As a father of a just-turned-two child, I’ve been watching my fair share of animated movies at the moment. I’m also a fairly big fan of anime, so I feel pretty well placed to name my favourite animated movie of all time, and you might be surprised by what I choose. What’s your favourite?
My favourite? Well, in terms of western animated movies, I’m going to have to say How To Train Your Dragon.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Pixar. I love Toy Story, I love Up, I love The Incredibles. I’m also a big Disney fan. I love The Lion King, I love Aladdin, The Jungle Book.
But seriously, I think How To Train Your Dragon just eclipses those movies.
Maybe it’s because my son has been demanding to watch “DRAGONS”, as he calls it, over and over again. Maybe it’s just plain and simple indoctrination, but I think How To Train Your Dragon is just as good, if not better, than all the Disney and Pixar classics.
What say you? What’s your favourite animated movie?
Comments
159 responses to “Off Topic: Best Animated Movie Of All Time?”
WALL-E. It’s not the best movie for kids, by a long shot, but it’s the best animated movie of all time without question in my mind.
So much love.
We are currently expecting our next child and if its a girl she will be named Eva. No, not calling the boy Wall-E..
My man! Yeah Wall-E was beautiful. UP was also up there. I’ve watched Finding Nemo a millions times with my niece, but still love it. I have to say Big Hero 6 was fantastic too. Man who am I kidding, I love all of them – but yeah Wall-E is probably my top pick.
Wall-E was great but….
Spirited Away
The absolute best.
Western wise though…probs Ratatouille or Lion King. Both pretty spectacular.
Oh yes! Definitely!
I’m often disappointed in people’s reactions to this movie. I saw it in theatres in friends and they complained ‘no one even said a word for the first half of the movie’…..
That’s what makes it so amazing! That no one NEEDED to say a word, we could completely understand what WALL-E and EVE were communicating without words.
I’m also a sucker for cutting edge CGI, and they really developed some great tech to render the movie in more detail than capable before. The different type of lens aberration effects [which, ironically, traditional film makers try their best to remove :p ], the wind/dust effects, all fantastic!
Yep, the economy of language and use of non-verbal cues is part of why the movie is so strong. I actually missed it when it was in it’s theatrical run, saw it on DVD and I was so jaw-dropped after watching it the first time I hit rewind (back to menu) and watched it again.
Spoiler tags for actual plot discussion
Another thing I love which can be so glaring when other movies don’t get it right, is how every action has some kind of pay-off. It’s like they’re operating Chekov’s AmmuNation Clearance Sale: Every gun must be sold!Implied example. Early scene, Wall-E has a broken tread: He replaces it. -Lesson: Wall-E has survived longer than other of his model because he figured out how to maintain himself.
Wall-E gets damaged in front of Eve and repairs himself: We know Wall-E can repair himself, now Eve knows this as well. Eve also knows about his parts stash.
Eve can’t find parts to repair Wall-E: Return to Earth where parts are available. Repair Wall-E.
So many movies fail to think about all the little things, or don’t go in to enough depth and you find yourself going “Wait, how did they know that?” or “When did that happen?” or maybe even just skip part 1 of the above 3. But without Part 1 there’s an empty feeling of “Well, why was Wall-E still operating after 800 years when nobody else was?” and it’s the little details that make it such a satisfying movie.
So hard for me to choose between WALL-E and The Incredibles.
I’ve decided to back you with WALL-E and call The Incredible the best Super Hero movie of all time.
Yes, words are useless! Gobble-gobble-gobble-gobble-gobble! Too much of it, darling, too much!
Ratatouille maybe? No, The Lion King! Mulan? Pocahontas is pretty great! Oooh Ooooh, The Iron Giant! Errrr… this is too hard. :S
Oh man I didn’t even think of the Iron Giant – man that is a classic, it’s definitely one that is special to me.
“Superman…” So many tears.
Ratatouille is an under appreciated film. Super great.
Western animation – Aladdin, purely because as a child I memorised every single line of dialogue and watched it a bajillion times. If I had a copy I’d watch it again immediately.
Anime – This is actually quite difficult, but I think I have to go with Akira.
I wouldn’t say anime is difficult. It HAS to be Akira doesn’t it?! Although I haven’t watched it in a few years and I’m a bit worried it will have aged badly. Like watching he-man and realising your childhood has been destroyed.
It hasn’t aged badly. Watch it again
It has aged badly, keep it on the shelf.
Finding Nemo is my favourite film of all time.
Just keep swimming!
A Goofy Movie is my pick.
There’s a whole slew of great Disney flicks, as well as a handful of great non-Disney, but A Goofy Movie just hits all my buttons. It taught me how to be a kid, and it’s teaching me how to be a dad.
Love this too! Seen it so many times I can recite it word for word, beat for beat.
TAY Goofy Movie karaoke incoming.
If ya need a break from modern livin’…
Do you loooooong to shed your weary load?
Someone remade the opening song in real life – check it out on youtube. Shot for shot, it’s awesome.
Western animation: Up.
Japanese: Probably My Neighbour Totoro, although Grave of the Fireflies is right up there, too.
I’m divided between Grave of the Fireflies, Princess Mononoke or Howl’s Moving Castle, when it comes to which Ghibli film was the best. It’s a hard choice because they’re all fantastic movies. Special mentions also to the Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and the original Ghost in the Shell movie.
I have to admit that I just didn’t really get into Princess Mononoke. I guess I should give it a second chance sometime.
Grave of the Fireflies destroyed me.
The Incredibles. no question.
THIS. Great humour, smart and fantastic characterisation, and such a high degree of emotions.
All in 2 hours.
Still can’t believe they haven’t made a sequel to that, which is actually crying out for it, and instead they just keep churning out rubbish Cars movies.
Well I’ve got mixed news for you. Cars 3 is in production, but so is Incredibles 2!
http://screenrant.com/incredibles-2-cars-3-details/
Yep
My favourite as well. Up deserves a mention too, absolutely loved the first 10 or so minutes, the rest was good, but less engaging for me.
My favourite animated movies (telling me to pick just one is cruel) –>
Totoro
Laputa
Nausicaa
How To Train Your Dragon
Ratatouille
Kung Fu Panda 2
Wolf Children
The Garden of Words
The Iron Giant
Beauty and the Beast
Kung Fu Panda 2 probably marked the moment when Dreamworks proved they could match the depth of Pixar
Frozen. I get the feels every time I watch it. Plus, that music is just fantastic.
Runners up: Transformers the Movie, Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bepop.
The Transformers The Movie is so good!
Came on here it say the same thing.
I watched that movie about 10,000 times between the age of 4 and 10.
Then about 20 more between 20 and 30.
I saw it once as a kid, blew my mind.
Recently saw it again. Still great.
Yep, that’s my answer, what a brilliant film – ahead of its time in so mamy ways
Not ashamed to admit I cried in the cinema when Prime died.
We have Thursday night movie night at our place for our 2 y.o young bloke – toasted sarnies and Disney staples. So much nostalgia. We pretend it’s for him but secretly I think my wife and I get more out of it.
Dad’s favourite animated movie though would have to be Ninja Scroll
Mum’s would have to be Beauty and the Beast
Young blokes favourite is *anything* to do with dinosaurs
ninja scroll = best anime ever
nice mention
Oh god, can I change mine to Ninja Scroll too? Incredibly accurate portrayal of blood spatter in that movie…
Maybe the little guy would like Land Before Time? I remember loving it as a kid.
Also Ninja Scroll was my introduction to anime and it’s still hard to top all these years later.
Oh he LOVES Land before Time!!! great pick @roh, and Denver: The last Dinosaur, and Dino-Riders, and Dink the Dinosaur, and every episode of Dinosaur Train on the HD… yeah, he’s a bit of a dinosaur nut.
I also just remembered Dinosaucers, it had a kick ass opening theme too.
I was OBSESSED with dinosaurs as a little kid, so I can definitely relate.
Oh man!! Dino Saucers!!! that had a freakin’ ROCKIN’ riff!!!!!
Youtube away!!!
The Land Before Time is my pick, most excellent film.
Holy crap! Dino-riders! I used to love that show! Now to find out where i can aquire all the episodes…
What on earth is a ‘sarnie’?
[Also Ninja Scroll is awesome…. though super not suitable for the young bloke :p]
It’s a pommie sanga.
No contest.
Ghost in the Shell Innocence
That is a pretty amazing film.
I went in expecting decent. But how could they top the original?
Blown mind 9999999999%
+1
3D CG movie, my favorite would be Ratatouille. Was such a unexpectedly unique experience, and I loved the setting. Runner up would be Wall-E, knows how to pull at my heart strings.
2D Traditional Animated would be “The Cat Returns”, this is purely a sentimental thing. The story is not that deep, the animation isn’t mind-blowing or anything, but it holds a special place in my heart. Runner up would be…um…Aladdin, maybe?
I’m a big fan of Porco Rosso, otherwise meet the robinsons is pretty rad, it has a scene that might not be suitable for super younglings, but still a really well done movie.
The Tale of Princess Kaguya – the most beautiful movie I’ve ever seen
the original transformers movie
I love that movie so much, if you play the soundtrack at any point I’ll tell you what’s happening in the film at that moment.
Same! Have you heard the piano version of the soundtrack “Artistc Transformations”? That so much great music could be crammed into an animated feature that’s in no way a musical – it boggles the mind!
Yes. If it sounds like Transformers or Vince DeCola I’ve got it.
I wish more modern movies revelled in the musical landscape they can paint. I suppose that’s why Redline, Tron, The Warriors, and whole lot of Anime movies are some of my favourites.
West: Wall-E, Up, The Lion King and The Transformers: The Movie.
East: My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Howl’s Moving Castle.
Arbitrary lists because I keep thinking of more but if I name them all then the lists would be about 20-30 movies long :S
No love for Ponyo? So sad. That movie was a dream.
Has to be Aladdin, I watched that a bajillion times when I was a kid.
Toy Story blew my little mind when I first saw it (in theatres) and since then, Pixar have only got better.
It’s truly difficult, now that I’m trying to, to pick “a favorite”. They don’t really misstep and each film fits a certain mood perfectly. My favorite movie depends on which one I’m watching.
I think I’m giving it to Wall-E, but stand by for an edit.
I will never forget the time that my father sat my sister and I – aged 4 and 6, respectively – down in front of the cartoon he’d just rented from the video shop in order to have it babysit us when we went out.
The cartoon was “Legend of the Overfiend”.
As one of the formative movies of my life, I strongly recommend that your kids should get to watch it before they start primary school. Nothing like the question session that’s sure to follow in order for a little family bonding.
That. Is. Hilarious.
Best animated movie for me would probably be Shrek (the first one). Very cleverly done, great art and animation style, good story, a lot of adult-targeted humour in it. The jokes remind me of the old Looney Tunes cartoons in many ways, the jokes go over the heads of kids but the adults watch it and find it hysterical.
Wreck-it-Ralph would be up there too, if only for all of the video game related references and humour in it.
I’d also suggest Happy Feet Two but that’s just my bias because I worked on it 😉
Upvoted for Wreck-It Ralph. Such a fun movie.
Up. Just such an all round positive movie. Biased as it was the first movie my daughter saw at the cinema and she loved it.
Up is fine if you don’t mind your kids seeing you crying like a little bitch.
Maybe go get a beer or something and let your kids watch the first 10 minutes on their own.
A Goofy Movie because of Pauly Shore.
Aladdin and/or The Lion King, also Fantasia is up there too 🙂
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Which I think is actually the first bunch of episodes of the first season all stuck together by whatever channel aired it (think it was Seven who had them then). But when I was little, we had two tapes – the “real people” movie and the “cartoon” movie. So in my headcanon that’s what it is 😛
Yeah, that was just the first few episodes of the original TV series stuck together. Not sure it qualifies as a real movie 😛
IT’S REAL TO ME
This is surprisingly tough as I’ve never really thought about it before and am more a fan of animated series. For now it’s a fight to the death between Wreck-It Ralph, Adolescence of Utena and Escaflowne (The movie).
Oh shit yeah, Wreck-It Ralph. I keep forgetting about that, but I’d happily go with that one.
Utena is grrrrrrrreat.
Akira. End of discussion.
TETSUOOOOOO!!!!!
KANEDAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How to train your Dragon 1 and 2. Love those movies.
i thought 1 was great but 2 wasn’t as good. Still a great and enjoyable film but just missing that special factor to make it one of the greats
Mine would probably be the lion king. Have watched that so many times and it is a masterpiece of animation.
More recently Wreck-it Ralph hit all the right buttons for me.
In contention would also be the incredibles or beauty and the beast.
Edit: and The Iron Giant
Yep, Akira is the best animated movie ever made.
Does Bedknobs and Broomsticks count 😛
Western Animation: Sleeping Beauty/Beauty and the Beast/Aladdin tied.
Anime: Ninja Scroll/Grave of the Fireflies tied.
Apart from some Pixar ones, CG flicks tend to leave me cold. Didn’t mind Tangled & Frozen either, but they’re still not a patch on the oldies 🙂
Tough one, but I’m a sucker for the oldies:
Ninja Scroll
Akira
Ghost in the Shell
Transformers
Sword of the Stranger was pretty good for a new one too.
Most of the new animated stuff I’ve liked lately has been series like Gurren Lagann, Kill la Kill, Samurai Champloo, FLCL, Diebuster.
in no order.
Wall-E
Lion King
Big Hero 6
Wreck it Ralph
Toy Story
Not sure if you can count it but Lego Movie
Also have to throw in Paperman i know it is a short but it is great.
Monsters Inc
plus a heap that escape my mind.
BH6 is a huge call. Kudos for mentioning Paperman. In the same vein, Feast, which was shown in cinemas along with Big Hero 6, is also pretty great.
I really liked BH6 it was great, i have no idea why it is not more popular right now it is bizarre (although the delay to Aus may have something to do with it). Yes Feast was quite good as well, you could probably list a heap of those shorts as great animation.
A Scanner Darkly
Great film (one of the best adaptations of a PDK book into film for sure). I may have thought rotoscoping doesn’t count, but I watched a doco on the making of this film and it was mightly labour intensive…
Agreed. Great film.
A Scanner Darkly is great. I wish the people who made this systematically went through all Philip K’s novels I this style.
UBIK would have a lot of potential for an rotoscope adaptation.
Amazon has made the pilot for The Man in the High Castle as live action. I dislike how the Grasshopper Lies Heavy is film footage instead or a novel.
I really love The Road to El Dorado. I find it hilarious, energetic, and just plain fun every time I watch it.
I also love Iron Giant, Titan AE, and Emperor’s New Groove. For some reason I always seem to fall in love with stuff that never catches on with a wider audience.
In that vein I really enjoyed treasure planet that seemed to be a blip and then gone
Oh, yeah. I forgot about that, but it was a lot of fun. I need to watch it again.
Road to El Dorado is a classic.
Cortez: http://youtu.be/8Z8YMHId1yQ?t=24s
Ghost in the Shell. Oh yeah.
For kids it’s tougher because there’s so many. Wall-E is a favourite at our place but we have a good collection and get through them all regularly.
Love the toy story trilogy. Also a fan of Hercules, how to train your dragon and for anime I’m a fan of the mamoru Hosoda and Satoko okudera collaborations.
It’s not particularly popular and it’s a bit dated these days but I rank Titan A.E up there as one of my favourite animated films. It’s seriously under-appreciated in my opinion.
I’d also add the Jungle Book, Kung Fu Panda and Despicable Me.
All my other favourites have been mentioned already.
Titan A.E. is seriously underrated. It’s not perfect, but it’s highly enjoyable. And it has my planet in it, sooooo I have to love it.
Oh man, I forgot Despicable Me
For me I’d have to say Peter Pan ( can’t believe no one has mentioned it yet) Disney’s Robin Hood where They are all animals. And
Avatar:the last air bender ( the cartoon) is almost perfect as a piece of storytelling for children and adults
Also try the how to train your dragon tv series it’s pretty good
Might be showing my age, but the original The Land Before Time – probably my most watched movie ever. Runner up would be The Lion King (which is shares many key story elements…). I love all the new Pixar stuff and what not, but nothing beats The Land Before Time for me. Dinosaurs!
The Land Before Time is a must watch IMO.
Who framed Roger Rabbit or South Park
I think How to Train Your Dragon is pretty great too, Mark.
I don’t have the same attachment that a lot of people have to the old 2D Disney films. I’ve watched them, probably, but they never stuck with me.
I guess I’ll do a little list, as I can’t pick just one:
Effectively all Miyazaki films, including but not limited to: Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle, The Wind Rises, Porco Rosso, etc.
Summer Wars
How to Train Your Dragon
Patema Inverted
Up
I do like Mulan… Thanks Extension English Teacher.
Probably others, too.
Plus Paprika.
Feast (aka the Big Hero 6 short)
No, I just have something in my eye
>.>
<.
It is fantastic!
A very difficult decision, indeed. I have narrowed it down to;
Howl’s Moving Castle
The Lion King
Castle of Cagliostro
However I’m sure that by the time I narrow those down, I’ll think of others I missed..
Laputa Castle in the Sky, Ghost in the Shell, 2.0 Innocence.. Yeah, I can’t do this.
Batman Mask of the Phantasm.
Lupin! I forgot about Cagliostro! Animated films are awesome
Grave of the Fireflies, Nausicaa or Laputa. Can’t really pick between those three…
I would have to say that The Emperor’s New Groove has to be one of my favourite animated movies, after that probably Monsters Inc and Aladdin.
Toss up between the Beavis and Butthead movie; South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut; Ghost in the Shell; and the Cowboy Bebop movie.
Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks and Ghibli films are all equal runners-up.
Aladdin because Robin Williams was possibly the greatest casting choice in the history of voice acting or Lion King because I think that set a standard to which all others are compared, even today. It really was a golden age of Disney animation.
+1 for all the Goofy Movie mentions. Seriously underrated movie with a pretty good original score too.
Also the original Transformers movie. Epic 80s cartoon action from start to finish and no series will ever kill off 3/4 of their characters like that ever again. Now that was a reboot!
Wind in the Willows and Akira are equally amazing.
I’m stuck between the How to Train Your dragon films and Beavis & Butthead: Do America…
I’ll throw in A Nightmare Before Christmas too, loved that movie. Just the look itself was beautiful. All the others that have been mentioned are great movies, my personal favourite probably goes to Spirited Away or Aladdin.
I grew up with the Land Before Time series and The Lion King.
Those will always be my favorites even if it’s for no other reason than nostalgia.
The Iron Giant.
Followed closely by The Land Before Time.
Surprised to see no Ghibli mention from Mark! It would have to be something from Japan I’d say, as much as I love Disney and Pixar. Possibly… Ponyo, or Millenium Actress. Perfect Blue even.
edit: ah oops, ‘western’ picks. No eastern picks then? ^^
Wait what am I even saying, End of Evangelion! Probably is End of Eva, adore that film.
Completely forgot South Park too. Still holds up and is infinitely quotable.
Fritz the Cat for showing me that cartoons dont necessarily mean they are for kids
My favourite animated movie awards!
Best 3D/CGI: Wall-E
Best 2D/Handrawn: Land Before Time
Best based on a tv show: South Park
Best based on a comic: Under The Red Hood
Best that featured live action AND animation: Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Twilight…oh, wait…
Wings of Honneamise is up there…
Castle of Cagliostro deserves a mention too
I’ll never call it the greatest ever, but for all it’s fault’s I still have a soft spot for Ralph Bakshi’s version of Lord of the Rings from 1978. It was the first animated feature I ever saw that wasn’t aimed squarely at children, and I still appreciate it for showing me what the medium was capable of.
I also want to give some love to Footrot Flats: The Dog’s Tale.
Heaps of good picks in previous comments. Totally understand how films such as Akira, the Ghibli and Pixar sets, and Disney classics got suggested.
My son says it’s Batman Under the Red Hood. My daughter says it is Bambi.
Personally I feel 9 is hugely under appreciated. Perhaps people ignored it thinking it was the Kidman flop Nine which was also released around the same time.
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0472033/
9 was pretty cool, if a little short.
Speaking of Batman, there’s a two part adaptation of Dark Knight Returns which is pretty awesome (I may have bias from the comic itself though). Might not be a kid’s thing, though.
I don’t know if it counts, but I want to throw in my vote for Who Framed Roger Rabbit. No one has nailed the animation / real world crossover as well as that. Not even Space Jam.
Bednobs and broomsticks. It was cartoony for 30% of the movie but it did have hollow suits of armour fighting nazis.
Western: Transformers The Movie
Japanese: The Castle of Cagliostro
Heavy Metal. The movie the drug scenes from the cat piss South Park episode are from. Boobies!
Heavy Metal! Too good not to get a mention!
Does anyone remember The Secret of Nimh?
Megamind!
Akira… no competition
Fantastic Planet is up there as well
but if I had to throw the US a bone Disney’s Robin hood
Oh man, Fantastic Planet. What a trip!
The original Toy Story for me. Nostalgia definitely is an influence on my choice but I just think it’s a perfect movie. It holds up pretty well even though it was early days CG. Randy Newman’s score in my opinion is the best music across all of the Disney animations.
Favourite Eastern animation would probably be Porco Rosso. If not Porco Rosso then definitely something in the Miyazaki family.
Hmmm, this is a hard one.
Overall I think I would go with either Wall-E or with Who framed roger rabbit.
Roger wins cause of when he was made though.
Lilo and Stitch!
Also really like Robin Hood, Tarzan, An American Tail and The Secret of Nimh. Oh and I think I might need to go watch Land Before Time again.
(Edit) forgot Dot and the Kangaroo!
I’ll pick somewhat underrated movies (IMO)
-Bolt
-Kung Fu Panda
-Hercules
-Redline
-All Dogs Go to heaven
-The Black Cauldron
-Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.
My mainstream pick would be between Wreck it Ralph, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc. and Toy Story 3.
Bolt! Such a good film
Kiki’s delivery service in my case. A simple, impactful story, well told, with great characters.
Too many of the other movies named here are ones I enjoyed but in the end they just seemed to be a bit too manipulative. Meretricious.
That’s not to say I don’t like them… other favourites:
– Beauty and the Beast
– Evangelion Movie #1
– Iron Giant
– The Girl who Leapt Through Time
– The Incredibles
I would list Grave of the Fireflies, but although it’s impactful I usually don’t actually ENJOY watching it.
Spirited Away!
I can’t believe it wasnt mentioned at all my favourite. Macross Plus, absolutely fantastic.
Special mention, Summer wars, Girl who leapt thru time, The original Transformer movie.
Watership Down. Plus Kiki’s Delivery Service is my Christmas tradition.
I’m a massive Rango fan.
The Aristocats.
Coz Everybody wants to be a cat.
Porco Rosso for me