Pixar Animation Studios is an American CGI film production company based in Emeryville, California, United States. Pixar has produced 28 feature films, which were all released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures through the Walt Disney Pictures banner, with its first being Toy Story (which was also the first theatrically released CGI-animated feature ever released) on November 22, 1995, and its latest being Inside Out 2 on June 14, 2024.
Its upcoming slate of films includes Elio in 2025, and Toy Story 5 in 2026. Additionally, a release date on March 6, 2026 has been reserved for another Pixar film.[1]
Films
Released
Release date | Film | Director(s) | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Composer(s) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Story | Screenplay | |||||
November 22, 1995 | Toy Story | John Lasseter | Pete Docter, Lasseter, Joe Ranft & Andrew Stanton | Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow, Stanton & Joss Whedon | Bonnie Arnold & Ralph Guggenheim | Randy Newman |
November 25, 1998 | A Bug's Life | John Lasseter Co-directed by: Andrew Stanton | Lasseter, Joe Ranft & Stanton | Donald McEnery, Bob Shaw & Stanton | Darla K. Anderson & Kevin Reher | |
November 24, 1999 | Toy Story 2 | John Lasseter Co-directed by: Ash Brannon & Lee Unkrich | Brannon, Pete Docter, Lasseter & Andrew Stanton | Doug Chamberlin, Rita Hsiao, Stanton & Chris Webb | Karen Robert Jackson & Helene Plotkin | |
November 2, 2001 | Monsters, Inc. | Pete Docter Co-directed by: David Silverman & Lee Unkrich | Jill Culton, Docter, Ralph Eggleston & Jeff Pidgeon | Dan Gerson & Andrew Stanton | Darla K. Anderson | |
May 30, 2003 | Finding Nemo | Andrew Stanton Co-directed by: Lee Unkrich | Stanton | Bob Peterson, David Reynolds & Stanton | Graham Walters | Thomas Newman |
November 5, 2004 | The Incredibles | Brad Bird | John Walker | Michael Giacchino | ||
June 9, 2006 | Cars | John Lasseter Co-directed by: Joe Ranft | Lasseter, Jorgen Klubien & Ranft | Dan Fogelman, Klubien, Lasseter, Phil Lorin, Kiel Murray & Ranft | Darla K. Anderson | Randy Newman |
June 29, 2007 | Ratatouille | Brad Bird Co-directed by: Jan Pinkava | Bird, Jim Capobianco & Pinkava | Bird | Brad Lewis | Michael Giacchino |
June 27, 2008 | WALL-E | Andrew Stanton | Pete Docter & Stanton | Jim Reardon & Stanton | Jim Morris | Thomas Newman |
May 29, 2009 | Up | Pete Docter Co-directed by: Bob Peterson | Docter, Tom McCarthy & Peterson | Docter & Peterson | Jonas Rivera | Michael Giacchino |
June 18, 2010 | Toy Story 3 | Lee Unkrich | John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton & Unkrich | Michael Arndt | Darla K. Anderson | Randy Newman |
June 24, 2011 | Cars 2 | John Lasseter Co-directed by: Brad Lewis | Dan Fogelman, Lasseter & Lewis | Ben Queen | Denise Ream | Michael Giacchino |
June 22, 2012 | Brave | Mark Andrews & Brenda Chapman Co-directed by: Steve Purcell | Chapman | Andrews, Chapman, Irene Mecchi & Purcell | Katherine Sarafian | Patrick Doyle |
June 21, 2013 | Monsters University | Dan Scanlon | Robert L. Baird, Dan Gerson & Scanlon | Kori Rae | Randy Newman | |
June 19, 2015 | Inside Out | Pete Docter Co-directed by: Ronnie del Carmen | del Carmen & Docter | Josh Cooley, Docter & Meg LeFauve | Jonas Rivera | Michael Giacchino |
November 25, 2015 | The Good Dinosaur | Peter Sohn | Erik Benson, Meg LeFauve, Kelsey Mann, Bob Peterson & Sohn | LeFauve | Denise Ream | Jeff & Mychael Danna |
June 17, 2016 | Finding Dory | Andrew Stanton Co-directed by: Angus MacLane | Stanton | Stanton & Victoria Strouse | Lindsey Collins | Thomas Newman |
June 16, 2017 | Cars 3 | Brian Fee | Fee, Eyal Podell, Ben Queen & Jonathan E. Stewart | Kiel Murray, Bob Peterson & Mike Rich | Kevin Reher | Randy Newman |
November 22, 2017 | Coco | Lee Unkrich Co-directed by: Adrian Molina | Matthew Aldrich, Jason Katz, Molina & Unkrich | Aldrich & Molina | Darla K. Anderson | Michael Giacchino[a] |
June 15, 2018 | Incredibles 2 | Brad Bird | Nicole Paradis Grindle & John Walker | Michael Giacchino | ||
June 21, 2019 | Toy Story 4 | Josh Cooley | Cooley, Stephany Folsom, Martin Hynes, Rashida Jones, Valerie LaPointe, John Lasseter, Will McCormack & Andrew Stanton | Folsom & Stanton | Mark Nielsen & Jonas Rivera | Randy Newman |
March 6, 2020 | Onward | Dan Scanlon | Keith Bunin, Jason Headley & Scanlon | Kori Rae | Jeff & Mychael Danna | |
December 25, 2020 | Soul | Pete Docter Co-directed by: Kemp Powers | Docter, Mike Jones & Powers | Dana Murray | Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross[b] | |
June 18, 2021 | Luca | Enrico Casarosa | Jesse Andrews, Casarosa & Simon Stephenson | Andrews & Mike Jones | Andrea Warren | Dan Romer |
March 11, 2022 | Turning Red | Domee Shi | Julia Cho, Shi & Sarah Streicher | Cho & Shi | Lindsey Collins | Ludwig Göransson[c] |
June 17, 2022 | Lightyear | Angus MacLane | Matthew Aldrich, Jason Headley & MacLane | Headley & MacLane | Galyn Susman | Michael Giacchino |
June 16, 2023 | Elemental | Peter Sohn | John Hoberg, Kat Likkel, Brenda Hsueh & Sohn | Hoberg, Likkel & Hsueh | Denise Ream | Thomas Newman |
June 14, 2024 | Inside Out 2 | Kelsey Mann | Meg LeFauve & Mann | Dave Holstein & LeFauve | Mark Nielsen | Andrea Datzman |
Upcoming
Release date | Film | Director(s) | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Composer(s) | Production Status | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Story | Screenplay | |||||||
June 13, 2025 | Elio | Adrian Molina | Mary Alice Drumm | TBA | In production | [2][3][4] | ||
March 6, 2026 | Untitled film | TBA | [1] | |||||
June 19, 2026 | Toy Story 5 | Andrew Stanton | TBA | Jessica Choi | [5][6][7][8] |
In-development projects
Additionally, Enrico Casarosa, Daniel Chong, Aphton Corbin, Brian Fee, Kristen Lester, Dan Scanlon, Domee Shi and Rosana Sullivan have been working on their respective untitled feature films, all of which would be based upon original ideas.[a]
In November 2023, Creative Director of the Cars franchise Jay Ward said he was working on multiple projects for the franchise.[16]
Production cycle
In July 2013, then-Pixar president Edwin Catmull said that the studio planned to release one original film each year, and a sequel every other year, as part of a strategy to release "one and a half movies a year."[17] On July 3, 2016, Pixar's current president Jim Morris announced that the studio might be moving away from sequels after Toy Story 4 and Pixar was only developing original ideas with five films in development at the time of the announcement.[18]
Cancelled projects
Monkey
Back when Pixar was still a part of Lucasfilm in 1985, it started pre-production on a film called Monkey. After Pixar spun off as a new company in 1986, however, it was still working on it. In the end, Pixar abandoned the project due to technical limitations.[19][20][21]
The Yellow Car
In 1995, Jorgen Klubien started writing a script for a film titled The Yellow Car. He wrote the first draft of the script with Joe Ranft. Then in 1998, the film was scrapped in favor of Toy Story 2's 1999 release. The Yellow Car would eventually be reworked into Cars in 2001 then released in 2006.[22][23]
1906
In 2005, Pixar began collaborating with Disney and Warner Bros. on a live-action film adaptation of James Dalessandro's novel 1906, with Brad Bird announced as the director.[24] It would have marked Pixar's first involvement in a live-action production and its first collaboration with a major production company other than Disney. Disney and Pixar left the project due to script problems and an estimated budget of $200 million, and it is in limbo at Warner Bros.[25] However, in June 2018, Bird mentioned the possibility of adapting the novel as a TV series, and the earthquake sequence as a live-action feature film.[26]
Newt
A Pixar film titled Newt (which was set to be directed by Gary Rydstrom) was announced in April 2008, with Pixar planning to release it in 2011,[27] which was later delayed to 2012,[28] but it had finally been canceled by early 2010.[29][30] John Lasseter noted that the film's proposed plot line was similar to another film, Blue Sky Studios' Rio, which was released in 2011.[31] In a March 2014 interview, Pixar president Edwin Catmull stated that Newt was an idea that was not working in pre-production. When the project was passed to Pete Docter, the director of Monsters, Inc. and Up, he pitched an idea that Pixar thought was better, and that concept became Inside Out.[32][33]
ShadeMaker
In 2010, Henry Selick formed a joint venture with Pixar called Cinderbiter Productions,[34][35] which was to exclusively produce stop-motion films.[36][37] Its first project under the deal, a film titled ShadeMaker was set to be released on October 4, 2013,[38] but was canceled in August 2012 due to creative differences.[38][39] Selick was given the option to shop ShadeMaker (now titled The Shadow King) to other studios.[40] Selick later stated in interviews that the film suffered from interference from John Lasseter who Selick claimed came in and constantly changed elements of the script and production that ended up raising the budget that would lead to its cancelation.[41] By November 2022, Selick had reacquired the rights for The Shadow King from Disney and that he may revive the project.[42]
The Graveyard Book
In April 2012, Walt Disney Pictures acquired the rights and hired Henry Selick, director of The Nightmare Before Christmas and the film adaptation of Gaiman's novel Coraline, to direct The Graveyard Book.[43] The film was moved to Pixar as a stop-motion production, which would have been the company's first adapted work.[44] After the studio and Selick parted ways over scheduling and development, it was announced in January 2013 that Ron Howard would direct the film.[45][46][47] In July 2022, it was announced that Marc Forster will direct the adaptation with a screenplay by David Magee under Walt Disney Studios.[48]
Circle Seven Animation projects
In addition, when the now-defunct Circle Seven Animation was open, there were plans for sequels to Finding Nemo (for which Pixar made its own sequel, Finding Dory) and Monsters, Inc. (for which Pixar made a prequel, Monsters University), as well as a different version of Toy Story 3.[49] Pixar's later sequels had no basis in Circle Seven's projects, and were created completely separately.
Co-production
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins is an animated direct-to-video film and a spin-off of the Toy Story franchise produced by Walt Disney Television Animation with an opening sequence created by Pixar. The film was released on August 8, 2000, and led to a television series called, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command with Pixar creating the CGI portion of the opening theme.[50]
A Spark Story is a feature-length documentary film co-produced by Pixar, Disney+, and Supper Club.[51] The film centers on directors Aphton Corbin and Louis Gonzales as they work to bring their SparkShorts projects Twenty Something and Nona to the screen.[52][51]
Collaboration
Pixar assisted in the English localization of several Studio Ghibli films, mainly those from Hayao Miyazaki.[53]
Pixar was brought on board to fine tune the script of The Muppets.[54] The film was released on November 23, 2011.
Pixar assisted with the story development for The Jungle Book, as well as providing suggestions for the film's end credits sequence. The film was released on April 15, 2016. Additional special thanks credit was given to Mark Andrews.[55]
Mary Poppins Returns includes a sequence combining live-action and traditional hand-drawn animation. The animation was supervised by Ken Duncan and James Baxter. Over 70 animators specializing in hand-drawn 2D animation from Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios were recruited for the sequence.[56] The film was released on December 19, 2018.
Related productions
Planes is a spin-off of the Cars franchise, produced by the now defunct DisneyToon Studios and co-written and executive produced by John Lasseter. The film was conceived from the short film Air Mater, which introduces aspects of Planes and ends with a hint of the film. It was released on August 9, 2013. A sequel, Planes: Fire & Rescue, was released on July 18, 2014. A Planes spin-off film was announced in July 2017, with a release date of April 12, 2019,[57] but was removed from the release schedule on March 1, 2018.[58] The film was eventually canceled when DisneyToon Studios was shut down on June 28, 2018.[59]
Ralph Breaks the Internet, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and co-executive produced by Lasseter, features Kelly Macdonald reprising her role as Merida from Brave,[60] as well as a cameo from Tim Allen reprising his role (via archive recordings) as Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story franchise,[61] and a sample of Patrick Doyle's score from Brave.[61] The film, released on November 21, 2018, also features many visual references to Pixar and its films.[62] Additionally, Andrew Stanton received a "Narrative Guru" credit.[61]
Reception
Box office
Year | Film | Budget | Box office gross | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
U.S. and Canada | Other territories | Worldwide | ||||
1995 | Toy Story | $30 million | $192,523,233 | $172,747,718 | $365,270,951 | [63][64] |
1998 | A Bug's Life | $120 million | $162,798,565 | $200,460,294 | $363,258,859 | [65] |
1999 | Toy Story 2 | $90 million | $245,852,179 | $265,506,097 | $511,358,276 | [66][67] |
2001 | Monsters, Inc. | $115 million | $255,873,250 | $272,900,000 | $528,773,250 | [68] |
2003 | Finding Nemo | $94 million | $339,714,978 | $531,300,000 | $871,014,978 | [69] |
2004 | The Incredibles | $92 million | $261,441,092 | $370,001,000 | $631,442,092 | [70] |
2006 | Cars | $120 million | $244,082,982 | $217,900,167 | $461,983,149 | [71] |
2007 | Ratatouille | $150 million | $206,445,654 | $417,280,431 | $623,726,085 | [72] |
2008 | WALL-E | $180 million | $223,808,164 | $297,503,696 | $521,311,860 | [73] |
2009 | Up | $175 million | $293,004,164 | $442,094,918 | $735,099,082 | [74] |
2010 | Toy Story 3 | $200 million | $415,004,880 | $651,964,823 | $1,066,969,703 | [75] |
2011 | Cars 2 | $200 million | $191,452,396 | $368,400,000 | $559,852,396 | [76] |
2012 | Brave | $185 million | $237,283,207 | $301,700,000 | $538,983,207 | [77] |
2013 | Monsters University | $200 million | $268,492,764 | $475,066,843 | $743,559,607 | [78][79] |
2015 | Inside Out | $175 million | $356,461,711 | $501,149,463 | $857,611,174 | [80] |
2015 | The Good Dinosaur | $175 million | $123,087,120 | $209,120,551 | $332,207,671 | [81][82] |
2016 | Finding Dory | $200 million | $486,295,561 | $542,275,328 | $1,028,570,889 | [83][84] |
2017 | Cars 3 | $175 million | $152,901,115 | $231,029,541 | $383,930,656 | [85][86] |
2017 | Coco | $175 million | $210,460,015 | $597,356,181 | $807,816,196 | [87][88] |
2018 | Incredibles 2 | $200 million | $608,581,744 | $634,223,615 | $1,242,805,359 | [89][90] |
2019 | Toy Story 4 | $200 million | $434,038,008 | $639,356,585 | $1,073,394,593 | [91][92] |
2020 | Onward | $175–200 million | $61,555,145 | $80,384,897 | $141,940,042 | [93] |
2020 | Soul | $150 million | $125,000 | $120,957,731 | $126,082,731 | [94] |
2021 | Luca | — | —[b] | $49,750,471 | $49,750,471 | [95][96] |
2022 | Turning Red | $175 million | —[b] | $20,122,621 | $20,122,621 | [97][98] |
2022 | Lightyear | $200 million | $118,307,188 | $108,118,232 | $226,425,420 | [99][100] |
2023 | Elemental | $200 million | $154,426,697 | $342,017,611 | $496,444,308 | [101][102] |
2024 | Inside Out 2 | $200 million | $533,823,699 | $683,100,000 | $1,216,923,699 | [103][104] |
Critical and public response
Film | Critical | Public | |
---|---|---|---|
Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | CinemaScore | |
Toy Story | 100% (97 reviews)[105] | 95 (26 reviews)[106] | A[107] |
A Bug's Life | 92% (91 reviews)[108] | 78 (23 reviews)[109] | A[107] |
Toy Story 2 | 100% (172 reviews)[110] | 88 (34 reviews)[111] | A+[107] |
Monsters, Inc. | 96% (199 reviews)[112] | 79 (35 reviews)[113] | A+[114] |
Finding Nemo | 99% (270 reviews)[115] | 90 (38 reviews)[116] | A+[117] |
The Incredibles | 97% (250 reviews)[118] | 90 (41 reviews)[119] | A+[120] |
Cars | 75% (204 reviews)[121] | 73 (39 reviews)[122] | A[123] |
Ratatouille | 96% (253 reviews)[124] | 96 (37 reviews)[125] | A[126] |
WALL-E | 95% (261 reviews)[127] | 95 (39 reviews)[128] | A[129] |
Up | 98% (297 reviews)[130] | 88 (37 reviews)[131] | A+[132] |
Toy Story 3 | 98% (313 reviews)[133] | 92 (39 reviews)[134] | A[107] |
Cars 2 | 40% (220 reviews)[135] | 57 (38 reviews)[136] | A−[123] |
Brave | 79% (256 reviews)[137] | 69 (37 reviews)[138] | A[139] |
Monsters University | 80% (203 reviews)[140] | 65 (41 reviews)[141] | A[142] |
Inside Out | 98% (384 reviews)[143] | 94 (55 reviews)[144] | A[145] |
The Good Dinosaur | 75% (220 reviews)[146] | 66 (37 reviews)[147] | A[148] |
Finding Dory | 94% (339 reviews)[149] | 77 (48 reviews)[150] | A[151] |
Cars 3 | 69% (234 reviews)[152] | 59 (41 reviews)[153] | A[123] |
Coco | 97% (357 reviews)[154] | 81 (48 reviews)[155] | A+[156] |
Incredibles 2 | 93% (390 reviews)[157] | 80 (51 reviews)[158] | A+[120] |
Toy Story 4 | 97% (459 reviews)[159] | 84 (57 reviews)[160] | A[161] |
Onward | 88% (350 reviews)[162] | 64 (56 reviews)[163] | A−[164] |
Soul | 95% (360 reviews)[165] | 83 (55 reviews)[166] | — |
Luca | 91% (303 reviews)[167] | 71 (52 reviews)[168] | |
Turning Red | 95% (289 reviews)[169] | 83 (52 reviews)[170] | |
Lightyear | 74% (319 reviews)[171] | 60 (57 reviews)[172] | A−[173] |
Elemental | 73% (262 reviews)[174] | 58 (45 reviews)[175] | A[176] |
Inside Out 2 | 90% (279 reviews)[177] | 73 (59 reviews)[178] | A[179] |
Academy Awards
Film | Best Picture | Animated Feature | Original Screenplay | Adapted Screenplay | Original Score | Original Song | Sound[a] | Other | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sound Editing | Sound Mixing | ||||||||
Toy Story | Award not yet introduced | Nominated | Ineligible | Nominated | Nominated | Won Special Achievement | |||
A Bug's Life | |||||||||
Toy Story 2 | Ineligible | Nominated | |||||||
Monsters, Inc. | Nominated | Ineligible | Nominated | Won | Nominated | ||||
Finding Nemo | Won | Nominated | |||||||
The Incredibles | Won | Nominated | |||||||
Cars | Nominated | Nominated | |||||||
Ratatouille | Won | Nominated | Nominated | Nominated | Nominated | ||||
WALL-E | Nominated | ||||||||
Up | Nominated | Won | |||||||
Toy Story 3 | Ineligible | Nominated | Won | ||||||
Cars 2 | |||||||||
Brave | Won | Ineligible | |||||||
Monsters University | Ineligible | ||||||||
Inside Out | Won | Nominated | Ineligible | ||||||
The Good Dinosaur | |||||||||
Finding Dory | Ineligible | ||||||||
Cars 3 | |||||||||
Coco | Won | Ineligible | Won | ||||||
Incredibles 2 | Nominated | Ineligible | |||||||
Toy Story 4 | Won | Nominated | |||||||
Onward | Nominated | Ineligible | |||||||
Soul | Won | Won | Nominated | ||||||
Luca | Nominated | ||||||||
Turning Red | |||||||||
Lightyear | Ineligible | ||||||||
Elemental | Nominated | Ineligible |