In my opinion, Pixar are head and shoulders above any other film studio in the world at the moment, a title I feel confident bestowing upon them on the strength of their last three movies. The first five minutes of Up were some of the most heart-wrenchingly emotional I have ever experienced, and the narrative that followed was a thing of beauty, as Carl attempted to recapture the spirit of his youthful love whilst struggling to overcome his own curmudgeonly nature. WALL-E, meanwhile, is a laudably ambitious re-imagining of the boy-meets-girl cinematic dynamic that ends up being one of the greatest love stories of the twenty-first century. And, watching it for a second time, I realised how wonderful Ratatouille is. It approaches both cooking and the city of Paris with an unrestrained sense of celebration that is a joy to behold, and Remy the rat's struggle to stay true to both his family and his own ambitions is never less than engaging. As we all eagerly await the release of Toy Story 3, it served as the perfect reminder of the unbelievably high standards Pixar have been setting over the last few years.