The 10 Best Pixar Short Films, Ranked
Pixar has endured for over 30 years as one of the gold standards of Western animation, with its short films often just as experimental and emotionally effective as its feature-length films. The earliest Pixar stories were in the short format, with the likes of The Adventures of André & Wally B. (1984) serving as early proofs of concept for the studio. As Pixar shifted into theatrical releases, the shorts became a consistent lead-in for its larger films.
In the years since, Pixar has won multiple Academy Awards for Best Original Short Film thanks to the power of its animation and storytelling. Even the least impressive ones remain uniquely timeless, and the best are among the strongest examples of the medium in the last three decades. While everyone has their favorites, like One Man Band (2005), which came painfully close to making it to this list, these are the 10 best Pixar short films, ranked. Watch them now on Disney+.
A deceptively simple but technically complex short, Day & Night is a good showcase of Pixar’s tendency to experiment with the form. The lead-in short to Toy Story 3 (2010), Day & Night is arguably among the simplest and absurdist shorts, with little in the way of actual narrative. Instead, it follows two characters, representing “day” and “night.”
Told through clever visual representations and sound cues, Day & Night is a fusion of modern 3D effects and classic character design that feels timeless in a way only the best Pixar shorts can. The broader nature of the lesson, similar to the straightforward moralizing seen in the animated adaptations of Dr. Seuss, like How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966), gives this fairly one-note but effectively charming short a powerful core. However, its simplicity also keeps it from ranking higher.
Shown before Up (2009), Partly Cloudy is an emotionally resonant lead-in that has some wacky fun with its core concept. Directed and written by Peter Soh before he went on to helm The Good Dinosaur (2015) and Elemental (2023), Partly Cloudy focuses on a stork tasked with bringing the dangerous baby animals created by Gus the cloud to their families.
The initial slapstick is a big part of what makes Partly Cloudy so memorable, as the exaggerated pain of Peck the stork is played up for maximum comedic effect. Still, there’s an emotional core at the heart of the story that gels with the themes Sohn’s Pixar work tends to gravitate toward. Partly Cloudy is one of the wackier Pixar shorts, more akin to a classic Looney Tunes (1929) episode than the ambitious art pieces found in some of the studio’s other short films.
Similar to Partly Cloudy as a silly riff for the sake of being silly, Jack-Jack Attack serves as a mini follow-up to The Incredibles (2004) that takes an off-screen gag and turns it into a cascading litany of horrors. While Kari babysitting Jack-Jack for much of The Incredibles’ second act was a good off-screen plot explanation, the short follows the woefully underprepared babysitter trying (and failing) to contend with the infant’s increasingly expanding superpowers.
Delightfully madcap and even surprisingly dark at times, Jack-Jack Attack is a good enough short that it effectively got an informal follow-up in the form of Jack-Jack’s battle with a raccoon in Incredibles 2 (2018), and it remains one of the funniest concept executions in the history of Pixar’s animated shorts.
A part of the SparkShorts (2019) series, a collection of one-off Pixar shorts that debuted on Disney+, Twenty Something is a more adult-oriented short focused on replicating the effect of being a young adult while still feeling like a kid on the inside. Animated with a slick attention to detail and character design that feels reminiscent of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2023), Twenty Something feels like what happens when Pixar gets the opportunity to grow up.
A terrific showcase for Aphton Corbin (who wrote and directed the piece), Twenty Something highlights how Pixar shorts can be perfectly effective in both fantastical settings and more grounded metaphors, like finding the confidence to go out to a club despite not feeling like anything special.
Debuting on Disney+ in SparkShorts instead of in front of Soul (2020) due to the pandemic-related lockdowns, Burrow deserves more attention and would have been a wonderful short to see on the big screen. Truthfully, Burrow is one of the most charming of the bunch, as a classically illustrated tale of a rabbit trying to create her dream home, but who keeps running into the homes of other animals.
A delightful retro animation style recalls similar comfy favorites like Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977), benefiting the sweet tale of neighborly connections in an understated but effective way. Perfect for anyone taken in by the soft palette and cute storytelling of Paddington (2014), Burrow is adorable in every sense of the word.
Gerr’s Game is one of the earlier Pixar shorts, but it remains a perfect statement on the comedic stylings of the studio. Gerri’s Game accompanied A Bug’s Life (1998) and focused on an old man who finds himself in an intense game of chess with himself. The simple concept is mined for as much comedic mileage as possible, with the same man’s different body language and facial expressions defining his temperament and character in subtle ways.
As a showcase of the kind of clear characterization that CGI was capable of, Gerri’s Game is a crucial piece of the Pixar puzzle that leads to more emotionally evocative storytelling like Inside Out (2015). While it might not have the most depth, Gerri’s Game was exactly the kind of statement Pixar needed to make after Toy Story (1995) to further cement itself as a major player in the future of animation.
A high point in Pixar’s history of goofball one-offs, Presto is arguably the most broadly entertaining of the studio’s shorts. The closest Pixar will likely ever come to making a Bugs Bunny cartoon, Presto follows the impromptu battle of wits that breaks out between a magician and the rabbit in his hat.
Fast-paced with a deep wealth of slapstick comedy as the magician’s efforts to defeat the rabbit are constantly foiled, Presto is the perfect lightweight and silly lead-in to Wall-E (2008), with a clear eye for personality in the expressive character design. With a quick comedy pacing that wouldn’t feel out of place in The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball (2025), Presto is a must-watch for anyone who loves the classic retro slapstick of cartoons like Animaniacs (1993) or Looney Tunes Cartoons (2020).
A technically impressive experiment that also manages to be deeply romantic, The Blue Umbrella is a stunning little piece of animation. The short follows an umbrella that silently falls for another umbrella and does its best to reach out. Animated with a realistic touch that nevertheless brings the world to life with charming character reactions and elements around the city, The Blue Umbrella is a sweet story of thwarted ambition and supportive bonds that perfectly fits before Monsters University (2013).
Using advanced rendering technology to create realistic rain and authentic lens flare, The Blue Umbrella is a marvel of animation that director Saschka Unseld and his team bring to life with a romantic flourish that makes it one of the most visually impressive Pixar shorts.
A story of family love through a lifetime, Bao is a beautifully animated and tender story that might be the best tearjerker the studio has ever elicited in the short format. Bao came ahead of Incredibles 2 and played with expectations by turning a little confectionery creation into a child. Lighthearted and whimsical at first, the short gradually uses the distance between a mother and son as time goes on to deliver an absolutely heartbreaking and ultimately heartwarming message about love.
Bao is one of the most powerful of all the Pixar shorts, with a sweet narrative that perfectly matches the animation style. Infused with the same blend of universal appeal and cultural focus that made Turning Red (2022) such a lovely film, Bao is one of the best examples of Pixar using its somber storytelling chops in short form.
Based on an Italo Calvino short story and brimming with the same kind of wonderful artistry that makes The Little Prince (2015) so memorable, La Luna is the most appealing animated short to come out of Pixar.
A fantastical tale that came ahead of Brave (2012), the story of Bambino, his father, and his grandfather as they clean up the stars that have fallen onto the moon is a brought to life with an animation style that feels attuned to the works of Hayao Miyazaki, like Castle in the Sky (1986) and Spirited Away (2001), but with the distinct Pixar coloring scheme. La Luna is a cute, sweet-natured bedtime story brought to life in an instantly charming way that only animation could deliver.
