# The best animated movies of all time

Hand-drawn, stop-motion and CGI features that top the critics' rankings (Empire, Time Out's poll of animators and critics) and audience lists. Studio Ghibli, Disney and Pixar dominate, but not alone.

- 300 votes · 27 items
- Oct 4, 2025 · Lucas R.
- https://even.best/en/l/37/the-best-animated-movies-of-all-time

## Top 25

1. **Spirited Away** (20 · ▲23 ▼3) — Hayao Miyazaki, 2001. Chihiro in a bathhouse for spirits; Golden Bear in Berlin and the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
2. **Toy Story** (20 · ▲20 ▼0) — John Lasseter, 1995. Woody and Buzz in the first fully computer-animated feature film.
3. **My Neighbor Totoro** (19 · ▲20 ▼1) — Hayao Miyazaki, 1988. Two sisters in rural Japan meet a giant forest spirit; Totoro became Ghibli's logo.
4. **Pinocchio** (15 · ▲15 ▼0) — Disney, 1940. The studio's second feature, with 'When You Wish Upon a Star', often called its technical masterpiece.
5. **Princess Mononoke** (12 · ▲13 ▼1) — Hayao Miyazaki, 1997. An epic war between industry and the forest gods.
6. **The Iron Giant** (12 · ▲12 ▼0) — Brad Bird, 1999. A boy and a giant robot in 1957 Maine; a box-office flop that became a cult classic.
7. **Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse** (11 · ▲12 ▼1) — Persichetti, Ramsey and Rothman, 2018. Miles Morales and a comic-book visual style that changed CGI animation.
8. **Grave of the Fireflies** (10 · ▲12 ▼2) — Isao Takahata, 1988. Two orphans try to survive the end of World War II in Kobe.
9. **Up** (10 · ▲12 ▼2) — Pete Docter (Pixar), 2009. Carl's house flies on balloons; its opening montage is one of cinema's most moving.
10. **Beauty and the Beast** (9 · ▲10 ▼1) — Disney, 1991. The first animated film nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.
11. **Fantastic Mr. Fox** (8 · ▲10 ▼2) — Wes Anderson, 2009. Stop-motion adaptation of Roald Dahl with George Clooney's voice.
12. **Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers** (8 · ▲8 ▼0) — Nick Park (Aardman), 1993. A 30-minute stop-motion gem with a train chase made of plasticine.
13. **Finding Nemo** (8 · ▲8 ▼0) — Andrew Stanton (Pixar), 2003. Marlin crosses the ocean looking for his son, with Dory.
14. **Inside Out** (7 · ▲9 ▼2) — Pete Docter (Pixar), 2015. Joy, Sadness and the other emotions inside 11-year-old Riley's head.
15. **WALL-E** (6 · ▲7 ▼1) — Andrew Stanton (Pixar), 2008. A nearly wordless first half with a lonely robot on an abandoned Earth.
16. **Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs** (5 · ▲8 ▼3) — Disney, 1937. The first cel-animated feature in Hollywood history.
17. **The Lion King** (5 · ▲8 ▼3) — Disney, 1994. Simba, Mufasa and Scar, with songs by Elton John and score by Hans Zimmer.
18. **Toy Story 3** (5 · ▲7 ▼2) — Lee Unkrich (Pixar), 2010. Andy goes to college; the incinerator scene is unforgettable.
19. **Ratatouille** (5 · ▲6 ▼1) — Brad Bird (Pixar), 2007. A rat who wants to be a chef in Paris.
20. **Dumbo** (5 · ▲6 ▼1) — Disney, 1941. A short (64-minute) and tender film about the baby elephant with huge ears.
21. **Perfect Blue** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — Satoshi Kon, 1997. A pop idol turned actress loses her grip on reality; a major influence on Darren Aronofsky.
22. **Coco** (4 · ▲7 ▼3) — Lee Unkrich (Pixar), 2017. Miguel crosses into the Land of the Dead on Día de Muertos.
23. **Persepolis** (4 · ▲6 ▼2) — Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, 2007. Black-and-white memoir of growing up in revolutionary Iran.
24. **The Incredibles** (4 · ▲6 ▼2) — Brad Bird's 2004 Pixar film about a family of superheroes, winner of the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
25. **Akira** (3 · ▲5 ▼2) — Katsuhiro Otomo, 1988. Neo-Tokyo, bikers and telekinesis; it opened the West to anime.
26. **Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse** (0 · ▲4 ▼4) — Dos Santos, Powers and Thompson, 2023. The sequel multiplies the styles, one per universe.
27. **Kiki's Delivery Service** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — Hayao Miyazaki's 1989 Studio Ghibli film about a young witch who starts a flying delivery service.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.