A Brief History of Pixar

In Pixar's second full-length feature, Flik (above), voiced by Dave Foley, is the plucky leader of an ant insurgency that rises up against a gang of meanacing grasshoppers. He is joined by a motley crew of insectoid heroes ranging from an overweight caterpillar named Heimlich to a male ladybug called Francis.

The success of Toy Story called for a sequel in which Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) and the rest of the original movie's cast race against time to save Woody (Tom Hanks) from a portly toy collector bent on selling the cowboy to a museum in Japan.

In Monsters, Inc., Pixar answered the age old question of whether or not there are monsters in our closets (yes there are, albeit by way of an interdimensional transporter.) This sweet fable about the perils of surrogate parenting follows the giant blue-haired Sulley (John Goodman) and his eyeball pal Mike (Billy Crystal) as they look after a two-year-old girl nicknamed "Boo" who unsuspectingly enters their monster world.

In this megahit, Dory, voiced by Ellen Degeneres, right, joins Marlin (Albert Brooks) in the search for his missing son. The dangers posed by sharks, jellyfish and seagulls became an afterthought as they just kept swimming to P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney in hopes of finding the clownfish's lost progeny.

Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson), a superhero forcibly retired to a desk job, flexes his muscles (and sucks in his belly fat) in this fantastical tale of a suburban superhero crimefighting family.

Pixar's ode to fast cars and rural values had a whole vaudeville of vehicles, with a storyline revolving around Lightning Mcqueen (Owen Wilson) who befriends a tow truck named Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) and other residents of Radiator Springs.

In France, even the rats are snobs. Not satisfied with the mindless droning and cheese-scavenging antics of his brethren, Remy, a rat voiced by Patton Oswalt, aspires for culinary greatness as a French chef. His signature dish? Ratatouille, of course.

Toy meets girl in Pixar's wondrous tale of WALL-E, the lonely trashman, and Eve, his sleek inamorata. This tale of a not-so-distant future offers a grim look at the deterioration of society on Earth, as it is overrun by garbage and humans who literally can't stand on their own two feet.

Pixar's soaring adventure stars Carl (Edward Asner), an old man with nothing to live for, and Russell (Jordan Nagai), a lonely kid with nothing to lose. Toy companies complained about the merchandising prospects for a geriatric man and a plump child, but Pixar stood its ground. The result is an endearing movie that captivated audiences and won academy awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score.

In Toy Story 3, Andy is off to college and the toys are in a tizzy. Like newly unemployed workers, the all-star toy cast fret about their future post-Andy -- after all what's a toy to do with no one to play with?