Disney Pixar Ultimate Movie Collection (Toy Story / Toy Story 2 / Finding Nemo / The Incredibles / A Bug's Life / Monsters, Inc. / Cars / Ratatouille)

Since I have (or will) review each of these movies separately, I thought the best way to review this box set is by ranking the films by the number of times my children have watched the films (2 boys, now aged 2 and 4.5, I've had the set for one year). I've also given a rating out of 5 stars based on my own opinion.1. Cars (4 stars) - BY FAR the most popular with my boys. Hotshot racecar Lightning McQueen gets lost while being transported across country, and ends up in desert-rural Radiator Springs where life is considerably slower than he's used to. The opening race scene is amazingly good. At 2 hours, perhaps a little long for one sitting.2. Toy Story 2 (5 stars) - Woody the Cowboy is kidnapped by a collector who intends to sell him to a toy museum in Japan, and it's up to Buzz and others to rescue him. Features a memorable visit to a Toys R Us-like store complete with a Barbie tour guide and a complete wall-full of Buzz Lightyears.3. Ratatouille (4 stars) - a surprisingly engaging story about a rat who can cook. He helps a young sous-chef make something of himself. The "climax" with the food critic (and the eponymous dish of food) are surprisingly moving. Oddly, the quality of the computer animation makes the rats creepier than, say, the mice/rats in Disney's Great Mouse Detective or The Rescuers.4. The Incredibles (5 stars) - Forced into retirement amid lawsuits and public relation disasters, Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl are try to raise kids (also with super powers) like a normal family. Craving adventure like the old days, Mr. Incredible gets drawn into a sinister plot and it's up to the rest of the family to rescue him. Great fun all the way through.5. Finding Nemo (3 stars) - visually spectacular story of a father Clown Fish's attempt to find and rescue his son, captured by a diver and put into a dentist's aquarium. Unfortunately, it often feels like a string of action set pieces which makes it less enjoyable for an adult on repeated viewings.6. Toy Story (5 stars) - the film that started it all: Sheriff Woody is replaced as Andy's favourite toy by upstart (and delusional) Buzz Lightyear. But when they get lost they must work together to find their way back to Andy's house. Great fun and stands up very well on repeated viewings.All 6 of the above have, at some point, been my elder son's favourite. The final two are rarely (if ever) requested by either of my boys.7. A Bug's Life (3 stars) - somewhat contrived second effort from Pixar, probably the least re-watchable film in this set. Cars and toys lend themselves especially well to computer animation. These bugs look blocky and generic, and the story is predictable animated adventure fare (and therefore a little dull).8. Monster's Inc. (? stars) - I have never seen this film all the way through, because my boys simply do not watch it! Perhaps that tells you everything you need to know about the film.It's too bad this box set is no longer available - it was $75-ish when I bought it, and I've certainly got my money's worth. All these films (except Bug's Life, and possibly Monster's Inc) are very rewatchable and can be enjoyed over and over, which is good because we all know how kids like to rewatch the same things over and over..... 6 of the 8 films are the 2-disc special editions (Cars and Ratatouille are not), so there's also lots of extras for the adult animation fan to enjoy after the kids have gone to bed.

The Disney-Pixar Ultimate Movie Collection (2008) includes eight of Pixar's full length films on DVD: Toy Story / Toy Story 2 / Finding Nemo / The Incredibles / A Bug's Life / Monsters, Inc. / Cars / Ratatouille. Each of the films is available in widescreen and a few are available in both widescreen and fullscreen. There are two discs for all the films except two. The second DVD is full of the standard extras. There is over 8 hours of extras in total. It ranks as the most complete Pixar collection to date. Some fans may prefer enjoying these films on Blu-ray (sold individually). The release of stand-alone Blu-rays for this set has made it less attractive. In the unreleased Blu-ray Pixar Collection there are six Disney/Pixar blockbusters: A Bugs Life, Cars, Pixar Shorts Vol. 1, Ratatouille, Wall*E and Monsters, Inc. 3 films, Finding Nemo, Toy Story and Toy Story 2 are not included in the Blu-ray collection. Eventually the Blu-ray set will get a broad US release so you can upgrade if you have been waiting for the collection.

did anyone notice in the specs that this set is listed as being 1.33:1? yup, these are the full-screen versions. i wouldn't have bought this anyways because i already own most of them, but if i were looking for a boxed set, it would certainly be the wide-screen version.of course, that could be a typo.

The collection of movies is fantastic. There were actually a lot more discs than what I realized. 7 of the 8 movies come with a second disc. I don't care for the packaging so much. I wish each movie had its own case instead of the book-style case is comes in. If is get worn out and falls apart, there will not be good protection for the discs. Overall, I give it a thumbs up!

You all know these movies, so I am not going to review the films themselves. They're great; you love 'em; I love 'em; our kids love em;. No surprises there. Instead, I want to say a few words about this specific collection. Amazon has many of the details wrong in their description (though they have changed some of them recently). I ordered this from Amazon a few days ago so can tell you exactly what you are getting.Even though the product specs say the films are 4:3, they are not. Each of the films is available in widescreen and a few are available in both widescreen and fullscreen. So widescreen snobs like me have nothing to worry about--you'll get the full 16:9 experience. Also, the set comes with 14 DVDs, not 8 as Amazon first stated. There are two discs for most of the films with one for a couple of them. In most cases the second DVD is full of the standard extras.So here is what you're getting: all of the Pixar films up through Ratatouille. They are all widescreen (with a few having the option to watch in fullscreen) and all have at least some extras. The package comes in a nice "accordian style" case where each of the fourteen "pages" holds one of the DVDs.It's a great set and exactly what those of us need who don't care to buy each of the movies on its own. Kudos to Pixar for the great set. Now if only they had waited until *after* Wall-E...