Top 10 Dumbest Pixar Hero Moments

Welcome to MsMojo, where we’ll be looking at times our favorite Pixar heroes didn’t think their actions through very well before committing to them. Keep in mind, Pixar loves flawed protagonists, so many of these mistakes are intended to be overcome.

#10: Elio Causes a Power Outage

“Elio” (2025)

This 2025 movie is one of Pixar’s few sci-fi flicks. Elio is a young boy who accidentally gets beamed into space and has to pretend he’s Earth’s intergalactic ambassador. In the film’s first act, Elio is so eager to leave Earth, he secretly uses an Air Force analyst’s device to fire a message into the stars. This decision temporarily wipes out all power at the local Air Force base, and almost gets his aunt fired from her job there. Elio comes to regret this decision pretty quickly, as his aunt relocates him to a youth camp. Soon after, aliens come and abduct him, and he goes on his dream adventure, so it all works out in the end.

#9: Lightning McQueen Caring Little For Mack

“Cars” (2006)

Racing rookie Lightning McQueen is something of a diva when “Cars” begins. While travelling to make it to California, he ends up stranded in the Arizona desert. A bothersome group of cars, the Delinquent Road Hazards, sends McQueen’s carrier truck Mack to sleep, therefore causing him to drop McQueen. While this wasn’t nice of them, the blame primarily lies with McQueen for mistreating Mack. If he’d been less harsh on Mack and let him rest, then he wouldn’t have dozed off at all, and McQueen would have made it to the race with plenty of time to spare.

#8: Stealing Ernesto’s Guitar

“Coco” (2017)

It’s tough not to feel bad for Miguel Rivera, a young boy with a passion for music and a family who won’t let him pursue it. This leads him to believing famed musician Ernesto de la Cruz is his great-great-grandfather, since he spotted his guitar in a picture with his great-great-grandmother. Miguel then decides to sneak into Ernesto’s mausoleum and steal his guitar. Stealing from the dead on the Day of the Dead puts a curse on Miguel, setting the stage for the rest of the movie. While we can’t blame him for not expecting the curse, stealing the guitar of a local hero is a pretty big blunder in the first place.

#7: Flik Destroys All the Food

“A Bug’s Life” (1998)

Pixar’s second full-length movie tells the tale of an ant named Flik, who helps his colony rise up and escape oppressive grasshopper rule. While it’s a noble deed, Flik becomes the leader because he accidentally destroyed all the colony’s food. When the grasshoppers find out, they demand double the food, infuriating all of Flik’s colony. The relatable ant is one of Pixar’s clumsiest heroes, and it’s implied that this was his biggest blunder yet. Interestingly, the old food wasn’t completely destroyed; it just fell into a pond. Apparently, ants can survive underwater for decent lengths of time, so it seems feasible they could have retrieved it - but then there would have been no film!

#6: Linguini Threatens Remy

“Ratatouille” (2007)

Obviously, rats are known to spread diseases, making them one of the worst animals to have in a kitchen. So Linguini bringing Remy with him to the kitchen is already a major blunder. And at one point, Remy’s family is secretly robbing the place blind after closing time. When Linguini finds out, he becomes outraged, kicks them all out, and threatens them. Stealing is pretty unethical, so it makes sense that he feels betrayed. However, they are also rats, so how are they going to find food if not by stealing? And Remy is essential to Linguini’s success, so he should’ve taken a more diplomatic approach. Unfortunately, in the heat of the moment, Linguini expelled his closest friend.

#5: Woody’s Jealousy

“Toy Story” (1995)

Pixar’s first film remains a timeless masterpiece decades after its release. The film’s conflict begins when Woody gets jealous of Andy’s new toy, Buzz. Woody is also annoyed on account of Buzz’s failure to realize he’s a toy. The Sheriff’s jealousy gets so bad that he pushes Buzz out the window. He intended to simply knock him behind the desk, but it went wrong, and the other toys all think Woody tried to kill him. Of course, Woody getting over his jealousy is his character’s core conflict. If he didn’t make this mistake, there wouldn’t be much of a film and kids wouldn’t see him grow after learning a very valuable lesson.

#4: Nemo Swims to a Boat

“Finding Nemo” (2003)

This deep sea picture is another staple of animated movies. Nemo is the only surviving child of Marlin, who cares deeply for his beloved son. Unfortunately, he’s a bit too protective of Nemo, which makes sense given his trauma. This eventually leads to Nemo defying his father and swimming out to a boat, where he is quickly captured. In fairness, there were other fish with him who peer pressured him into doing it. Nemo failed to realize the danger of his actions before carrying them out. This sets up the film’s core conflict, which teaches both parents and children a powerful lesson about not being too overprotective, while also realizing that your parents set rules primarily to keep you safe.

#3: Joy Disposing of a Sad Memory

“Inside Out” (2015)

The central message of “Inside Out” is that all emotions are essential and valuable, even the tough ones like sadness. The path to learning this lesson begins when Joy decides to discard Riley’s first-ever sad core memory. This leads to Joy and Sadness getting thrown out of the Headquarters, leading them on a journey to discover Sadness’ importance. While it’s in character for Joy to oppose Riley's feeling sad, it’s not a big brain move for her to try and completely eliminate her sorrows. Thankfully, Joy and Sadness learn to work together and create a core memory that’s simultaneously happy and sad, so Joy clearly learns her lesson.

#2: Bob’s Happiness

“The Incredibles” (2004)

The first Pixar movie where every core character is a human is set in a world where superheroes are forced into hiding. This deeply upsets hero Mr. Incredible, also known as Bob Parr, to the point that he ends up secretly becoming one again. The fact that he hides it from his wife, Helen, is a pretty poor decision - especially since he keeps coming home elated after fighting crime, which makes her highly suspicious. Additionally, it puts his entire family at risk, something they’re entirely unaware of. If he’d mentioned his need to go adventuring, Helen wouldn’t have gotten Bob captured trying to find him.

#1: Bringing an Explosive to Buckingham Palace

“Cars 2” (2011)

In this “Cars” sequel, Mater accidentally becomes a secret agent and becomes responsible for stopping the villain Zündapp’s evil plot to ignite fuel with electromagnetic pulses. When the plot fails, the villains strap a bomb to Mater’s air filter. It then turns out the real mastermind was a car named Axlerod, who happens to be hanging out with the Queen when our heroes confront him at Buckingham Palace. But that bomb is still strapped to Mater, putting the Queen in danger. Thankfully, Axlerod prevents it from detonating at the last moment in order to keep himself from being killed. It’s a risky move, as he might easily have let it detonate regardless, doing huge damage to our heroes and the Queen.

Were there any particularly silly decisions we failed to mention? Let us know in the comments below!