Best Animated Movies Of All Time
Some movies made us laugh until we cried. Some just made us swoon, while others left us weeping.
Animation isn’t just for kids—it never was.
Anyone who’s sat through Spirited Away with their jaw on the floor, cried embarrassingly hard during Coco, or debated which Toy Story is the best knows deep down that some of the most profound, stylish, and sophisticated storytelling of our time has come in drawn, painted, or painstakingly rendered frames.
Remember that fish story from Soul (2020) about looking for water? Or the profound wisdom from Lion King (1998) about running away from your past? They’re timeless.
Some movies made us laugh until we cried. Some just made us swoon, while others left us weeping. And while Disney, Pixar, and Studio Ghibli may dominate the conversation, the best animated films span decades, genres, and countries, each with its own unique magic.
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Best Animated Movies of All Time
Here are some of the best animated films to have come out over the ages—the movies that truly changed our lives.
They’re bold, beautiful, weird, wise—and they belong on everyone’s greatest-of-all-time list.
Spirited Away (2001)
This is the film that made the world sit up and realise that anime isn’t just niche. Hayao Miyazaki is at his finest here. A surreal coming-of-age fable wrapped in a fever dream, it takes a simple premise—a girl lost in a spirit world—and turns it into something deeply profound.
What makes this movie special isn’t just Miyazaki’s imagination, it’s the way every single hand-written frame breathes in the movie. In an age where AI “recreating” Ghibli animation with machine learning has taken away the appreciation for the true genius of Miyazaki, Spirited Away is a masterclass in the human touch.
The bathhouse of the gods is still one of cinema’s greatest set pieces.
Toy Story (1995)
This is the film that changed the game. Before Toy Story, animated movies were hand-drawn; after it, CGI took over. But beyond its technical genius, this is storytelling at its purest—beneath the buddy-comedy surface (Woody! Buzz! Jealousy! Redemption!) lies a surprisingly poignant meditation on obsolescence, loyalty, and the quiet existential horror of being outgrown. Nearly 30 years on, this movie still feels fresh—funny, heartfelt, and far wiser than it ever needed to be.
Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
When this film dropped, it just raised so many bars. The animation is electric, pulsing with colour, graffiti-style chaos, and a kinetic energy that makes it feel like the pages of a comic book have come to life. But beyond the visuals, it’s got heart. Miles Morales became the Spider-Man for a new generation, and got us all hooked to this new universe. In a space of crammed up superheroes, this movie was a breath of fresh air.
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WALL-E (2008)
Who knew that a near-wordless love story between two robots could be this moving? WALL-E is Pixar’s most daring film—a bleak, almost silent first half that feels like classic sci-fi, and a second half that’s a biting critique of consumer culture. Yet, at its core, it’s about love, loneliness, and the simple joy of holding someone’s hand. This was probably Pixar’s most soulful and cinematic movies.
Princess Mononoke (1997)
Hayao Miyazaki’s most furious and complex work, it’s where Studio Ghibli throws out the softness and dives into moral ambiguity: gods bleed, humans build, forests fall, and there are no easy villains. The animation is beautiful with lush landscapes and every frame feels hand drawn (ChatGPT, we hate you).
Ratatouille (2007)
A rat who can cook? Ridiculous. A film about a rat who can cook that somehow became one of Pixar’s greatest? Genius. Ratatouille is a love letter to food, creativity, and the idea that great talent can come from anywhere. It’s also got one of the best monologues in animation history—Anton Ego’s quiet, devastating speech on criticism, nostalgia, and what it means to truly love art.
Akira (1988)
Set in a dystopian Neo-Tokyo where psychic kids explode and biker gangs run wild, Katsuhiro Otomo’s cult masterpiece is pure cinematic chaos: dense, violent, philosophical, and eerily prophetic. The animation is honestly unbelievable. The movie is violent, mind-bending, and way ahead of its time. Every neon-drenched anime, video game, and sci-fi film that came after owe Akira a debt.
Shrek (2001)
The film that took everything Disney built and threw it out the window. Shrek is the ultimate anti-fairytale—irreverent, self-aware, and packed with enough innuendos to make adults snicker while kids enjoyed the ogre jokes. But beneath the snark, there’s a surprisingly sweet story about self-acceptance, proving that sometimes, the hero isn’t a prince—he’s just a guy with layers.
My Neighbour Totoro (1988)
I know we keep coming back to Miyazaki, but that’s because that’s how good Studio Ghibli is. My Neighbor Totoro is the story of two sisters and their run-ins with the spirits of the forest in rural Japan. Set in the 1950s, this movie captures the dreaminess of childhood. You’ll never get the theme-tune out of your head: “To-to-ro to-tooo-rooo”.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Before the princesses, the talking animals, and all the magic, there was Snow White—a film so revolutionary it practically invented animation as we know it. Walt Disney took a massive gamble, sinking his entire fortune into what would become the first-ever feature-length animated film. It was a leap of faith that paid off. The movie is an enduring testament to the magic of animation.
Coco (2017)
Coco is the emotional tour de force of Pixar. With a plot that leads young Miguel to the Land of the Dead, Coco is equal parts heartache and joy, building to one of the most tear-jerking, cathartic conclusions ever in an animated film.
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
With its delightful visual gags, lovable characters, and heartwarming narrative, Monsters, Inc. remains a high watermark for Pixar’s magic—and for animated films in general. Mike Wazowski and Sulley’s unlikely friendship, set against the backdrop of a world where monsters fuel their energy by scaring kids, is pure gold. From the absurdity of the monsters’ day-to-day routines to the emotional rollercoaster of them taking in Boo, the lost human child, this film is both hilariously inventive and unexpectedly poignant.