Among all the stylistic and narrative techniques used in film, animation has emerged as one of the most adaptable and revolutionary. There are several all-time greats that are regarded as some of the greatest movies ever made, despite the fact that children’s movies were originally dismissed as a form of entertainment developed just for them. As more and more inventive voices put their own stamp on this enduring form of cinematic storytelling, animated movies will only continue to thrive and redefine themselves time and time again.
In the past century, animated films have become a popular art form that has won over many people’s hearts and minds. Increasing in popularity over the past few decades as technology has advanced. Animation is no longer just for kids; it is now a well-established genre in cinema.
Top 50 Animation Movies
1. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
Miles Morales catapults across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. When the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles must redefine what it means to be a hero.
2. Nimona (2023)
When a knight in a futuristic medieval world is framed for a crime he didn’t commit, the only one who can help him prove his innocence is Nimona — a mischievous teen who happens to be a shapeshifting creature he’s sworn to destroy.
3. Elemental (2023)
Follows Ember and Wade, in a city where fire-, water-, land- and air-residents live together.
4. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
A plumber named Mario travels through an underground labyrinth with his brother, Luigi, trying to save a captured princess.
5. Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023)
A shy adolescent learns that she comes from a fabled royal family of legendary sea krakens and that her destiny lies in the depths of the waters, which is bigger than she could have ever imagined.
6. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Teen Miles Morales becomes the Spider-Man of his universe and must join with five spider-powered individuals from other dimensions to stop a threat for all realities.
7. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023)
The Turtle brothers as they work to earn the love of New York City while facing down an army of mutants.
8. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)
When Puss in Boots discovers that his passion for adventure has taken its toll and he has burned through eight of his nine lives, he launches an epic journey to restore them by finding the mythical Last Wish.
9. Mulan (1998)
To save her father from death in the army, a young maiden secretly goes in his place and becomes one of China’s greatest heroines in the process.
10. Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (2024)
Animation, Action, Adventure | Post-production
After leaving off from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the story continues.
11. Sing 2 (2021)
Buster Moon and his friends must persuade reclusive rock star Clay Calloway to join them for the opening of a new show.
12. Cars (2006)
On the way to the biggest race of his life, a hotshot rookie race car gets stranded in a rundown town and learns that winning isn’t everything in life.
13. Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
An urbane fox cannot resist returning to his farm raiding ways and then must help his community survive the farmers’ retaliation.
14. Encanto (2021)
A Colombian teenage girl has to face the frustration of being the only member of her family without magical powers.
15. Resident Evil: Death Island (2023)
D.S.O. agent Leon S. Kennedy is on a mission to rescue Dr. Antonio Taylor from kidnappers, when a mysterious woman thwarts his pursuit. Meanwhile, B.S.A.A. agent Chris Redfield is …
16. Mavka: The Forest Song (2023)
Mavka must choose between love and duty to protect the Heart of the Forest.
17. Spirited Away (2001)
During her family’s move to the suburbs, a sullen 10-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches and spirits, a world where humans are changed into beasts.
18. Ratatouille (2007)
A rat who can cook makes an unusual alliance with a young kitchen worker at a famous Paris restaurant.
19. Moana (I) (2016)
In Ancient Polynesia, when a terrible curse incurred by the Demigod Maui reaches Moana’s island, she answers the Ocean’s call to seek out the Demigod to set things right.
20. The Lion King (1994)
Lion prince Simba and his father are targeted by his bitter uncle, who wants to ascend the throne himself.
21. Toy Story (1995)
A cowboy doll is profoundly threatened and jealous when a new spaceman action figure supplants him as top toy in a boy’s bedroom.
22. Inside Out (I) (2015)
After young Riley is uprooted from her Midwest life and moved to San Francisco, her emotions – Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness – conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house, and school.
23. Sing (2016)
In a city of humanoid animals, a hustling theater impresario’s attempt to save his theater with a singing competition becomes grander than he anticipates even as its finalists find that their lives will never be the same.
24. The Incredibles (2004)
While trying to lead a quiet suburban life, a family of undercover superheroes are forced into action to save the world.
25. Luck (I) (2022)
The curtain is pulled back on the millennia-old battle between the organizations of good luck and bad luck that secretly affects everyday lives.
26. Zootopia (2016)
In a city of anthropomorphic animals, a rookie bunny cop and a cynical con artist fox must work together to uncover a conspiracy.
27. Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
When an unconfident young woman is cursed with an old body by a spiteful witch, her only chance of breaking the spell lies with a self-indulgent yet insecure young wizard and his companions in his legged, walking castle.
28. Suzume (2022)
A modern action adventure road story where a 17-year-old girl named Suzume helps a mysterious young man close doors from the other side that are releasing disasters all over in Japan.
29. Coco (I) (2017)
Aspiring musician Miguel, confronted with his family’s ancestral ban on music, enters the Land of the Dead to find his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer.
30. Finding Nemo (2003)
After his son is captured in the Great Barrier Reef and taken to Sydney, a timid clownfish sets out on a journey to bring him home.
31. Ladybug & Cat Noir: Awakening (2023)
PG | 105 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
Ordinary teenager Marinette’s life in Paris goes superhuman when she becomes Ladybug. Bestowed with magical powers of creation, Ladybug must unite with her opposite, Cat Noir, to save Paris as a new villain unleashes chaos unto the city.
32. The Lion King (2019)
After the murder of his father, a young lion prince flees his kingdom only to learn the true meaning of responsibility and bravery.
33. The Little Mermaid (1989)
G | 83 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
A mermaid princess makes a Faustian bargain in an attempt to become human and win a prince’s love.
34. The Bad Guys (2022)
To avoid prison, a gang of notorious animal criminals pretends to seek being rehabilitated, only for their leader to realize that he genuinely wants to change his ways.
35. Your Name. (2016)
PG | 106 min | Animation, Drama, Fantasy
8.4 Rate this 81 Metascore
Two teenagers share a profound, magical connection upon discovering they are swapping bodies. Things manage to become even more complicated when the boy and girl decide to meet in person.
36. Hercules (1997)
The son of Zeus and Hera is stripped of his immortality as an infant and must become a true hero in order to reclaim it.
Votes: 243,197 | Gross: $99.05M
37. Up (2009)
PG | 96 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
8.3 Rate this 88 Metascore
78-year-old Carl Fredricksen travels to Paradise Falls in his house equipped with balloons, inadvertently taking a young stowaway.
38. Turning Red (2022)
A thirteen-year-old girl named Mei Lee is torn between staying her mother’s dutiful daughter and the changes of adolescence. And as if the challenges were not enough, whenever she gets overly excited she transforms into a giant red panda.
39. Monsters, Inc. (2001)
In order to power the city, monsters have to scare children so that they scream. However, the children are toxic to the monsters, and after a child gets through, two monsters realize things may not be what they think.
40. Coraline (2009)
An adventurous 11-year-old girl finds another world that is a strangely idealized version of her frustrating home, but it has sinister secrets.
41. Shrek (2001)
A mean lord exiles fairytale creatures to the swamp of a grumpy ogre, who must go on a quest and rescue a princess for the lord in order to get his land back.
42. Frozen (I) (2013)
When the newly crowned Queen Elsa accidentally uses her power to turn things into ice to curse her home in infinite winter, her sister Anna teams up with a mountain man, his playful reindeer, and a snowman to change the weather condition.
43. DC League of Super-Pets (2022)
Krypto the Super-Dog and Superman are inseparable best friends, sharing the same superpowers and fighting crime side by side in Metropolis. However, Krypto must master his own powers for a rescue mission when Superman is kidnapped.
44. Kung Fu Panda (2008
To everyone’s surprise, including his own, Po, an overweight, clumsy panda, is chosen as protector of the Valley of Peace. His suitability will soon be tested as the valley’s arch-enemy is on his way.
45. Luca (2021)
On the Italian Riviera, an unlikely but strong friendship grows between a human being and a sea monster disguised as a human.
46. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
A toon-hating detective is a cartoon rabbit’s only hope to prove his innocence when he is accused of murder.
47. Isle of Dogs (2018)
Set in Japan, Isle of Dogs follows a boy’s odyssey in search of his lost dog.
48. Toy Story 2 (1999)
When Woody is stolen by a toy collector, Buzz and his friends set out on a rescue mission to save Woody before he becomes a museum toy property with his roundup gang Jessie, Prospector, and Bullseye.
49. WALL·E (2008)
In the distant future, a small waste-collecting robot inadvertently embarks on a space journey that will ultimately decide the fate of mankind.
50. Incredibles 2 (2018)
The Incredibles family takes on a new mission which involves a change in family roles: Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) must manage the house while his wife Helen (Elastigirl) goes out to save the world.
52. Mulan (1998)
To save her father from death in the army, a young maiden secretly goes in his place and becomes one of China’s greatest heroines in the process.
53. Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (2024)
Animation, Action, Adventure | Post-production
After leaving off from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the story continues.
54. Sing 2 (2021)
Buster Moon and his friends must persuade reclusive rock star Clay Calloway to join them for the opening of a new show.
55. Cars (2006)
On the way to the biggest race of his life, a hotshot rookie race car gets stranded in a rundown town and learns that winning isn’t everything in life.
Resident Evil: Death Island (2023)
D.S.O. agent Leon S. Kennedy is on a mission to rescue Dr. Antonio Taylor from kidnappers, when a mysterious woman thwarts his pursuit. Meanwhile, B.S.A.A. agent Chris Redfield is …
In San Francisco, Jill Valentine is dealing with a zombie outbreak and a new T-Virus, Leon Kennedy is on the trail of a kidnapped DARPA scientist, and Claire Redfield is investigating a monstrous fish that is killing whales in the bay. Joined by Chris Redfield and Rebecca Chambers, they discover the trail of clues from their separate cases all converge on the same location, Alcatraz Island, where a new evil has taken residence and awaits their arrival.