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Every few months, another “best animated movies” list drops online. And most of them feel like the same ten Pixar films reshuffled with a Ghibli movie thrown in for credibility. That’s frustrating if you actually care about animation as a storytelling medium and want a list that covers the full range of what animated films can do.
We’ve watched animated movies obsessively for years, from hand-drawn Disney classics to Japanese anime films to experimental stop-motion projects. We’ve seen what holds up on a rewatch and what fades once the hype dies down. This list isn’t based on nostalgia alone. We cross-referenced critic scores on Rotten Tomatoes, audience ratings on IMDb, Academy Award history, box office cultural impact, and real fan sentiment to build something that actually represents the best animated movies of all time.
Whether you grew up on Pixar, fell in love with Studio Ghibli, or discovered animation through anime, this ranked list has something for you. These 20 films aren’t just good cartoons. They’re some of the greatest movies ever made in any format.
Why Animated Movies Deserve More Respect
There’s a persistent myth that animated movies are “just for kids.” That couldn’t be more wrong. Some of the most complex, emotionally devastating, and visually groundbreaking films ever made are animated. The medium allows storytelling freedom that live action simply can’t match. You can build entire worlds from scratch, bend physics, and visualize emotions in ways that feel impossible with real cameras.
The numbers back this up. Inside Out 2 became the highest-grossing animated film of all time in 2024. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature and is widely considered one of the best superhero movies ever made, animated or not. Spirited Away won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and remains the highest-grossing film in Japanese box office history. These aren’t niche achievements. These are cultural landmarks.
Animation also spans an incredible range of styles: hand-drawn cel animation, 3D computer graphics, stop-motion, rotoscope, mixed media, and more. Each technique brings a different texture and emotional quality to the screen. The best animated movies of all time use their chosen medium not as a limitation but as a superpower, telling stories that simply couldn’t exist in any other form.
How We Ranked These Films
Every film on this list was evaluated across five areas: storytelling and emotional impact, animation quality and visual innovation, cultural influence on the medium, critical reception (Rotten Tomatoes scores, Academy Award recognition), and lasting audience appeal measured through IMDb ratings and ongoing fan discussion.
We included films from multiple animation traditions. Hollywood studios like Pixar, Disney, and DreamWorks are represented alongside Japanese anime from Studio Ghibli and others, European animation, and independent projects. A real “best of all time” list needs that breadth. Any ranking that only includes one country’s output isn’t telling the full story.
We also balanced classics with modern entries. Animation has evolved dramatically, and some recent films have genuinely earned their place alongside decades-old masterpieces. We didn’t inflate the list with new releases for recency bias, but we didn’t exclude them out of misplaced nostalgia either.
The 20 Best Animated Movies of All Time
1. Spirited Away (2001)
Studio: Studio Ghibli | Director: Hayao Miyazaki | RT Score: 97%
Spirited Away is the gold standard for animated filmmaking. Hayao Miyazaki’s story follows 10-year-old Chihiro, who stumbles into a spirit world run by the witch Yubaba. To save her parents, who’ve been turned into pigs, Chihiro must work in Yubaba’s bathhouse and navigate a world filled with gods, monsters, and strange magic.
What makes this film transcendent is how Miyazaki builds a world that feels both fantastical and emotionally grounded. Every creature, every room, every food item has weight and meaning. Chihiro’s journey from a scared, whiny child into someone brave and resourceful is one of the most satisfying character arcs in any film. The animation is breathtaking, with hand-drawn detail that CGI still struggles to match decades later.
Spirited Away won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2003 and remains the highest-grossing film in Japanese history. It proved that anime could captivate global audiences without compromising its Japanese identity. For many Western viewers, this was the film that opened the door to the entire world of anime.
2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Studio: Sony Pictures Animation | Directors: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman | RT Score: 97%
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse rewrote the rules for what animated movies could look and feel like. The film introduces Miles Morales as Spider-Man and brings in multiple Spider-People from alternate dimensions. The multiverse concept was fresh at the time, and the execution was flawless.
The animation style is what sets this film apart from everything that came before it. The team combined 3D computer animation with hand-drawn techniques, comic book textures, and variable frame rates to create something that literally looks like a comic book come to life. Every frame could be a poster. The visual innovation here influenced an entire wave of animated films that followed, including its own sequel, Across the Spider-Verse.
Beyond the visuals, the story nails the emotional core. Miles’s relationship with his father, his struggle with identity and responsibility, and his eventual acceptance of who he’s meant to be hit hard. It won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature and ranked second on Rotten Tomatoes’ all-time animated list. This film proved that animation doesn’t need to look “polished” to be beautiful. It needs to be bold.
3. Toy Story (1995)
Studio: Pixar | Director: John Lasseter | RT Score: 100%
Toy Story changed everything. It was the first fully computer-animated feature film, and it arrived with a story so good that the technology was almost secondary. Woody, a cowboy toy who’s always been his kid’s favorite, has his world rocked when Buzz Lightyear arrives and steals the spotlight. Their rivalry, reconciliation, and eventual friendship is the emotional backbone of the entire Pixar universe.
What Pixar accomplished here was revolutionary on both a technical and narrative level. They proved that CGI could sustain a feature-length story, and they did it with characters that audiences of all ages genuinely cared about. The film holds a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and launched a franchise that spans four sequels (with Toy Story 5 releasing in June 2026).
Nearly three decades later, the original Toy Story still works. The animation looks dated compared to modern Pixar, but the storytelling is timeless. Woody’s fear of being replaced, Buzz’s identity crisis, and the universal theme of growing up and letting go resonate just as strongly now as they did in 1995.
4. WALL-E (2008)
Studio: Pixar | Director: Andrew Stanton | RT Score: 95%
WALL-E opens with almost no dialogue. For roughly 30 minutes, you watch a lonely robot sift through garbage on an abandoned Earth, collecting trinkets and watching old musicals. It’s one of the most audacious openings in film history, animated or otherwise. Pixar trusted their audience to connect with a character who barely speaks, and it worked beautifully.
When WALL-E meets EVE, a sleek reconnaissance robot sent to check Earth for signs of life, the film transforms into a love story with stakes that span the survival of humanity. The romance between two robots who communicate through beeps and body language is more emotionally authentic than most live-action love stories.
WALL-E is also Pixar’s most pointed social commentary, exploring consumerism, environmental destruction, and the consequences of letting technology replace human connection. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and frequently appears near the top of every “best animated films” ranking. The wordless first act alone is a masterclass in visual storytelling that film schools still study.
5. The Lion King (1994)
Studio: Walt Disney Animation | Directors: Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff | RT Score: 93%
The Lion King is Disney’s crowning achievement in hand-drawn animation. The story of Simba, a young lion prince who loses his father and must reclaim his kingdom, is essentially Hamlet set in the African savanna. It shouldn’t work as a children’s movie. It works as one of the most emotionally powerful animated films ever made.
Mufasa’s death scene remains one of the most devastating moments in cinema. Hans Zimmer’s score, combined with songs by Elton John and Tim Rice, gives the film an emotional grandeur that few animated movies have ever matched. “Circle of Life,” “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” and “Be Prepared” are embedded in pop culture permanently.
The film grossed nearly $1 billion worldwide (adjusted), spawned a Broadway musical that became the highest-grossing show of all time, and received a CGI remake in 2019. But the 1994 original remains the definitive version. The hand-drawn animation has a warmth and expressiveness that the photorealistic remake couldn’t replicate. This is the film that proved Disney animation could compete with any live-action blockbuster.
6. Your Name (2016)
Studio: CoMix Wave Films | Director: Makoto Shinkai | RT Score: 98%
Your Name is the film that proved anime could be a global mainstream phenomenon, not just a niche interest. Makoto Shinkai’s body-swapping romance follows Taki and Mitsuha, two teenagers who mysteriously begin switching bodies. What starts as a charming comedy becomes something much deeper when the story reveals its true stakes.
The animation is staggering. Shinkai’s team renders Tokyo cityscapes, rural mountain villages, and celestial events with a level of detail and beauty that borders on surreal. Every frame glows. The comet sequence in the third act is one of the most visually stunning moments in animation history.
Your Name became the highest-grossing anime film at the time of its release, earning over $380 million worldwide. It resonated with audiences who had never watched anime before, and its themes of connection, fate, and the fear of forgetting someone important hit a universal nerve. If Spirited Away opened the door to anime for Western audiences, Your Name kicked it wide open.
7. Inside Out (2015)
Studio: Pixar | Director: Pete Docter | RT Score: 98%
Inside Out took an abstract concept, the emotions inside a child’s mind, and turned it into Pixar’s most psychologically sophisticated film. Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust control 11-year-old Riley’s emotional responses from a control room in her head. When Joy and Sadness get lost in the depths of Riley’s mind, the film becomes an exploration of how we process change, loss, and growing up.
The genius is in the details. Core memories, personality islands, the train of thought, abstract thought, the subconscious, and the devastating “Bing Bong” scene all visualize psychological concepts in ways that are both scientifically inspired and deeply moving. Psychologists praised the film for its accurate representation of how emotions work together.
Inside Out won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and its 2024 sequel, Inside Out 2, became the highest-grossing animated film of all time at over $1.6 billion worldwide. The original remains the more emotionally focused and tightly crafted film. It’s the rare animated movie that helps kids understand themselves and helps adults remember what it felt like to be a kid.
8. The Incredibles (2004)
Studio: Pixar | Director: Brad Bird | RT Score: 97%
The Incredibles is the best superhero family movie ever made. Bob and Helen Parr are retired superheroes forced into civilian life, raising three kids while hiding their powers. When Bob gets lured back into action by a mysterious employer, the whole family gets pulled into a plot that threatens everything they’ve built.
Brad Bird crafted a film that works simultaneously as a thrilling action movie, a witty family comedy, and a thoughtful exploration of identity and purpose. The action sequences, particularly Dash’s chase through the jungle and the final battle, are better than most live-action superhero set pieces. The family dynamics feel real and the humor never undermines the stakes.
The Incredibles won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and holds a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. It appeared on multiple “best animated films of all time” aggregate lists, consistently ranking in the top 10. Two decades later, it’s still the animated film that best balances spectacle with genuine emotional depth.
9. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Studio: Studio Ghibli | Director: Isao Takahata | RT Score: 100%
Grave of the Fireflies is the most emotionally devastating animated film ever made. It follows Seita and Setsuko, a teenage boy and his young sister, as they struggle to survive in Japan during the final months of World War II. The film tells you in the opening scene that both children die. Then it makes you watch how it happens.
Isao Takahata’s approach is unflinching and deliberately avoids sentimentality. The film doesn’t tell you how to feel. It simply shows you the reality of two children trying to stay alive while the world burns around them. The animation has a softness that makes the brutality even more heartbreaking. Setsuko, with her innocent face and fading energy, is one of the most tragically drawn characters in cinema.
Grave of the Fireflies holds a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert called it one of the greatest war films ever made. It’s often cited as the movie that single-handedly disproves the “animation is for kids” argument. Be warned: this film will break you. But it will also remind you why the best animated movies matter.
10. Coco (2017)
Studio: Pixar | Directors: Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina | RT Score: 97%
Coco is Pixar’s most culturally rich film. Inspired by the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), the story follows 12-year-old Miguel, who dreams of becoming a musician despite his family’s strict ban on music. After accidentally entering the Land of the Dead, Miguel discovers his family’s secret history and learns what it truly means to remember those who came before us.
The Land of the Dead is one of the most stunning environments ever animated. The neon colors, towering architecture of stacked buildings, and glowing marigold bridges create a visual spectacle that rewards every rewatch. But the film’s power comes from its emotional core, specifically the climactic scene with Mama Coco that has made millions of viewers cry.
Coco won two Academy Awards: Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for “Remember Me.” The film was a massive hit globally and particularly beloved in Latin America for its respectful and joyful representation of Mexican culture. It’s a film about death that somehow feels like a celebration of life.
11. Princess Mononoke (1997)
Studio: Studio Ghibli | Director: Hayao Miyazaki | RT Score: 93%
Princess Mononoke is Miyazaki’s most ambitious and morally complex film. Prince Ashitaka is cursed by a demon-possessed boar and travels west to find a cure. He stumbles into a war between the industrial Iron Town, led by the pragmatic Lady Eboshi, and the forest spirits, championed by the fierce San (Princess Mononoke). Neither side is entirely right. Neither is entirely wrong.
The environmental themes are handled with a maturity that most films struggle to achieve. Miyazaki doesn’t demonize industry or romanticize nature. He shows the legitimate needs of both sides and the tragedy of their conflict. The Forest Spirit, the boar gods, the wolf clan, and the kodama tree spirits create a mythology that feels ancient and alive.
The action sequences are breathtaking, with hand-drawn animation that conveys weight, speed, and violence in ways that CGI often fails to replicate. Princess Mononoke was the highest-grossing film in Japan until Titanic surpassed it. It remains one of the most influential animated films ever made and a masterpiece of environmental storytelling.
12. Finding Nemo (2003)
Studio: Pixar | Director: Andrew Stanton | RT Score: 99%
Finding Nemo combines a visually gorgeous underwater world with a deeply emotional story about parenthood, letting go, and trust. Marlin, an overprotective clownfish, crosses the entire ocean to rescue his captured son Nemo. Along the way, he meets Dory, a blue tang with short-term memory loss who becomes one of Pixar’s most beloved characters.
The underwater animation was groundbreaking in 2003 and still looks beautiful. Pixar’s artists studied marine biology, light refraction, and ocean currents to create an underwater world that felt scientifically authentic while remaining fantastical enough for a children’s adventure. Each environment, from the coral reef to the jellyfish forest to the whale’s mouth, is distinct and memorable.
Finding Nemo holds a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and was the best-selling DVD of all time for several years after its release. It appeared on nearly every aggregate “best animated films” list compiled from major publications. The story of a father’s desperate love for his child connects with audiences regardless of age.
13. The Wild Robot (2024)
Studio: DreamWorks Animation | Director: Chris Sanders | RT Score: 98%
The Wild Robot is the newest film on this list, and it earned its spot immediately. Based on Peter Brown’s children’s book, the film follows Roz, a robot who washes ashore on an uninhabited island and must learn to survive by adapting to the natural world. When she accidentally destroys a goose nest and is left with one surviving egg, Roz becomes a mother.
The animation style is unlike anything DreamWorks has done before. Inspired by impressionist painting, the environments have a soft, painterly quality that makes every landscape feel like a living canvas. The character animation, particularly Roz’s gradual shift from rigid machine to caring parent, is subtle and deeply moving.
Critics praised The Wild Robot as DreamWorks’ best film in years, with the 98% Rotten Tomatoes score reflecting near-universal acclaim. The film explores themes of motherhood, belonging, identity, and the intersection of nature and technology with a gentle confidence that never talks down to its audience. It was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards and has already secured its place among the great animated films.
14. Akira (1988)
Studio: Tokyo Movie Shinsha | Director: Katsuhiro Otomo | RT Score: 90%
Akira is the animated film that changed Western perceptions of what animation could be. Set in a dystopian Neo-Tokyo in 2019, the film follows Kaneda and Tetsuo, two members of a biker gang who get drawn into a government conspiracy involving psychic children and military experiments. When Tetsuo develops uncontrollable psychic powers, the city faces destruction on a massive scale.
The animation is legendary. Otomo insisted on pre-scoring the dialogue so the characters’ mouths would match perfectly, a rarity in anime at the time. The level of detail in every frame, from the neon-lit streets to the grotesque body horror of Tetsuo’s transformation, set a standard that influenced decades of science fiction across all mediums. Without Akira, films like The Matrix, Chronicle, and Stranger Things would look very different.
Akira proved to Western audiences in the late 1980s and early 1990s that animation wasn’t just for children’s stories. Its violence, complexity, and visual ambition shattered expectations and opened the floodgates for anime’s global expansion. Nearly four decades later, its animation quality still holds up against modern productions.
15. Up (2009)
Studio: Pixar | Director: Pete Docter | RT Score: 98%
Up is famous for its opening montage, a four-minute wordless sequence that condenses an entire lifetime of love, dreams, loss, and grief into one of the most emotionally powerful scenes in film history. Carl and Ellie’s story, told without dialogue through music and images alone, makes audiences cry before the actual plot even begins.
The rest of the film follows Carl, a grumpy widower who ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies to South America to fulfill a promise he made to Ellie. He’s joined by Russell, an earnest young Wilderness Explorer, a talking dog named Dug, and a giant colorful bird named Kevin. The adventure is fun and exciting, but the emotional weight of Carl’s grief gives everything deeper meaning.
Up won two Academy Awards: Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score. It was also nominated for Best Picture, making it one of only a handful of animated films to receive that honor. The film’s ability to make you ugly-cry in the first five minutes and then take you on a joyful adventure for the next 90 is a testament to Pixar at their absolute best.
16. Ratatouille (2007)
Studio: Pixar | Director: Brad Bird | RT Score: 96%
Ratatouille has one of the most unlikely premises in animation: a rat who wants to be a chef in Paris. Remy, a rat with an exceptional sense of taste and smell, forms a secret partnership with Linguini, a talentless kitchen worker at a prestigious restaurant. By hiding under Linguini’s hat and controlling his movements, Remy cooks while Linguini takes the credit.
Brad Bird took this absurd concept and turned it into one of Pixar’s most elegant films. The animation of Parisian streets, restaurant kitchens, and food preparation is gorgeous. But the film’s real power comes from its central theme: anyone can create great art, regardless of where they come from. That message, delivered through Anton Ego’s stunning final review, is one of the most profound moments in Pixar’s filmography.
Ratatouille won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and appeared on multiple “best animated films” aggregate rankings. It’s a film that celebrates passion, craftsmanship, and the courage to pursue excellence even when the world tells you that someone like you doesn’t belong. It resonates with artists, chefs, and anyone who’s ever been underestimated.
17. My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Studio: Studio Ghibli | Director: Hayao Miyazaki | RT Score: 94%
My Neighbor Totoro is the purest expression of childhood wonder ever put on screen. Two young sisters, Satsuki and Mei, move to a rural house near a forest while their mother recovers from illness in the hospital. In the forest, they discover magical creatures, including the giant, gentle Totoro, who becomes their friend and protector.
There is no villain in this film. No world-threatening conflict. No dramatic chase. Totoro is simply about the experience of being a child: exploring new places, finding magic in the ordinary, feeling afraid and then feeling safe. Miyazaki captures the textures of rural Japan, the weight of rain, the feel of wind through trees, and the sound of a summer night with unmatched attention to sensory detail.
Totoro became Studio Ghibli’s mascot and one of the most recognizable characters in animation history. The film’s influence extends far beyond Japan. It showed that animated stories don’t need conflict and spectacle to be compelling. They just need truth. Decades later, Totoro remains the film parents reach for when they want to share something genuinely magical with their children.
18. How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
Studio: DreamWorks Animation | Directors: Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders | RT Score: 99%
How to Train Your Dragon is DreamWorks’ masterpiece. Hiccup, a scrawny Viking teenager who’s useless at dragon fighting, shoots down a feared Night Fury dragon and discovers that dragons aren’t the monsters his village believes them to be. His friendship with Toothless, the injured Night Fury, changes everything about his world.
The flying sequences are exhilarating. The “Test Drive” scene, where Hiccup and Toothless fly together for the first time, is one of the most thrilling moments in animated cinema. John Powell’s soaring score elevates every sequence, and the bond between Hiccup and Toothless is one of the most genuine relationships in animation history.
The film holds a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and launched a trilogy that maintained remarkable quality across all three installments. How to Train Your Dragon proved that DreamWorks could match Pixar’s emotional storytelling when given the right material. Its message about empathy, understanding, and challenging inherited prejudice remains powerful.
19. Persepolis (2007)
Studio: 2.4.7. Films | Directors: Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud | RT Score: 96%
Persepolis is an animated autobiography. Based on Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel, the film tells her story growing up during the Islamic Revolution in Iran, her years as a teenager in Vienna, and her eventual return home. The stark black-and-white animation style mirrors the graphic novel and gives the film a visual identity that’s completely its own.
What makes Persepolis extraordinary is how it uses animation to tell a story that would be nearly impossible in live action. The stylized visuals allow Satrapi to depict war, political oppression, personal trauma, and cultural identity with both emotional directness and artistic distance. Scenes of bombings, executions, and exile hit harder in this stripped-down visual style because there’s nothing to hide behind.
Persepolis was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. It remains one of the most important examples of animation being used to tell a true, adult story with political weight and personal courage. It’s the animated film to recommend when someone needs proof that the medium has no boundaries.
20. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Studio: Touchstone Pictures | Director: Henry Selick | RT Score: 95%
The Nightmare Before Christmas is the definitive stop-motion animated film and one of the most visually distinctive movies ever created. Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, discovers Christmas Town and becomes obsessed with taking over the holiday. His well-meaning but misguided attempt to spread Christmas joy goes spectacularly wrong.
The stop-motion animation, produced by Tim Burton’s team and directed by Henry Selick, is a technical marvel. Every frame was painstakingly constructed by hand, and the result is a world that feels tactile and alive in a way that CGI can’t quite replicate. Danny Elfman’s songs, including “What’s This?” and “This Is Halloween,” are permanent fixtures in pop culture.
The film flopped at the box office on release but became a massive cult classic through home video and merchandise. It’s now one of Disney’s most profitable properties, celebrated equally during both Halloween and Christmas seasons. The Nightmare Before Christmas proved that stop-motion animation could deliver a full-length feature with the emotional range and visual scope of any mainstream animated film.
Honorable Mentions That Nearly Made the Cut
Narrowing the best animated movies of all time to just 20 means leaving out films that absolutely deserve recognition.
Toy Story 3 is one of the most emotionally mature sequels ever made, with the incinerator scene pushing the franchise into genuinely dark territory. Shrek revolutionized DreamWorks animation and became a cultural phenomenon that still spawns memes two decades later. Frozen dominated global pop culture and became the first animated film to earn over $1 billion at the box office (later surpassed by sequels and Inside Out 2).
Grave of the Fireflies aside, Studio Ghibli’s catalog is deep with near-masterpieces: Howl’s Moving Castle, Kiki’s Delivery Service, The Wind Rises, and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya all deserve viewing. On the anime side, the Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc movie from MAPPA was one of the most acclaimed anime films of 2025.
Robot Dreams (2023) and Flow (2024) both earned critical acclaim and Oscar nominations for pushing animated storytelling in bold new directions. Wolfwalkers from Cartoon Saloon continued the Irish studio’s streak of visually stunning hand-drawn films. The animated movie landscape is richer than ever, and 2026 releases like The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Toy Story 5, and Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle are positioned to compete for future list spots.
What Separates a Great Animated Movie from a Good One
After watching hundreds of animated films, we’ve noticed a clear pattern in what separates the truly great ones from the merely enjoyable. It comes down to three things.
First, the best animated movies use their medium with purpose. They don’t just animate a story that could have been live action. They tell stories that can only exist as animation. The emotional landscapes of Inside Out, the spirit bathhouse of Spirited Away, the comic-book frames of Spider-Verse, these aren’t visual gimmicks. They’re the story itself, expressed through a form that only animation can provide.
Second, they respect all audiences. The films on this list work for children and adults simultaneously, not by sneaking in adult jokes over kids’ heads, but by engaging with genuinely complex emotions and themes. Grave of the Fireflies doesn’t soften war for children. Up doesn’t simplify grief. Coco doesn’t shy away from death. They trust their audience, regardless of age, to handle real feelings.
Third, they push the medium forward. Every film on this list introduced something new, whether it was Toy Story’s CGI, Spider-Verse’s mixed media, Akira’s pre-scored animation, or The Wild Robot’s impressionist textures. The best animated movies don’t just use existing tools. They invent new ones.
Animated Movies to Watch in 2026
The animated movie calendar for 2026 is loaded. Pixar has two major releases: Hoppers, an original sci-fi comedy about a girl who can hop into robotic animal bodies, debuted in early 2026 with the best opening weekend for an original animated film since Coco. Toy Story 5 arrives June 2026, pitting Woody and the gang against the digital age when Bonnie gets a kids’ tablet.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie released in April 2026, taking Mario into outer space with the returning voice cast plus Brie Larson as Rosalina. Minions 3 drops in July. Zootopia 2 is in the pipeline from Disney. And the anime world contributes Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, which brings ufotable’s jaw-dropping animation to the franchise’s final battle.
Fall 2026 brings The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender, an animated movie following the original Avatar characters into young adulthood, with a star-studded voice cast including Steven Yeun as Zuko and Dave Bautista as the villain. Animation in 2026 isn’t just thriving. It’s arguably the strongest it’s ever been, with studios across the globe competing to push the medium further.
These Films Prove Animation Has No Ceiling
The 20 films on this list span nearly a century of animation, from Disney’s hand-drawn golden age to Pixar’s CGI revolution to Studio Ghibli’s artistic mastery to Sony’s visual reinvention with Spider-Verse. They come from different countries, different studios, and different animation styles. But they all share one thing: they tell stories that couldn’t be told any other way.
The best animated movies of all time aren’t “just cartoons.” They’re some of the most powerful, innovative, and emotionally resonant films ever created. They’ve made us cry over robots, root for rats, mourn with ghosts, and believe that anyone can be Spider-Man. That’s the magic of animation. It takes the impossible and makes it feel real.
If this list introduced you to even one film you haven’t seen yet, that’s a win. And if you’ve seen them all, you know exactly why they’re here.
Which animated movie would you add to this list? Tell us your pick and why it deserves a spot.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the #1 best animated movie of all time?
Based on combined critical scores, cultural impact, and lasting influence, Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki is widely considered the greatest animated film ever made. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, holds a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, and remains the highest-grossing film in Japanese box office history.
What animated movie has the highest Rotten Tomatoes score?
Several animated films hold perfect or near-perfect scores on Rotten Tomatoes. Toy Story and Toy Story 2 both hold 100%. Grave of the Fireflies also holds 100%. Finding Nemo sits at 99%, and How to Train Your Dragon matches it at 99%. The Wild Robot and Your Name both hold 98%.
Are anime movies considered animated movies?
Yes. Anime is a style of animation originating from Japan. Anime movies like Spirited Away, Your Name, Akira, and Princess Mononoke are absolutely animated movies and compete in the same categories at film festivals and awards ceremonies, including the Academy Awards.
What animated movies are coming out in 2026?
Major 2026 releases include The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (April), Toy Story 5 (June), Minions 3 (July), Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, Hoppers from Pixar, The Legend of Aang animated film (Fall), and Hexed from Disney (November). It’s one of the most packed years for animated films in recent memory.
What is the highest-grossing animated movie ever?
As of early 2026, Inside Out 2 (2024) holds the record as the highest-grossing animated film of all time with over $1.6 billion worldwide. It surpassed Frozen II, which previously held the record. The Lion King (2019 remake) earned over $1.6 billion but is classified differently since it used photorealistic CGI rather than traditional animation.
Are Pixar movies the best animated movies?
Pixar has produced many of the most acclaimed animated films, including Toy Story, WALL-E, Inside Out, Up, Coco, and Ratatouille. However, the best animated movies come from studios worldwide. Studio Ghibli, DreamWorks, Sony Pictures Animation, Cartoon Saloon, and independent studios have all produced films that compete with or surpass Pixar’s best work.
What animated movie should I watch first?
If you want a universally beloved starting point, Spirited Away, Inside Out, or Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse are all excellent choices. For younger viewers, My Neighbor Totoro or Finding Nemo offer gentle, magical experiences. For something more mature, Grave of the Fireflies or Persepolis will show you the full emotional range animation can achieve.
Is stop-motion animation still being made?
Yes. Stop-motion remains a vibrant form of animation. Recent acclaimed stop-motion films include Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022), Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024), and various Aardman and Laika productions. The handcrafted quality of stop-motion gives it a tactile charm that CGI and hand-drawn animation can’t replicate, and audiences continue to value that unique texture.
