The best animated movies of all time
The top 3 according to 300 votes from people: Spirited Away · Toy Story · My Neighbor Totoro. (Updated Feb 5, 2026.)
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.
Top 25
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1
Spirited Away
Hayao Miyazaki, 2001. Chihiro in a bathhouse for spirits; Golden Bear in Berlin and the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
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2
Toy Story
John Lasseter, 1995. Woody and Buzz in the first fully computer-animated feature film.
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3
My Neighbor Totoro
Hayao Miyazaki, 1988. Two sisters in rural Japan meet a giant forest spirit; Totoro became Ghibli's logo.
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4
Pinocchio
Disney, 1940. The studio's second feature, with 'When You Wish Upon a Star', often called its technical masterpiece.
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5
Princess Mononoke
Hayao Miyazaki, 1997. An epic war between industry and the forest gods.
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6
The Iron Giant
Brad Bird, 1999. A boy and a giant robot in 1957 Maine; a box-office flop that became a cult classic.
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7
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Persichetti, Ramsey and Rothman, 2018. Miles Morales and a comic-book visual style that changed CGI animation.
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8
Grave of the Fireflies
Isao Takahata, 1988. Two orphans try to survive the end of World War II in Kobe.
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9
Up
Pete Docter (Pixar), 2009. Carl's house flies on balloons; its opening montage is one of cinema's most moving.
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10
Beauty and the Beast
Disney, 1991. The first animated film nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.
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11
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Wes Anderson, 2009. Stop-motion adaptation of Roald Dahl with George Clooney's voice.
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12
Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers
Nick Park (Aardman), 1993. A 30-minute stop-motion gem with a train chase made of plasticine.
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13
Finding Nemo
Andrew Stanton (Pixar), 2003. Marlin crosses the ocean looking for his son, with Dory.
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14
Inside Out
Pete Docter (Pixar), 2015. Joy, Sadness and the other emotions inside 11-year-old Riley's head.
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15
WALL-E
Andrew Stanton (Pixar), 2008. A nearly wordless first half with a lonely robot on an abandoned Earth.
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16
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Disney, 1937. The first cel-animated feature in Hollywood history.
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17
The Lion King
Disney, 1994. Simba, Mufasa and Scar, with songs by Elton John and score by Hans Zimmer.
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18
Toy Story 3
Lee Unkrich (Pixar), 2010. Andy goes to college; the incinerator scene is unforgettable.
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19
Ratatouille
Brad Bird (Pixar), 2007. A rat who wants to be a chef in Paris.
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20
Dumbo
Disney, 1941. A short (64-minute) and tender film about the baby elephant with huge ears.
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21
Perfect Blue
Satoshi Kon, 1997. A pop idol turned actress loses her grip on reality; a major influence on Darren Aronofsky.
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22
Coco
Lee Unkrich (Pixar), 2017. Miguel crosses into the Land of the Dead on Día de Muertos.
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23
Persepolis
Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, 2007. Black-and-white memoir of growing up in revolutionary Iran.
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24
The Incredibles
Brad Bird's 2004 Pixar film about a family of superheroes, winner of the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
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25
Akira
Katsuhiro Otomo, 1988. Neo-Tokyo, bikers and telekinesis; it opened the West to anime.
Candidates
They don't make it into the top 25… yet. Vote for them to move them up.
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26
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Dos Santos, Powers and Thompson, 2023. The sequel multiplies the styles, one per universe.
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27
Kiki's Delivery Service
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.
Is something missing?
Comments (3)
Spirited Away at #1, perfect choice.
Kiki's Delivery Service deserves a spot too, it's Ghibli at its most cozy.
Spirited Away is the right #1. Where are The Incredibles though?