Pixar, Top To Bottom

When I saw that Vulture's ranking of pre-WALL-E Pixar films rated the incredible The Incredibles at number 7 out of 8, I was ready to swear off the site for at least a day. But they do otherwise get an awful lot of things right: The marvelousness of Ellen DeGeneres in Finding Nemo, the way that Toy Story 2 upped the ante on the original, and the fact that Cars, appealing as it is to those of us with preschoolers, is the least glittery jewel in the Pixar crown.

Most of all though, I'm relieved to hear that I'm not the only one who is positively slain by the conclusion of Monster's Inc. The very last shot, when Sully enters Boo's bedroom and the perspective is reversed, so we see him peering in from the closet door and watch the smile spread across his face as she shouts "Kitty!" is simply perfect, one of the most endearing moments in recent cinema.

My own list, for what it's worth, would be something along the lines below. Bear in mind that a) I think every one of Pixar's features has been terrific; and b) I probably need to see a few of them--A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2 and, yes, Finding Nemo--again sometime soon:

9. Cars               

8. A Bug's Life     

7. Finding Nemo   

6. Ratatouille       

5. Toy Story 2      

4. Toy Story            (bonus points for being the ground-breaker)

3. Monsters, Inc.   

2. The Incredibles 

1. WALL-E            

Feel free to explain in comments just how wrong I am. And for those of you who missed it last week, my WALL-E review is here.

--Christopher Orr