Pixar Movies In Chronological Order (Based On The Pixar Theory)

Pixar Movies In Chronological Order (Based On The Pixar Theory)

The Pixar Theory proposes how every Pixar movie can be watched in chronological order based on a timeline of the movies’ events. Although the animation studio began in 1979, it debuted its first feature film, Toy Story, in 1995. Pixar has produced 25 feature-length films to date, and there’s a compelling theory that connects them all in a shared universe.

Pixar Movies in chronological order begins with 2015’s The Good Dinosaur, supposedly establishing an alternate universe where the asteroid that would have wiped out the dinosaurs instead passes by Earth. In this timeline, animals show incredible intelligence from an early stage before humans eventually take over. The Pixar Universe Theory then details humans’ evacuation of Earth, leading to the rise of machines and, ultimately, the world of 2001’s Monsters Inc.

Pixar always fills their movies with Easter eggs referencing past and future projects. However, the Pixar Theory, popularized by Jon Negroni, convincingly incorporates every movie into a cleverly researched timeline. Humans, animals, and machines are all accounted for in the ordered list below (via Radio Times), even if the theory poses a few minor issues.

Every Pixar Movie in Chronological Order

Pixar Movies In Chronological Order (Based On The Pixar Theory)
  • The Good Dinosaur
  • Brave
  • The Incredibles
  • Incredibles 2
  • Luca
  • Toy Story
  • Toy Story 2
  • Turning Red
  • Finding Nemo
  • Finding Dory
  • Ratatouille
  • Toy Story 3
  • Toy Story 4
  • Up
  • Inside Out
  • Coco
  • Soul
  • Cars
  • Cars 2
  • Cars 3
  • WALL-E
  • A Bug’s Life
  • Onward
  • Monsters University
  • Monsters Inc.

According to the Pixar Theory, Brave introduces magic to the universe, including the ability to bring inanimate objects to life and create portals through doors. Jumping forward into the 1950s/1960s, The Incredibles establishes the government’s desire to harness human energy through superheroes, leading to the creation of Artificial Intelligence with the Omnidroid. This era marks the foundation of Buy n Large (BnL), the conglomerate that eventually controls governmental bodies in WALL-E. Until this time, BnL extracts human energy via toys. They are power conduits unknowingly feeding off human emotion that consequently become sentient beings. Toy Story 3 clarifies the connection to BnL, with the company logo appearing on Buzz Lightyear’s batteries. Meanwhile, animals continue to display startling intelligence, thriving off interaction with human culture, as evidenced in Ratatouille and with Dug in Up. The latter also features BnL’s significant industrial expansion.

Pixar Movies in chronological order continues with two of the 2010s’ best-animated movies of the decade, Inside Out and Coco. Both emphasize the power of human emotion, which BnL seeks to exploit. By 2057, the Pixar Theory claims the company rules a severely overpopulated world. Humans evacuate in spaceships, leaving robots to clean up the planet. Incinerating the world’s garbage increases pollution, making Earth uninhabitable for many years. During this time, machines take over, brought to life by their owners’ love. The Cars trilogy reveals there is a fuel shortage, as well as a lack of humans to power their existence, so cars die out while the Earth begins to recover. By the end of WALL-E in 2805, humans return to repopulate, and their presence gradually renews the growth of animals and insects, who rebuild their own societies. Heading into the year 3100, creatures have evolved significantly and seemingly overtaken humans as the dominant civilization. Monsters Inc. ends the main timeline with monsters scaring human children to extract energy, using wooden doors that are portals back in time to when humans ruled.

Technically, the Pixar Theory suggests the chronology truly ends back near the beginning, with the witch in Brave being an adult Boo. Desperate to reunite with Sully, she learned magic and traveled back in time, unaware of their existence far into the future. This would explain her use of portals and the discreet carving of Sully in her hut, along with her obsession with bears. Not everything in the Pixar Theory works. Inside Out’s Riley was glimpsed in Finding Dory, and certain other out-of-continuity Easter eggs are overlooked. However, it’s a surprisingly strong chronology, with a compelling evolution and a sweet ending that keeps every Pixar movie in a constant loop.

How Turning Red Fits Into the Pixar Universe

turning red theatrical release

Pixar’s latest movie Turning Red fits comfortably into this chronology. Unlike many other Pixar films, Turning Red is set in a clearly identifiable real-world place and time: in 2002 Toronto. Assuming that films like Toy Story and Finding Nemo take place roughly around the time of their release, this would place it immediately after Toy Story 2.

While there aren’t obvious references to other Pixar films or staples like the BnL conglomerate, Turning Red being set in a universe where the supernatural and superhuman are more common does help to explain why Meilin’s transformation into a magical being isn’t that much of a shock. It’s surprising to the people around her and makes the local news, but it doesn’t seem to provoke a massive re-questioning of the world that the existence of magic would, and this can be explained by pre-existing cultural knowledge of superheroes like the Incredibles with superhuman powers. While this restrained response can also be explained using the movie’s magic realist tone, the Pixar universe theory is a fun way to put Turning Red and other new releases in relation to the studio’s classics.

Key Release Dates

  • Lightyear Movie Poster

    Lightyear
    Release Date:

    2022-06-08