Every Pixar Flop, Ranked
When Disney announced that it would make Toy Story into a feature-length film, nobody could have predicted the success of Pixar Animation Studios that would follow. Before this announcement, there had never been an animated feature using only computer-generated imagery (better known as CGI). It was truly ground-breaking for its day and changed animation forever. Within 15 years, 2D hand-drawn animation stopped being the trend in Hollywood and the rest is history.
Pixar is a movie studio that has produced and released countless successful films. Some of the most famous characters created by this animation company include Tow Mater (Cars) and Mike Wazowski (Monsters). With every success, comes flops, and sometimes, even though these movies aren’t necessarily terrible, they just didn’t do well with critics. That being said, here’s a list of every Pixar flop, ranked as per their IMDb ratings –
Luca
The latest Pixar film from Walt Disney, titled Luca is based on the Universal animated film Creature from the Black Lagoon, first released in 1954. Taken from the land, Luca (the creature) is transported to Italy and in this 1950s-Italy setting, we meet his love Mary (a mermaid). Luca struggles to adapt to life on land, as half fish and half man. He has feelings for her but neither knows how the other feels.
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(IMDb rating: 7.5)
Onward
In February 2020, Onward was released. The film, while generally praised by critics of the period, failed to attract much of an audience in the wake of the outbreak and as a result, was only mildly profitable. Similar to how a calamitous event can deter people from embarking on long journeys, so too was this movie affected by the pandemic as it came out right before the start of lockdown.
(IMDb rating: 7.4)
Finding Dory
Finding Dory is a light-hearted 2016 spin-off sequel to Finding Nemo which follows Dory’s quest to find her parents who have now become lost, rather than Marlin’s quest for his son. Drawing mixed reviews from critics, with an almost perfect 94% score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.3 out of 10 rating on IMDb, Finding Dory has been praised for its originality despite only receiving a 53 percent audience approval rating.
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(IMDb rating: 7.3)
Monsters University
Monsters University is a delightful prequel to the equally delightful original Monsters Inc. It takes place before Mike and Sulley, who are now college freshmen, first met as co-workers at their first job out of school in the famous factory making energy (Monsters Inc). We find that they went to the same scaring school in this fun new prequel. They are becoming friends throughout the story and seeing into their childhoods by going back to their college days. This film was directed by Dan Scanlon.
(IMDb rating: 7.2)
A Bug’s Life
A Bug’s Life, Pixar’s second theatrical film, was released in 1998. The film is inspired by a fable called The Ant And The Grasshopper and tells the story of an ant colony. Mike Wazowski plays Flik, the protagonist of the story who makes a mistake that has negative repercussions for him and his community. During his journey to find a way to correct his mistake and make things right again, we begin to see how important it is for people like Flik to trust their instincts about how people else around them feel about certain situations.
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(IMDb rating: 7.2)
Cars
If you’re a fan of Pixar films, but you’re also not a fan of the typical kid’s film formula in terms of the story then you’ll find that Cars is likely one of your favorites from the animation studio. The Cars focuses on the adventurous exploits of Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) and Mater (Larry the Cable Guy), who have become fast friends throughout 3 films so far. The first film – which was a smash hit in 2006 – follows our main characters as they set off across the vast landscape, encountering all types of offbeat locals along their journey.
(IMDb rating: 7.1)
Brave
Brave is an animated Disney movie released in 2012. The film follows the life of Princess Merida, who lives in DunBroch, a Scottish kingdom modeled after the Highlands. Brave also makes Pixar history by featuring its first princess and also, the first female protagonist. Both critics and audiences enjoyed the film’s soundtrack and various vocal performances, while also criticizing its clichéd plot.
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(IMDb rating: 7.1)
Cars 3
Cars 3 is the third installment of the Cars series, which was released in 2017. It was directed by Brian Fee and was a moderate success because it also has Jackson Storm as its new main character who competes with McQueen against one another at their races. Cars 3 goes back and forth between going forward in time to the present day, but several years after Cars 2 ended.
(IMDb rating: 6.7)
The Good Dinosaur
Critics praised the stylistic animation of Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur but weren’t so keen on its lack of cohesive storytelling. The film follows Arlo, a terminally-frightened dinosaur whose closest companion is the caveboy called Spot. Arlo and Spot’s friendship developed through their various adventures together, which critics weren’t always able to keep up with.
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(IMDb rating: 6.7)
Cars 2
While the plot for Cars 2 may be confusing – there are several reasons why. For starters, the film is known as being one of the worst installments in the entire Pixar franchise. Second, it was released before Disney bought Pixar, so it was likely made out of budgetary constraints as opposed to adherence to storyboards.
(IMDb rating: 6.1)
