Disney Plus is the home for Pixar movies — Our picks for the top 11 best films

Disney Plus is now live in many corners of the world. Along with the many other movies and TV shows you can stream and download for one monthly fee, Disney Plus is the home to nearly all of the great CGI feature films from Pixar. But what are the 11 best Disney Plus Pixar movies?

Read more: What’s new on Disney Plus

In this article, we will give you our picks for the top 11 best Disney Plus Pixar movies that you can watch on the service. This is just a list of the feature films. Disney Plus also has many of the great animated short subjects that Pixar has produced. You can access all of them on the Disney Plus Pixar section of the service. You can sign up for the Disney Plus-Hulu-ESPN Plus bundle at the link below.

Best Disney Plus Pixar movies:

Editor’s note: We will be updating this list as more Disney Plus Pixar movies are added to the service.

Toy Story

Many people inside and outside of Disney didn’t think a feature-length CGI animated film would work. However, the Pixar studio (now part of Disney) knew better. This 1995 film broke ground for CGI in general and family films as well. The tale of a group of toys who live in “Andy’s room” now seems like a no-brainer for a family movie. The group leader, Woody, gets threatened when a new advanced toy, Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear, joins Andy’s collection. While the animation is a little crude compared to today’s CGI epics, the story itself is still entertaining. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen lead an excellent voice cast. Also, you can’t beat Randy Newman’s “You Got A Friend in Me” or the rest of the amazing soundtrack.

The Incredibles

Many folks think the best superhero film ever made was this Pixar 2004 release, and it’s hard to argue! The Incredibles tells the tale of a family of powered individuals who have to keep their abilities a secret as “Supers” are officially outlawed. However, the family leader, Mr. Incredible, gets an offer from a mysterious benefactor to return to his heroic ways. Of course, things are not what they seem, and soon his entire family is battling a villain who has a long-time grudge against Mr. Incredible.

This movie is ultimately about how people, even superheroes, should not try to hide who they really are inside. The animation is top-notch, the voice cast is terrific, and some great action set-pieces rival even the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We also can’t forget the hilarious Edna Mode (voiced by director Brad Bird), who tries to help with her fashion abilities in a brilliantly curmudgeonly fashion.

Finding Nemo

Finding Nemo begins with one of the saddest events in any Disney film as the clownfish Marlin deals with the death of his wife. The main part of the movie deals with Marlin raising his young son Nemo, who then gets captured by humans. Marlin, with the help of an absent-minded fish name Dory, goes on an epic quest across the sea to bring back Nemo. This 2003 Pixar film has some amazing visuals, as the animators create a world beneath the ocean. However, the movie’s core, about a father’s love for his son, still comes out.

Wall-E

Wall-E at first seems to be about just another cute robot, like many we have seen in sci-fi movies over the decades. However, we soon learn that this movie has a lot more on its mind. Wall-E has been trying his best to clean up the trash bin that the Earth has become hundreds of years in the future. The human race has left to live its life on a massive space cruise ship. Wall-E’s life changes when a robot from that ship, EVE, arrives. The interactions between Wall-E and EVE make this 2008 release a rom-com. It’s also a solid satire on how consumerism could destroy the planet. Having said that, it makes its point without hitting us over the head.

Up

Like Finding Nemo, the 2009 Pixar movie Up begins with a tragedy. Carl Fredrickson dreams of traveling to South America with his wife, Ellie, but she passes away before that happens. Now an older man, Carl decides to go to the wilds of South America. He doesn’t take a plane or a ship. Rather, Carl lifts his entire house with thousands of balloons to make the journey. When that happens, we know we are in true fantasy adventure territory. Carl picks up an unwanted passenger in a young Wilderness Explorer, Russell. Together, they venture to South America, where they encounter a hilarious talking dog named Dug. They also find an old explorer Carl used to idolize, Charles F. Muntz, but find he’s not what he seems. Up is a tale about exploring, wish-fulfillment, and the importance of living the life you want to live.

Monsters Inc.

Monsters Inc has an excellent premise. Kids believe that the monsters under the bed and in their closets are trying to get them. This 2001 Pixar release not only shows those monsters are real, but they actually need to scare kids. The screams from those scared children are actually the source of power in the Monsters’ extra-dimensional world. However, things get more complicated when one little girl accidentally makes her way into the Monsters’ world. It’s up to two scarers, the big furry Sulley and the one-eyed Mike Wazowski, to get Boo home. They also have to deal with a rival Monster scarer as well. Monsters Inc. does an excellent job taking urban myths of “monsters under the bed” and turning them into a great adventure for the whole family.

Look for the new Pixar series, Monsters at Work, on Disney Plus, which serves as a sequel to Monsters Inc.

Inside Out

Even for a Pixar movie, this 2015 release is one of the most innovative storylines. It shows humans as having “Emotions” that manifest themselves as people inside our heads. Inside Out focuses on the Emotions inside an 11-year old girl, Riley, who has just moved with her family to San Francisco. We see how Joy, Fear, Sadness, Disgust, and Rage all try to control her. The crisis begins when Joy and Sadness accidentally get rid of Riley’s core memories. It’s up to them to set things right inside Riley’s mind before she makes some drastic decisions. Inside Out shows how human emotions and memory influence us through our lives, and it does so with humor and some great CGI animation.

Ratatouille

Remy is a rat; a rat who happens to live in Paris. As a result, his thoughts about food are a bit different than others in his family. Remi appreciates fine food, and in Paris, there is plenty of that to eat. However, Remy doesn’t want to eat fine food; he wants to make it. Remy encounters a human, Alfredo, who works as a garbage boy in a high-end French restaurant. They team up to produce some excellent dishes, but they also run afoul of the restaurant’s owner, who has his own plans for Remy. This 2007 film is one of the best Disney Pixar movies because it shows that anyone can aspire to be more than where they came from, like a garbage boy or even a rat.

Cars

While most of the Pixar movies are aimed at all audiences, it’s clear that the 2006 film Cars is aimed squarely at younger kids. It’s set in an alternate Earth populated by anthropomorphic vehicles. Cars centers on Lightning McQueen, a brash racing car who gets himself lost while traveling to a race in California. He finds himself in the desert town of Radiator Springs, where he meets a diverse group of cars, including a rusted tow-truck named Mater. Lightning has to do some community service in the town and learn some life lessons before heading back to the racing world to win his first Piston Cup.

Kids love cars, and the idea of vehicles that talk and have personalities is perfect for the younger audience. You can check out the two sequels, Cars 2 and Cars 3, on Disney Plus.

A Bug’s Life

A Bug’s Life is sometimes forgotten in the Pixar library, even though it’s the second feature film the studio released. The 1998 film goes small as it tells the tale of Flik, a member of an ant colony who is under attack by an evil group of grasshoppers. Flik tries to recruit a team of bugs that he believes can fight off this threat. The problem is this group turns out to be just a circus troupe. A Bug’s Life showed CGI animation that was already much better than what was presented in Toy Story. More importantly, it’s the tale of someone who, through unconventional means, becomes a hero to his community.

Soul

This recent Pixar film may also be one of its best. Jamie Foxx voices the role of Joe Gardner, a middle-school band teacher who finally gets the chance to play at New York City’s best jazz club. However, an accident kills off Joe, and his soul is sent to The Great Before, where new souls are created before they head to Earth. Joe has to figure out how his soul can get back to his body. In the process, he learns about his own life.

Honorable Mentions

Here are a few more Disney Plus Pixar movies that didn’t quite make our top list:

• Onward – In this great mashup of our modern world with fantasy characters, two brothers try to bring their late dad back to life for just one more day.
• Luca – In this coming-of-age story, two sea creatures pass themselves off as human boys in a seaside town in Italy.
• Brave – A princess in medieval Scotland decides she doesn’t want to be forced to marry a man of an allied clan, with some fascinating consequences.
• Coco – A boy in Mexico who loves music is accidentally sent to The Land of the Dead. He has to find a way to get back to the living world.
• The Good Dinosaur – In an alternate timeline where the dinosaurs didn’t become extinct, a young and lost Apatosaurus attempts to return home to his family.

Those are the best Disney Plus Pixar movies right now! We’ll update this list as more Pixar films arrive on Disney’s streaming service.