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List of Pixar films facts for kids

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Pixar Animation Studios is an American CGI film production company based in Emeryville, California, United States. Pixar has produced 27 feature films, which were all released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures through the Walt Disney Pictures banner, with their first being Toy Story (which was also the first theatrically released CGI-animated feature ever released) on November 22, 1995 and their latest being Elemental on June 16, 2023.

Their upcoming slate of films includes Inside Out 2 in 2024, Elio in 2025, and Toy Story 5 in 2026. Additionally, a release date on March 6, 2026 has been reserved for another Pixar film.

Films

Released

Film Release date Director(s) Writer(s) Producer(s) Composer(s)
Story Screenplay
Toy Story November 22, 1995 John Lasseter Pete Docter, Lasseter, Joe Ranft & Andrew Stanton Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow, Stanton & Joss Whedon Bonnie Arnold & Ralph Guggenheim Randy Newman
A Bug's Life November 25, 1998 John Lasseter
Co-directed by:
Andrew Stanton
Lasseter, Joe Ranft & Stanton Donald McEnery, Bob Shaw & Stanton Darla K. Anderson & Kevin Reher
Toy Story 2 November 24, 1999 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
Monsters, Inc. November 2, 2001 Pete Docter
Co-directed by:
David Silverman & Lee Unkrich
Jill Culton, Docter, Ralph Eggleston & Jeff Pidgeon Dan Gerson & Andrew Stanton Darla K. Anderson
Finding Nemo May 30, 2003 Andrew Stanton
Co-directed by:
Lee Unkrich
Stanton Bob Peterson, David Reynolds & Stanton Graham Walters Thomas Newman
The Incredibles November 5, 2004 Brad Bird John Walker Michael Giacchino
Cars June 9, 2006 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
Ratatouille June 29, 2007 Brad Bird
Co-directed by:
Jan Pinkava
Bird, Jim Capobianco & Pinkava Bird Brad Lewis Michael Giacchino
WALL-E June 27, 2008 Andrew Stanton Pete Docter & Stanton Jim Reardon & Stanton Jim Morris Thomas Newman
Up May 29, 2009 Pete Docter
Co-directed by:
Bob Peterson
Docter, Tom McCarthy & Peterson Docter & Peterson Jonas Rivera Michael Giacchino
Toy Story 3 June 18, 2010 Lee Unkrich John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton & Unkrich Michael Arndt Darla K. Anderson Randy Newman
Cars 2 June 24, 2011 John Lasseter
Co-directed by:
Brad Lewis
Dan Fogelman, Lasseter & Lewis Ben Queen Denise Ream Michael Giacchino
Brave June 22, 2012 Mark Andrews & Brenda Chapman
Co-directed by:
Steve Purcell
Chapman Andrews, Chapman, Irene Mecchi & Purcell Katherine Sarafian Patrick Doyle
Monsters University June 21, 2013 Dan Scanlon Robert L. Baird, Dan Gerson & Scanlon Kori Rae Randy Newman
Inside Out June 19, 2015 Pete Docter
Co-directed by:
Ronnie del Carmen
del Carmen & Docter Josh Cooley, Docter & Meg LeFauve Jonas Rivera Michael Giacchino
The Good Dinosaur November 25, 2015 Peter Sohn Erik Benson, Meg LeFauve, Kelsey Mann, Bob Peterson & Sohn LeFauve Denise Ream Jeff & Mychael Danna
Finding Dory June 17, 2016 Andrew Stanton
Co-directed by:
Angus MacLane
Stanton Stanton & Victoria Strouse Lindsey Collins Thomas Newman
Cars 3 June 16, 2017 Brian Fee Fee, Eyal Podell, Ben Queen & Jonathan E. Stewart Kiel Murray, Bob Peterson & Mike Rich Kevin Reher Randy Newman
Coco November 22, 2017 Lee Unkrich
Co-directed by:
Adrian Molina
Matthew Aldrich, Jason Katz, Molina & Unkrich Aldrich & Molina Darla K. Anderson Michael Giacchino
Incredibles 2 June 15, 2018 Brad Bird Nicole Paradis Grindle & John Walker Michael Giacchino
Toy Story 4 June 21, 2019 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
Onward March 6, 2020 Dan Scanlon Keith Bunin, Jason Headley & Scanlon Kori Rae Jeff & Mychael Danna
Soul December 25, 2020 Pete Docter
Co-directed by:
Kemp Powers
Docter, Mike Jones & Powers Dana Murray Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
Luca June 18, 2021 Enrico Casarosa Jesse Andrews, Casarosa & Simon Stephenson Andrews & Mike Jones Andrea Warren Dan Romer
Turning Red March 11, 2022 Domee Shi Julia Cho, Shi & Sarah Streicher Cho & Shi Lindsey Collins Ludwig Göransson
Lightyear June 17, 2022 Angus MacLane Matthew Aldrich, Jason Headley & MacLane Headley & MacLane Galyn Susman Michael Giacchino
Elemental June 16, 2023 Peter Sohn John Hoberg, Kat Likkel, Brenda Hsueh & Sohn Hoberg, Likkel & Hsueh Denise Ream Thomas Newman

Upcoming

Film Release date Director(s) Writer(s) Producer(s) Composer(s) Production Status
Story Screenplay
Inside Out 2 June 14, 2024 Kelsey Mann Meg LeFauve & Dave Holstein Mark Nielsen Andrea Datzman Post-production
Elio June 13, 2025 Adrian Molina Mary Alice Drumm rowspan="4" 0TBA In production
Untitled film March 6, 2026 rowspan="2" colspan="4" 0TBA 0TBA
Toy Story 5 June 19, 2026 In production

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.

In November 2023, Creative Director of the Cars franchise Jay Ward said he was working on multiple projects for the franchise, including a potential Cars 4.

Production cycle

In July 2013, then-Pixar Studios 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." On July 3, 2016, Pixar 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.

Cancelled projects

Monkey

Back when Pixar was still a part of Lucasfilm in 1985, they started pre-production on a film called Monkey. After they spun off as a new company in 1986, they were still working on it. In the end, they realized they had to abandon it because of technical limitations.

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.

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. It would have marked Pixar's first involvement in a live-action production and their 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. 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.

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, which was later delayed to 2012, but it had finally been canceled by early 2010. John Lasseter noted that the film's proposed plot line was similar to another film, Blue Sky Studios' Rio, which was released in 2011. 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.

ShadeMaker

In 2010, Henry Selick formed a joint venture with Pixar called Cinderbiter Productions, which was to exclusively produce stop-motion films. Its first project under the deal, a film titled ShadeMaker was set to be released on October 4, 2013, but was canceled in August 2012 due to creative differences. Selick was given the option to shop ShadeMaker (now titled The Shadow King) to other studios. 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. By November 2022, Selick had reacquired the rights for The Shadow King from Disney and that he may revive the project.

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. The film was moved to Pixar as a stop-motion production, which would have been the company's first adapted work. After the studio and Selick parted ways over scheduling and development, it was announced in January 2013 that Ron Howard would direct the film. In July 2022, it was announced that Marc Forster will direct the adaptation with a screenplay by David Magee under Walt Disney Studios.

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 their 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. 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.

A Spark Story is a feature-length documentary film co-produced by Pixar, Disney+, and Supper Club. 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.

Collaboration

Pixar assisted in the English localization of several Studio Ghibli films, mainly those from Hayao Miyazaki.

Pixar was brought on board to fine tune the script of The Muppets. 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.

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. 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, but was removed from the release schedule on March 1, 2018. The film was eventually canceled when DisneyToon Studios was shut down on June 28, 2018.

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, as well as a cameo from Tim Allen reprising his role (via archive recordings) as Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story franchise, and a sample of Patrick Doyle's score from Brave. The film, released on November 21, 2018, also features many visual references to Pixar and its films. Additionally, Andrew Stanton received a "Narrative Guru" credit.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Anexo:Películas de Pixar para niños

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