Ranking All The Pixar Sequels From Worst To Best

4. Monsters University

Pixar Sequels
Pixar

This Monsters, Inc. prequel is way better than many seem to give it credit for.

It's a coming-of-age college film, not dissimilar from something like Animal House, that just so happens to star everyone's favorite scarers, and seeing Mike and Sully experience college-life together is at once both hilarious and poignant. They both enter University with lofty aspirations, only for both of them have to learn the hard way that sometimes things don't go the way you plan. Mike's realization that his dream of being a scarer is never going to come true is downright touching.

The 'Scare Games' premise offers the film the chance to show off not only its humor but also its world-building. Viewers get a much more in-depth and detailed look at exactly what it takes for monsters to even get to the positions Mike and Sully were in in the first film, and how the monster world operates. It's the rare prequel whose additional exposition adds more layers to the original film.

Visually, this film is a marvel. It marked the first time that Pixar was able to use global illumination lighting in their films and the effect really shows. The colors pop and it adds so much more depth to the images, resulting in a film that was far and away the most visually complex Pixar had released at that point.

Contributor
Contributor

A film enthusiast and writer, who'll explain to you why Jingle All The Way is a classic any day of the week.