect, like I said with five, it just works every single time and is at least a minimum amazing. Number 11 is The Incredibles from 2004. The Incredibles is such a fun superhero movie. It includes everything that the best superhero movies do have: action, charming and fleshed out characters, a purpose for these heroes to exist, and a villain with reasoning for existing. Brad Bird, written and directed by, has his hands all over this franchise and just seems to have the ultimate grip on it. He knows these characters inside and out and knows this genre like the back of his hand. He can create more emotion in some of these characters' moments animated 20 years ago than a lot of movies today. And Edna Mode is one of the best side characters in Pixar, and she just makes me laugh every time I forget about that character and remember that Brad Bird is the one who voices her. Just so funny and really just incredible use of the superhero genre. Number 10 is Finding Nemo. At the heart, 2003's Finding Nemo is about a father coming to grips with his son growing up and learning to let go of his fears and setbacks, and accepting that despite his child having disabilities or limitations, he can accomplish many things on his own still, and letting that controlling side of his parenting go. Maybe to a lesser extent, but this franchise of Nemo and Dory is just something that Pixar absolutely nails, even if I don't love the sequels much. The characters all work so well together and go together in all different scenarios and these harrowing situations. I'm not a personal fan of Ellen DeGeneres, but the role of Dory is so iconic and one of the best characters in all of Pixar. I don't think anyone else could play her if she stopped the role. Although if they stop making more in this world, that's just fine with me too. But Finding Nemo is truly one of the most special Pixar movies and really underappreciated when I see people's lists and final rankings. I think Finding Nemo is just really, really special. Number nine is Toy Story 4. Toy Story 4 is one that I'm surprised that more people don't love as much as I do, but again, subjective. Toy Story 4 follows Woody, Buzz, and the gang, now with Bonnie, all together as they head on a road trip. When Bonnie goes to school, scared to make new friends, she creates a new one named Forky, made from a spork. After her family leaves on a road trip, Forky gets lost and is up to Woody to bring him back to Bonnie. Again, I'll say this with every Toy Story sequel, they just nail these characters and themes, and while maybe some elements don't work as well as other Toy Story movies, this one it does not detract from my overall feelings. I am always of the mindset with all movies and not just Pixar that if the movie is really good or just amazing but not quite perfect, but if the ending sticks with the landing, I can forgive any minor tweaks or detractions from the rest. Even then with Toy Story 4, there are minimal grievances. I like how this film, more than others, was more about Woody going through a crisis and not just related to the owner or the other toys. He's struggling with the desire to be needed and what that means for his own happiness by putting others first. More than the other films, if you have been with these characters for a long time, the ending is just so gut-wrenching. Maybe in retrospect, with five coming out, it isn't as sad because we know that they'll be together again, but that doesn't make the end of the goodbye any less sad and devastating, but joyous for Woody. And Ducky and Bunny in this movie instantly became some of my favorite characters in this entire franchise. I wish they brought them back for more with Toy Story 5, but this one, they just hold a special place in my heart. Number eight is also another Toy Story movie. It is the original Toy Story. This was an introduction into animation, film, and Pixar for a lot of people my age. It was at least as far as I can remember my introduction to 3D animation. Specifically, this franchise, this film just has no duds. Nearly all are perfect, and that is of course my bias because these characters and stories mean so much to me. If you want to nitpick, I think it slows down a bit around the middle, but the Pizza Planet sequence is so fun, so I can't even count that as a negative. What I think it wants to show and teach kids, at least allegorically, is how to deal with new people coming into your life, even specifically siblings, and how that can affect your selfishness, that those new ones are not gonna go away, but can be wonderful for the long run and for yourself. Number seven is 2007's Ratatouille. Ratatouille is one of the few that I feel is underappreciated, as far as at least how I feel about it in terms of Pixar's photography. Of course, I know a lot of people love it, but I don't feel like a lot of people really just appreciate just how amazing this is. We follow a rat named Remy on the streets of Paris where he wants nothing more than to become a chef. When he witnesses a busboy at the restaurant of his deceased idol chef, he gets involved with the busboy Linguini and is in the chef's hat pulling all the strings as they ascend in terms of cooking. First off, Patton Oswald is just a perfect choice for this character. Something about his voice just feels perfect to describe food and ingredients, and in order to make food movies work, you need actors who can get those feelings across of food being their life and their passion. And really what I think Bradbird does here well, and in The Incredibles as well, is support the message of being true to yourself, not letting anyone, no matter who you are or your situation, get in the way of doing what you love for others. It also features one of the better Pixar antagonists, Anton Ego, who is not the frontline villain, but comes in much later with a very satisfying payoff. So again, number seven, ratatouille. Number six is 2009's UP. Now, Up is known for its gut-wrenching opening, but I think ultimately offers way more than that. While our backstory is about grief and living with that, it is about how we process that grief and do the things that we never got the chance to do with those that did pass. Or how we can make things happen and see ourselves and others to make their lives something we could not do or be ourselves. Carl and Russell are an absolutely dynamic duo and just so charming. You immediately fall in love with Russell the second he appears on screen and starts talking to Carl and befriends him. Their surrogate father-son relationship is something that just gets you in their your feelings as they open up to each other and what that means for each of them. As far as duos or relationships in Pixar films, theirs is one of the top for me. And while I think it gets a bit silly as they reach their destination, it doesn't take away from me personally enough to bring it down and their charm. Up is one of the top Pixar films for me, at least in this own ranking, and I really just love it. And of course, that beginning is just probably the saddest stretch of 10 minutes in Pixar history. Now the top five. Number five is one for me that I feel again, I say this with every Pixar movie it feels like, but I truly just really want to express that sentiment. Is it's a recent one that I don't think I got enough credit for, how good it is, and it feels more mature than other Pixar movies, and maybe that's why, but it is 2020's Soul. Now, Soul was the first COVID release after COVID to not have the full theatrical rollout. It is about Joe Gardner, a middle school band teacher, whose life is about to change after he gets asked to play piano of a jazz quartet in the heart of New York City. A lifelong dream of his. His life literally turns upside down when, after learning the news, falls into a manhole and dies. And his soul goes into the afterlife. Now, Soul is one of the more mature Pixar films, like I said. When I first saw it, for some reason, it felt muted and kind of like nothing. It just felt very middle of the road. Maybe I wasn't as invested in it due to being straight to streaming and that kind of stigma around it. But this is one of the most adult and beautiful films they've ever put out. Joe and number 22, a soul he has to mentor for life on Earth, has this connection that just radiates off-screen. Even as it's contentious to begin with, but they both find their purpose through each other. There's a great moment between Joe and Dorothea, the headliner of the quartet he wants to join, where she helps put his priorities in check. It's a beautiful and human moment that otherwise doesn't get explored, as is the scene in a barbershop toward the end. The choice to center a Pixar film around a middle-aged man going through essentially a midlife crisis and choosing between life and death is such a bold move for the studio. Not to mention the score is just astounding. After rewatching, that just absolutely floored me. If they can give this much creativity and maturity to all their films going forward, or at least every few, this is what Pixar really can just do that's so special. Number four is absolutely stunning, both in story and scope. It is 2008's WALL-E. It was one of the pre-2010 Pixar movies I had never seen for the longest time. I only saw it for the first time during the lockdown. But what a stunner. To craft a love story around two robots without animating them too much outside of their functions, but make it so tangible and relatable is so endearing. Not to mention how emotional the character arc of Wally is. Going from a robot doing mundane work on Earth all day, every day for decades and hundreds of years, only to be struck by the beauty of Eva, another character robot landed from a foreign ship looking for something on Earth. While some of the second half work involving humans doesn't really quite work for a lot of people I know, I can totally understand and respect that. It was just fine for me. And even minor moments I wasn't the biggest fan on didn't detract from the overall experience of this film. Wally is one of the sweetest films Pixar has ever made, and that's why it's so high up on this ranking at number four. Alright, top three. Number three is 2017's Coco. Coco follows Miguel, an aspiring musician in a family that wants nothing to do with music, as music has been a curse on their whole family. After wanting to enter a competition on Dia de los Muertos, his grandmother smashes his guitar and he runs away. From there, we enter the world of the dead, afterlife. Coco is generally one of the most emotionally gut-punching films in Pixar's catalog for me. Aside from the sidekick dog that appears on and off screen, Coco doesn't feel the need to involve several talking or cute animals for humor or eye candy. It uses its humans and family dynamics to bring the heart and humor without manipulating your emotions. And I just have to say too, it makes me so happy to see the Mexican culture like this represented and Dia de los Muertos represented in a way that honors what the tradition is about, not trying to make this movie make it diverse, but also not trying to appeal to American audiences and turn it into something tying to Halloween. It's about the culture and what the actual day represents. And aside from the cultural impact and significance of Coco, the best and most emotionally hitting endings that you'll ever see from the studio, this is a world I actually would love to see more of, and I'm really happy to hear they're developing a sequel, which is surprising to hear for me. But truly, this movie just brings so much joy to me, and I really just can't express that enough. Number two is 2015's Inside Out. It's about a young girl named Riley just moving from Minnesota to San Francisco, and all of her emotions that come with a life-changing event like this. Having to navigate about such a big life-changing time, who we follow directly are her literal emotions. Joy, sadness, fear, disgust, and anger. Pixar hit original concept gold for the first time in six years, since up, and have this world just fleshed out and nailed to a T. Now, once sadness begins to accidentally take over all of Riley's emotions, her and Joy get lost in Riley and try to find their way back to headquarters to make sure that Riley does not do anything irrational as she's feeling all these things during this big move. The characters here are so perfectly aligned with one another and never feel at odds with each other. They all work for Riley, want what's best for her, but can't always agree on it. Just like how we all feel, these emotions conflicting with each other. I think my favorite character has to be the form of an old imaginary friend that Riley's forgotten about. His big payoff is just what just tears out your guts and insides and just hits you so hard. Just like Raleigh's journey, it's about growing up and moving moment to moment that we have subconsciously or consciously gone through when we move on from things that were so instrumental and important to us at a certain age. Inside out is just perfect, and pardon the pun, it hits your emotions inside and out. And that is number two for Pixar Rankings. Alright. Number one. You might have seen this coming or not. It is 2010's Toy Story 3. Toy Story 3 follows Woody, Buzz, Jesse, and the whole gang trying to stay relevant to Andy's life as he's about to go off to college, feeling irrelevant as toys and the need for him to be one owner's toys. They find themselves accidentally thrown into a donation bag for local daycare. As been said by many, really just the saddest and maybe next to soul, the most mature film in the studio's filmography to this point, and maybe even to this day still overall. Everyone who grew up with this franchise, now 10 years old, older mostly, were in positions of growing out of toys and going to college or starting families. And the ending, I don't think I've spoken to a single person who hasn't had this reaction just break down. Every time I've seen this, it makes me nostalgic for other specific toys that were my favorites as a kid and wondering what I did with them or if they garbage, thrown out, um, whatever the case might be. Out of all the Toy Story films, the villain and the backstory are the most scary and saddest in the franchise. Lotto the hugging bear was just a toy who thought he was thrown away and wanted to make sure that never happened to another toy that felt that kind of pain. Even when he goes about it, is hostile, controlling, leading to his ideology being twisted in his head. I don't know if two other scenes in Pixar history, two different endings, what it feels like, can make me cry or tear up as hard as I do whenever I watch the last 15 minutes of this movie. In this ranking on this show, Toy Story 3 is Pixar's best film and obviously the best in the franchise. Thank you for listening to this entire Pixar ranking episode. It was a lot of fun to go back and watch some for the first time, rewatch some of them, and just be devastated. Next week, we are going to have another episode. It will be back to a shorter one, and I invite you all to watch it. If you have not already, you can follow the show on Instagram, Blue Sky Threads, subscribe, like, comment. We're on Apple, Spotify, YouTube. Liking and commenting and subscribing do help the show out a lot. So I really do appreciate it. And until next time, watch more movies.