In 2006, Disney conquered the animation market by buying Pixar Studios, an awards season heavy-hitter that's made some of the greatest modern animated movies in recent cinematic history. Pixar characters really run the gamut from confused fish to friendly monsters to embodiments of feelings, but here are some of the very best.
1. Marlin
In "Finding Nemo," Albert Brooks' overprotective clownfish Marlin just wants to find his missing son, and he'll stop at nothing to track the young fish down.
2. Dory
Marlin gets some truly unexpected help during his journey to find Nemo from Dory, a regal blue tang with short-term memory problems who's voiced by Ellen DeGeneres.
3. Nemo
The missing fish himself, Alexander Gould's Nemo, tries to show off during a field trip that's too close to a diving spot ... only to end up captive in a dentist's office.
4. Edna Mode
Inspired by legendary Hollywood costume designer Edith Head, Edna Mode of "The Incredibles" is an austere, brilliant fashion maven with a knack for designing superhero costumes who's voiced by the film's writer and director Brad Bird.
5. Mike Wazowski
Armed with a short green body, one eye, and great comedic timing, scare factory employee Mike Wazowski (the incomparable Billy Crystal) from "Monsters Inc." ends up in quite a pickle thanks to his best friend Sulley.
6. James P. Sullivan
Speaking of Sulley, James P. "Sulley" Sullivan — who's voiced by John Goodman — is a massive blue monster who easily frightens children but is a secretly kind, good-hearted guy.
7. Boo
Mary Gibbs, a child at the time, provides the voice of Boo in "Monsters Inc.," a young girl who accidentally gets lost in the monster world and must be protected by Sulley and Mike.
8. Randall Boggs
The villain of "Monsters Inc." (well, one of them) is the slimy, arrogant Randall Boggs, Steve Buscemi's monster who can blend into surfaces like a chameleon.
9. Roz
The funniest character in "Monsters Inc.," bar none, is Roz, a scare floor administrator who speaks in a drawling monotone and is voiced by Bob Peterson.
10. Woody
The "Toy Story" franchise launches with Sheriff Woody, a cowboy toy who declares "there's a snake in my boot!" if you pull his string and is voiced by Tom Hanks.
11. Buzz Lightyear
During the first-ever "Toy Story" film, Woody finds his place in his kid's life threatened by newcomer Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), who believes he's a real astronaut, not a toy.
12. Jessie
Joan Cusack's enthusiastic, emotionally complex cowgirl, introduced in "Toy Story 2," is like Woody's sister, strikes up a romance with Buzz, and got her own song — courtesy of Taylor Swift — in "Toy Story 5."
13. Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head
Don Rickles and Estelle Harris are rarely ever apart in the "Toy Story" films as Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head, but when they do split up, it's to stage a mission that could save the day.
14. Slinky Dog
Before Jim Varney passed away in 2000, he voiced a slinky dog in the "Toy Story" films; after his death, Blake Clark took over as the southern-fried Dachshund toy.
15. Rex
Nobody, truly, could embody a frightened and anxious Tyrannosaurus rex toy in the "Toy Story" movies like Wallace Shawn, one of the funniest actors alive.
16. Hamm
Another member of the "Toy Story" gang is the piggy bank, Hamm, voiced by Pixar regular John Ratzenberger.
17. Flik
In "A Bug's Life," the protagonist, Flik — who's voiced by Dave Foley — is a nervous, bumbling, but brilliant inventor who wants to improve life in the colony.
18. Princess Atta
As Flik hopes to make life in the colony in "A Bug's Life" even better, Princess Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) prepares to take her elderly mother's throne when the Queen dies.
19. Bob Parr
In "The Incredibles," the titular superhero family is led by Craig T. Nelson's Bob Parr, also known as Mr. Incredible, who possesses super-strength and can endure almost anything
20. Helen Parr
Bob's wife in "The Incredibles," Holly Hunter's Helen Parr, is no less powerful; under the moniker Elastigirl, Helen can stretch herself to absurd lengths. (Pretty good metaphor for motherhood, actually.)
21. Violet Parr
In the Parr family in "The Incredibles," even the kids have superpowers — including eldest daughter Violet (Sarah Vowell), who can create force fields and also turn invisible.
22. Dashiell Parr
Simply nicknamed Dash, Spencer Fox's middle child Dashiell Parr in "The Incredibles" can — you guessed it — run super fast.
23. Jack-Jack Parr
Played by both Eli Fucile and Maeve Andrews in "The Incredibles," baby Jack-Jack is the youngest family member in "The Incredibles," and he shows off a surprisingly wide array of powers under duress.
24. Frozone
Bob still has a handful of superhero friends in "The Incredibles," and the most prominent is Lucius Best, Samuel L. Jackson's icy superhuman Frozone.
25. Syndrome
In the first "Incredibles" film, the family fights Jason Lee's Syndrome, whose given name is Buddy Pine and who briefly tried to copy Mr. Incredible as an obsessed fan by calling himself "IncrediBoy."
26. Lightning McQueen
Vehicles come to life in "Cars," and they're led by Lightning McQueen, a race car voiced by Owen Wilson.
27. Doc Hudson
In the first "Cars" film, beloved Hollywood star Paul Newman voices Doc Hudson, a stalwart old Hudson Hornet.
28. Carl Fredricksen
"Up" is one of Pixar's most emotional films (which is saying something), which is funny when you consider that it's centered around the gruff, misanthropic old man Carl Fredricksen (Ed Asner).
29. Russell
Carl's life in "Up" is thrown into disarray when he meets Wilderness Explorer Russell (Jordan Nagai), who tries to earn a badge for "assisting the elderly" before the two end up on an epic adventure together.
30. Charles Muntz
Voiced by Christopher plummer, legendary explorer Charles Muntz is the antagonist of "Up," betraying both Carl and Russell because, frankly, he's just completely insane in his old age.
31. Dug
A dog with a collar that allows him to speak to humans, Dug, voiced by Bob Peterson, drops heaters like "I have just met you, and I love you."
32. Remy
A little Parisian rat who dreams of becoming a professional chef, Patton Oswalt's Remy from "Ratatouille" is one rodent you don't want to see end up on a trap.
33. Alfredo Linguini
In "Ratatouille," Remy achieves his dream of cooking through Alfredo Linguini (Lou Romano), a young and fairly inept garbage boy who starts cooking using the rat's instructions.
34. Anton Ego
At the end of "Ratatouille," severe restaurant critic Anton Ego, voiced by Peter O'Toole, praises Remy and Linguini's take on the titular French peasant dish.
35. WALL-E
In Pixar's ode to environmental conservation, the title robot WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter: Earth-class), who collects trash on our desolate Earth and loves musicals, is voiced by Ben Burtt.
36. EVE
Partway through "WALL-E," the little titular robot is surprised and charmed to meet EVE, whose name is an acronym for Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator, comes to Earth to find a tiny surviving plant, and is voiced by Elissa Knight.
37. Riley Andersen
Even though we hear from her feelings more than we hear from her, Riley Andersen, voiced in the first "Inside Out" movie by Kaitlyn Dias and in the sequel by Kensington Tallman, endures quite a lot of emotional turmoil.
38. Joy
Ironically, some of those emotional troubles Riley faces are caused by the relentlessly, sometimes foolishly optimistic lead emotion Joy. It is, incidentally, impossible to not smile when you hear Amy Poehler voicing this feeling.
39. Sadness
Just as Poehler is perfect as Joy, Phyllis Smith, otherwise best known for "The Office," has the perfect Eeyore-style voice to represent Riley's misery.
40. Fear
"Inside Out" and "Inside Out 2" saw a handful of cast shakeups; in the first film, the frightened Fear is voiced by Bill Hader, with "Veep" veteran Tony Hale taking over for Riley's second chapter.
41. Disgust
Like Fear, Disgust got a makeover for "Inside Out 2." In the first movie, this broccoli-hating snob is voiced by Mindy Kaling, but Liza Lapira steers the disgust ship in the sequel.
42. Anger
Again, Anger is perfectly cast in the "Inside Out" films; who else expresses pure, unfiltered, and super-loud rage like comedian Lewis Black?
43. Bing Bong
In the first "Inside Out" film, Joy and Sadness must journey through Riley's entire psyche to find a core memory ... and along the way, they meet Bing Bong, Riley's former imaginary friend played by Richard Kind. Anyone who's seen the movie just started crying just thinking about Bing Bong, probably.
44. Anxiety
"Inside Out 2" depicts Riley's burgeoning teenage years, and she gets a gaggle of brand-new emotions ... the ringleader of which is Anxiety, beautifully embodied by Maya Hawke.
45. Ennui
Every teenager worth their salt knows just how effective bored ennui can be, and "Inside Out 2" really went for it by casting French actress Adèle Exarchopoulos.
46. Envy
Riley also starts feeling intensely jealous of her friends on the hockey team in "Inside Out 2," which is where Ayo Edebiri's desperate, hilarious Envy comes into play.
47. Embarrassment
The final new emotion depicted in "Inside Out 2" is ... mostly silent, and that's because Paul Walter Hauser "voices" Embarrassment. His main deal is that he zips himself into his own hoodie whenever he feels weird, which is all the time.
48. Arlo
The protagonist of "The Good Dinosaur" is Arlo, a tiny, physically weaker dinosaur desperate to prove his worth who's voiced by Raymond Ochoa (and briefly, Jack McGraw in his younger years).
49. Spot
Thankfully, Arlo in "The Good Dinosaur" is aided by Spot, a young caveman (caveboy?) that Arlos' family keeps as a sort of pet initially.
50. Butch
There are some major heavyweights in the cast of "The Good Dinosaur," and one of them is Sam Elliott, who plays a grizzled Tyrannosaurus rex named Butch.
51. Miguel
"Coco" is one of Pixar's most emotionally heavy films, and it centers around Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez), a young boy who dreams of becoming a famous Mexican musician.
52. Ernesto de la Cruz
For most of "Coco," Miguel idolizes famous Mexican musician Ernesto de la Cruz, voiced by Benjamin Bratt ... until Miguel, alongside the audience, learns a shocking secret.
53. Papá Héctor
The real hero of Coco is Miguel's long-lost great-great-grandfather, Héctor (Gael García Bernal), who Miguel must find in the Land of the Dead.
54. Ian Lightfoot
The teenage elf who lacks self confidence and leads "Onward," Tom Holland's Ian Lightfoot, is still mourning his late father when the movie begins.
55. Barley Lightfoot
In stark contrast in "Onward," we've got Ian's brother Barley, a video game enthusiast and boisterous kid voiced by Chris Pratt.
56. Joe Gardner
In the existential Pixar flick "Soul," musician Joe Gardner, voiced by Jamie Foxx, experiences the afterlife after a horrifying accident on Earth.
57. 22
In said afterlife in "Soul," Joe is guided by 22, a sardonic soul who doesn't think much of Earth and is perfectly portrayed by comedian Tina Fey.
58. Luca Paguro
In the stunning film "Luca," the action follows Jacob Tremblay's protagonist Luca Paguro, a young "sea monster" who resides near the Italian coast and longs to make human connections. (He and Ariel should chat.)
59. Alberto Scorfano
Luca's best friend in his eponymous film is Alberto Scorfano, a fellow sea monster boy voiced by Jack Dylan Grazer who's bold enough to convince Luca to explore the town of Portorosso.
60. Giulia Marcovaldo
While ashore, Luca and Alberto make friends with Emma Berman's lonely young girl Giulia Marcovaldo, who accepts them exactly as they are.
61. Meilin "Mei" Lee
In the fully underrated "Turning Red," Pixar explains the trials and tribulations of puberty through Meilin "Mei" Lee (voiced by Rosalie Chiang), a 13-year-old girl who turns into a huge red panda whenever her emotions get really strong.
62. Izzy Hawthorne
The granddaughter of Buzz Lightyear's best friend Alisha (Uzo Aduba), Keke Palmer's Izzy bravely fights Zurg alongside Chris Evans' take on the "Toy Story" character in "Lightyear."
63. Elio Solís
In the space adventure "Elio," the titular kid, voiced by Yonas Kibreab, is taken onto an alien spaceship after said aliens think he's the Earth's ambassador.
64. Olga Solís
Elio's disappearance with the aliens in his eponymous film leaves his aunt, Olga (Zoe Saldaña), bereft, confused, and searching for her beloved nephew.
65. Ember Lumen
"Elemental" is a weird but delightful Pixar film that anthropomorphizes elements, like fire element protagonist Ember Lumen (Leah Lewis).
66. Wade Ripple
In "Elemental," Ember ends up meeting water element Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie) during a moment of stress, and the two clash ... obviously.
67. Mabel Tanaka
In "Hoppers," heroine Mabel Tanaka is so passionate about conserving habitats for beavers that she places her consciousness into a robotic beaver to join forces with them, and she's voiced by Piper Curda.
68. King George (Mammal King)
As Piper tries to save her beaver buddies in "Hoppers," she aligns herself with King George (Bobby Moynihan, also known as the "Mammal King."
69. Sid
When we first meet Sid in "Toy Story," he's a sadistic, weird kid who likes breaking his toys, and he's voiced by Erik von Detten.
70. Zurg
Voiced by Pixar's own Andrew Stanton, Emperor Zurg often shows up in "Toy Story" as Buzz Lightyear's alien antagonist.
71. Stinky Pete
In "Toy Story 2," Woody and Jessie are nearly sold to a museum in Japan ... and they escape despite attempted sabotage by another member of their set, Stinky Pete (Kelsey Grammer).
72. Evelyn Deavor
"The Incredibles 2" brings back the central superhero family but also introduces the new antagonist Evelyn Deavor, a tech whiz voiced by Catherine Keener.
73. Lots O' Huggin Bear
By the time "Toy Story 3" rolls around, Woody and his pals find themselves in a daycare center run with an iron fist by the seemingly benign Lots O' Huggin Bear, voiced by Ned Beatty.
74. Bullseye
With vocal effects by Frank Welker, Bullseye, Jessie and Woody's loyal horse companion, is a highlight of any "Toy Story" movie.
75. Mamá Coco
As Héctor's daughter in "Coco," Mamá Coco, voiced by Ana Ofelia Murguía, is a source of wisdom for Miguel.
76. The Aliens
Voiced by Jeff Pidgeon, the Aliens, which came from a claw machine in "Toy Story," come as a set ... and react as one too.
77. Ellie Fredricksen
Ellie doesn't speak during the opening of "Up," but her silent, doomed love story with Carl will move you to tears.
78. Henry J. Waternoose
The CEO of Monsters, Inc. in "Monsters Inc.," Henry J. Waternoose, voiced by James Coburn, seems like a good guy — until the twist is revealed.
79. Dean Abigail Hardscrabble
In the prequel "Monsters University," a young Mike and Sulley learn from Dean Abigail Hardscrabble, voiced by British treasure Dame Helen Mirren.
80. Auto
This sentient machine from "WALL-E" was pretty clearly inspired by HAL from "2001: A Space Odyssey."
81. Andy Davis
Voiced by John Morris, Andy Davis is the owner of the toys in the "Toy Story" movies ... until he grows up and goes away to college at the end of "Toy Story 3."
82. Mamá Imelda Rivera
Stalwart character actress Alanna Ubach lends her voice to "Coco" as Mamá Imelda Rivera, wife of the late Héctor.
83. Bruce the Shark
A friendly "vegetarian" shark found in "Finding Nemo," Bruce the Shark, voiced by Barry Humphries and named for the "Jaws" animatronic, constantly reminds himself that "fish are friends, not food."
84. Sally Carrera
A sleek Porsche in "Cars," Sally Carrera dreams of reviving Radiator Springs and is voiced by Bonnie Hunt.
85. Bonnie
Introduced in "Toy Story 3" and voiced by Emily Hahn, Bonnie is the new recipient of Andy's old toys; in subsequent sequels, she's voiced by Madeleine McGraw and Scarlett Spears.
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