The 20 Best Animated Movies of All Time

By YPB Team

From Studio Ghibli masterpieces to Pixar tearjerkers and genre-defining anime, animated cinema has delivered some of the most beloved films ever made. Which stands as the greatest?

Spirited Away

Hayao Miyazaki's 2001 Studio Ghibli masterpiece follows a girl spirited into a spirit world — the only non-English animated film to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

1000pts

Princess Mononoke

Miyazaki's 1997 epic fantasy war film pitting industrialization against the spirit world is considered his most ambitious work and a high-water mark of animated storytelling.

748pts

My Neighbor Totoro

Miyazaki's 1988 gentle classic about two sisters befriending forest spirits has become one of the most universally beloved animated films and Studio Ghibli's defining icon.

706pts

Finding Nemo

Pixar's 2003 underwater epic about a father clownfish searching the ocean for his son became one of the highest-grossing films of the year and a classic of the era.

691pts

Coco

Pixar's 2017 celebration of Mexican Día de los Muertos culture follows young Miguel into the Land of the Dead in a vibrant, emotionally devastating film about family and legacy.

650pts

Akira

Katsuhiro Otomo's 1988 landmark cyberpunk anime film set the template for mature animated storytelling and influenced science fiction cinema for decades.

649pts

Howl's Moving Castle

Miyazaki's 2004 fantasy follows a young woman cursed to age rapidly who finds refuge with a wizard in his enchanted castle — a visually stunning anti-war fable.

649pts

Toy Story 3

The emotional conclusion to Andy's childhood, featuring the toys facing oblivion, is widely considered the perfect animated trilogy capper and one of Pixar's greatest achievements.

636pts

Shrek

DreamWorks' 2001 fractured fairy tale featuring a lovable ogre upended Disney conventions and spawned one of the most enduring animated franchises in history.

636pts

WALL-E

Pixar's 2008 near-wordless sci-fi romance about a trash-compacting robot explores environmental decay and human connection with breathtaking visual poetry.

622pts

Frozen

Disney's 2013 musical phenomenon introduced Elsa and the song 'Let It Go,' becoming the highest-grossing animated film of its time and a modern Disney classic.

622pts

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Sony's 2018 groundbreaking animated film introduced Miles Morales with a revolutionary art style that redefined what animation could look like on screen.

607pts

Toy Story

Pixar's 1995 groundbreaking computer-animated film about sentient toys launched one of cinema's greatest franchises and changed animation forever.

607pts

Pixar's 2009 adventure opens with one of cinema's most heartbreaking montages, then follows an elderly man and a boy scout on a fantastical journey via flying house.

591pts

How to Train Your Dragon

DreamWorks' 2010 adventure about a Viking boy befriending a dragon defied expectations to become one of the most beloved animated films of its generation.

575pts

The Lion King

Disney's 1994 tale of Simba's quest to reclaim his throne remains one of the highest-grossing animated films ever and a defining cultural touchstone.

522pts

The Incredibles

Pixar's 2004 superhero family adventure is lauded as one of the best superhero films ever made, blending action, espionage, and family drama with wit and heart.

521pts

Inside Out

Pixar's 2015 deeply original exploration of a child's emotional interior — personifying Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust — is a masterclass in empathetic storytelling.

481pts

Beauty and the Beast

Disney's 1991 fairy tale was the first animated film ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, setting the gold standard for the Disney Renaissance.

411pts

Grave of the Fireflies

Studio Ghibli's devastating 1988 anti-war film about two orphaned siblings surviving post-WWII Japan is considered one of the most affecting films ever made in any medium.