The Good Dinosaur and 3 Other Underrated Pixar Movies That Deserve More Attention
Give them another chance.
Pixar's filmography, rich with masterpieces, often plays a cruel joke on the studio: any failure to meet high standards is perceived by viewers and critics as an annoying disappointment. We recalled four worthy Pixar projects that never made the cut for the studio's best movies category.
1. Monsters University, 2013
The release of Cars 2 ushered in a dubious period in Pixar's history – the studio seemed to have gone from quality to quantity, churning out dubious sequels to its masterpieces.
Monsters University is a prime example of this era: a completely unnecessary movie that deviates from the expectations of its fans. Instead of making a sequel to Monsters, Inc., they decided to tell the audience something no one asked for: how Mike and Sulley met.
The film, which pokes fun at college comedies about fraternity rivalries, develops the universe of the first part, but does not go beyond a superficial deconstruction of the genre. But if you accept these rules, Monsters University is a lot of fun.
2. A Bug's Life, 1998
1998 was marked by a strange rivalry between Pixar and DreamWorks, each working on an insect-themed movie: A Bug's Life vs. Antz.
The latter, though noticeably worse looking, delved deeper into the story and was remembered as a more coherent meditation on nonconformity and attempts to step outside of societal expectations.
By contrast, A Bug's Life, which had virtually the same plot, feels like a more frivolous, childlike adventure, with inventive plots and a well-thought-out miniature insect world. It's a failure by Pixar's later standards, but it was only the studio's second film.
3. The Good Dinosaur, 2015
The Good Dinosaur went down in Pixar's history as the studio's first financial failure: the $200 million animated film (another $150 million went to marketing) grossed just over $330 million worldwide.
It was not even nominated for an Oscar, and a golden statuette and high box office receipts are an annual standard for Pixar. But The Good Dinosaur had so many problems during its production that the studio probably knew what to expect.
Now The Good Dinosaur no longer looks like a failure: it is still a naive story about a cave boy and a shy dinosaur, but at the same time a visually outstanding and meditative adventure that delivers exactly what it offers.
4. Onward, 2020
The release of the successful Soul has washed away the memory that Pixar had two projects coming out in 2020. Compared to the existential drama about the death of a schoolteacher who dreams of a jazz career, the fantasy about two brothers traveling with their semi-reanimated father looks like any DreamWorks project.
Despite its touching opening, Onward seems to lack the depth the studio is accustomed to, but by the end of the movie, classic Pixar magic appears on the screen, making you look at the adventure the characters have gone through from a different angle with tears in your eyes.