The Incredibles
Pixar's 2004 superhero film about a family forced to hide their powers in suburban normalcy — Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, and their kids Violet, Dash, and baby Jack-Jack. They're drawn out of retirement to battle the villain Syndrome, and the film balances family comedy with genuine action and heart. The Academy Award–winning film proved animation could deliver both laughs and thrills.
Directed by Brad Bird, The Incredibles arrived as Pixar's sixth feature and immediately established itself as something different: a superhero story wrapped in a suburban comedy, with real stakes and character arcs that resonated with adults as much as kids. The film's central premise — that exceptional people are forced to be ordinary — carried an unexpectedly poignant subtext about conformity and loss.
Stolen by costume designer Edna Mode's acid-tongued wisdom and her famous decree "No capes!", the film became a cultural touchstone. Its success proved superhero stories could work in animation and spawned a franchise that continues decades later. The specificity of its humor, its crisp animation, and Brad Bird's clear direction made it endure far beyond typical animated-film shelf life.
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Finding Nemo
A clownfish searches an ocean for his kidnapped son, guided by a forgetful blue tang with the most memorable catchphrase of the decade. Pixar's Finding Nemo won instant hearts with its vibrant coral-reef world, stellar voice acting, and emotional stakes that proved animated films could make you cry.
Shrek
The grumpy ogre who just wanted to be left alone, dragged into a quest to rescue a princess and discover his own capacity for love. Shrek arrived in May 2001 as a subversive fairy-tale comedy from DreamWorks, won the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and spawned a franchise that defined early-2000s family cinema.
Cars
Pixar stranded a hotshot race car in a faded Route 66 town and somehow produced one of the biggest toy machines of the decade — nearly $10 billion in merchandise inside five years. Lightning McQueen, Mater, Doc Hudson: every family of the era had a bin of them.
The Iron Giant
A fifty-foot robot from space crash-lands in 1957 Maine and befriends a nine-year-old boy, who teaches him he can choose who he wants to be. Brad Bird's feature directorial debut was adored by critics and ignored at the box office — then a second life on home video and cable turned it into the cartoon that makes grown adults cry at one word: "Superman."