Every ‘Toy Story’ Film, Ranked

6. “Toy Story That Time Forgot”, “Toy Story Toons”, and other shorts/specials

They’re always great, but the various Pixar shorts and half-hour TV specials from the Toy Story franchise are largely interchangeable and never quite as satisfying as the movies. These are good for occasional play but ultimately remain at the bottom of the toy box.

5. “Toy Story 4”

The fourth movie in a franchise like this doesn’t have any business being as solidly entertaining as this one does, but the addition of dynamic new characters (Tony Hale’s Forky, Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele’s sublime Ducky and Bunny) and a tear-jerking send-off to Woody elevates a saggy middle and a creeping case of hijinks fatigue.

4. “Forky Asks a Question”

These Disney+ shorts are so good and so brief, never overstaying their welcome, that a second season must happen or there will be hell to pay.

3. “Toy Story 2”

Everything a good sequel should be: bigger and broader, but also smarter and funnier. This one offered an early hot take on obsessive toy collectors/internet freaks long before any of us had ever heard of an NFT.

2. “Toy Story”

The original Story was so beautifully told and created such an empire that it’s hard to remember how revolutionary and risky a full-length computer animated film was at the time, much less one that packed such an emotional wallop. It was like a new-age Indian in the Cupboard — minus the racism.

1. “Toy Story 3”

Deeper, darker, and with a note-perfect ending to the whole franchise — at least until Toy Story 4 came along — this one could win alone for the impossibly deft way it handles that harrowing incinerator scene. You know, the one that scarred us all for life. (And it could have been worse.)