16. Great Romances
Wall-E and EVE, Buzz and Jessie, Carl and Ellie, Bob and Helen Parr: Pixar know exactly how to create great screen romances no matter whether it's between robots, humans, superhumans or toys.
17. The Voice Talent
Looking through the cast lists of Pixar's movies is often like reading a list of the greatest comic talents in Hollywood:
Tom Hanks, Don Rickles, John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, Phyllis Diller, Denis Leary and Patton Oswalt, the list is hugely impressive. But not content to restrict the talent there, Pixar also regularly rope in the cream of the acting world, giving roles to
Steve Buscemi, Kevin Spacey, Peter O'Toole, Ian Holm, Christopher Plummer and
Michael Keaton. To a man, or woman, the voice work actors bring their strongest work to the table, despite the restrictions (and opportunity to "hide") offered by off-screen acting. And most specifically...
18 ...John Ratzenberger
Not only was he Cliff in Cheers, he was also briefly Cliff in Frasier. And that's only two of the reasons that Ratzenberger is a God-damn genius. Clearly Pixar agree, having cast him, in one way or another in every single one of their feature films. If you're wondering, his
characters are as follows: Hamm, PT Flea, The Abominable Snowman, Fish School, The Underminer, Mack, Mustafa, John and Construction Foreman Tom.
19. The Quotes:
Ratatouille. Its like a stew, right? Why do they call it that? If youre gonna name a food, you should give it a name that sounds delicious. Ratatouille doesnt sound delicious. It sounds like rat and patootie. Rat-patootie, which does not sound delicious.
Linguini, Ratatouille
20. The characters: Dory
The most enduring of all of
Finding Nemo's fishy cast of players, Dory is hilarious, but her role is one defined as much by pathos, and the suggestion of personal tragedy as it is by humour. Beneath her breezy surface, and the comic conceit of her forgetfulness, lies a hidden complexity that is hinted at wonderfully as the film unravels.