# The 20 Best Animated Movies of All Time

> 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?

*By YPB Team · Published July 1, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-20-best-animated-movies-of-all-time*

---

## Current results (20 votes)

1. **Spirited Away** — 40% (8 votes · score 1000/1000)
   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.
2. **Princess Mononoke** — 10% (2 votes · score 631/1000)
   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.
3. **My Neighbor Totoro** — 15% (3 votes · score 570/1000)
   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.
4. **Finding Nemo** — 10% (2 votes · score 548/1000)
   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.
5. **Coco** — 10% (2 votes · score 488/1000)
   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.
6. **Akira** — 0% (0 votes · score 486/1000)
   Katsuhiro Otomo's 1988 landmark cyberpunk anime film set the template for mature animated storytelling and influenced science fiction cinema for decades.
7. **Howl's Moving Castle** — 0% (0 votes · score 486/1000)
   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.
8. **Toy Story 3** — 10% (2 votes · score 467/1000)
   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.
9. **Shrek** — 5% (1 votes · score 467/1000)
   DreamWorks' 2001 fractured fairy tale featuring a lovable ogre upended Disney conventions and spawned one of the most enduring animated franchises in history.
10. **WALL-E** — 0% (0 votes · score 446/1000)
   Pixar's 2008 near-wordless sci-fi romance about a trash-compacting robot explores environmental decay and human connection with breathtaking visual poetry.
11. **Frozen** — 0% (0 votes · score 446/1000)
   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.
12. **Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse** — 0% (0 votes · score 424/1000)
   Sony's 2018 groundbreaking animated film introduced Miles Morales with a revolutionary art style that redefined what animation could look like on screen.
13. **Toy Story** — 0% (0 votes · score 424/1000)
   Pixar's 1995 groundbreaking computer-animated film about sentient toys launched one of cinema's greatest franchises and changed animation forever.
14. **Up** — 0% (0 votes · score 401/1000)
   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.
15. **How to Train Your Dragon** — 0% (0 votes · score 378/1000)
   DreamWorks' 2010 adventure about a Viking boy befriending a dragon defied expectations to become one of the most beloved animated films of its generation.
16. **The Lion King** — 0% (0 votes · score 299/1000)
   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.
17. **The Incredibles** — 0% (0 votes · score 299/1000)
   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.
18. **Inside Out** — 0% (0 votes · score 240/1000)
   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.
19. **Beauty and the Beast** — 0% (0 votes · score 137/1000)
   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.
20. **Grave of the Fireflies** — 0% (0 votes · score 99/1000)
   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.

Tags: movies, 90s, animation, classics, all-time
