good but self-interested protagonist learns not to be an asshole and value others.

See also: Toy Story, The Incredibles, and Monsters, Inc.

I'll agree that it falls very low on the Pixar Scale (and gets massive fail points for worldbuilding, though it did lead to one of the more interesting post-movie discussions I've ever had, re: how do they reproduce?), but I'd take it in a heartbeat over just about anything Dreamworks has ever put out.

And Jessica explains my position far better than I have been able to (well, apart from that discussion. Mine was about waste of fossil fuels)

small-font: The Incredibles is my least-favorite Pixar film. Except for the baby who goes on fire.

Quick Poll.

Rank your favorite Pixar movies from top to bottom.

The Incredibles
Toy Story 2
Ratatouille
Toy Story
Finding Nemo
Monsters, Inc.
Cars

I didn't see A Bug's Life.

If I included non-Pixar animated features which have come out since Toy Story (1995) my list would look like this.

Spirited Away
Lilo and Stitch
The Incredibles
Toy Story 2
Howl's Moving Castle (I might like Howl better than Toy Story 2)
Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the WereRabbit (though Wrong Trousers and Close Shave are better still and rank near the top of this list for total pleasure)
Ratatouille
Toy Story
Triplets of Belleville (doesn't quite belong on this list since it's not so much a kid's movie)
The Emperor's New Groove (the genius comic duo of Patrick Warburton and Eartha Kitt)
Kung Fu Panda (might be slightly overrated since I saw it last night)
James and the Giant Peach
Chicken Run (seems like I should love it better but I just don't)
Finding Nemo
Monsters, Inc.
Cars

Hmmm. I think that's how I'd rank them. My list is probably cheating to include Miyazaki but not other anime movies, but I guess I'm thinking of wide distribution in the U.S.

Look at the lack of Disney on there. My favorites there are all pre-1995: Aladin, Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid. No wonder they let Lasseter take over their animation. After they lost Katzenberg they completely went off the rails. (Not that Prince of Egypt was going to make my list.)

List of Animated Features since 1995

Addendum, in 2005 there was a direct-to-DVD feature titled My Little Pony: A Very Minty Christmas.

That might be my new candidate for worst title ever.

I'm just going to randomly start wishing people a very minty Christmas. Starting 4th of July weekend.

Favorite Pixar movies (I've seen) from top to bottom:

Finding Nemo
Toy Story 2
A messy tie for 3rd place for: Toy Story, Incredibles, and A Bug's Life.

With a note that I have some serious issues with the underlying Ayn Rand elitism of Incredibles and am disturbed by some of the suggested messages of Ratatouille.

If I included non-Pixar animated features which have come out since Toy Story (1995) my list would look like this.

I'm guessing Nightmare Before Xmas was before that? Also, no Corpse Bride?

the genius comic duo of Patrick Warburton and Eartha Kitt

Can't argue with this. That film also had some of the most hilarious nonplussed reaction shots since The Grinch and Daffy Duck (IOW, since Chuck Jones).

You've never seen Monsters, Inc?? But it's wonderful! Just for the big set piece at the end with all the doors ALONE it's worth seeing.

I love The Incredibles in spite of the Randism. The production design, the characters, the pacing, Edna Mode, all pitch perfect. It's like what a Connery-era Bond film ought to have looked like.

eta: And I think that Bird wasn't overtly trying to be political; I read the film as Bird's (over) reaction to being screwed over by the bean-counters at Warner.

(And anyone who doesn't put Finding Nemo at the top of their Pixar lists is either (a) crazy with wrongness or (b) has already seen WALL-E and must therefore be shunned. I mean, REALLY.)