A common analysis is that Pixar makes films for boys. Without being too reductively gendered, while Disney makes animated films about princesses, Pixar specializes in making family-films about male sensibilities. Although what makes Pixar stand out (aside from simply good writing/animation/production etc.) is the vulnerability and emotional maturity given to these topics. They achieve this by couching familiar and resonant family dynamics within fantastical concepts, almost all Pixar films displaying some level of daddy issues.
Pixar’s ‘daddy issues’ can be broadly defined as well-meaning father figures making strained attempts to connect with their kids. Either as a literal biological relationship, or being thrust into an unexpected surrogate family. It becomes ‘dad energy’ due to the overwhelmingly male protagonists trying to adapt themselves into unfamiliar situations, usually starting with sternness before opening up to sensitivity. These guys are warm-hearted but, like many dads, awkwardly struggle to identify with the children and their responsibilities towards them. Every Pixar film can be placed on this dad-ness spectrum, which is now they are ranked below. Not by quality, only dad-ness.
Note: for the sake of simplicity, movies with several sequels (direct to video or otherwise) are grouped as a single entry.
The desolate future of WALL-E shows an Earth ravaged by environmental disaster and consumerist waste, abandoned by humanity. Which means there are no dads left. Even when robots WALL-E and EVE arrive at the megacorporate “Buy ‘n’ Large” spaceship, babies are being taught the alphabet by robots instead of fathers! Maybe one could argue WALL-E and EVE are parents guarding the new plant, but much like the lack of dialogue in WALL-E’s first half, there are no dads to be seen or heard.
As a prequel showing the college years of Mike and Sully, Monster University is set after their own childhood but before becoming parents themselves. As such, it’s another rare Pixar film without dads. Although, being a Pixar film there is a quick reference to Sully living up to his father Bill Sullivan. Plus it features “mature stature” Don Carlton, whose moustache and dad-demeanour do result in him becoming a step-father.
Pixar’s early feature about ants protecting themselves against tyrannical grasshoppers also has no dads. It gains some points for Flik’s friendship with the young Dot, but it’s more an elder brother dynamic than a dad one. Likewise, while there is a theme of poor male authority figures – greedy P.T. Flea or menacing Hopper – this is not dad-specific.
On the one hand, Finding Dory is about the amnesiac blue-tang Dory’s attempts to reunite with her parents, father included. But on the other hand, her memory loss means they are mostly absent from the film. When Dory does find them, although a touching scene and all, her mother and father are fairly interchangeable. So Finding Dory is a family film, but not a dad one.
Brave was a big deal for Pixar upon its release, being their first (and only) foray into the more traditional Disney canon. Additionally, instead of Pixar’s daddy-issues, Brave is entirely focused on the mother-daughter relationship between Scottish Queen Elinor and her rebellious child Merida. Such dynamics are wonderfully underexplored, but they also put Brave pretty low on this list. It does gain some stature due to the beefy and boisterous King Fergus, who Merida initially relates to more than her mother.
Can Cars’ Cars even have children? Like many other questions about the Cars universe, it’s a rabbit-hole nobody really wants to go down. But while there are many factors that change Lighting McQueen from fame-starved rookie to considerate good-sport in Radiator Springs over the first Cars, one of the main factors is retired racer Doc Hudson acting as McQueen’s stern father-figure. Cars 3 sees McQueen take up the same mentorship position to Cruz Ramirez, doubling down on the dad energy. Although these films lose significant dad-points for Cars 2; a spy movie centered on redneck tractor Mater, severely swerving away from the dad angle.
The Good Dinosaur is entirely motivated by the father of the timid young dinosaur Arlo pushing him to confront his fears. However, this daddy dino also dies early on. So while his presence looms large in The Good Dinosaur, it becomes more about Arlo forging his own relationship with a human caveboy, overshadowing the dad-ness.
Inside Out is very much about parental supervision of pre-teen children, and learning to let them experience emotional complexity. Unfortunately for this ranking, Joy and Sadness are two moms catering to Riley’s needs instead of dads. However, despite his brief appearances, Riley’s father has become a bit of a meme as a ‘Hot Dad’. This, plus an animated short focusing on his own brain control-room, places Inside Out slightly higher than it might otherwise rank.
Ratatouille introduces the audience to Remy’s desire to cook in opposition to his father, Django, who tells Remy that for rats “food is fuel” and to “shut up and eat your garbage”. This family rivalry gets slightly lost after Remy arrives in Paris and starts his work-place relationship with Linguini. Luckily for Ratatouille there’s a subplot about Linguini being the illegitimate son of famous chef Gusteau. Although the climax does involve a flashback to Anton Ego eating his mother’s cooking, these dad elements push Ratatouille forward in the ranking.
Miguel’s desire to play music goes against his entire family, especially his grandmother Abeulita, instead of only his father. Yet the original ban on music stemmed from the abandoned of his great-grandmother Coco by her father, making all of Coco derived from daddy issues. So although Miguel’s adventures in the Land of the Dead show him reconnecting with his great-great-grandfather, this becomes a conduit of a touching scene between an elderly daughter and dad.
Pixar’s latest film got slightly lost amid the outbreak of COVID-19. As a reminder, Onward follows two elven brothers on a quest to finish a resurrection spell on their long-dead dad, having only summoned his bottom-half. As Onward’s dad is only half-formed, the film subtly swaps out dad energy for brotherly bonding, but the whole plot focusing on the father means there’s a big dad-sized core at Onward’s center.
The first Toy Story – also Pixar’s first film – had Woody and Buzz Lightyear as archetypes of father-figures (cowboys and astronauts) competing to be the favorite toy/surrogate-dad of young Andy. Their dad-ness was only enhanced by the conspicuous absence of Andy’s actual father. Subsequent films saw them and their fellow toys wrestle with how kids will inevitably outgrow them, a very real concern for any parent. As Pixar’s flagship franchise, the Toy Story films have long represented their dad concerns. Plus, Toy Story 4 saw Woody act as a fatherly mentor to Sporky, and eventually settle down into retirement like a true dad.
Although more a granddad film, Up is a film about grand plans not working out as expected. Carl and Ellie wanted children but – as the now iconic opening montage shows – they were unable to. A trip to Paradise Falls is meant to compensate for this, but as life gets in the way, Carl is left a crotchety old widow. Eventually he makes the trip himself (alongside thousands of helium balloons) but inadvertently takes along young boy-scout Russell. It turns out Russell also has family issues, his own dad being absent. So Up is touching film about Carl opening up to a new adventure of being a surrogate dad, to both Russell and the talking dog Dug.
After his ‘glory days’ as a superhero bachelor, Mr. Incredible has been relocated to suburban domestic life, working in an office selling insurance and complaining about participation trophies. The Incredibles sees how Bob Parr wishes to return to his carefree past, but due to the schemes of supervillain Syndrome, rediscovers the value of his family and dad-ness. The Incredibles 2 doubles down on his dad-role when, after Elastigirl is sent out on missions, Bob has to adapt to the home-front as a stay-at-home dad, including learning “new math” with Dash and being an embarrassing father to Violet. The Incredibles films show the range of family dynamics, but in them Mr. Incredible is the ultimate dad.
Mike and Sully are content factory-working bachelors, until suddenly a human girl bursts into their world, turning them into a pair of unexpected dads. The joke of Monsters, Inc. is that this world of monsters is terrified of this adorable young girl, but it also mirrors the initial scare that most new parents (dads in particular) undergo. But over Monsters, Inc. they go from being frightened of Boo, to being scared for her safety. Monsters Inc. is about the panic that comes from being a new dad, and also the reward from making your kids laugh.
Unsurprisingly, Finding Nemo is the biggest dad film of Pixar’s output. Having lost his wife and eggs in the opening scene, Marlin is an extremely overprotective father to his sole surviving son, Nemo. Every parent’s worst fear is realized after Nemo is captured, forcing Marlin to break out of his comfort zone. Albert Brooks brings maximum dad energy to Marlin, from his beleaguered concern to his awful dad-jokes (despite being a clownfish). By focusing purely on the father-son dynamic and how the two find each other in the vast and unforgiving ocean, Finding Nemo is the most dad film of Pixar’s, and therefore of all time.
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