Plenty of contemporary animated features are trying so hard to be clever that they forget to be fundamentally enjoyable — and as for the emotional depth, we can appreciate Pixar's impressive track record without dismissing everything that doesn't live up to that standard. 'Rio' manages to be entertaining by working within an unlikely formula: making something that's fun for kids, in the style of movies that their parents would have watched when they were kids. Grade: B.  

The twin heroes in Andy's toy constellation, the earnest cowboy Woody (Tom Hanks) and the galactic defender Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), are the two heads of the luckiest coin any boy could ever hope to own. But Andy is going off to college, which signals the end of the run for his childhood toys, right? 'Toy Story 3' shows that the Pixar team unfailingly sticks to a winning formula that runs completely counter to our accepted sense of what such formulas mean. Grade: A.  

'Up' explicitly captures Pixar's more adult scope in that it's the studio's first film with exclusively human protagonists. There are no superheroes, humanized machines or talking animals. They've opened the doors of the animated world and let in a broad new range of emotions that will become the foundation for even more rollicking adventures. Grade: A.  

Chances are the Walt Disney Company is counting their blessings that they didn't part ways with Pixar after making 'Cars.' The computer animation juggernaut — and arguably a Disney savior — has again proved who wears the pants in the relationship.