Pixar Movies That Do Genre Better Than Live-Action Blockbusters

Just keeping it real here, but true stories about historical royalty tend to be stuffy and dull. Even the good ones. Does anybody really find The King's Speech, Victoria & Abdul, or The Other Boleyn Girl all that exciting to watch? Costumes, accents, mansions with fancy wallpaper in every room - it's the same-old, same-old every time.

While not based on a true story, Brave is about medieval royalty, and it's nothing less than vibrant. Blessedly free of all the usual period-movie trappings, the story follows Merida, the daughter of a Scottish king, who rejects the life that's planned out for her and attempts to forge her own path instead. Despite obvious elements of fantasy - not the least of which is Merida's mother turning into a bear - Brave potently captures the way people born into royal families are forced to live by a set of expectations that may quash their sense of individuality. 

And because it's fictional, the movie has the freedom to let Merida follow her heart in the end.

When you think of survival movies, you probably envision something like The Martian, in which Matt Damon has to stay alive when left behind on Mars. Or maybe Cast Away, with Tom Hanks and a volleyball stranded on a desert island. You might even think of Deliverance, the '70s classic about four buddies being chased by angry, violent rednecks during a whitewater rafting experience gone awry.

What you probably don't conjure up is Finding Nemo. It's true, though. This animated movie about a fish has all the peril and tension of those other survival tales. In his attempt to find the son from whom he's been separated, clownfish Marlin is nearly eaten by a shark, gets knocked cold by some old naval mines left in the water, endures stinging by jellyfish, and gets swallowed by a whale. 

Survival movies, by definition, put their characters in increasing danger, so that you're never really sure whether they'll live to see the end credits. Finding Nemo does that, adding a layer of power by having Marlin face all these hazards in an effort to be reunited with his child.

Mismatched buddy comedies have been around since the dawn of cinema. From Laurel & Hardy to Abbott & Costello and beyond, pairing two people of opposing personalities is a surefire route to laughter. The formula really hit its stride in the '80s, when the success of pictures like Lethal Weapon, 48 Hrs., and Planes, Trains & Automobiles made it super-popular.

Standing at the top of the heap is Toy Story, released in 1995. The first full-length computer-animated feature imagined the mismatched buddies as a child's playthings. Of course, Woody is a cowboy doll and Buzz Lightyear is a newfangled spaceman toy. As is a requirement of the genre, the two start off as rivals, then become friends after going through a hilarious mishap-laden adventure together.

Toy Story again demonstrates how Pixar can elevate any genre by animating it. Most mismatched buddy comedies are solely about how people from different worlds learn to like and respect each other. This one has that same element, but also an additional one. The movie explores how a child's taste in toys changes, as well as the emotional attachment most kids feel to a special plaything. For that reason, it's become a certified classic that launched an entire franchise.

Family dramas often deal with conflict between members, long-held secrets coming to the surface, or tragedies that everyone struggles to cope with. The key to making them work is to tell a story people will relate to, or that they'll see their own families in. 

Onward runs with that idea, addressing weighty issues rarely tackled in animation. It's about two brothers who cast a magic spell to bring their late father back. The older child, Barley, has some regrets over the state of the relationship with his dad and wants to rectify them. The younger one, Ian, was born after his father's passing and just wants to make a memory with him. 

Even if you haven't lost a parent, everybody has lost someone. Onward movingly deals with the subject of death within a family and the emotional fallout that accompanies such a loss. Only a cold-hearted person could avoid tearing up at the end. 

Action movies are a dime a dozen these days. The chase and action sequences in Ratatouille are better than what the vast majority of them offer. The movie borrows elements that have become common onscreen in recent years and cranks them up a notch or two via the use of animation. Because the "camera" is virtual, viewers can be made to feel as though they're a part of the action instead of merely viewing it.

For proof, look at the sequence in which Remy the rat is chased by an angry moped-riding chef around the streets of Paris. The sequence has a sense of speed and movement that's dizzying. The nature of the chase evolves, as the two move from dodging through traffic to hopping aboard a boat. There are genuine stakes involved, with Remy clutching to paperwork that proves his pal Linguini is the rightful owner of the restaurant; if he loses them, Linguini is sunk.

That's just one example. Ratatouille's action-oriented scenes are exciting, clever, and visceral, putting most modern action movies to shame.

For decades, audiences have been going to James Bond movies in search of globetrotting action, high-tech gizmos, and thrilling tales of bold heroes defeating megalomaniacal villains. The series is still going strong, but it's also not quite as fresh as it once was. The actors playing 007 change periodically, yet the films themselves continue to adhere to a template that was created back in the 1960s - a template the producers have been reluctant to tamper with.

The Incredibles borrowed that template, breathing new life into it not just through animation but also by making the heroes a family of superheroes rather than one solitary spy. The mad villain with plans for world domination is accounted for, as are the crime-fighting gadgets. And the action scenes? They're every bit as exciting as the ones in any Bond movie. Maybe even more so because the animated format doesn't require keeping one foot in the real world.

Even better, The Incredibles has thematic depth you won't find in a Bond adventure, tackling issues related to marriage and family.