Disney without Pixar

The quality of Pixar’s 10 films has never really been a matter of debate. Now at a film-per-year pace, Pixar has prioritized class over quantity, and a new film bearing the studio’s brand is treated as an event.

Though Disney has only owned Pixar outright since 2006, the two had earlier struck a distribution agreement, and first released “Toy Story” in 1995. Since the delivery of that groundbreaking box office smash, the computer animation powerhouse has released nine additional films, while Disney has produced more than 15 animated films on its own.

With successes such as “ Wall-E,” “The Incredibles” and “Ratatouille,” which introduced filmgoers to unlikely heroes and immersive, unpredictable worlds, Pixar has so influenced the state of animated films that Pixar principals Ed Catmull and John Lassetter now oversee Disney’s animation empire.

Since the purchase of Pixar, Disney continues to release animated films under its own banner, although a Pixar influence, it can be argued, is increasingly visible. It was nearly impossible to find a review of 2008’s “ Bolt” without critics comparing it to the work of Pixar, with many noting that it was good, but not quite on a Pixar level. Is that a bit unfair? It’s hard to meet expectations when a film is being compared to a once-a-year occurrence.

Granted, Disney has released some flicks we’re all better off forgetting (“Dinosaur”), but also some that we’d be wise to revisit (“Treasure Planet”) and some that are already considered classics (“Lilo and Stitch”). So let’s take a closer look at what Disney has accomplished when working outside the Pixar umbrella and see how it ranks in the Pixar oeuvre.

Compiled by Todd Martens, Jevon Phillips, Hanh Nguyen, Emily Christianson and Patrick Day