As Finding Dory just kept swimming into theaters this weekend, it provided another opportunity to look back on the output of Pixar, which has released an astonishing number of beloved films in just 21 years. I was tempted to rank all of Pixar’s movies, but at a certain point you’re just debating degrees of perfection (however, I do have a list).

But what really sets Pixar apart from its competitors is the skilled way it deals with emotion. I may laugh harder at Shrek and appreciate the zaniness of Despicable Me, but Pixar manages to deliver tears along with its humor. Everyone has a different Pixar moment that has had them reaching for the tissues, and each bring the tears for different reasons. Pixar can craft a heartrending suckerpunch as well as anyone, but they can also wrest tears from moments of awe and beauty. What follows are the 10 moments in Pixar films that never leave me with dry eyes. I’ve included videos, so keep the Kleenex handy.

1. “Married Life,” Up: That nearly wordless prologue, which follows the relationship of Carl and Ellie from childhood friendship through marriage and to death, is a perfect piece of cinema. Had the credits rolled after that, I’d have blinked away tears and still ranked Up the best film of 2009. As Michael Giacchino’s beautiful score plays, we watch Carl and Ellie’s relationship blossom. They plan for a bright future, endure financial setbacks, deal with infertility and keep deferring their dreams as life throws them detours. By the time it ends with Carl alone at Ellie’s funeral, his loss is our own. It’s a brave way to open any film, let alone a Disney animated one, and it ensures we’re invested in Carl’s quest to get to Paradise Falls. It’s the most exquisite and powerful moment in the Pixar canon. I’m not making this up: if I’m watching “Up” with my wife and kids, I will leave the room during the first 10 minutes because the tears come way too hard.

2. “Jessie’s Song,” Toy Story 2: Sure, Toy Story had its moments of poignancy; Buzz Lightyear’s realization that he can’t fly still packs a tremendous punch. But when Jessie the Cowgirl (Joan Cusack) reflected on the owner who left her, Pixar took its first big leap forward. Up until that point, Toy Story 2 is a very funny, clever quest to rescue Woody. But in that moment, the series became transcendent and raised the bar for everything the studio put out next. Sure, Andy may have held onto Woody despite the flashy Buzz’s arrival. But kids grow up. “Do you really think Andy’s going to take you to college or on his honeymoon?” the cowboy is asked. The song hammers the hearts of everyone who’s ever had a favorite toy that’s been lost to time, locates the dread of every parent who knows their child is going to one day leave home, and causes kiddos to clutch their teddy bears a little tighter at night.

3. “Goodbye, Bing Bong,” Inside Out: Okay, technically Inside Out could fill every slot on this list, which is fitting for a movie about the importance of sadness (and don’t worry; the film shows up again here). But Bing Bong’s heroic sacrifice is what really gets the (candy) tears going. For most of the film, Bing Bong — Riley’s half-elephant, half-cotton candy imaginary friend — is comic relief, voiced with goofy glee by Richard Kind. He’s been forgotten by Riley as she’s grown older, but he’s sure one day she’ll remember him. Then, trapped in the bottom of a pit where memories go to die, he realizes he has to resign himself to irrelevance in order for Joy to get back home. For parents especially, the scene is a kick to the gut, a reminder that in the act of growing older and maturing, kids must let go of some of the goofy, weird stuff that is so fun to watch. Godspeed, Bing Bong.

4. “Andy Says Goodbye,” Toy Story 3: The third Toy Story film is the cutest horror film ever made. How else to describe a movie with a giant, hulking baby doll and a scene where our heroes join hands and prepare to be incinerated? Animated films don’t necessarily have to deal with time (if they did, Bart Simpson would be pushing 40 by now), but Pixar charged right ahead to address head-on what happens when the toys’ greatest fear comes true. Toy Story 3 can be read as many things: a parental lament about watching children grow up, a meditation on morality, a story about embracing difficult life changes. But its most emotional moment comes down to a simple fact: It sucks to grow up. At the film’s end, Andy gives all his toys to Bonnie, a neighborhood girl. He starts to take Woody with him and as she reaches for it, Andy instinctively draws his hand back. At that moment, I gasped and felt my throat tighten. The hardest part of growing up is relinquishing your grasp on childhood things, and the moment where Andy tells Bonnie about how good of a toy Woody is really the end of the saga (I don’t like the idea of a Toy Story 4). It’s that habit of steering hard into truth that sets Pixar apart not from just other animation studios, but from the majority of Hollywood.

5. “Define dancing,” WALL-E: WALL-E is the pinnacle of Pixar. It’s one of my 20 favorite films of all time. And this is one of those moments that brings me to tears not because of sadness but because of beauty. It occurs shorty after WALL-E and EVE have been blasted out of an airlock. EVE thinks WALL-E has been destroyed, but he comes shooting back, propelled by a fire extinguisher. Overjoyed at seeing him, EVE begins flying with him around the Axiom’s exterior, her blue contrails intertwined with the extinguisher’s foam. As they move, the captain inside the Axiom devours more information about Earth, and asks the computer to tell him about dancing. The moment is exquisite and gorgeous, one of many wonderful pieces of a near-perfect film.

6. “Thanks for the adventures,” Up: After its highly emotional opening, Up switches gears and turns into a fast-paced, bizarre comedy featuring a literal snipe hunt, eccentric celebrities, and dogs who talk and fly biplanes. And then, when Carl and his Wilderness Scout friend Russell have their inevitable disagreement, Carl retreats to his chair and begins leafing through the adventure scrapbook he and Ellie had compiled but never finished. Carl flips through it, reliving his marriage and finds that Ellie has left him a note: “Thanks for the adventure — now go have a new one.” It’s a callback to the emotional eviscerating open sequence (see #1) and a piece of catharsis that hits at just the right moment. After the film’s high comedy made me feel like I was safe, this came back and suckerpunched me right in the heart.

7. “My dad fought a shark?” Finding Nemo: Every son wants to know their father is capable of greatness. Every father wants to believe they’ll come through for their kids when the going gets tough. Much of the humor of Finding Nemo comes from Marlin’s overly cautious nature, so much so that Nemo doesn’t believe his dad would traverse the entire ocean looking for him, let alone take on a shark. But there’s a great sequence when Marlin’s legend starts making the rounds, eventually making it back to the young clownfish via pelican Nigel (Geoffrey Rush), who spreads the news to Nemo. Nigel assures him that what he’s heard is even better than Nemo thought. The pride and excitement in Nemo’s voice is what every dad wants to believe their sons sound like when they talk about them.

8. “Riley comes home,” Inside Out: I don’t know that Inside Out is the best film Pixar has ever made (it’s definitely in the top three, though), but it might be the most important. It should be required viewing for all parents and kids to help encourage proper emotional health. For the majority of the film, Riley is thrown into confusion upon a cross-country move, and trying desperately not to feel sad. The film’s finale finds all of the emotions agreeing that sometimes it’s okay — necessary, even — to let the sadness in. The moment when Sadness takes the control panel and Riley finally expresses her true feelings to her family, is played small, and yet it’s the big moment of catharsis for the entire film. For a film that jumps so ably between laughs and tears, this moment is the one that really lets the floodgates open.

9. “Seashells,” Finding Dory: The film just released, so I won’t spoil it. Let’s just say that seashells are involved in a scene that showcases the power of parental patience, hope and love.

10. “You are my greatest adventure,” The Incredibles: Looking back on this list, I see that many of these hit me hard because of their parental themes. Much of that is probably because of the season of life I’m in right now as a father of two. And this moment from The Incredibles is one I find incredibly resonant (pardon the pun). The film is about an ex-superhero who feels suffocated in suburbia, so he begins moonlighting for a mysterious client. As these things normally do, it blows up in his face and puts his wife and children at risk. Thinking he’s lost them, Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) is overcome when he learns they’re still alive — and realizes that all of the greatest adventures in the world can’t compare to the one of family. As someone who openly struggles with wanting to do exciting things and who has had a hard time giving up the things of the past to take on responsibility, the scene hits me hard. And when I look at my wife and kids and realize they make my life so much richer and exciting than any writing or film opportunity could ever be, I think of Mr. Incredible (Note: I couldn’t find a video for this one).