Contributors to Disney Wiki 8:02 Show all Era Notable Films Key Achievements The Beginning (1995–2000) Toy Story , A Bug's Life , Toy Story 2 First CGI feature film. Golden Age (2001–2010) Finding Nemo , The Incredibles , Ratatouille , WALL-E , Up Dominated the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. The Sequel Era (2011–2019) Toy Story 3 & 4 , Finding Dory , Incredibles 2 , Coco Four films in this era grossed over $1 billion each. Modern Era (2020–2026) Soul , Turning Red , Inside Out 2 , Elio , Hoppers Inside Out 2 became the second highest-grossing animated film of all time. Top-Rated Films (Critics' Choice) Reviewers from Rotten Tomatoes and Variety consistently rank the following as the studio's best work: Rotten Tomatoes +1 Toy Story 2 (1999) : Often cited as a rare perfect sequel. Toy Story (1995) : The foundational classic that changed the industry. Finding Nemo (2003) : Praised for its visual beauty and fatherhood narrative. Inside Out (2015) : Noted for its psychological depth and exploration of emotions. Rotten Tomatoes +4 Show more The "Pixar Secret" to Storytelling Pixar's success is often attributed to its focus on
Pixar Animation Studios was founded in 1986 by Ed Catmull and Alvy Ray Smith. Initially, the studio focused on computer animation and visual effects for films like Young Sherlock Holmes (1985) and The Great Mouse Detective (1986). In 1991, Pixar partnered with Disney to produce Beauty and the Beast , which became the first Disney animated film to use computer-generated imagery (CGI). disney pixar animation movies