Oscar vs Pixar

Which do you think was the better film in each year- the Oscar Best Picture winner or that year's Pixar release?

1995 Braveheart vs Toy Story
1998 Shakespeare in Love vs A Bug's Life
1999 American Beauty vs Toy Story 2
2001 A Beautiful Mind vs Monsters, Inc.
2003 The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King vs Finding Nemo
2004 Million Dollar Baby vs The Incredibles
2006 The Departed vs Cars
2007 No Country For Old Men vs Ratatouille
2008 Slumdog Millionaire vs WALL-E
2009 The Hurt Locker vs Up

Every Best Picture winner was better except for Slumdog Millionaire.

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For me (better film bolded)...

1995 Braveheart vs Toy Story- I like them both. Toy Story introduced us to one of the finest ensembles of characters, and to a great new company. Braveheart introduced us to hints of Mel Gibson's insanity. I know which I'm happier to know about. Toy Story is better storytelling.
1998 Shakespeare in Love vs A Bug's Life- A Bug's Life rates at the bottom of my list of Pixar films. It's a lot less adventurous than their best. Shakespere in Love is pretty good too... can't pick.
1999 American Beauty vs Toy Story 2 - Toy Story 2 is more insightful, deeper, more moving, and much funnier and funner.
2001 A Beautiful Mind vs Monsters, Inc. - There are moments of imagination in A Beautiful Mind, trapped within biopic confines. Monsters, Inc. is pure imagination, and heart, and laughter.
2003 The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King vs Finding Nemo- You think you can win this, Lord of the Rings, but you just can't! I just can't put Nemo, Marlin, Dory and co. behind a bunch of people I couldn't care less about.
2004 Million Dollar Baby vs The Incredibles- The easiest choice. I rate the unfeasibly thrilling The Incredibles as Pixar's best film, and the laughable Million Dollar Baby as one of, if not the, worst films ever to win Best Picture.
2006 The Departed vs Cars- Yeah, number 7 on the MoFo top 100 was mad overkill, but it was a return to good if not great form by Scorsese, and though I like Cars, I can't pretend it wasn't minor Pixar.
2007 No Country For Old Men vs Ratatouille- Two great films. Ratatouille is just so damn smart though, saying so much about so many subjects so artfully (it changed how I shop for bread) and Ego is an even better Anton than Chigurh.
2008 Slumdog Millionaire vs WALL-E - Slumdog Millionaire was a blast, Wall-E is half a silent film that recalls the best of that era, half the most fun space film since Star Wars, and all a great love story.
2009 The Hurt Locker vs Up- Up is in the upper tier of Pixar films, and it will always move me, but I rate Hurt Locker as the finest Best Picture winner since Amadeus, so it takes this heavyweight tussle for me.

7-2 for Pixar, 1 even.

So far, I put Toy Story 3 ahead of all the other moviecitynews 'contenders' for Best Picture that I have seen (Social Network, The Kids Are Alright, Winter's Bone, Inception), but obviously a ways to go yet.

Pixar consistently produce better (deeper, surer, truer, funnier, more imaginative) storytelling than the rest of Hollywood. Their works are another level of craft and soul. I wonder if they'll ever be rewarded with a Best Picture win?

Well considering the only example on your list of a Pixar movie that was better than the Best Picture winner was Wall-E instead of Slumdog Millionaire...I'd say never.

The only animated movie that was Best Picture worthy was Beauty and the Beast.

...and Pinocchio, Dumbo, Alice in Wonderland (1951) and several of the ones stevo mentioned above, especially The Incredibles. However, until another generation or so dies out and the prejudice against animation lessens, your thoughts will rule the day Gunny, no matter how wrong-headed they may be.

Also, I totally agree that the most creative filmmakers are working at Pixar. I would apologize to all you folks who prefer non-English films and films which are allegedly more realistic than all the fake old movies but I don't really feel I need to apologize. HA!

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I love the thread


1995 Braveheart vs Toy Story
1998 Shakespeare in Love vs A Bug's Life
1999 American Beauty vs Toy Story 2
2001 A Beautiful Mind vs Monsters, Inc.
2003 The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King vs Finding Nemo
2004 Million Dollar Baby vs The Incredibles
2006 The Departed vs Cars
2007 No Country For Old Men vs Ratatouille- very close though
2008 Slumdog Millionaire vs WALL-E
2009 The Hurt Locker vs Up

Wall-E > everything. Love that movie so much. I actually just got the Pixar Box Set. So awesome, even if it's all their movies before Wall-E.

1995 Braveheart vs Toy Story
1998 Shakespeare in Love vs A Bug's Life
1999 American Beauty vs Toy Story 2
2001 A Beautiful Mind vs Monsters, Inc.
2003 The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King vs Finding Nemo
2004 Million Dollar Baby vs The Incredibles
2006 The Departed vs Cars
2007 No Country For Old Men vs Ratatouille
2008 Slumdog Millionaire vs WALL-E
2009 The Hurt Locker vs Up

5-5...but I'm not the biggest fan of the Oscars.

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First off, cool thread Stevo.

1995 Braveheart vs Toy Story
1998 Shakespeare in Love vs A Bug's Life

Can't decide, haven't seen either.

1999 American Beauty vs Toy Story 2
2001 A Beautiful Mind vs Monsters, Inc.
2003 The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King vs Finding Nemo
2004 Million Dollar Baby vs The Incredibles
2006 The Departed vs Cars
2007 No Country For Old Men vs Ratatouille
2008 Slumdog Millionaire vs WALL-E
2009 The Hurt Locker vs Up

5 Oscar - 4 Pixar, with 1 undecided.

and also:
2010 ??? vs Toy Story 3

1995 Braveheart vs Toy Story
It's been a long time since I've seen either. I liked both but until I watch them again I'm giving Toy Story the benefit of the doubt here.

1998 Shakespeare in Love vs A Bug's Life (N/A)

Haven't seen Shakespeare in Love, A Bug's Life is a pretty cute tribute to The Seven Samurai but otherwise not as memorable as many other Pixar films.

1999 American Beauty vs Toy Story 2

Didn't really love either of these but they're both decent. This one is really up in the air. There are probably at least 2 dozen films from 1999 that I'd rate higher than either.

2001 A Beautiful Mind vs Monsters, Inc.

Haven't seen A Beautiful Mind (read the book) but Monsters, Inc. is my favorite Pixar, so...

2003 The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King vs Finding Nemo

2 very good movies, Finding Nemo is slightly better.

2004 Million Dollar Baby vs The Incredibles

Haven't seen Million Dollar Baby but The Incredibles is my second-favorite Pixar.

2006 The Departed vs Cars

Both of these are okay, Cars isn't anywhere near the best Pixar but also isn't the worst. Same for The Departed among the rest of Scorsese's films.

2007 No Country For Old Men vs Ratatouille

Ratatouille by quite a bit for me. No Country For Old Men is good, Rataouille is great. I saw it 3 times when it was in theaters.

2008 Slumdog Millionaire vs WALL-E

Kind of the reverse formula of 2007 for me.

2009 The Hurt Locker vs Up (N/A)

Didn't see The Hurt Locker, Up is excellent.

As for 2010 so far....

Both I Am Love and Inception were a lot more interesting and exciting than Toy Story 3, which seemed pretty average to me (and a lot less visually exciting than the "average" Pixar film).

I Am Love is in Italian but it references Ratatouille so maybe even mark f would like it...

[edit: oops, sorry mark, i misread your "foreign" gibe. i certainly agree that there's nothing intrinsically better about "real" movies than animation, any more than there's anything automatically better about foreign vs. hollywood or vice versa]

I haven't seen enough of those Best Picture winners to comment conclusively, but I've seen all the Pixar movies repeatedly and firmly believe that anything that comes out of Pixar is better than about 95% of the stuff that comes from everywhere else.

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Pixar wins that whole list except for the departed. Even though i loved cars. The departed was better. but then again Im sort of obssessed with anything that pixar puts out.

pixar is way better...

I know it's an old thread but it's a really great idea.

1995 Braveheart vs Toy Story
I love Braveheart. Hell being Scottish if you don't they actually throw you out of the country! But it can't top Toy Story. Such a big part of my childhood.
1998 Shakespeare in Love vs A Bug's Life
Not seen Shakespeare in Love yet so won't vote. A Bug's Life, while not vintage Pixar, is still a very enjoyable film.
1999 American Beauty vs Toy Story 2
Really tough as I love both films but wen for Toy Story 2 narrowly. Again I think the childhood factor won it.
2001 A Beautiful Mind vs Monsters, Inc.
Clear winner this time round. Monster Inc is wonderful, definitely the most underrated of the Pixar films for me.
2003 The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King vs Finding Nemo
Tough to do this as I adore Nemo but it doesn't stand a chance against my worship for the LotR films
2004 Million Dollar Baby vs The Incredibles
Not seen Million Dollar Baby so will leave again. And personally I'm not a fan of The Incredibles. It's a good film but could never understand the love for it
2006 The Departed vs Cars
Not seen The Departed either. Cars was only decent though so The Departed has a very good chance
2007 No Country For Old Men vs Ratatouille
Another really tight contest, just giving the edge to Ratatouille for it's immense sweetness and the ratatouille/food critic scene
2008 Slumdog Millionaire vs WALL-E
Not close! A complete destruction by what is probably my favourite Pixar film
2009 The Hurt Locker vs Up
Again not seen Hurt Locker so another one left blank. Up is terrific
2010 The King's Speech v Toy Story 3
The tightest yet. King's Speech is wonderful but Toy Story 3 was my film of the year so that just scrapes it


I said on my introduction thread I worshipped at the altar of Pixar and this certainly goes along with that statement.

Let's see, my opinion would be:

1995 Braveheart vs Toy Story
1998 Shakespeare in Love vs A Bug's Life (haven't watched Shakespeare in Love)
1999 American Beauty vs Toy Story 2
2001 A Beautiful Mind vs Monsters, Inc.
2003 The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King vs Finding Nemo (I guess that only someone who didn't get into the LoR films could disagree here, out of best picture oscar winners the LoR films are the ones I liked the most, the Return of the King is truly a great film in my book and nothing I ever watched made by pixar compares to it, though, Wall-E would be the closest match I still rate LoR slighly higher: 9.5 vs 9.0).
2004 Million Dollar Baby vs The Incredibles (haven't watched The Incredibles yet)
2006 The Departed vs Cars
2007 No Country For Old Men vs Ratatouille
2008 Slumdog Millionaire vs WALL-E
2009 The Hurt Locker vs Up
2010 The King's Speech v Toy Story 3

That's 6x3 for me. Pixar peaked in 2007-2009, Toy Story 3 was mediocre and Finding Nemo was just "very good", but not great (still suffered from being a bit too dim-witted). Still, they are the best producers of feature length animation ever in the US (though I admit I actually prefer the South Park TV series over the entire Pixar output, as the best animated thing ever made in the US, though they are of a different category).

Wall-E is pure genius. That and the original Toy Story are better than any of those Oscar winners by far.

Screw the Oscars.

In the match-ups I am able to vote in, Pixar wins in 2001, 2007, 2008 and 2009; and the BP winners in 1999, 2003, 2006 and 2010. So it's a 4-4 tie for me.

I'm an oscars fan, and I love how 95% of this site isn't. But year for year comparisons don't seem all that much too fair. But if one has to choose:

Beautiful Mind
Finding Nemo
Ratatouille
Wall E

These are literally the only ones that I've seen both from. Bottom line: I like a lot of oscar winners and I like Pixar.

Wall-E is also my favorite feature length animated film made in the US, out of the 50-60 US animations that I have watched in my lifetime. It is the most emotionally powerful, visually inventive, though it is less complex than Up, but in its simplicity it gains elegance and affecting depth (it is perhaps the most Miyazaki-like of the Pixar's films, in it's ecological themes, its slower pacing and less plot driven nature).

Though, it is not my favorite animated film (there are around 20 anime films which have made a greater impression on me) and I didn't find it better than the Lord of the Rings, The Departed and Gladiator, three best picture oscar winners.

Still, Pixar has proven to be one of the best film studios currently working on the planet as they haven't made a bad film from those I have watched (the three Toy Stories, Finding Nemo, Monsters-inc., The Incredibles (watched it today), Bug's Life, Wall-E, Up, Ratatoille). All were good to excellent movies (though I wouldn't personally rate any Pixar movie a movie (there are about 60-70 films that I have watched that I would rate as high)).