In 1986, Steve Jobs helped a new group of animators break away from Lucasfilm and form their own company called Pixar. Though they started off providing CGI to Disney and other corporations, they would make history in 1995 when Toy Story became the first fully CGI film. In the near three decades since, Pixar has released 26 films, many of which have been financial and critical successes.

All that is to say that picking out the worst Pixar movies is no easy task. The studio's films are able to connect with audiences due to the irresistible heart and charm they exude and the wide range of emotions that can be found within them. However, not everything can be a winner, with these 12 entries from Pixar the lowest rated by millions of film lovers on IMDb.

Updated on June 13, 2023, by Ryan Heffernan:

Disney Pixar animation has been a stalwart of family film and children’s entertainment since the mid 1990s, with the release of Elemental (June 16) marking the 27th feature to come from the studio. While many of those movies have become iconic animated films, not every Pixar release has gone on to be such a celebrated hit with these 12 the worst Disney Pixar movies according to IMDb.

12 'Luca' (2021)

A young boy who transforms into a sea monster under water floats on the ocean's surface in the animated Pixar movie 'Luca'.
Image via Walt Disney Studios

IMDb Rating: 7.4/10

2021’s Luca saw Pixar deliver a typically gorgeous, animated fantasy adventure which presented a heartfelt coming-of-age story about a young boy hiding a secret. The film follows Luca (Jacob Tremblay) as he enjoys a paradisiacal summer with his newfound best friend while having to conceal the fact that he is actually a sea monster from another world beneath the ocean.

Despite its obvious allegory, creators of the film denied it had any LGBTQ+ subtext (via Vanity Fair), which, in many ways, robbed it of some of its dare and thematic punch. However, Luca still offers a compelling narrative about social anxieties faced by modern youths rich with visual delights and an imaginative flair, though critics did note its decision to play things safe made for a somewhat forgettable film in Pixar’s catalogue.

Watch on Disney+

11 'Onward' (2020)

Two elven brothers stand on a dirt road holding a magical staff with their beat-up van in the background.
Image via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

IMDb Rating: 7.4/10

Onward stands as a prime example of a good film being overlooked due to the quality of its competition. The pleasant adventure comedy follows two elven brothers who embark on an emotional journey to resurrect their late father for a day and their mother who sets off after them to bring them home safe.

With a strong sense of heart, an all-star cast, and Pixar’s trademark animated charm, Onward excelled as everything it needed to be and more. Unfortunately, it did lack the palpable magical brilliance of the Pixar's more emotional cinematic hits which, for better or worse, it was always going to be compared to.

Watch on Disney+

10 'Finding Dory' (2016)

Dory swims with Marlin, Nemo, and other sea critters in 'Finding Dory'
Image via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

IMDb Rating: 7.3/10

Although Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) has been living a good life with her found family, she can't help but feel a longing for her parents. Following her only memory of her home, she travels to California, but scientists at the Marine Life Institute capture Dory. She teams up with an octopus, who agrees to help Dory find her parents in exchange for her shipping tag so he won't get released.

The film coasted by on nostalgia, good humor, and beautiful animation to receive a pleasant reception, but it still felt like an unnecessary sequel to a complete story. Due to her memory loss, Dory is not a character who can benefit from character growth, which is why she was such a good side character and her remaining static throughout Finding Dory meant the film just floated from one event to the next until it all came to a head in the climax.

Watch on Disney+

9 'Cars' (2006)

Lightning McQueen drives along a desert road with his romantic interest Sally Carrera in 'Cars'
Image via Beuna Vista Pictures Distribution

IMDb Rating: 7.2/10

Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is set to be the youngest race car to win the coveted Piston Cup. On his way to the champion race, he falls out of his trailer and accidentally destroys a stretch of road leading to a town in the middle of nowhere. Now he is forced to repay his debt to the town and learn there is more to life than glory.

Along with its confusing world-building, Cars suffers because its story does little to deviate from previous examples of the arrogant protagonist who needs to learn humility. It's worse because Disney had released The Emperor's New Groove five years earlier, and Pixar's Cars failed largely because it lacks that film's humor. However, the film's climax does a fantastic job of showing its theme.

Watch on Disney+

8 'A Bug's Life' (1998)

Flik and Dot in A Bug's Life
Image via Beuna Vista Pictures Distribution

IMDb Rating: 7.2/10

Tough competition is the determining factor in many of Pixar's lower rated entries, and that rang doubly true for A Bug's Life which, in addition to coming out in the same year as DreamWorks' Antz, was also released between the two Toy Story movies. The animated adventure follows an inventor ant who, when he accidentally loses all the food the colony had gathered for a gang of grasshoppers, is ordered to find twice the agreed amount by the end of autumn.

A Bug's Life was in no way a bad movie, featured an engrossing array of circus bugs and a surprisingly intimidating villain. Ultimately though, it couldn't overcome the prolific Toy Story hype of the time and, quite unfairly, has come to be viewed as the sophomore slump of Pixar animation.

Watch on Disney+

7 'Monsters University' (2013)

Mike Wazowski arriving for college in Monsters University
Image via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

IMDb Rating: 7.2/10

Mike Wazowski's (Billy Crystal) dream is to attend Monster University's scare program and graduate to become a scarer. However, despite his perfect knowledge of scare theory, he is rejected from the program because his design is not scary enough. To prove them wrong, Mike joins a fraternity alongside fellow drop-out James P. Sullivan (John Goodman) in the hopes of winning the Scare Games.

Although the film has a strong message about being realistic in your goals, to get to it, audiences have to slog through every college-movie cliché. These include a stern dean who despises the main characters, a bully frat-house, and a looser frat that proves its quality in a college sporting event. Combined with minor retcons to the original Monsters, Inc., Monsters University makes you question why Pixar made a prequel instead of a sequel.

Watch on Disney+

6 'Brave' (2012)

Queen Elinor confronts Merida in 'Brave'
Image via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

IMDb Rating: 7.1/10

Princess Merida (Kelly Macdonald) prefers the life of an adventurer to a princess, but her mother insists that she live up to her responsibilities. After upstaging the sons of three rival clans, Merida heads into the woods, where a will-o-the-wisp leads her to a witch. There, Merida purchases a spell that will allow her to change her fate.

Even though it won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, Brave is not considered one of Pixar's best films. While it has a good soundtrack and, for the time, impressive animation for Merida's wild hair, its story is pulled in too many directions. It also doesn't help that the trailer promised a completely different film where the mythology would have more focus than the mother-daughter troubles.

Watch on Disney+

5 'Turning Red' (2022)

A young girl smiles gleefully as she walks down the street in the animated movie 'Turning Red'.
Image via Walt Disney Studios

IMDb Rating: 7.0/10

Thirteen-year-old Mei Lee (Rosalie Chiang) finds herself torn between pleasing her mother and indulging in her hobbies, which include the pop-band 4*Town. To make things worse, Mei wakes up to find she has become a giant red panda thanks to a family curse. While her mother prepares to separate the panda from Mei, she and her friends decide to use this new gift to raise money for concert tickets.

Turning Red almost works: it touches on generational trauma and has a lot of fun depicting its pre-teen girls in all their awkward eccentricities. Unfortunately, the film is tonally inconsistent, shifting from cartoonish over-exaggeration to serious family melodrama. Then there is the climax, which combines twerking and a kaiju battle, which has some fans laughing with glee, but understandably may not be for everyone.

Watch on Disney+

4 'Cars 3' (2017)

Lightning McQueen and his rival Jackson Storm provoke each other on the race track
Image via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

IMDb Rating: 6.7/10

As a new generation of race cars begins to appear, Lightning McQueen suffers a crash that puts his career in jeopardy. Not wanting to end up like his mentor, McQueen decides to try again using a training course and personal trainer provided by his new sponsors. However, if McQueen doesn't win this next race, his sponsor will force him to retire.

Cars 3 offers an interesting commentary on how the new generation slowly fades out the old, which mirrors how Pixar themselves helped faze out 2D animation with their 3D films. However, the story goes all over the place, especially in the second act, which involves a demolition derby. It also suffers from some of Pixar's weakest villains to date.

Watch on Disney+

3 'The Good Dinosaur' (2015)

A young boys sits on the back of a green dinosaur as they both look anxiously at what lies ahead of them.
Image via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

IMDb Rating: 6.7/10

In a world where dinosaurs never went extinct, Arlo (Raymond Ochoa) the apatosaurus lives and works on his family farm but struggles with cowardice. After he refuses to kill a feral cave boy, Arlo's father leads him to track it down and then dies in a flash flood that washes Arlo from home. He teams up with the cave boy and tries to get home and conquer his fears.

Despite promising an imaginative look at a world of sentient dinosaurs, poor world-building and a weak story saw The Good Dinosaur become Pixar's first box office bomb. The story is every boy and his dog story you've seen before, just with a human in the place of the dog and a dinosaur in the place of a human.

Watch on Disney+

2 'Cars 2' (2011)

Lightning McQueen looks joyous while Mator looks disinterested as the pair look through a car museum in 'Cars 2'.
Image via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

IMDb Rating: 6.2/10

Cars 2 sees Lightning McQueen joins a world grand Prix to promote a new eco-friendly fuel source. His best friend (and one of the most annoying Pixar characters ever), Mater, accompanies him but bumps into a due of British Secret Agents. They mistake Mater for an American spy and recruit his help to stop an evil organization from sabotaging the race.

You know a sequel is bad when the third film in a trilogy pretends it never happened. After the first film's mature themes about humility, it's quite the tonal whiplash to go into a vehicular parody of Get Smart with a heavy-handed environmental message. There's also a surprising number of deaths in the film, which have to involve explosions and crushing since the first film established cars can survive nasty crashes.

Watch on Disney+

1 'Lightyear' (2022)

Buzz Lightyear poses with his hands on his waist in a locker room in 'Lightyear' (2022)
Image via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

IMDb Rating: 6.1/10

Despite the Toy Story franchise making up some of the most beloved animated films of all time, 2022's Lightyear became the lowest-rated Pixar movie on IMDb. It follows the original Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans) as he and his crew find themselves stranded in space, leading Buzz to discover an army of robots commanded by Zurg (James Brolin).

It may be the most pointless Pixar film to date, claiming to be the movie that inspired Andy to get his own Buzz Lightyear toy, but it completely lacks a sense of adventurous fun and even retcons the original Toy Story movies. For a better Buzz Lightyear film, watch 2000's Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins.

Watch on Disney+

NEXT: The Best Pixar Movies of All Time, Ranked According to IMDb