The 15 Best Animated Films

[Note: Every Friday on First Thoughts we host a discussion about some aspect of pop culture. Today’s theme is animated films. Have a suggestion for a topic? Send them to me at jcarter@firstthings.com.]

The first movie I ever watched in a theater was the animated films, Bednobs and Broomsticks (1971). Nothing I had seen in my four years on earth had prepared me for such a incredible display of imagination. I was instantly hooked on movies. In the 39 years since then I’ve wasted far too many hours sitting in theaters trying to recapture that magical experience. For all the regrets, though, I never lost that initial fascination with works of animation.

Unfortunately, like every other genre in cinema, most animation falls along the range of “unmemorable, but passably diverting” to “a colossal waste of time.” Of the 103 animated movies I’ve watched over the years (see full list below), there are only about 25-30 that I could recommend and only fifteen that I would consider essential.

The fifteen, listed in order of release, are:

1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
2. Pinocchio (1940)
3. Bambi (1942)
4. Alice in Wonderland (1951)
5. Peter Pan (1953)
6. Mary Poppins (1964)
7. The Jungle Book (1967)
8. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
9. The Lion King (1994)
10. Toy Story (1995)
11. Toy Story 2 (1999)
12. Monsters Inc. (2001)
13. Finding Nemo (2003)
14. The Incredibles (2004)
15. Cars (2006)

Honorable Mention: Wall-E (2008) / Up (2009)

Not surprisingly, all of the selections are from Disney and Pixar—the unrivaled masters of cinematic animation. But while they’ve produced the genre’s greatest works, there are a number of other studios that have steadily released animated films year-after-year. A few of them are even worth watching.

I don’t know the original source for the following list but they deserve credit for putting together a fairly comprehensive compilation of animated movies. The films marked with an X are the ones that I watched in their entirety while the ones with an “O” are ones that I started but never finished.

How many of these 240 movies have you seen?

CLASSIC DISNEY
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[X] Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
[X] Fantasia (1940)
[X] Pinocchio (1940)
[X] Dumbo (1941)
[X] Bambi (1942)
[ X] Song of the South (1946)
[ X] Cinderella (1950)
[ X] Alice in Wonderland (1951)
[ X] Peter Pan (1953)
[ X] Lady and the Tramp (1955)
[ X] Sleeping Beauty (1959)
[ X] 101 Dalmatians (1961)
[ X] Mary Poppins (1964)

DISNEY’S DARK AGE
——————————-

[X] The Sword In The Stone (1963)
[X] The Jungle Book (1967)
[X] The Aristocats (1970)
[X] Bednobs and Broomsticks [1971]
[X] Robin Hood (1973)
[X] The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
[X] Pete’s Dragon (1977)
[X] The Rescuers (1977)
[X] The Fox and the Hound (1981)
[X] The Black Cauldron (1985)
[X] The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
[X] Oliver and Company (1986)

THE DISNEY RENAISSANCE
——————————-
[X] Beauty and the Beast (1991)
[X] The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
[X] Aladdin (1992)
[X] The Lion King (1994)
[X] A Goofy Movie (1995)
[X] Hercules (1997)
[X] The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
[X] The Little Mermaid (1989)
[X] Mulan (1998)
[X] Pocahontas (1995)
[X] Tarzan (1999)

DISNEY’S MODERN AGE
——————————-
[ ] Dinosaur (2000)
[ ] Fantasia 2000 (2000)
[X] The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)
[ ] Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
[X] Lilo & Stitch (2002)
[ ] Treasure Planet (2002)
[X ] Brother Bear (2003)
[ ] Home on the Range (2004)
[X] Chicken Little (2005)
[ ] Meet the Robinsons (2007)
[X] Bolt (2008)
[ ] The Princess and the Frog (2009)

PIAR
——————————-
[X] Toy Story (1995)
[X] A Bug’s Life (1998)
[X] Toy Story 2 (1999)
[X] Monsters Inc. (2001)
[X] Finding Nemo (2003)
[X] The Incredibles (2004)
[X] Cars (2006)
[X] Ratatouille (2007)
[X] Wall-E (2008)
[X] Up (2009)

DON BLUTH
——————————-

[X] The Secret of NIMH (1982)
[X] An American Tail (1986)
[X] The Land Before Time (1988)
[X] All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)
[X] An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991)
[X] Rock-a-Doodle (1991)
[ ] A Troll in Central Park (1994)
[X] Anastasia (1997)
[ ] The Pebble and the Penguin (1995)
[ ] Thumbelina (1994)
[ ] Titan AE (2000)

CLAYMATION
——————————-
[ ] The Adventures of Mark Twain (1986)
[ ] The Puppetoon Movie (1987)
[O] The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
[O] James and the Giant Peach (1996)
[X] Chicken Run (2000)
[O] Corpse Bride (2005)
[X ] Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
[X] Coraline (2009)

CGI GLUT
——————————-
[X] Antz (1998)
[X] Shrek (2001)
[X] Shrek 2 (2004)
[ ] The Polar Express (2004)
[X] Madagascar (2005)
[ ] Happy Feet (2006)
[ ] Monster House (2006)
[O] Over the Hedge (2006)
[O] Beowulf (2007)
[X] Shrek The Third (2007)
[ ] Kung Fu Panda (2008)
[ ] Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)
[ ] How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
[ ] Shrek Forever After (2010)

CARTOONS FOR GROWN-UPS
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[ ] Fritz the Cat (1972)
[ ] Street Fight (Coonskin) (1975)
[ ] American Pop (1981)
[X] Heavy Metal (1981)
[ ] Hey Good Lookin’ (1982)
[O] Cool World (1992)
[X] Beavis & Butthead Do America (1996)
[X] South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
[ ] Heavy Metal 2000 (2000)
[ ] Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
[ ] Waking Life (2001)
[ ] The Animatrix (2003)
[ ] Lady Death (2004)
[ ] Final Fantasy: Advent Children (2005)
[ ] A Scanner Darkly (2006)

OTHER ANIMATED MOVIES
——————————-
[ ] Animal Farm (1954)
[X] Charlotte’s Web (1973)
[X] The Hobbit (1977)
[X ] Lord of the Rings (1978)
[ ] Ringing Bell (1978)
[ ] Animalympics (1980)
[ ] Pink Floyd’s The Wall (1982)
[ ] Rock & Rule (1983)
[ ] Care Bears: The Movie (1985)
[ ] He-Man & She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword (1985)
[ ] Starchaser: The Legend of Orin (1985)
[ ] Gobots: Battle of the Rock Lords (1986)
[ ] My Little Pony: The Movie (1986)
[ ] Transformers: The Movie (1986)
[X] G.I. Joe: The Movie (1987)
[ ] Bravestarr: The Movie (1988)
[ ] The Brave Little Toaster (1988)
[X] Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
[X] Fern Gully (1992)
[X ] Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1992)
[X ] The Swan Princess (1994)
[X] Balto (1995)
[X] Space Jam (1996)
[X] Cats Don’t Dance (1997)
[X] The Prince of Egypt (1998)
[ ] Wizards (1977)
[ ] The Iron Giant (1999)
[ ] Quest For Camelot (1999)
[X] The Road to El Dorado (2000)
[X] Powerpuff Girls: The Movie (2002)
[ ] Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)
[ ] Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon The Movie (2007)
[ ] Superman: Doomsday (2007)
[ ] Justice League: The New Frontier (2008)
[ ] Wonder Woman (2009)
[ ] Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
[ ] Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

IMPORTS
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[ ] Arabian Knight
[ ] Back to Gaya
[ ] Yellow Submarine (1968)
[ ] Watership Down (1978)
[ ] The Last Unicorn (1982)
[ ] Light Years (1988)
[ ] When the Wind Blows (1988)
[ ] The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
[ ] Persepolis (2007)
[ ] Planet 51 (2009)
[ ] Waltz With Bashir (2008)

STUDIO GHIBLI/MIYAZAKI
——————————-
[ ] Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)
[ ] Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
[ ] Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)
[ ] Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
[ ] Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)
[ ] Only Yesterday (1991)
[ ] Porco Rosso (1992)
[O] My Neighbor Totoro (1993)
[ ] Pom Poko (Tanuki War) (1994)
[ ] Whisper of the Heart (1995)
[ ] My Neighbors The Yamadas (1999)
[ ] Princess Mononoke (1999)
[ ] The Cat Returns (2002)
[O] Spirited Away (2002)
[ ] Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
[ ] Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea (2009)
[ ] Panda! Go Panda!
[ ] Tales from Earthsea
[ ] Horus, Prince of the Sun

SATOSHI KON
——————————-
[ ] Perfect Blue (1999)
[ ] Millennium Actress (2001)
[ ] Tokyo Godfathers (2003)
[ ] Paprika (2006)

SHINKAI MAKOTO
——————————-
[ ] She and Her Cat (1999)
[ ] Voices of a Distant Star (2001)
[ ] The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004)
[ ] 5 Centimeters per Second (2007)

OTHER ANIME FILMS
——————————-

[ ] Galay Epress 999 (1979)
[ ] Arcadia of My Youth (U.S. Title – Vengeance of the Space Pirate) (1982)
[ ] Space Adventure Cobra (1982)
[ ] The Professional: Golgo 13 (1983)
[ ] Unico and the Island of Magic (1983)
[ ] Lensman (1984)
[ ] Macross: Do You Remember Love (U.S. Title – Clash of the Bionoids) (1984)
[ ] The Dagger of Kamui (U.S. Title – Revenge of the Ninja Warrior) (1985)
[ ] Vampire Hunter D (1985)
[ ] Fist of the North Star (1986)
[ ] Neo-Tokyo (1986)
[ ] Project A-ko (1986)
[ ] Dirty Pair: Project Eden (1987)
[ ] Urotsukidoji: The Movie (1987)
[ ] Robot Carnival (1987)
[ ] Wings of Honneamise: Royal Space Force (1987)
[X] Akira (1989)
[ ] Patlabor the Movie (1989)
[ ] Silent Möbius (1991)
[ ] Ninja Scroll (1993)
[ ] Ghost in the Shell (1996)
[ ] End of Evangelion (1997)
[ ] Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz (1998)
[ ] Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust (2000)
[ ] Metropolis (2001)
[ ] Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2003)
[ ] Appleseed (2004)
[ ] Steamboy (2004)
[ ] Robotech: The Shadow Chronicle (2006)
[ ] The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)
[ ] Appleseed: E Machina (2007)
[ ] Sword of the Stranger (2007)
[ ] Origin: Spirits Of The Past

ADDENDUM
——————————-

[ ] The Chipmunk Adventure (1987)
[ ] Feli the Cat: The Movie (1988)
[ ] We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story (1993)
[X] The Rugrats Movie (1998)
[X] Pokemon: The First Movie (1999)
[ ] Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001)
[X] Ice Age (2002)
[ ] Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)
[X] Shark Tale (2004)
[ ] The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (2004)
[X] Hoodwinked (2005)
[ ] Valiant (2005)
[ ] The Ant Bully (2006)
[ ] Flushed Away (2006)
[ ] Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)
[X] Open Season (2006)
[ ] Bee Movie (2007)
[X] The Simpsons Movie (2007)
[ ] Happily N’Ever After (2007)
[X] Horton Hears a Who (2008)
[ ] Space Chimps (2008)
[X] Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)
[ ] The Tale of Despereaux (2008)
[ ] 9 (2009)
[X] Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
[ ] Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)
[X] Robots

(Link (Via: Siris )