List of Pixar films facts for kids

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Pixar Animation Studios is an American film company that makes movies using CGI. This means they create movies entirely with computers! Pixar is based in Emeryville, California, in the United States.

Pixar has made 27 full-length movies. All of these movies were released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Their very first movie, Toy Story, came out on November 22, 1995. It was also the first CGI-animated movie ever shown in theaters! Their newest film, Elemental, was released on June 16, 2023.

Pixar has more exciting movies coming soon! These include Inside Out 2 in 2024, Elio in 2025, and Toy Story 5 in 2026. Another new Pixar film is also planned for March 6, 2026.

Pixar's Amazing Movies

Pixar is famous for its creative stories and amazing animation. Here's a look at some of the movies they have released and what's coming next.

Movies You Can Watch Now

Pixar has released many popular films over the years. Here is a list of their movies and when they first came out:

Toy Story (November 22, 1995)
A Bug's Life (November 25, 1998)
Toy Story 2 (November 24, 1999)
Monsters, Inc. (November 2, 2001)
Finding Nemo (May 30, 2003)
The Incredibles (November 5, 2004)
Cars (June 9, 2006)
Ratatouille (June 29, 2007)
WALL-E (June 27, 2008)
Up (May 29, 2009)
Toy Story 3 (June 18, 2010)
Cars 2 (June 24, 2011)
Brave (June 22, 2012)
Monsters University (June 21, 2013)
Inside Out (June 19, 2015)
The Good Dinosaur (November 25, 2015)
Finding Dory (June 17, 2016)
Cars 3 (June 16, 2017)
Coco (November 22, 2017)
Incredibles 2 (June 15, 2018)
Toy Story 4 (June 21, 2019)
Onward (March 6, 2020)
Soul (December 25, 2020)
Luca (June 18, 2021)
Turning Red (March 11, 2022)
Lightyear (June 17, 2022)
Elemental (June 16, 2023)

Upcoming Movies

Pixar is always working on new and exciting stories. Here are the movies they have announced for the future:

Inside Out 2 (June 14, 2024)
Elio (June 13, 2025)
Untitled film (March 6, 2026)
Toy Story 5 (June 19, 2026)

Movies in Development

Many talented directors at Pixar are also working on new, original movie ideas. These include Enrico Casarosa, Daniel Chong, Aphton Corbin, Brian Fee, Kristen Lester, Dan Scanlon, Domee Shi, and Rosana Sullivan.

Jay Ward, who works on the Cars movies, also mentioned in November 2023 that he is developing several new projects for the Cars series, including a possible Cars 4.

How Pixar Plans Its Movies

In 2013, the head of Pixar Studios, Edwin Catmull, shared that the studio planned to release one original movie each year. They also aimed to release a sequel every other year. This plan was to release about "one and a half movies a year."

Later, in 2016, another Pixar president, Jim Morris, said that Pixar might make fewer sequels after Toy Story 4. He explained that the studio wanted to focus on creating new, original stories. At that time, they had five new original films being developed.

Movies That Were Not Made

Sometimes, even great ideas don't become movies. Here are some Pixar projects that were planned but later cancelled:

Monkey

Back in 1985, when Pixar was still part of Lucasfilm, they started working on a film called Monkey. Even after Pixar became its own company in 1986, they kept trying to make it. However, they eventually had to stop because the computer technology at the time wasn't advanced enough to create the movie they imagined.

The Yellow Car

In 1995, Jorgen Klubien began writing a script for a movie called The Yellow Car. He wrote the first version with Joe Ranft. But in 1998, the movie was put aside so Pixar could focus on Toy Story 2, which came out in 1999. Luckily, the idea for The Yellow Car was later used and became the movie Cars, which was released in 2006.

1906

In 2005, Pixar started working with Disney and Warner Bros. on a live-action movie based on the book 1906. This movie would have been directed by Brad Bird. It was special because it would have been Pixar's first time working on a live-action film and their first time working with a big company other than Disney. However, Disney and Pixar left the project because of problems with the script and a very high estimated cost of $200 million. The movie is now on hold at Warner Bros. In 2018, Brad Bird mentioned that the story might be made into a TV show, and the earthquake part could become a live-action movie.

Newt

A Pixar movie called Newt, directed by Gary Rydstrom, was announced in April 2008. It was supposed to come out in 2011, then 2012, but it was cancelled by early 2010. John Lasseter, a key person at Pixar, said that the story for Newt was too similar to another movie, Blue Sky Studios' Rio. Edwin Catmull, Pixar's president, also explained that Newt just wasn't working well during its early development. When the project was given to Pete Docter, who directed Monsters, Inc. and Up, he came up with a new idea that Pixar loved. That idea became the movie Inside Out.

ShadeMaker

In 2010, Henry Selick teamed up with Pixar to create a company called Cinderbiter Productions. This company was meant to make stop-motion films. Their first project, ShadeMaker, was planned for release on October 4, 2013. But it was cancelled in August 2012 because of creative differences. Selick was allowed to try and make ShadeMaker (which he renamed The Shadow King) with other studios. Selick later said that John Lasseter interfered with the film, constantly changing the script and production, which made the budget too high and led to its cancellation. By November 2022, Selick got the rights to The Shadow King back from Disney and might try to make the movie again.

The Graveyard Book

Walt Disney Pictures bought the rights to the book The Graveyard Book in April 2012 and hired Henry Selick to direct it. Selick is known for directing The Nightmare Before Christmas and the movie Coraline. The film was then moved to Pixar to be a stop-motion movie, which would have been Pixar's first movie based on a book. After Pixar and Selick stopped working together, Ron Howard was announced as the director in January 2013. In July 2022, it was announced that Marc Forster will direct the movie with a script by David Magee for Walt Disney Studios.

Circle Seven Animation Projects

When a now-closed animation studio called Circle Seven Animation was open, they had plans for sequels to Finding Nemo and Monsters, Inc., and a different version of Toy Story 3. Pixar later made their own sequels and prequels (Finding Dory, Monsters University, and Toy Story 3), but these were completely new ideas and not based on Circle Seven's plans.

Working with Other Companies

Pixar has also worked with other film companies on different projects.

Helping with Studio Ghibli Films

Pixar helped to make several films from the Japanese animation studio Studio Ghibli understandable for English-speaking audiences. This mainly included movies by Hayao Miyazaki.

Helping with The Muppets

Pixar helped to improve the script for The Muppets movie, which was released on November 23, 2011.

Helping with The Jungle Book

Pixar helped with the story development for The Jungle Book and gave ideas for the end credits. This movie came out on April 15, 2016. Mark Andrews from Pixar also received a special thank you credit.

Helping with Mary Poppins Returns

Mary Poppins Returns has a part where live-action and traditional hand-drawn animation are combined. Over 70 animators from Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios who specialize in 2D animation worked on this part. The movie was released on December 19, 2018.

Related Movies and Shows

Sometimes, movies are made that are connected to Pixar's films but are produced by other studios.

Planes

Planes is a spin-off movie from the Cars series. It was made by DisneyToon Studios and co-written by John Lasseter from Pixar. The idea for Planes came from a short film called Air Mater. Planes was released on August 9, 2013. A sequel, Planes: Fire & Rescue, came out on July 18, 2014. Another Planes spin-off was planned for 2019 but was cancelled when DisneyToon Studios closed in 2018.

Ralph Breaks the Internet

Ralph Breaks the Internet was made by Walt Disney Animation Studios. John Lasseter from Pixar was also a co-executive producer. In this movie, Kelly Macdonald voices Merida from Pixar's Brave, and you can hear Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. The movie also has many visual nods to Pixar and its films. Andrew Stanton from Pixar also received a special "Narrative Guru" credit for his help with the story.

Images for kids

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