Disney+ is the streaming home of Pixar's feature films, and the catalog runs in release order from *Toy Story* (1995) through *Elio* (2025) — 29 features, plus the studio's 2026 releases as they complete their theatrical windows. Below is the full list in the order Pixar put the films into the world, followed by the practical notes a viewer actually needs: which films are sequels, which skipped theaters, and how to confirm what is streaming in your country today. Release order is the default way to watch Pixar, and it works better than it does for most studios. The films were made as a continuous argument with each other — every sequel, spinoff and prequel arrived after the original had already changed what audiences expected — so watching in order lets you see the house style form, harden, and then get deliberately broken.
Table of Contents
- Every Pixar feature in release order
- Which of these never played in theaters
- What else is on the Pixar hub besides the features
- When release order is the wrong order
- Confirming what is actually streaming for you
- Frequently Asked Questions
Every Pixar feature in release order
Two gaps in that run are worth knowing about. Pixar released nothing in 1996, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2005 or 2014 — the early gaps reflect a small studio making one film at a time, and the 2014 gap came from *The Good Dinosaur* being pushed back and rebuilt, which is why 2015 holds two titles.
Pixar's newer releases join the list as they finish their theatrical runs. A film that is still in cinemas, or has only just left them, will not be on Disney+ yet; search the title directly rather than assuming the Pixar hub is complete.
- *Toy Story* (1995)
- *A Bug's Life* (1998)
- *Toy Story 2* (1999)
- *Monsters, Inc.* (2001)
- *Finding Nemo* (2003)
Which of these never played in theaters
Three Pixar features went straight to Disney+ rather than to cinemas, and they sit in the release list above at their streaming dates. *Soul* premiered on the service in December 2020, *Luca* followed in June 2021, and *Turning Red* in March 2022. All three were products of the period when theaters were closed or recovering.
This matters for two practical reasons. First, their "release" date is a streaming date, so a release-order rewatch puts them in a slightly different position than a theatrical-only list would. Second, all three later received limited theatrical bookings, so you may see conflicting release years quoted depending on which event a source counts.
- Onward* is the edge case. It opened in theaters in March 2020, lost most of its run almost immediately, and arrived on Disney+ within weeks — a theatrical release in name that most people experienced as a streaming one.
What else is on the Pixar hub besides the features
The Pixar section of Disney+ carries considerably more than the 29 features, which is why the hub's tile count will never match this list. The theatrical shorts that played before the features are there as standalone titles — *Luxo Jr.*, *Geri's Game*, *For the Birds*, *Piper*, *Bao* and the rest — usually grouped as a shorts collection.
The hub also holds material made for streaming: the SparkShorts program, which gives Pixar employees small budgets for personal films; *Pixar Popcorn*, a set of very short franchise vignettes; and the series spun off from features, such as *Monsters at Work*, *Cars on the Road* and *Dug Days*. Documentary and behind-the-scenes content sits alongside them, including *Inside Pixar* and the making-of pieces attached to individual films. None of these are features, so a reader working through the list above can safely skip the whole category — but they are the best answer if you want more Pixar after finishing the features.
When release order is the wrong order
Release order is the right default, but four franchises have an internal chronology that differs from it. *Monsters University* (2013) is a prequel to *Monsters, Inc.* (2001), set during Mike and Sulley's college years.
Watching it first removes the reveal of how the two became friends, so release order is genuinely better here. The *Toy Story*, *Cars*, *Incredibles* and *Finding* films all run in straightforward chronological order matching their release order, with one wrinkle: *Incredibles 2* picks up in the same minute *The Incredibles* ends, despite the fourteen years between them. If you are watching for story rather than for studio history, pair them.
- Lightyear* (2022) is the trickiest. It is presented as the in-universe film that the *Toy Story* character was based on — a movie Andy would have seen in 1995. It makes almost no sense watched before *Toy Story*, and considerably more watched after *Toy Story 4*, which is where release order puts it anyway.
Confirming what is actually streaming for you
Pixar's library is exclusive to Disney+ in most markets, but "most" is doing real work in that sentence. Licensing deals signed before Disney+ launched still run in some territories, and a handful of titles have periodically been unavailable in specific countries.
The catalog also differs between Disney+ and the Hulu-merged or Star-branded versions of the app. If a title you expect is absent, that is normally a regional licensing matter rather than a permanent removal. Disney has kept the Pixar feature library as a core selling point of the service, which is the strongest practical guarantee a subscriber has.
- Search the exact title in the app rather than browsing the Pixar hub — hub curation lags catalog changes.
- Check the detail page for a 4K UHD or IMAX Enhanced badge if picture quality matters; the older films vary in what resolution they were remastered to.
- Look for the audio and subtitle list on the detail page if you need a specific dub; coverage is deepest on the recent titles.
- If a film is missing entirely, check whether your region's app is Disney+ or a Star/Hulu hybrid, which can shelve titles differently.
- Download availability is per-title and per-device, and some titles cap how long a download stays playable offline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is every Pixar movie on Disney+?
The feature library is the service's exclusive flagship content, so in practice yes — with two caveats: the newest release may still be in its theatrical window, and regional licensing can leave individual titles unavailable in specific countries.
Does Disney+ include the Pixar short films?
Yes. The theatrical shorts that ran before the features are available as standalone titles, usually as a collection, alongside the streaming-only SparkShorts program.
Are *Cars 2* and *Cars 3* considered part of the main list?
Yes — all *Cars* sequels are Pixar features and appear in release order above. *Planes* and *Planes: Fire & Rescue* are not; they were made by Disneytoon Studios, not Pixar, and sit outside this list.
Should I watch *Lightyear* before or after the *Toy Story* films?
After. It is framed as the in-universe movie that inspired the toy, so the premise only lands once you already know the character.