Rank and File: Pixar Movies - Part 5

Scheduling conflicts forced a small hiatus in the Pixar project, but finally, a break in the calendar allowed Tiffany and I to jump back in. As I've been explaining all along, some of these movies have been monumentally hard to place in the ranking, because they're so excellent that it's tough to decide which one has the edge. Now we're starting to get into movies that are equally hard to place, but are more middle-of-the-pack. None of the Pixar movies so far have been bad, but some are clearly exceptional or clearly unexceptional. It's the ones in the middle that are becoming the biggest challenge to rank.

WALL-E (2008)

There's somewhat of an invisible line between Ratatouille and WALL-E. Though they were released only a year apart, that year strikes me as the dividing line between the "original" Pixar movies, and the "modern" ones. I don't just believe that because of the futuristic subject matter of WALL-E; everything post-Ratatouille seems to have a different tone, a different pace, and different lessons. Deeper, more mature topics are beginning to be broached (environmentalism, the loss of a longtime companion, inner-psychological conflict, etc.) Starting now, Pixar movies aren't just romps anymore. They're starting to get serious.

In WALL-E, there are but two sentient beings left on Earth: A cockroach, and the last functioning garbage robot who is cleaning up the mountains of trash left behind by the human populace who fled long ago. WALL-E is fascinated with human culture. He especially loves music and dance, and watches an old tape of Hello, Dolly! over and over. His existence is upended by the arrival of a much more advanced robot (EVE), who turns out to be searching for the viability of plant life, long since thought extinct. When she finds it, the movie shifts into space, where humans have been getting fat on a spaceship where all their needs are met by caretaker robots. WALL-E and EVE must protect the plant from forces who are interested in keeping things as they are, and the movie progresses from there.

This is the movie that sparked this project in the first place, because the website that ranked the Pixar movies put WALL-E at #1, which is patently ridiculous. It's a perfectly good movie. The characterizations of the robots (who barely speak anything but each other's names) are particularly well-done, and the animation is beautiful as always. But to compare this to movies like Finding Nemo and The Incredibles and call it better? I almost think the website must have been trolling for clicks and comments from angry people, because I don't believe someone actually thinks this nice, but ultimately flat and placid story is the best Pixar has to offer. In fact, I'm putting it towards the bottom.

The short, on the other hand, is wonderful. Presto is about a hungry rabbit who serves as a magician's assistant. When the magician neglects to give the rabbit his carrot, the magic act escalates into a battle of wills. Sometimes, these shorts end with the "good" character triumphing over the "bad" one, but in Presto, everyone wins. It's a hilarious short, and easily skyrocketed to the top of the current list.

Current Feature Rankings:

#1: Finding Nemo (2003)
#2: Ratatouille (2007)
#3: The Incredibles (2004)
#4: Toy Story 2 (1999)
#5: Monsters, Inc. (2001)
#6: Toy Story (1995)
#7: WALL-E (2008)
#8: A Bug's Life (1998)
#9: Cars (2006)

Current Short Rankings:

#1: Presto (paired with WALL-E)
#2: One Man Band (paired with Cars)
#3: Geri's Game (paired with A Bug's Life)
#4: Lifted (paired with Ratatouille)
#5: Boundin' (paired with The Incredibles)
#6: For the Birds (paired with Monsters, Inc.)
#7: Knick Knack (paired with Finding Nemo)
#8: Luxo Jr. (paired with Toy Story 2)
#9: Tin Toy (paired with Toy Story)

Up (2009)

I readied myself for some fighting with this one. People consistently rank Up among the best Pixar movies, but going into the project, my feeling was that they were grading on the first eight minutes, and letting the rest of the movie coast by on the emotional wallop that the opening provides. I'd only seen this movie once (in the theater), so I was interested in a couple of things on this rewatch: Would the first scene retain its power? And was I unfairly characterizing this movie as eight great minutes, followed by eighty-eight just okay minutes? Quick answers: Yes and no.

Up is the story of Carl Fredricksen, an elderly man who has become grumpy and sullen after the death of his wife. Real estate developers are trying to take his house, and when they threaten to have him shipped to an assisted-living facility, his solution is to fly away in his house, propelled by a gazillion helium-filled balloons. He heads for the remote locale he and his wife dreamed of visiting, but shortly after takeoff, he finds he has a stowaway in the form of Russell, an overzealous wilderness scout. From there, the two of them have a series of adventures, picking up a rare bird and a dog with a collar that allows him to talk.

Now, back to my questions. Yes, that opening scene retains its power. In his childhood, Carl meets Ellie, and in a brief montage, we see them become friends, become close, marry, live a long, happy life together, and endure her decline and death. It makes everyone cry. Even though we knew it was coming, Tiffany I were still weeping into our drinks. But I was also right that the marvelous opening scene doesn't carry over to the rest of the movie being equally marvelous. Like WALL-E, it's perfectly entertaining and has beautiful animation, but lacks that special something that would vaunt it into the upper echelon of Pixar movies. Unlike WALL-E, it has that opening scene, so it definitely climbs the list a bit.

The short, Partly Cloudy, is similarly middling. Storks deliver babies both human and animal to new parents. The babies are created by cloud beings, and one such cloud specializes in dangerous animals like sharks and alligators. The stork assigned to him gets a bit pummeled, but works hard to preserve his friendship and partnership with the cloud. It's extremely cute, but doesn't really stand out.

Current Feature Rankings:

#1: Finding Nemo (2003)
#2: Ratatouille (2007)
#3: The Incredibles (2004)
#4: Toy Story 2 (1999)
#5: Monsters, Inc. (2001)
#6: Toy Story (1995)
#7: Up (2009)
#8: WALL-E (2008)
#9: A Bug's Life (1998)
#10: Cars (2006)

Current Short Rankings:

#1: Presto (paired with WALL-E)
#2: One Man Band (paired with Cars)
#3: Geri's Game (paired with A Bug's Life)
#4: Lifted (paired with Ratatouille)
#5: Partly Cloudy (paired with Up)
#6: Boundin' (paired with The Incredibles)
#7: For the Birds (paired with Monsters, Inc.)
#8: Knick Knack (paired with Finding Nemo)
#9: Luxo Jr. (paired with Toy Story 2)
#10: Tin Toy (paired with Toy Story)