When you think of animated movies, Disney is likely what comes to mind because of its sheer popularity and domination of the industry. However, there’s a plethora of other animation studios that are of the same standard, or even better.
Animation as a medium can be used to tell all kinds of stories and uses the visual aspect to its advantage, which is often something that can’t be captured with live-action movies. These animated movies are the best the medium has to offer, thanks to their vibrant worlds and distinct visual styles, and worth a watch if you’re branching out from Disney movies.
10 Summer Wars
When high schooler Kenji Koiso is roped into pretending to be Natsuki Shinohara’s fiancée at her grandmother’s 90th birthday, a rogue AI known as Love Machine takes over the virtual reality world of OZ at the same time and threatens the safety of the world. Kenji believes the hacking is his fault and attempts to rectify it, but he can’t do so without the help of Natsuki’s family.
Summer Wars weaves together the bright and colorful world of OZ with the grounded story of the family, bringing humor and heartfelt moments. While it has a bizarre premise, it intertwines its themes well and the family’s dynamic is realistic and charming.
9 Song Of The Sea
Cartoon Saloon’s Song of the Sea follows Ben and his younger sister Saoirse after their mother mysteriously leaves. The siblings have a tumultuous relationship and their father is struggling to cope with the loss of their mother.
Saoirse discovers that she is a selkie, but her father, fearing her leaving like her mother, seals her selkie coat away and throws it into the sea.
When Saoirse becomes ill because she’s separated from her selkie coat, Ben becomes determined to save her. The movie carefully weaves together stories from Irish folklore with themes of grief to create a touching narrative that was clearly made with passion.
Visually, the backgrounds and characters are stunning, evoking watercolor paints.
8 How To Train Your Dragon
Despite being the son of the chief, Hiccup is terrible at hunting dragons. Hoping to impress his father and the village, he attempts to take down a Night Fury but ultimately lets it live. Hiccup soon befriends the dragon and names him Toothless.
Through Toothless, Hiccup realizes his village’s way of life is wrong, and tries to convince them to accept dragons into their lives. Hiccup and Toothless’ friendship is the heart of the movie, with both of them learning to trust each other and discovering their similarities.
7 Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse
After being bitten by a radioactive spider when graffitiing with his uncle, Miles Morales witnesses Peter Parker being killed by Kingpin. With Spider-Man gone, Miles attempts to take up the mantle to stop the Super-Collider from being used again.
Miles, fortunately, doesn’t have to face it alone, as other Spider-People arrive from different dimensions. Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse is a fresh take on the Spider-Man origin story, with its animated style that mimics comic books.
Miles is a likable protagonist and his interactions with the other Spider-People are a highlight.
6 Persepolis
Persepolis is a biographical animated movie based on the childhood and adolescence of Marjane Satrapi, taking place during the Iranian Revolution and the war between Iran and Iraq in the 1980s. It explores the tragedies during this period and how they affected Marjane’s life as she grew up.
The movie successfully recreates the style of Satrapi’s graphic novel in animation, including its predominantly black-and-white color scheme. As Satrapi herself wrote and directed the film alongside Vincent Paronnaud, it’s clear that a lot of care went into its narrative and animation to accurately represent her story.
5 The Prince Of Egypt
Following the biblical story of Moses, The Prince of Egypt tells the tale of Moses as he frees the Hebrew people enslaved under Pharaoh Seti. When the Pharaoh decrees that every newborn Hebrew boy must be killed, Moses’ mother, Yocheved, places him in a basket and sends him down the river, where he is found by Queen Tuya and adopted into the royal family.
The characters are engaging and human in their struggles and relationships, helping to elevate the story. The animation is superb, particularly during the scene where Moses parts the Red Sea, but also in its finer details, such as the fluid character motion.
It’s topped off with its excellent soundtrack, which includes lots of memorable songs.
4 Perfect Blue
Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue showcases how animation can be used to explore adult themes and induce horror with great effect. Mima Kirigoe leaves her J-Pop idol group to become an actor and comes across a website that includes unsettling detailed information about her private life.
As people around her are murdered, Mima becomes more and more paranoid, unsure of what is real and what’s not. Mima’s devolving mental state gives the movie a disturbing atmosphere, especially when you begin to question what is an illusion and what is the reality in Mima’s world.
Perfect Blue expertly analyzes idol culture and the nature of parasocial relationships through its psychological elements.
3 The Iron Giant
When a robot crash lands on Earth, a young boy named Hogarth Hughes decides to befriend the robot while hiding him from U.S. government officials that want to destroy it.
The Iron Giant's characters are realistic, particularly Hogarth’s friendship with the Giant which evolves over the course of the movie. The Giant learns from Hogarth after spending time with him, choosing to be a hero rather than the weapon it was designed to be, remembering Hogarth’s words, “You are who you choose to be.”
Every aspect of the movie delivers, from its animation to its poignant themes and strong characters.
2 Akira
In Neo-Tokyo, a dystopian city rife with violence, Shōtarō Kaneda and his motorcycle gang have a rivalry with the opposing Clown gang. During one of their clashes, Tetsuo Shima collides with an esper while riding his motorcycle.
Tetsuo is taken to a secret laboratory, where they discover that he has psychic abilities that are reminiscent of Akira, who was responsible for destroying the original Tokyo.
Tetsuo’s psychic abilities make him hungry for more power, leaving Kaneda with no choice but to try to stop him. Akira has been incredibly influential on popular culture thanks to its fast-paced action and impactful imagery, with its cyberpunk aesthetic being replicated in many pieces of media since.
It’s upheld by its evocative soundtrack and impressive animation that have made it a classic.
1 Spirited Away
When a young girl named Chihiro and her parents discover an abandoned theme park, her father and mother are cursed to be pigs by the trickster Yubaba, who also steals Chihiro’s name. A mysterious boy, Haku, helps Chihiro find a job at the Bathhouse while she figures out a way to get her parents back.
Spirited Away is enchanting and filled with charming yokai and expressive character designs that immerse you in its world. It has lots of memorable moments that stick with you after it’s ended, including when Chihiro and No Face take a train to visit Zeniba, which is tranquil, especially with Joe Hisaishi’s impeccable score.