Every Pixar Hero Ranked From Worst To Best
4. Joy (Inside Out)
Perhaps no Pixar protagonist has so perfectly crystallised their movie's themes as Inside Out's Joy (Amy Poehler), the literal embodiment of happiness who comes to learn over the course of the story to embrace Sadness (Phyllis Smith) rather than suppress her.
Amy Poehler's pitchy, vibrant vocal work proves a fantastic fit for people-pleaser Joy - as any Parks and Recreation fan will surely appreciate - yet her industrious commitment to positivity eventually gives way to a more complex character who comes to accept the multi-faceted nature of human emotion.
It helps immeasurably that Joy is couched in the most thematically bold Pixar movie to date, but even so, she's a deceptively well-developed character buoyed by an outstanding performance from Poehler.