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Pop Culture Happy Hour

Best Pixar Movies, Ranked

Pop Culture Happy Hour

NPR

Books, Music, After Shows, Tv & Film, Film Reviews, News, Tv Reviews, Arts, Entertainment News, Music Commentary

4.510.6K Ratings

🗓️ 24 June 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It's been nearly 30 years since Toy Story kicked off a historic run of animated films. So now seemed like a good time to discuss the best of the best — YOUR picks for the greatest Pixar films of all time. Thousands of you voted, and we've got the results.

To see our listener's full ranking of Pixar film, check out the list on Letterboxd - at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture

To access bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening for Pop Culture Happy Hour, subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+ at plus.npr.org/happy



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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Support for NPR and the following message comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

0:05.4

RWJF is a national philanthropy working toward a future where health is no longer a privilege but a right.

0:12.1

Learn more at RWJF.org.

0:19.3

It's been nearly 30 years since Toy Story kicked off a historic run of animated films.

0:24.9

So now seemed like a good time to discuss the best of the best, your picks for the greatest Pixar films of all time.

0:32.8

I'm Stephen Thompson, and today we are ranking the best Pixar movies on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour.

0:38.8

Here to reveal the list is my co-host, Aisha Harris.

0:42.1

Hey, Ayesha.

0:42.9

Mike Wazzowski.

0:44.4

I mean, hey, Stephen.

0:47.3

You will forever be silly to my Mike Wuzowski.

0:50.8

I love it.

0:51.6

Thank you, Stephen.

0:52.9

So for those of you who didn't vote in our Pixar poll, a quick bit of background, we gave listeners a list of Pixar features, 28 of them and all prior to the release of Elio, and the chance to pick no more than three of them, which, given the number of classic films films was a tough task. I personally counted seven

1:12.5

films I wanted to put in my top three. So with that in mind, let's get to your top five,

1:18.4

which thanks to a well-placed tie is actually a top six. Aisha hit us with the first of our two

1:24.8

fifth place finishers. Woohoo! I was very happy to see, especially one of these, eke their way in, in this tie here.

1:33.0

The first is Toy Story, of course, the original version, which came out in 1995, the movie that started it all.

1:39.7

You are a toy!

1:43.1

You weren't the real Buzz Light. You're an accent figure! You are a toy! You weren't the real buzz light.

1:44.7

You're an action figure.

1:47.2

You are a child's play thing.

...

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