The Pick of Pixar

First off, all hail Pixar. Not only did they completely change the animation paradigm, they did it while adhering to compassionate business practices (like loyalty to employees, the social workplace and an emphasis on product and creativity over profit) and by pushing the boundaries of both fields. There aren't a lot of companies who can say they started with George Lucas before moving to Steve Jobs, and then tangled with Disney and came out on top. Don't be fooled by Disney's acquisition of Pixar - they negotiated from a position of strength, held fast, and ended up with an unbelievable deal. Quite a feat.

But this isn't about how cool Pixar is  - I don't think I can begin to express that - but about their movies and an attempt to pick my favorites. There are so many good ones, even great ones, that nailing down the best is daunting. It did present, however, an opportunity for my first ranked list on this blog. Rather than trying to establish criteria - there are too many - each movie will be in its spot on the list for its own reasons. The Top Five, in reverse order:

5. The Incredibles - As really the only Pixar to use only human protagonists - albeit with humans with superpowers - this is also the first to put the main focus on the family. The various relationships - sibling, parent and spouse - are all explored without being obvious or heavyhanded, no easy thing. I also love that it manages to make fun of not one, but two, genres without becoming farcical or a parody, somehow sending up and paying homage to both comic books and spy films all at once. But if that isn't enough, they also manage to put a neat new spin on the idea of how superheroes fit into society, bringing a kind of witness protection idea into play that is very original. It is also yet another new style of art and animation that not only fits the purposes of the film perfectly, but is both striking and gorgeous. The stark lines, outsize scale and almost caricature-like character drawings combine for a really fresh and beautiful look. Think of things like the lava wall in Syndrome's hide-out, Mr. Incredible's work-out sequence and Dash's run through the jungle. So cool. It is also very funny, and maybe most in some of the secondary character's performances like Jason Lee as Syndrome ("You got me monologuing!") and Sam Jackson as Frozone ("Woman! Where's my supersuit?"). But it is its treatment of all family themes - the ones above plus Jack-Jack, the babysitter and parents finding childcare while they "work" - that makes it standout for me.

4. A Bug's Life - Without a doubt the most underrated of the Pixar canon, this movie probably suffered from coming between Toy Story and Toy Story 2, and while the two Cars movies received less critical favor, A Bug's Life made less money domestically than any other Pixar. That said, it has a great original premise and story. An ant colony under the sway of protection-racket grasshoppers being rescued by a troop of circus bugs led by the geeky colony loser? Come up with that in an idle moment. It also has a fantastic ensemble cast, with Oscar winner Kevin Spacey, fellow A-listers David Hyde Pierce and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, old school comedians Phyllis Diller and Madeline Kahn, lesser-known but brilliant character guys Richard Kind, Dave Foley and Brad Garrett, stars-to-be Denis Leary and Hayden Pantierre, and of course, John Ratzenberger. Top to bottom I think the best cast assembled for any animated film, surpassing even the Toy Stories, Monsters, Inc., and Nemo. Then there is the amazing and brilliant application of scale, especially in the scenes away from the colony, that is so cool and creative, and how it fits into the jaw-dropping animation throughout. But the bottom line for me on this is that I laugh harder and more often than in any other Pixar. 

3. Up - This might make the list just for the opening sequence, which is a great short film unto itself, but it has so many appealing elements it just can't be denied. It is easy to focus on the love story between Carl and Ellie, which is beautiful and touching, but I was more drawn to the relationship between Carl and Russell. It juggles the massive generation gap, the always difficult topic of a missing father-figure, the conflict between Carl's stubbornness and Russell's capriciousness, and their reluctant affection all deftly and intelligently. Then it manages to take a pervasive Pixar theme, the spirit of adventure, to new and wonderful heights. You could almost feel like running off to Argentina with only your Wilderness Explorer backpack would be a pretty good idea. It had a great villain (played to the hilt by no less than Christopher Plummer), a talking dog we could all relate to ("Squirrel!") and a classic Pixar curveball in the mute but so expressive prehistoric bird Kevin.  And as always with this amazing studio, it is funny and beautiful. A triumph of mixing disparate elements into a coherent and moving whole, it is only the second animated film to be nominated for Best Picture, and the sole Pixar film to be.

2. Toy Story - Very hard for this not to number one, just because it was such a game changer. In 1995 we just had not seen anything like it, and it so thoroughly changed the paradigm that it is hard to remember. Disney had been doing great animated films for a very long time - almost sixty years at that point! - but Woody and Buzz were just new. The look, the feel, the style - all different. It took the celebrity voice to a new level - Robin Williams in Aladdin back in '92 seemed the exception until Lion King in '94, and even Broderick, Irons and Jones et al didn't all add up together to match Tom Hanks. Remember that he won his two best actor Oscars in '94 and '95, so for him to be doing voice work at the same time was just huge. And Tim Allen was a TV star in his own right, with "Home Improvement" at the peak of its popularity. It was also just such a great concept: our toys are alive when we're not around. Genius. The last thing, and one that is easy to forget because we have become used to the standard of greatness that this movie established, is the animation itself. I urge you to watch it again, and try to put it in context of there not being any other Pixar movie. The richness of the backgrounds, the attention to detail (the army men are a great example) and the insane natural flow of movement is truly staggering. For the record, I actually enjoyed Toy Story 2 more, but not enough more to move it down the list.

1. WALL-E - Just love, love, love this film, for so many reasons: the anthropomorphization of that little cube is the best ever done. I think all they learned in the previous eight films about bringing the inanimate to life or making the non-human human came to full bloom with WALL-E.; the number of themes - the love story, the ecological subtext, the role of nostalgia in our lives, the captain's rediscovery of self, the sub-romance between John and Mary, WALL-E as a revolutionary leader, even the great mini-story of MO - that all interweave into such a beautiful tapestry is just amazing; and the vision of the future, letting us not forget that this is a sci-fi movie (it won a Hugo, Nebula and Saturn awards), is original and striking. But it is the heart of the film, the love story, that puts this one in the top slot. The way that it is set-up and developed is both classic and beautiful. The fact that EVE only finds out about his devotion inadvertently is great - and hysterical, his innocence is almost painfully endearing, and that his love manifests in his desire just to hold hands is irresistible. I have heard it accused of being overly sentimental, but I felt that movie in all the right ways, and I am just a sap anyway. I am not alone in my assessment either. Time magazine put it at the top of its "Best Movies of the Decade" list and I couldn't agree more. And not for nothing, I think the "dance" scene with WALL-E using the fire extinguisher is just achingly beautiful and ranks among all such musical vignettes, in all film, not just animated.

There it is. I have to say that while I am never short of opinion, narrowing that list to five and putting it in order was just flat-out hard. Many people will be unhappy with both omissions and inclusions here, but it is a tribute to Pixar that it has produced so much film over the years that people have loved and been inspired by. Like I said, all hail Pixar.