This weekend, the new Disney Pixar movie Hoppers graces theaters everywhere.
The plot follows an animal lover who transfers her consciousness into a lifelike beaver to communicate with animals and help to save them from environmental destruction.
The premiere of Hoppers has Watch With Us looking back on all the Pixar hits, from the groundbreaking Toy Story to the profound WALL-E.
Using Rotten Tomatoes scores to rank them, we’ve listed the five best Pixar movies ever.
Keep reading to see if you agree with our list and the scores of the Rotten Tomatoes critics.
5. ‘WALL-E’ (2008)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 95 percent
In the dystopian future, a little trash-collecting robot named Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-class, or WALL-E, resides among the mountainous heaps of garbage on Earth, steadfast in his mission to clean up the planet even after 700 years. However, WALL-E is lonely and longs for a companion, so when a sleek, shiny probe called EVE is sent to Earth on a scanning mission, WALL-E instantly falls for her. And when EVE is compelled back to her mothership, WALL-E tags along for the life-altering adventure.
For a children’s film, WALL-E features some shockingly deft social criticism: it tackles environmentalism, hyper-consumerism, corporatocracy and much more in its compact 97-minute runtime. It’s also highly ambitious for a Disney film in that the movie’s first 45 minutes are completely dialogue-free. But Disney took a big chance on the movie and won out — WALL-E is a little movie with a big heart, a true culture and age-transcending crowd-pleaser and a genuinely terrific sci-fi film. A cool bit of trivia: It’s the second Pixar film to have been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
4. ‘Monsters Inc.’ (2001)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96 percent
At the Monsters Incorporated factory, monsters like top scarer James P. “Sully” Sullivan (John Goodman) scare human children by stepping through electronic portals connected to the closet doors of children’s bedrooms, and these scares harness energy to power the city of Monstropolis. But while the monsters may scare children in the real world, in the monster world, children are believed to be toxic. When Sully accidentally lets a little human girl (Mary Gibbs) into their world, all hell breaks loose, and he and his friend and scare assistant Mike (Billy Crystal) have to figure out how to get her home.
Energetic, exhilarating and constantly funny, Monsters Inc. is an easy film to love between kids and adults, with plenty of references that will go over kids’ heads. The movie features some imaginative world-building that’s enhanced by Pixar’s usual fantastic animation, but Monsters Inc. has affecting storytelling that will sneak up on you. The movie is overall intelligent and well-written, creating a kid’s film that is accessible but never condescending.
3. ‘Ratatouille’ (2007)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96 percent
While Remy (Patton Oswalt) might just be a simple country rat, he longs to cook food in a top-rated kitchen and is inspired by his idol, the late Chef Auguste Gusteau (Brad Garrett). When he and his family are separated, Remy ends up in Gusteau’s Parisian restaurant, where the restaurant’s new garbage boy, Alfredo (Lou Romano), struggles to correct a leek soup he accidentally ruined — which Remy covertly fixes. With his superiors convinced Linguini has actual skill, he is promoted to a cook, but he’ll need Remy’s unconventional help if he has any chance of maintaining the ruse.
With an enduringly absurd premise of a rat being able to control a man’s movements like a puppet by pulling on sections of his hair, Ratatouille has easily remained a favorite among those who grew up with it — and its iconic status allowed it to become a hit unofficial TikTok musical during COVID lockdowns. But aside from the memorable premise, Ratatouille truly does fire on all cylinders: a great screenplay, fantastic voice acting, likable humor and an infectious score by Michael Giacchino.
2. ‘The Incredibles’ (2004)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 97 percent
Superpowers have been banned by the government, and all superheroes are forced to go into hiding as normal people, and thus Bob “Mr. Incredible” (Craig T. Nelson) and Helen “Elastigirl” Parr (Holly Hunter) assume mundane lives in American suburbia. Meanwhile, their kids, Dash (Spencer Fox) and Violet (Sarah Vowell), have the added pressure of adjusting to their own special abilities while also dealing with school and social lives. When Bob is lured to a private island to battle with a deadly robot run amok, beating it gives him a confidence boost and a way out of his midlife crisis. But he returns to the island and discovers the robot he fought is actually part of a nefarious plot.
The Incredibles is easily one of the sharpest and funniest Disney Pixar films, and also one of the best when it comes to being a script that is written for adult enjoyment just as much as it is for kids. The narrative is impeccable, full of little details that add to the richness of the world and the evolution of the characters. But The Incredibles also excels in its action set pieces and has a surprisingly cheeky satire of the monotony of suburbia. Overall, The Incredibles is well worth streaming any day of the week.
1. ‘Toy Story’ (1995)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100 percent
Ultimately, the very best of the Pixar bunch is still the movie where it all began — even after a series of highly-acclaimed sequels, with another one on the way. Cowboy doll Woody (Tom Hanks) has always been the cherished favorite of his owner, Andy. But when a flashy new Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) toy is released, suddenly Andy doesn’t want to play with Woody anymore. In his fight to remain in the toy box, Woody schemes to get rid of Buzz. But when both are accidentally left behind during Andy’s family’s move to a new house, they’ll have to work together to survive evil neighbor boy Sid (Erik von Detten).
Toy Story ignited Pixar’s career-long fixation with making things talk that aren’t supposed to talk, but Toy Story will always be the best of them. It reigns as the first fully computer-animated feature film ever made, and while the animation is a little rough around the edges over three decades later, it’s extremely charming and adds to the character of the film. With legendary voice performances, a heartfelt narrative, humor that still makes us laugh and genuinely impressive cinematography, Toy Story is a kids’ movie that will always transcend demographics.
