Best Animated Movies

Some films you loved as a child turn out, when you return to them years later, to be even better than you remembered. That is the quiet magic behind any honest list of the best animated movies: these are not just colourful distractions for kids, but stories about grief, courage, family, and growing up, told with an artistry that live action sometimes cannot match. A great animated film can make you laugh in one scene and reach for a tissue in the next, often within the same five minutes.

Whether you are planning a family movie night or revisiting old favourites with new eyes, this collection is a warm place to start. You will find hand-drawn classics, computer-animated landmarks, and modern experiments below, chosen because they delight children while quietly speaking to the grown-ups beside them.

How We Picked These Movies

We looked for films that combine beautiful craft with stories sturdy enough to hold an adult’s attention, because animation at its best is for everyone. Many of these titles are natural companions to the best family movies when you want something everyone can share, and they shine brightest among the best movies to watch with family on nights when three generations end up watching together. Every pick below has earned its reputation over years of being loved, quoted, and handed down.

• Audience response: films families return to again and again, often across two or three generations
• Critic reviews: storytelling, direction, and visual craft praised consistently since release
• Ratings: enduringly high regard from both audiences and reviewers over many years
• Rewatch value: jokes, details, and emotions that reveal more as the viewer grows older

The List: Animation for Every Age

The Lion King (1994)

Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff shaped a young lion cub’s journey into something close to myth, drawing on classic storytelling to give this African savanna tale real emotional weight. The opening sequence alone, wordless and majestic, tells you this film aims high, and the songs became so beloved they feel like folk music now. Adults often find themselves moved by its themes of responsibility, loss, and finding your way back to who you are. It remains a landmark of hand-drawn animation, and its best scenes still fill a room with silence.

Best for: A first “big feelings” classic to share with children

Toy Story (1995)

John Lasseter’s film about a cowboy doll threatened by a shiny new space ranger toy could have been a simple novelty, since it was the first fully computer-animated feature. Instead it became a funny, tender story about jealousy, friendship, and the fear of being replaced, feelings every adult recognises instantly. The voice work is superb, the jokes work on two levels at once, and the animation, though simpler than today’s, is full of character. Watching it now feels like visiting the moment a whole new art form learned to tell a story.

Best for: Nostalgic adults and kids meeting these toys for the first time

Spirited Away (2001)

Hayao Miyazaki sends a sullen ten-year-old girl into a bathhouse for spirits, where she must work, remember her name, and find her courage among witches, river gods, and a masked figure who communicates in silence. Every frame is hand-drawn with astonishing imagination, yet the film’s real power is its patience: quiet train rides, shared meals, and small kindnesses matter as much as any adventure. Adults often describe it as dreamlike and strangely comforting. It introduced many Western viewers to Studio Ghibli, and it remains a high point of animation anywhere in the world.

Best for: Dreamers of any age who love richly imagined worlds

Finding Nemo (2003)

Andrew Stanton pairs a timid clownfish father with a cheerful, forgetful blue tang for a journey across an entire ocean, and turns a rescue story into a gentle lesson about learning to let go. The underwater world is rendered in glowing colour, from sunlit reefs to the deep, dark places where strange lights drift. Children love the turtles, sharks, and seagulls, while parents quietly recognise every anxious instinct the film explores. It is funny throughout, moving when it counts, and paced so smoothly that its running time simply floats by.

Best for: Parents and children watching together, tissues nearby

Shrek (2001)

Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson took the fairy tale rulebook, read it aloud, and then cheerfully tossed it aside, giving us an ogre hero, a talking donkey, and a princess with secrets of her own. The humour is knowing and quick, full of jokes aimed squarely over children’s heads at the adults, yet the story underneath is sincere about loneliness and being judged by appearances. Its pop soundtrack and quotable lines made it a phenomenon, but the warmth is why it lasts. Few animated comedies have imitated it successfully, which says a lot about how fresh it still feels.

Best for: A light, funny night when everyone wants to laugh

Ratatouille (2007)

Brad Bird sets the most unlikely cooking story imaginable in Paris: a rat with a gifted palate who dreams of becoming a chef, teaming up with a hopeless young kitchen worker to make it happen. The film treats food with genuine reverence, lingering on flavours, kitchens, and the joy of making something well, so adults who cook tend to adore it. Its message, that talent can come from anywhere, is delivered without a hint of preaching. Paris has rarely looked this delicious in any medium, animated or otherwise.

Best for: Food lovers and anyone chasing an unlikely dream

WALL-E (2008)

Andrew Stanton begins with a small, lonely robot tidying a deserted, rubbish-covered Earth, and for a long opening stretch there is almost no dialogue at all, just expressive movement, music, and beautifully observed detail. When the story lifts into space, it becomes a gentle adventure about love, habit, and what people lose when comfort does everything for them. Children enjoy the slapstick and the robots’ personalities, while adults often find the film surprisingly moving and quietly thought-provoking. It is a rare blockbuster brave enough to be silent, simple, and sincere.

Best for: Viewers who love visual storytelling and a tender romance

Up (2009)

Pete Docter gives his film one of the most celebrated opening sequences in modern cinema, telling a whole life story in minutes, before sending a widowed balloon salesman and an earnest young scout floating toward South America in a house carried by balloons. The adventure that follows is colourful and funny, with talking dogs and a giant bird, but the emotional thread about grief, promises, and new beginnings is what adults carry with them afterwards. It treats children’s feelings seriously and older viewers’ feelings tenderly. Few films, animated or not, balance laughter and heartbreak this gracefully.

Best for: Anyone who wants adventure with genuine emotional depth

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois set their story in a Viking village at war with dragons, where a thoughtful, inventive boy befriends the very creature he was raised to fear. The flying sequences are exhilarating, built on trust and movement rather than noise, and the bond at the film’s centre develops slowly and believably. Adults appreciate its themes of questioning inherited beliefs and solving problems with empathy instead of force. Add a sweeping score and a world that feels lived-in, and you have an adventure that soars in every sense.

Best for: Adventure fans who love soaring, heartfelt stories

Toy Story 3 (2010)

Lee Unkrich brings Woody, Buzz, and the gang back as their owner Andy prepares to leave for college, and the toys face the question that has quietly haunted the whole series: what happens when you are no longer needed? The film plays as a funny, inventive escape adventure for children, complete with a daycare centre that turns sinister after dark. For adults, especially anyone who has watched children grow up, it lands much deeper, and its closing scenes are famously hard to watch dry-eyed. It is a model of how to end a beloved trilogy with grace.

Best for: A moving farewell that grown-up fans will feel most

Inside Out (2015)

Pete Docter takes us inside the mind of eleven-year-old Riley, where Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust work a control console as her family moves across the country and everything familiar slips away. The concept sounds like a gimmick, but the execution is wise, funny, and psychologically thoughtful, especially in how it treats sadness not as a problem to fix but as something necessary and kind. Children enjoy the colourful mindscape and the jokes, while adults often call it the film that best explains their own inner life. It genuinely helps families talk about feelings.

Best for: Starting gentle, valuable conversations about emotions

Coco (2017)

Lee Unkrich builds a radiant adventure around Miguel, a boy in Mexico who loves music despite his family’s long-standing ban on it, and whose journey takes him into the Land of the Dead during Día de los Muertos. The colours, songs, and design are dazzling, drawn with evident love and research, while the story explores memory, family loyalty, and why we tell stories about those who came before us. Adults frequently find its later scenes overwhelming in the best way. It is joyful rather than morbid, and it sends you home wanting to call your grandparents.

Best for: A beautiful, musical celebration of family and memory

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman reinvent the superhero film as a living comic book, following Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales as he meets spider-heroes from other dimensions and learns what the mask really asks of him. The animation blends styles, textures, and printed dots into something that still looks revolutionary, and every frame could hang on a wall. Beneath the spectacle is a warm story about family expectations, mentorship, and believing you belong. Adults who think they are tired of superhero films regularly cite this one as the exception that won them back.

Best for: Teens and adults who want animation at its most inventive

Hidden Gems Worth Adding

Princess Mononoke (1997)

Hayao Miyazaki’s sweeping tale of a young prince caught between an iron-mining town and the ancient forest gods around it is more intense than his gentler films, with no simple villains and no easy answers. The hand-drawn forests, creatures, and battle scenes are breathtaking, and its questions about industry, nature, and coexistence feel more relevant every year. Older children and adults tend to get the most from it, and many Ghibli fans quietly rank it as his masterpiece.

Best for: Older viewers ready for a thoughtful, powerful epic

Your Name (2016)

Makoto Shinkai tells the story of a Tokyo boy and a small-town girl who begin waking up in each other’s lives, communicating through notes and phone messages while trying to meet in person. The animation is luminous, full of skies, comets, and city light rendered in loving detail, and the romance is sweet, funny, and increasingly urgent as the story unfolds. Adults are often surprised by how completely it sweeps them up. It became a global phenomenon, and one viewing makes it easy to understand why.

Best for: A romantic, visually stunning evening for teens and adults

Frequently Asked Questions

Are animated movies really suitable for adults on their own?

Absolutely, and this list is proof. Films like Spirited Away, WALL-E, and Inside Out explore grief, love, memory, and identity with a depth many live-action dramas would envy. Animation simply gives filmmakers unusual freedom: they can visualise inner feelings, impossible worlds, and abstract ideas directly. Watching these films without children is not a guilty pleasure at all. It is one of the most reliable ways to find smart, heartfelt storytelling.

Which of these is best for very young children?

Finding Nemo and Toy Story are gentle starting points, with clear stories, friendly humour, and no scenes likely to overwhelm most young viewers. The Lion King and Up are wonderful but include sad moments that some very small children find intense, so a parent nearby helps. Shrek suits slightly older children who will enjoy its jokes and pace. When in doubt, watch the first ten minutes together and let your child set the pace.

What is the difference between Pixar, Disney, and Ghibli styles?

Disney classics like The Lion King favour timeless storytelling, memorable songs, and broad emotional arcs. Pixar films such as Up and Inside Out often build around a clever concept and aim for sophisticated emotional themes. Studio Ghibli, led by Hayao Miyazaki, tends toward hand-drawn detail, quiet moments, nature, and stories comfortable with mystery and ambiguity. None is better than the others; they are simply different flavours, and this list lets you sample all three.

Do I need to watch the Toy Story films in order?

You can enjoy Toy Story on its own perfectly well, since it tells a complete story. Watching in order, though, adds real power to Toy Story 3, because you will have grown alongside Andy and the toys through their earlier adventures. The emotional payoff of the third film depends on that shared history. If a family movie marathon sounds appealing, the full sequence makes a wonderful weekend project.

Where can I watch these animated movies?

Most of these titles are commonly available on Disney+, since Disney and Pixar films live there, while Studio Ghibli films are commonly available on Max or Netflix depending on your region. Availability varies by country, so a quick search on your usual platform before movie night is the surest plan.

Final Thoughts

Animation is not a genre for children. It is a medium, as wide as live action, and in the hands of the artists on this list it produces some of the most moving, funny, and beautiful films ever made. Revisiting these stories now will show you layers you were too young to notice; arriving fresh as an adult, you have a genuine treat ahead.

So pick the world that calls to you tonight: a bathhouse full of spirits, a house lifted by balloons, or a kitchen in Paris where anyone can cook. Press play, and do not be surprised if the whole room is quietly wiping its eyes by the end.