10 Best Animated Movies in Film History, Ranked
Born with Autism (formerly classified as Asperger syndrome), Tyler B. Searle has been obsessed with storytelling since he was old enough to speak. He gravitated towards fairy tales, mythology, the fantasy genre, and animated movies and shows aimed at family audiences. When not writing, Tyler enjoys watching more cartoons and reading fantasy books in his home in Ontario, Canada.
Animation has gone through many trials and tribulations in the world of film. In the early 20th century, it was mainly relegated to theater shorts in America out of a beliefe that audiences wouldn't sit through a full feature length picture, though some overseas productions, like The Adventures of Prince Achmed and The Tale of the Fox, showed that it could be done. Following the rise of Disney, animated films become more commonplace and experimental, especially as new technologies were developed.
With so many great animated films in existence, it can be tricky to quantify which ones are truly the best. Thus, consider this list as but a small selection of what the medium has to offer.
10 'Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio' (2022)
Grieving over the death of his son, a woodcarver named Geppetto (David Bradley) chops down the tree growing on his son's grave and carves it into a puppet in his likeness. A kind Wood Sprite (Tilda Swinton) takes pity on Geppetto and uses her magic to bring the puppet, named Pinocchio (Gregory Mann), to life. She tasks a cricket named Sebastian (Ewan McGregor) with being his concience, which proves to be quite tricky, as numerous forces want to exploit Pinocchio's naivetee and unique gifts for their own ends.
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is perhaps the most unique interpretation of Carlo Collodi's story. The stop-motion alone sets it apart from other animated, both in how the characters move, and in the unique aestetic of the world and characters. The story, meanwhile, expands on what it means to be a "real boy," as well as interesting philosophical discussions around the nature of death and immortality, told through Pinocchio's interactions with Death herself (Tilda Swinton).
9 'Fantasia' (1940)
When trying to create an animated short to showcase a new design for Mickey Mouse, Walt Disney turned it into a film to justify the cost. He combined it with a collection of other shorts, each set to classical music, and animated by his top animators. Leopold Stokowski was brought on as the conductor, and Deems Taylor served as the Master of Ceremonies who introuced each segment.
Fantasia is one of the most unique animated films because it serves as a one-of-a-kind experience. The combination of classical music and Disney animation creates a beautiiful audio-visual experiecne that can be anything from full-on narratives to abstract images that represent the animators attempt to bring visuals to music. It has plenty of iconic segments, but aside from "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," which stars Mickey, "A Night on Bald Mountain" is probably best known thanks to the demon Chernabog, and how it contrasts with "Ave Maria."
8 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' (1937)
When the Evil Queen (Lucille La Verne) learns that her stepdaughter, Snow White (Adriana Caselotti), is the fairest woman in the land, she tasks her Huntsman (Stuart Buchanan) with taking the princess to the woods and killing her. He can't bring himself to do it, however, and instead warns Snow White to run into the forest and never come back. With the help of kind animals, Snow White finds her way to a cottage owned by seven dwarfs, who agree to let her stay.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is among the most important animated films ever made, laying the foundation for Disney's rise as a company, and proving that audiences were hungry for full-length animated feature films. It is a film that excels at emotional resonance, allowing for easy immersion with the world and its characters. It also looks gorgeous, with stylistic animation that makes it feel like a European fairy tale book come to life.
7 'WALL-E' (2008)
Wall-E (Ben Burtt) is the last in a line of robots tasked with cleaning up a heavily polluted Earth so humans, who fled into space, can return. One day, he meets an advanced probe named EVE (Elissa Knight), and falls in love. When he shows her a young plant he found, it activates EVE's homing beacon, pulling her and Wall-E to the human ship Axion, and beginning the chain of events that can bring humanity home.
WALL-E's first half is a stellar example of using body language to convey emotion. Even though the robot characters don't have proper faces and speak with limited dialogue, you always know what they are thinking, and in many ways their body movements convey more emotion and personality then words ever could. Beyond that, the visuals of the vast beauty of space are quite mesmerizing, and the story is a compelling tale of love, environmental awareness, and a caution against becoming over reliant on technology.
6 'Toy Story' (1995)
Woody (Tom Hanks), is a cowboy doll owned by a young boy named Andy (John Morris), and acts as the de-facto leader of Andy's toys when they come to life anytime he leaves the room. However, his position is uprooted when Andy recieves a Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) action figure for his birthday. Woody soon finds himself being supplanted as Andy's favourite toy, which leads him to perform a selfish act that sees him and Buzz seperated from Andy and forced to work together to get home.
Toy Story was the first fully CGI movie, and captivated audiences not just thanks to the groundbreaking technology, but the fantastic story and character writing. Woody and Buzz's journey from enemies to best friends is incredibly satisfying, thanks both to how understandable both of their positions are, and the amazing performances from Hanks and Allen. The story at large deals with themes of change and growth, while also tapping into that universal feeling of creating sweet memories with one's toys.
5 'Akira' (1988)
The dystopian city of Neo Tokyo was built when the original Tokyo was destoyed thirty years ago, and is now a haven of corruption and violence. A clash between two gangs sees one member, Tetsuo Shima (Nozomu Sasaki/Jay Rabson/Joshua Seth), collide with a strange child before being taken away by government agents. They discover that Tetsuo contains vast psychic abilities, which they fear could mirror those of Akira, the psychic who originally destroyed Tokyo.
Akira is the movie that help Japanese animation break into the global market, and remains one of the best. Its animation is some of the best 2D animation ever put to film, with incredible fluidity in the character movements and realisitc lip syncing, making for a one-of-a-kind experience. The art style of Akria has gone on to inspire plenty of anime and science fiction stories since its release, while the story is a pretty effective tale about the corrupting nature of power.
4 'The Prince of Egypt' (1998)
Moses (Val Kilmer) is a Hebrew raised as the second son of Pharaoh Seti (Sir Patrick Stewart), until one day he learns the truth. When he accidentally killed a taskmaster who was over-whipping a slave, he flees into the desert, much to the sadness of his adoptive brother, Rameses (Ralph Fiennes). He forged a new life for himself as a sheppard, but one day, the voice of God (Val Kilmer) speaks to him and compells him to return to Egypt to rescue his people.
The Prince of Egypt is a film of literal biblical proportion. It tells a faithful adaptation of The Book of Exodus while adding more drama by focusing on the brotherly dynamic between Moses and Rameses, which helps to ground the film in a tragic human conflict. Beyond the story, it's got an all star voice cast, fantastic songs, and a great sense of scale that makes the monuments of Egypt look properly imposing and divien.
3 'The Lion King' (1994)
Within a stretch of the African Savanna called the Pride Lands lives Simba (Johnathan Taylor Thomas and Matthew Broderik), a lion cub born to King Mufasa (James Earl Jones) and destined to one day inherrit the throne. This has given him a brash and cocky attitude, eager to explore and prove himself brave like his father. Unfortunately, his uncle Scar (Jeremy Irons) lusts after the throne, and makes an alliance with a clan of hyennas to kill Simba and Mufasa.
The Lion King was supposed to just be a movie to fill time until Pocahontas released, but it blew all expectations and became one of the most recognized and beloved animated films of all time. A big reason for this is its grand scale: between the bright colors, epic camera angles, and major themes related to duty and learning from the past rather then running from it. Then there is the music: Hanz Zimmer's score further adds to the larger-then-life field, while the songs by Sir Elton John and Sir Tim Rice are catchy and iconic.
2 'Spirited Away' (2001)
Chihiro (Rumi Hiiragi/Daveigh Chase) is a young girl who becomes trapped in the spirit world with her parents, who are transformed into pigs after eating spirit food. She is helped out by a young man named Haku (Miyu Irino/Jason Marsden), who helps her get inside the local batthouse, run by a witch named Yubaba (Mari Natsuki/Suzanne Pleshette). Chihiro managed to secure a job, giving her time to try and save her parents, but Yubaba also takes her name, meaning that Chihiro—now called Sen—must finda way to get it back in order to leave.
Spirited Away is easily the best film from legendary director Hayao Miyazaki. The animation alone is stellar, showcasing fluid character movements and detailed designs and backgrounds that require multiple viewings to catch sight off everything. As for the story, it does a fantastic job of presenting the spirit world as a paralelle world with its own strange but consistient rules, and gives Chihiro a great coming of age journey.
1 'Beauty and the Beast' (1991)
When a spoiled prince (Robby Benson) refused to allow an old woman shelter during a storm, she revealed herself to be an enchantress and cursed him and his castle staff. If the prince, now a monstrous beast, could learn to love and be loved in return before the last petal of a magic rose fell, the spell would be broken, but if he could not, it would be permanent. For years he lived in isolation, having given up all hope, until he imprisoned a tresspassing inventor named Maurice (Rex Everhart) and meets his daughter, Belle (Paige O'Hera).
Beauty and the Beast is the first animated film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, and the only one to get the nomination when the Oscars had five nominees instead of ten. People fell in love with the story, which not only possesses a wonderfully paced romance between the leads, but also provides the best example of how to update a classic fairy tale while keeping its essence. Then there are the songs, made by the legendary duo of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, and sung by Broadway-trained actors, including Dame Angela Lansbury, who brought the recording team to tears when she sang the titular song.
Beauty and the Beast
- Release Date
- October 22, 1991
- Runtime
- 84 minutes
- Director
- Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise
- Writers
- Linda Woolverton
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