Disney vs. Dreamworks? Psh. They haven't been relevant since Shrek. Disney vs. Illumination? Get those stupid Minions out of here! What about Blue Sky? Uh...Ice Age was a thing. Can any animation studio stand up to Disney? Well, there's Ghibli! But that's a different list altogether, and also invites a whole discussion of Western vs. Eastern styles of animation. Besides, Disney has had a competitor on its payroll for years. I'm talking, of course, about the incomparable Pixar.

Pixar had a wild, fascinating history before it fell in with Disney. Starting out as a technology company, Pixar was actually founded in part by Steve Jobs. Members were also hired by George Lucas himself to make VFX for Lucasfilm. That long journey led the core members to start playing with the idea of making computer-generated movies of their own. That of course landed Pixar into a partnership with Disney. Toy Story was released, and the rest is history.

Except not really, because that history is still happening. Eventually, Pixar was fully bought by Disney, and that lead to Pixar people going over to Disney animation to help reshape the way they make animated movies. Disney's movies shot up in quality as a result, giving us instant hits like Frozen and Wreck-It Ralph. Pixar, meanwhile, fell back on sequels without its usual bosses there to steer the ship. But does Cars 3 really spell doom for Pixar? No, because Cars 3 was fantastic and also stop hating on Cars for no reason. Disney may have gotten a lot better, but Pixar is still the greatest. And here's the proof.

22 Why People Eating Chinese Food Makes For Compelling Drama

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One thing Pixar does better than Disney, better than any animation studio really, is tell human stories. Don't let the scenarios fool you, Pixar's worlds are the most grounded worlds. Disney's stories are most famously about princesses and talking animals, it's sort of its brand. And it's not just the '90s movies from Disney's "golden age" either. Even its most recent, progressive films like Zootopia and Moana are literally about talking animals and a princess.

Pixar, however, has told multiple stories centered around human characters just being human.

Sure there's talking toys, superheroes, and living embodiments of emotions mixed in, but these are just there to relate ideas about the universal human experience. Not that a good fantasy romp is a bad thing. It's just that only Pixar seems to be able to take family dinner and make it a comedic animated scene.

21 Pixar Speaks To The Inner Adult

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Pixar's stories are way more adult than Disney's. I'm sure commenters are going to immediately bring up the various jokes from both studio's movies that have double meanings for adults. But it's not about humor. It's about theme and message. Pixar has shown time and again that it's not afraid to tackle themes like mortality and middle age crisis. The Incredibles is all about adults dealing with adult problems. We see a man who has lost passion in his life because he can't be what he was before, only for him to rediscover the joys of family. That journey is purely adult in nature, even if it takes place within a stereotypical superhero caper. Even in its second renaissance, Disney still tends to lean more towards things like the magic of friendship and dreams coming true. Pixar shows no hesitation in telling mature stories that can't be resolved with a wish.

20 Better Love Story Than Twilight (And Beauty & The Beast)

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The beginnings of Pixar movies take risks that not many other animation studios, including Disney, would consider. Look at Wall-E and Up. The first few scenes of those movies contain little to no dialogue at all. And yet they still capture your attention and stir up emotions. The reason Pixar is able to do this is that it focuses on the emotional impact of its visuals from the get-go. There's an interview with Lee Unkrich, director of Coco, where he talks about playing Toy Story music when looking at Coco storyboards just to make sure they emotionally resonate the way Toy Story did for him.

That focus on emotional impact seems different than Disney's approach.

Disney seems to prefer to have action and noise right off the bat, as if kids will get bored if they go without pure stimulation for more than five minutes.

19 What Goes On In Their Heads?

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The core group behind Pixar is known to be a lot stricter than its Disney counterpart. Pixar has what is called the Brain Trust. Screenwriters go to them to get notes on scripts and directors have to show the visuals as they progress. The Brain Trust is notorious for being quite brutally honest and hard to impress. They will not hesitate to boot staff mid-project if what they bring in doesn't work. Disney, by comparison, has something called a Story Trust. Their structure is similar because Pixar boss John Lasseter came to run Disney back in 2006. However, while Disney has taken cues from Pixar's process, the Story Trust is still reported to be much nicer to writers. Which approach is better is obviously a matter of opinion, but there is definitely something to be said for the Brain Trust when it consistently turns out such tight plots.

18 Woody's Kinda Mean, And That's Okay

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Morality in Pixar movies tends to be a bit more grey than what one might expect. No, Pixar isn't Zack Snyder's DC where everyone is somehow both hero and villain at the same time. But Pixar lets its heroes be selfish and its villains be reasonable. Compare that to Disney, who still want to keep the line between good and evil crystal clear. This is especially true in '90s Disney, before the Pixar merger. Aladdin might be a street rat, but he's got a heart of gold. In post-Pixar Disney, we do get Nick Wilde and Maui mixing things up. But they still play second fiddle to Judy and Moana, two purely good protagonists.

Meanwhile, Woody and Mr. Incredible lie and betray to get what they want, but still end up being fully relatable.

Pixar characters are often conflicted between doing the right thing and pursuing their own desires, and are stronger characters for it.

17 Making Wishes Come True Since Always

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Disney's main premise for films is "Once Upon A Time." There's a reason they call it Disney Magic, fairy tales have been Disney's schtick since pretty much the beginning. There were the Mickey Mouse shorts, but in terms of feature films, it was fairy tails that put Disney on the map. At first, it was because stories like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty were universally known and the rights were free since they are public domain. Nowadays though, the Disney Princess brand is just so strong that making more is just a sound business decision. Even as the Disney animation of the 2010s continues to branch into more modern settings, Disney's greatest successes will always be fairy tale stories. For every Wreck-It Ralph, there is a Frozen. And guess which one sells more merchandise. For Disney, fantasy is the most marketable thing it sells.

16 Telling Stories About Life Since Always

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Disney's treks into magical worlds makes a lot of sense. Many go to the movies for an escape. What better escape is there but a world where wishes come true and adventure is just around the corner? Pixar's basic movie premise boils down to "What If?" What if toys were alive? What if there actually were monsters under the bed? What if there was a command center in our brains? And yet, despite these fantastical elements, Pixar always makes sure that the heart of its stories are emotions and experiences that come from reality.

The toys face their own mortality in a way Disney's many human characters never have.

The monsters face dwindling resources in a way that anyone who has lived paycheck-to-paycheck will understand. Even the emotions in their command center are a way of depicting teenage angst. Pixar understands the power of fantasy, but as a tool to view reality.

15 Stay In Your Lane

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One way in which Pixar and Disney are similar in that they're both stuck in their respective fields. Disney tells escapist fairy tales and Pixar brings up painfully real "What If?" scenarios. Audiences don't seem to want to let them forget it. For every movie Disney makes that breaks the fairy tail mold, such as Wreck-It Ralph, it seems that a princess movie must come to overshadow it. Ralph's getting a sequel, but Elsa's getting one as well. Plus a short, a Broadway musical, and the hearts and minds of every girl under ten. Pixar, meanwhile, can't shake the idea of "blank brought to life." It's gotten dangerous, as audiences inevitably compare everything Pixar does to the more "original" movies like Wall-E and Toy Story. Yet when Pixar did try the fairy tale thing with Brave, it didn't really stick.

14 Why Did Disney Do This?

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Let's talk about the shorts that air before Disney and Pixar movies, shall we? Pixar shorts are often just as well-regarded as the main features themselves. They also come as a huge surprise, telling new stories with wildly unique concepts. Disney's shorts...yeah. They are often set in the worlds of previously successful movies, as if to be an advertisement for the inevitable animated series. As such, they can be filler at best and...just plain awful at worst. Recently, Disney forced a 20-minute long Frozen short before Coco that audiences were not impressed with. Many people even panicked thinking they were at the wrong movie as Olaf took up the spot where Mexican skeletons were supposed to be. The backlash got so bad that Disney pulled the short before Coco even left theaters. And that is why Pixar is the master of the imaginative, restrained pre-movie short.

13 Villain Vs. Antagonist

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The antagonists of Pixar movies pose a much different threat than those of Disney movies. Disney villains tend to drive the plot, and that's true in both the older 2D stuff and the newer movies. If not for Scar's schemes, Mufasa would still be alive to guide Simba and his journey of self-discovery wouldn't have happened. If the predators of Zootopia didn't go crazy, then Judy would have probably still been handing out parking tickets. Pixar's antagonists, however, add to the hero's troubles but don't cause them. Sid complicates life for Andy's toys, but it's ultimately Woody's desire to be loved and adored that sets things in motion. He pushes Buzz out the window, causing their adventure. Lightning McQueen was always going to get older and face retirement, Jackson Storm just exacerbated the issue. Pixar knows that life can't be magically made better by throwing a bad guy off a tower.

12 If They're All Heroes, Then None Of Them Are

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Much like the villains, Pixar's heroes are of a different breed than Disney's. Disney protagonists from the 2D era are by and large are flawless. If they lack anything, it's a family, a home, something external. Something they can get with true love's kiss. Post-Pixar, Disney heroes like Ralph and Moana do have flaws. But even so, the conflict of the stories come from external sources like the people around them or a rampaging goddess. Pixar heroes, meanwhile, create their own conflicts. Woody is self-centered, Marlin is perpetually afraid.

These issues aren't so easily fixed by uncovering a secret or launching a daring rescue.

They do those things, but the movie doesn't just end after a kiss or sunrise over a newly-won peace. The journey truly ends only after the hero learns a lesson and begins to change their ways.

11 Wait There's Something After A Wedding?

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Many writers express that romance is easy to write, but an actual marriage is harder. Television series will do the "will they, won't they" dance for multiple seasons for this very reason. Disney falls into this trap as well. So many of its stories show a romance blossom and end with a kiss, because those are the exciting parts. Or if they're trying to be progressive like in Moana, they just avoid the romance altogether. Pixar, thankfully, has skilled enough writers to make a marriage work. The Incredibles is a great example of how marriage can be at the center of a narrative and still be entertaining. The Incredibles 2 even seems to be ready to flip traditional marriage roles and show the humorous way the characters handle that. Happy endings come with struggles of their own, and Pixar is able to use them to tell great stories.

10 Not The Same Old Song And Dance

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Pixar has never done a musical, and musicals are clearly Disney's bread and butter. Why hasn't Pixar ever done a musical? Is it because it doesn't want to compete with its father company? Or because it's too interested in grounded stories to go that route? Apparently, Pixar is actually open to the idea. The right story just hasn't come along to justify it. According to Pixar animator James Murphy: "Pixar is a director-driven studio, and they put their money into individuals with ideas. And if an individual comes up with an idea that deserves or warrants a musical, Pixar will put everything they have behind a musical because it comes from a very genuine place." Coco came pretty close, so maybe one day we will see Pixar make music an actual part of the storytelling.

9 So That's Why Incredibles 2 Took Forever!

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Pixar was known for the longest time as the animation studio that didn't make sequels. Disney, however, will greenlight a sequel as soon as the money starts pouring in. Do we really need Frozen 2? Doesn't matter, little girls love Elsa. Things certainly aren't as bad as they were in the late '90s/early 2000s when Disney pumped out crappy direct-to-video sequels of its hits just to squeeze out every last penny. But Frozen's success and the way it instantly spawned a Broadway show, sequel, and Olaf Christmas special show that Disney will still wring that princess towel until its dry. Pixar does do sequels now, much to critics' annoyance, but it the sequels don't happen unless the story is merited. Incredibles 2 is only finally happening because they found the right story. It only took about ten years.

8 That Disney Princess Face

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The art style of Pixar movies always serves some type of storytelling purpose. Even if it's just to draw the viewer more into the film's world, Pixar puts effort into details of characters so that their look says something about them before they even speak a word. Remember how much work went into Merida's crazy hair? Pixar animators put a lot more work into textures like hair and water. We spend so much of both Nemo movies looking at water, so it better be as lifelike as possible. Disney, meanwhile, has stuck to a pretty standard style for years. Even after transitioning from 2D to 3D animation, the leading women of Disney films all have that big-eyed, heart-shaped face. A Disney Princess will always look like a Disney Princess in the end.

7 Incredible Journeys

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The worlds of Pixar movies tend to feel grander, because Pixar knows how to really take advantage of its settings. Perhaps it has to do with the way Pixar stories handle characters, because they are all about ripping a character out of their comfort zone. Wall-E goes into space and back, and Joy's journey takes her through every part of Riley's head. Even the toys leaving Andy's room and going to Pizza Planet feels like a grand journey. Every corner of these worlds serve the journey in some way, and are therefore inextricably linked to the story. Disney, meanwhile, tends to focus on a few locations. Belle's town, San Fransokyo, Agrabah, the action centers around one location and the changes that occur inside of it. The story will even meander just to show a silly aspect of these places. Thankfully, Moana and Wreck-It Ralph show that Disney is finally starting to push these boundaries.

6 About That Sequel Thing...

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On the topic of sequels, in 2018 it seems like being able to tell Pixar from Disney is harder than ever. Back in the late '90s/early 2000's, Disney would just put out direct-to-video sequels after another. Mulan, Tinkerbell, every semi-marketable character got a sequel. Pixar didn't play that game, seemingly getting more and more original with each movie. Then, things changed. From 2009 on, Disney started to get more original. Tangled took a fresh look at the old princess story. Wreck-It Ralph was the most Pixar story Disney ever told. Meanwhile, Pixar fell back on sequels. Cars 2 became the flag people waved to say that Pixar is dead, and even Dory got her own movie. This year, it's Incredibles 2 and Wreck-It Ralph 2. So I guess everybody is doing sequels now?

5 Get Outta Here With That CGI Cogsworth

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Disney's going through a bit of a phase right now where it makes live-action versions of all of its classics. It's a bit of a tightrope to walk because no one really asked for remakes of these iconic films. To preempt the "my childhood" cries, Disney seems to be updating these old stories with the 21st century in mind. So now Cinderella is a more active protagonist rather than a girl who just stumbles upon a husband. And Beauty and the Beast has a gay character — which, believe it or not, is still a rarity in Disney movies. While all this stuff does matter a great deal, these films are still quite divisive in the community.

Fortunately, Pixar's concepts tend to rely on animation so there's no fear of its classics getting this treatment.

There's no reason to make a live-action Toy Story or Inside Out because the amount of CGI involved would just make it animation anyway.

4 You Won't Be Writing For Pixar Anytime Soon

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Pixar works alone. And by that, I mean Pixar is known to be very closed off to outside help. The in-house writers are the only ones trusted to write and fix Pixar movies. If one director fails, the Brain Trust won't hesitate to replace them but will still keep the former director on staff. It has gotten to the point where agencies reportedly won't send their writers to Pixar.

Disney will take them, though, as it is known to be friendlier to outside talent.

Jennifer Lee was brought in fresh, did a lot of work on Wreck-It Ralph, and then was kept on for Frozen. Something employees say would never happen at Pixar. Different strokes for different folks I suppose. Although you'd think that with one of the world's most successful storytelling companies paying its bills, Pixar would be more eager to collaborate.

3 When Disney Got The Chancla

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Of the two, Pixar cares more about art while Disney cares more about money. This is evidenced by the Dia De Los Muertos fiasco. Pixar wanted to make a movie about the holiday. Who wouldn't? The colorful images and unique mythology of Mexico's culture are great material for an animated feature. Unfortunately, things got messy when Disney's business side got involved. To be fair, this department is separate from Disney's animation department. Still, Disney created a lot of trouble when it tried to trademark "Dia De Los Muertos." After all, that would be like trying to trademark "Christmas" or "New Year's." One can see how silly it is to try and claim a whole holiday as company property. The title was changed after a huge social media backlash. And all because Pixar just thought it would be cool to make a movie set in Mexico and Disney wanted that money.