22. Cars 2
I know this is too easy. Cars 2 was the Mater show. If you loved Mater, you loved Cars 2. Me? No thanks.
A movie is only as good as your connection or interest to its lead and I had no connection to Mater and found him annoying. Like, the entire movie. Basically, it’s like one of those 2000’s spy comedies that underperformed… like I-Spy, or Get Smart, or Johnny English… except the main character is Larry the Cable Guy. Get err ‘dun!
At least they sold a bunch of toys with this movie.
21. The Good Dinosaur
I’m going to be honest – the main reason this movie is so low in my rankings is because I barely remember it, and that’s the problem.
Upon rewatching it, I remember it now. It’s basically the story of a boy and his dog, except instead of a boy it’s a dinosaur and instead of a dog it’s a boy. There are a couple nice lessons thrown in courtesy of Poppa but other than that, it’s a simple story and maybe sometimes that’s all you really need in a movie.
20. A Bug’s Life
I revisited A Bug’s Life for this post. It being the second Pixar full-length movie, it’s been over 20 years since I first saw it. I will say, it’s better than I remember. The animation has aged a bit as Pixar has improved leaps and bounds but A Bug’s Life still retains a certain amount of charm.
The story is actually a little more mature than Toy Story – it’s basically about a slave uprising. With Kevin Spacey as the villain (SPOILER ALERT), it’s oddly satisfying now how he meets his demise, which is probably one of the most gruesome villain deaths of any Pixar movie.
The only reason A Bug’s Life is so far down the list is because, well, Pixar has hits on hits. This one could very well be underrated.
19. Cars
While I hated Cars 2 for its Mater-centric story and it being one of Pixar’s more obvious cash grabs, I actually have a little bit of a soft spot for the first Cars movie – mostly because it makes me want to hit the road and go on a Route 66 trip.
It took awhile for me to get into the character of Lightning McQueen. The whole, I’m a selfish bastard and need to learn a lesson, gets a little old but I think Cars does just enough so I’m not upset at the character and genuinely want for him to pull through unlike Cars 2’s Mater.
18. Monsters University
What more could you ask for? It’s Mike and Sully in college! Normally prequels don’t really work but I think Monsters’ University kept me invested enough to see how these two make it to Monsters, Inc.
It’s got enough heart, just not quite as good as it’s predecessor.
17. Brave
From what I understand, production on this one was a hot mess. Like, they started with one story, and flipped it midway through the production, or something like that.
I enjoyed Brave. Merida is one of the cooler Disney heroines to come in a long time, with archery abilities that rival Hawkeye. Lessons to take away from this one – be careful what you wish for! That, and mothers and daughters or something like that.