The Best Animated Movies of All Time

From 'Toy Story' to 'Spirited Away' to 'Finding Nemo,' 'The Lion King', and 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,' these are the top animated movies of all time.

Soul
Pixar Studios

Image via Pixar Studios

Soul

The best animated movies of all time, like the other best movies of all time, encompass a cornucopia of emotions: celebration, heartbreak, joy, grief, excitement, and anger. Animated movies have a long history of tackling both the more mundane aspects of everyday life, in a comedy or otherwise light-hearted film, to serious global and political issues in a drama. Animation is a medium that lends itself to diverse, often tear-jerking, story-telling. Box office smashes and sleeper hits alike make up the top animated movies of all time. It's about time to put some respect on animation and think about it outside the context of a humble cartoon.

Pixar has been running the animation game stateside for many years, blessing us with animated movies like the Oscar-winning Toy Story and Coco, and the recent installments in the Incredibles and Toy Story series. Hayao Miyazaki has held it down in Japan and enjoyed global success with an entirely different style of animation, thanks to classic animated movies like Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle. Animation continues to be a universal language, one well worthy of Academy Awards, like 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. From your favorite classic cartoons to more modern animation, these are the best animated films of all time.

Soul (2020)

Soul

Encanto (2021)

Encanto

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

Image via YouTube/Sony Pictures Entertainment

Spirited Away (2001)

spirited away

Coco (2017)

coco

The Incredibles (2004)

The Incredibles

Toy Story (1995)

andy toy story

Finding Nemo (2003)

50 best animated movies finding nemo

The Lion King (1994)

Lion King

Wall-E (2008)

50 best animated movies wall e

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

50 best animated movies nightmare before christmas

Inside Out (2015)

best family movies inside out

South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut (1999)

South Park

Persepolis (2007)

persepolis

My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

best fantasy movie my neighbor totoro

Bambi (1942)

50 best animated movies bambi

Ratatouille (2007)

50 best animated movies rataouille

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)

50 best animated movies batman phantasm

Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

50 best animated movies grave of fireflies

Aladdin (1992)

Aladdin

Ghost in the Shell (1995)

Ghost in the Shell

Dumbo (1941)

Dumbo

Akira (1988)

50 best animated movies akira

Toy Story 3 (2010)

50 best animated movies toy story 3

Coraline (2009)

Coraline

The Iron Giant (1999)

The Iron Giant

Monsters Inc. (2001)

50 best animated movies monsters inc

The Triplets of Belleville (2003)

50 best animated movies triplets belleville

Princess Mononoke (1997)

50 best animated movies princess mononoke

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Beauty and the Beast

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