RANKING PIXAR'S BEST CHARACTERS!

In a span of 12 movies Pixar has made more memorable films than most studios that have been going 100 years have made.  It's easy to see the ingredients to a good Pixar movie: stunning animation, humor for all ages, and actually complex characters worth seeing into, rather than the one-dimensional dribble kids are fed nowadays.  With the exception of a rare lemon that occurred with last years "Cars 2," Pixar (almost) never gets it wrong.  I take a look back at the five most enjoyable characters from the past 17 years in preparation for the sure to be conversation-provoking Princess Merida in the new Pixar film "Brave."

5. SYNDROME

While not instantly recognizable as other Pixar villains (Randall from "Monsters, Inc.", Stinky Pete from "Toy Story 2" for instance), Syndrome (voiced effortlessly by Jason Lee) is undoubtedly the super-villain to end all animated super-villains, especially in Pixar's only superhero movie. What makes him so great is his back-story, like any great comic book character.   All he ever wanted to be growing up was Mr. Incredible, but when his own hero turned his back on him, well...he got the super-villain syndrome.

4. MIKE WAZOWSKI
Based on title alone it sounds like a Jewish barber, but "Monsters, Inc." second protagonist is a slimy, horned cyclops who looks endlessly approachable; though if you think about what Mike would look like in real life, it actually is a little terrifying.  While Mike is the least likable of the two (who didn't want to hug Sully by the end of the movie?) he sure is the funniest, and Billy Crystal's voice is a perfect touch.  In the end Mike turns a 180 and comes out as a loving, caring monster, while still retaining his comic edge, fueling the monster world with children's laughter instead of screams.

3. CARL FREDRICKSEN
I've seen "Up" about three times and on every viewing I find something in Ed Asner's Carl Fredricksen that I hadn't noticed the previous time.  His entire life story is told silently within the first 10 minutes of the movie, and if any other movie has done that, let me know.  While he is a grump at times, he's never the stereotypical old guy that's played to death in movies.  Carl's a sensitive old man who's seen too much loss in his life, and maybe is afraid of gaining something new, like a friend in Russell, the local scout.




2. DORY

Definitely up there with Pixar's most quotable characters, Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) is the hysterically amnesiac Pacific regal blue tang fish who finds herself in a different situation every minute...because she can't remember what happened!  DeGeneres often jokes on her show that Pixar should have done a "Finding Nemo" sequel, but Dory probably could get her own prequel; "Life Before Nemo."  If the world was fair Ellen would've won an Honorary Oscar for her work, I think she's easily one of the best voices for an animated character in history, right up there with Eddie Murphy in "Shrek."

1. WOODY & BUZZ

To separate Woody and Buzz is separating Laurel from Hardy, Abbot from Costello, Tom from Jerry.  The chemistry of these seemingly unrelated toys is electric.  The friendship begins in "Toy Story," when Buzz was a dead-serious astronaut, replacing the now antique cowboy Woody, who still has a string on his back ("There's a snake in my boot!").  Buzz's arrival in that 1995 classic marked Pixar's arrival in the business as well, and there's a parallel going on.  Buzz marked the beginning of something new, colorful, inventive, like Pixar, and audiences went to embrace it just like Woody did! The emotions in the first "Toy Story," jealously, betrayal, love, acceptance...those are hard to come across done well in a G-rated animated comedy.  Woody and Buzz are likely one of the first characters a toddler is going to see (I've been to a billion daycares, "Toy Story" is a staple.  I must have seen it 15 times by now) and the one they'll remember the longest.