9. Luca

If Luca had been released theatrically rather than shoved onto Disney+ during the height of the covid-19 pandemic, I still don’t think it would have been the cultural event some of Pixar’s best films have been. It’s an understated story of friendship and being true to yourself whose main characters happen to be sea monsters who just want to be like everyone else. Even with that sea monster element, Luca is one of the most human stories Pixar’s written. It isn’t so fixated on the elaborate worldbuilding that often bogs down the studio’s stories, and instead its more focused fantasy elements are an extension of its characters’ humanity, rather than a constant distraction that pulls us away from the story it wants to tell. Luca represents one of Pixar’s most effective uses of an otherworldly element to talk about the real world. Sure, it’s no Incredibles-level epic or Coco-level tearjerker, but it is one of Pixar’s most consistently heartwarming works. It’s also pretty cool that Pixar artist Kenna Jean Harris gave us unsanctioned fan art confirming we weren’t all crazy for believing Luca and Alberto would grow up to be more than friends. — KS