TOP 10 ANIMATED FILMS

 

Animation is my favorite medium, albeit more for TV series than film – my favorite TV series are always animated TV series. However, animated films aren’t far behind as there’s something about the animated medium that seems to retain creativity beyond the point where live-action medium counterparts exhausts it.

Of course, part of that might be the advantage the animated medium has in being able to depict things on screen through its definitive animation of art, which can only be replicated in the live-action medium, if at all, through practical or CGI effects. For me, live-action CGI effects still lag behind their animated counterparts, even that of digital animation – ironically both in terms of realism seamlessly with the live action components on screen and the emotional expressiveness of depiction. An example of the latter is that of animals, where animated art can depict them with more human-like features or expressions. For me, that was one of the issues with the recent Disney trend of live action remakes of their animated films. If your live action remake needs to be substantially or predominantly CGI to replicate the original animation or its characters, then you are essentially substituting one form of animation for another – and an inferior one at that.

Another part of my enjoyment of animated films – and hence my separate top ten for them – following from the above is their versatility for depicting fantasy or science fiction. The medium of animation seems ideally suited to fantasy or SF, perhaps even more so than the live-action film medium – except for the human attachment to seeing the human actors on screen, rather than hearing their voices from their animated avatars. Hence, my Top 10 Animated Films is effectively a subset of my Top 10 Fantasy & SF Films, as each entry is either fantasy or SF and I will note the extent of each entry as such. As a general rule, animated films lean towards fantasy, while films adapted from comics (for which I have a separate top ten) lean towards SF.

They also tend to be comedic in nature, with the animated medium being ideal for visual as well as verbal humor – such that they might also effectively be a subset of my Top 10 Comedy Films and again I will note the extent of each entry as comedy.

Anyway, these are my Top 10 Animated Films.

 

 

 

(10) THE WILD ROBOT

(2024)

 

The Wild Robot is my wildcard tenth place entry for top animated film of 2024.

I mean, it’s essentially Robinson Crusoe with a robot as protagonist, isn’t it? Or is that Tarzan with a robot protagonist, given that Robinson Crusoe doesn’t interact with the animals of his island as peers (and is more Puritan)?

There’s something about the premise of shipwreck or similar circumstances returning us to a state of nature. The Wild Robot goes one step further returning our technological doppelganger to that state of nature, although I have questions with respect to what seems to be a significant problem with robot supply chains in the film.

It also has the added charm of a machine effectively becoming one of the animals on her new island home – which to me has the surprising philosophical depth of combining the two main counterpoints to humanism of comparing (or contrasting) humans to animals and to our machines. (As I like to quip, I’ve got the body of an animal and the mind of a machine).

Anyway, robot Robinson Crusoe is essentially the premise of the film in a nutshell – service robot Roz (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o) is shipwrecked or washed up on an island and learns to survive in the wilderness among the local wildlife.

It was commercially and critically successful – “praised for its story, themes, animation, score, emotional depth, and voice acting” while apparently Dreamworks’ most nominated film at the Academy Awards.

I was surprised when looking up the film to learn that it was based on a book (for children and teenagers) – indeed a book trilogy, so it was not surprising to also learn that a sequel film is in development.

 

FANTASY OR SF

 

Well, the robot in the title gives it away as SF, although it has elements of animal fable.

 

COMEDY

 

Mostly of the fish out of water variety – or robot on the island variety in this case.

 

RATING:

X-TIER (WILD TIER) – BEST OF 2024

 

 

 

 

(9) ZOOTOPIA

(2016 – with sequel in 2025)

 

Who doesn’t love anthropomorphic animals? Of course, Zootopia is a whole world exclusively of anthropomorphic animals (and it won’t be the only such world in my top ten animated films), a world very much like ours but with every other mammal in our place.

Although…when you take it too seriously (and I take my fictional worlds way too seriously), Zootopia is not quite the utopia its name suggests. As Cracked has pointed out, for the sake of a few rabbit sex jokes, Zootopia is about to go post-apocalyptic from total ecological collapse – in about a week or so. “Zootopia is a movie about the brief halcyon days of an imperious city as it remains wilfully blind to its inevitable doom”.

Alternatively, as I have mused before, is The Island of Doctor Moreau the grim backstory of Zootopia? You know, after he unleashed his army of beast-men and women on an unsuspecting humanity…

But enough of that – Zootopia is a film that is equally cute, funny and heartwarming, a “3D computer animated buddy cop comedy mystery adventure film” as cute protagonist rabbit police officer Judy Hopps, pairs up with slick fox con artist Nick Wilde.

The animation is lush and visually spectacular – they developed fur-controlling software (iGroom) – with thoughtful themes for the contemporary society the animal world reflects.

I’m looking forward to the sequel film coming out in 2025.

 

FANTASY OR SF

 

Well perhaps SF with some extensive genetic engineering but I’m going to rank this as fantasy – classic beast fable mode!

 

COMEDY

 

Definitely a comedy – from the odd couple protagonists to gags on animal characteristics as adapted to what would otherwise be an human urban environment.

 

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

*

 

 

(8) INSIDE OUT

(2015-2024: INSIDE OUT 1-2)

 

The depiction of a mental landscape may not have been an entirely original concept, but it was executed superbly in Pixar’s Inside Out.

The first film was set in the mind of a young girl Riley, dominated by a console or control panel run by five personified emotions – Joy, Sorrow, Fear, Anger and Disgust (color-coded for your convenience!)

The control room overlooks an imaginative mental landscape, primarily consisting of islands of memory or personality about the memory dump – which is a literal memory abyss or hole (or a metaphorical Lethe of forgetfulness). The plot revolves around a typical odd couple pairing of Joy and Sadness, as the two are accidentally sucked into Riley’s long-term memories and try to return to the control room, as the mental landscape deteriorates into outright collapse around them in something akin to emotional breakdown (due to Riley’s family moving from Minnesota to San Francisco). Of course, while Joy is paired with Sorrow (and helped by Riley’s imaginary friend), it leaves only Fear, Anger and Disgust to run her psyche (or as Honest Trailers quipped, leaving her psyche to be run by “your average YouTube comments section”. Or any internet comment section for that matter, as well as the X formerly known as Twitter).

Although now that I think about it, it would be interesting to see the (adult) Freudian version of the film, particularly with the superego, ego and id. (But then again, I am my own id. I’m all id, baby!). Or perhaps, the Jungian version, with all those mythic archetypes…

There was the sequel film in 2024 which added a few more adolescent emotions headed by Anxiety to Riley’s mental landscape.

 

FANTASY OR SF

 

Given it’s the emotional or psychological landscape, it probably evades easy genre distinctions but I’m going with fantasy.

 

COMEDY

 

Comedic – but not surprisingly it has many emotional (heh) moments.

 

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

*

 

 

(7) WRECK-IT RALPH

(2012 – I’ve decided to discount the sequel film even if it had its moments)

 

Disney film Wreck-It Ralph took us inside video games with its protagonist as the eponymous villain in a 1980’s 8-bit video game (reminiscent of Donkey Kong, with Ralph as Kong), who rebels against his role and dreams of being a hero ‘off-screen’. He sees his opportunity in another game of Hero’s Duty (a more modern first-person shooter game in the style of Halo and Call of Duty among others) – unfortunately, his efforts lead to one of its self-replicating alien bug antagonists escaping to yet another game, Sugar Rush (a kart racing game in the style of Super Mario). And things get worse from there…

The plot is fun but the true delight of Wreck-It Ralph is the exuberant abundance of video game references – in visual gags and characters. These are introduced from the outset – Ralph’s support group of video game antagonists (Bad-Anon) includes Bowser from the Mario franchise and Doctor Eggman from Sonic the Hedgehog, as well as M. Bison and Zangief from the Street Fighter. That’s just for starters – there’s Tapper (from the Tapper game, who runs an off-screen bar in the same style as his game for video game characters), Sonic the Hedgehog, other characters from Street Fighter, Pac-Man and ghosts (Blinky, Pinky and Inky), Dig Dug, Frogger, Q-bert and more. Even that most basic original video game, Pong. There are video game references in the most amazing (and fleeting) details, such as sound effects and graffiti – “Aerith lives”, “Shen Long was here” and “All your base are belong to us” among others.

Ralph returned for a sequel breaking (surely that should have been wrecking?) the internet but it just didn’t have the same clever play on its subject that the original film had for video games.

 

FANTASY OR SF

 

I’m saying fantasy – but technofantasy, given the premise is based on computer game characters, not unlike the programs in Tron.

 

COMEDY

 

Definitely a comedy – including many gaming in-jokes.

 

 

RATING: 

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

 

 

 

(6) PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH

(2011-2022: PUSS IN BOOTS 1-2)

 

“Who is your favorite fearless hero?”

I would never have thought I’d have ranked this Shrek spinoff series in my top ten, at least based on the first film – until it hit it out of the park with the second film, so much so that it’s boosted both films. (I just didn’t think I could rank the sequel film without the first).

“The film’s voice cast includes Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek reprising their respective roles as the titular character and Kitty Softpaws…The story follows Puss in Boots…(teaming up with Kitty Softpaws) to find the Last Wish of the fallen Wishing Star to restore eight of his nine lives. They race against other fairy tale characters seeking the same treasure, while a sinister wolf hunts Puss himself.”

Firstly, there’s the film’s visual style, diverging from previous films in the Shrek franchise (including the first Puss in Boots film) for “a painterly style to resemble a fairy-tale story”, as well as the most vivid animation I’ve seen outside the Spiderverse films.

Secondly, there’s the surprising darker tone and depth from, well, death – Puss’ mortality and fear of death, as he is relentlessly pursued for his last life by one of the most terrifying villains in animated film.

 

FANTASY OR SF

 

Fairytale fantasy!

 

COMEDY

 

Like all films in the Shrek franchise, it leans heavily into comedy but has some serious emotional beats along with its darker tone, including one of the most genuine depictions of a panic attack in film.

 

RATING:

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

 

 

 

 

(5) MEGAMIND

(2010)

 

“Oh you’re a villain alright, just not a super one!”

“Yeah, what’s the difference?”

“PRESEN-TATION!”

 

And how! Now THAT’S how you do a supervillain protagonist in a superhero comics movie.

Megamind is an inversion, subversion and deconstruction of superhero mythos, particularly Superman. In the words of TV Tropes:

“What happens when you take the Superman mythos and give the point of view (and ultimate victory) to Lex Luthor/Brainiac instead?”

Megamind (voiced by Will Ferrell) – as indicated, an alien supervillain combination of Superman villains Lex Luthor and Brainiac, but more resembling a blue Brainiac in appearance – consistently fails in his plots against Metro Man (voiced by Brad Pitt), the film’s Superman counterpart (based in Metro City), usually by kidnapping Lois Lane counterpart, the equally alliterative Roxanne Ritchi (voiced by Tina Fey). For what it’s worth, Megamind is helped by his hordes of robots as well as Minion, his – ah – minion, a sapient talking alien fish in a somewhat inexplicable robot gorilla costume.

However, in their last confrontation, Megamind actually manages to destroy his nemesis, much to his own surprise, although he doesn’t waste much time celebrating his victory by taking over Metro City.

After initially gloating over his victory, Megamind soon realizes that winning isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. And so he dreams up the creation of a new superhero adversary, only for it to go horribly wrong when his new nemesis doesn’t play by the same rules as Metro Man…

“So what’s the plan?”

“Well, it mostly involves not dying!”

“I like that plan!”

Hmm – sounds like most of my plans…

 

FANTASY OR SF?

 

One of the rare SF entries in my Top 10 Animated Films, albeit on the softer side in the same vein as Superman.

 

COMEDY

 

One of the more comedic entries, not surprisingly given its voice cast but also its premise of superhero parody.

 

RATING: 

A-TIER (TOP-TIER)

*

 

 

(4) THE INCREDIBLES

(2004-2018: INCREDIBLES 1-2)

 

“You sly dog! You got me monologuing!”

This is how you do a Fantastic Four film. Yes, my fourth place entry, Pixar’s The Incredibles, is not actually a Fantastic Four film, but it deftly handles a similar superhero family or team ensemble with almost the same powers. In the words of TV Tropes, “it’s an affectionately parodic Decon-Recon Switch of the superhero genre, happily hanging lampshades on many conventions”.

Superheroes have been forced into government-sponsored retirement, due to public liability lawsuits. Damn lawyers! Of course, financial issues for superheroes are not often addressed in comics – or indeed, in many fictional narrative in popular culture. One exception is writer Grant Morrison, with his characteristic deconstruction or subversion of superhero tropes – as a female bystander wails while her car is totaled in a superhero battle in Morrison’s Animal Man, “I don’t have superhero insurance!’

Anyway, super-strong Mr. Incredible and rubber woman Elastigirl are now just Bob and Helen Parr, trying to live a quiet suburban life with their superpowered children, Dash (who has super-speed), (shrinking) Violet (who can project force fields as well as become invisible – essentially the same power set as Sue Storm in the Fantastic Four) and baby Jack-Jack (who doesn’t seem to have manifested any superpowers). Trying being the operative word – particularly as Bob finds his employment and suburban life chafing. And so he jumps at the chance offered by a mysterious woman Mirage to use his superpowers – only to find himself in more trouble than he can handle on his own at the hands of a new supervillain with ties to his past.

Just remember – no capes!

And there was a long-awaited sequel in 2018, which although it did not quite live up to the original, maintained much of the same spirit.

 

FANTASY OR SF?

 

Like Megamind with its origin in Superman, I’m going to go with SF for this one, consistently with its origin in The Fantastic Four (although FF leans more into SF, what with the space travel and all). Even if some of those superpowers push the boundaries into fantasy.

 

COMEDY

 

And also like Megamind with its affectionate superhero parody, The Incredibles also leans to the more comedic end of the scale – also with its affectionate superhero parody – although not at much as Megamind with its outright comedic cast.

 

RATING:

A-TIER (TOP-TIER)

*

 

(3) KUNG FU PANDA

(2008-2016: KUNG FU PANDA 1-3. Yeah…I just can’t bring myself to count the fourth film)

 

“Legend tells of a legendary warrior whose kung fu skills were the stuff of legend”

What’s not to love about Dreamwork’s Kung Fu Panda, or for that matter, the rest of the trilogy (discounting the fourth film)?

It’s set in an anthropomorphic animal version of pre-modern China – that alone would be enough to make it awesome.

And then there’s the story, deftly balanced between comedy and epic magical or wuxia martial arts action, with CGI animation and beautiful art – for even more awesome, such that will make your enemies go blind from overexposure to pure awesomeness. And just like the titular Panda, I love kung fu, or more precisely, my kung fu movies ever since seeing Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon

The eponymous panda, Po, is a hopeless fanboy of the kung fu masters, particularly the Furious Five, composed of animal homages to kung fu styles (Tiger, Monkey, Crane, Viper and Mantis) – hopeless, that is, until he is thrust, by fate and fireworks, into the position of the legendary Dragon Warrior. Worse, he has to fight the dangerous snow leopard Tai Lung (awesomely voiced, as always, by Ian McShane), who seeks the title of Dragon Warrior for himself…

However, my favorite kung fu panda in the film trilogy is not Po, but the red panda Master Shifu – voiced by Dustin Hoffman, who combines just the right amount of wise mysticism with worldly exasperation (usually at Po).

 

FANTASY OR SF

 

Very much the fantasy side of the scale – combining both wuxia fantasy and animal fable.

 

COMEDY

 

Very much the comedic side of the scale as well.

 

RATING: 5 STARS*****

S-TIER (GOD-TIER)

*

 

 

(2) SHREK

(2001-2010: SHREK 1-4. Yeah, the third film is lackluster but I didn’t mind the fourth)

 

“I’m not the monster here, you are. You and that fairy tale trash poisoning my perfect world”

What’s not to love about Dreamworks 2001 film Shrek? Or its 2004 sequel for that matter?

The ultimate fractured fairy tale, the film has all the ingredients of the fairy tale – an adventurer on a quest to save a princess in a castle guarded by a dragon – except that the adventurer is the eponymous green-skinned ogre, who just wants to regain the solitude of his swamp from the fairy tale creatures who have been exiled there by (ahem) Lord Farquaad. To do so, he undertakes to save the princess Fiona for marriage to Farquaad, accompanied by the obnoxiously conversational talking donkey, named Donkey of course. And that’s where things go even further astray from your traditional fairy tale.

“Notorious for its humor, both witty and slapstick, for turning everything we knew from fairy tales upside-down, and for a ridiculously modern feel of its medieval fantasy setting”, it was the winner of the first Academy Award for Animated Feature.

Some would argue that the sequel Shrek 2 was even better than the original – even if that would make it an exception to my Stark Law of Sequels that the original is always the best. On the other hand, I just can’t resist Antonio Banderas’ purringly-voiced Puss in Boots.

No one argues the third film compares to the first two but I don’t mind the fourth. We’ll have to see how the fifth film turns out.

 

RATING: 5 STARS*****

S-TIER (GOD-TIER)

*

 

 

(1) TOY STORY

(1995-2010: TOY STORY 1-3 and beyond?)

 

“To infinity and beyond!”

The flagship of Pixar Animation Studios and of course my top ten animated films, Toy Story was the first computer animated film (and therefore an extraordinarily influential part of what TV Tropes labels the Renaissance Age of Animation). It also was the flagship of the Toy Story franchise, with two film sequels that maintain the quality of the original (although Stark’s Law of Sequels still gives first place to the original) – I particularly like the interpretation that the third Toy Story film is about the afterlife, with a metaphorical representation of every major version of the afterlife in Western popular culture.

Toy Story itself, both film and franchise, needs little introduction – a story about toys that come to life when their owners are not around. The film introduces us to a group of toys belonging to a boy named Andy, led by Andy’s favorite toy – Woody, a classic cowboy doll with a pull-string vocalizer. (“Reach for the sky!”). Unfortunately for Woody, Andy acquires a new favorite for his birthday – in the form of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. To complicate things further, Buzz believes that he is actually an astronaut adventurer rather than a toy. What ensues is a buddy comedy adventure film, as Buzz and Woody have to work together to overcome mutual perils.

Terry Gilliam praised the film as “a work of genius” – “It got people to understand what toys are about. They’re true to their own character. And that’s just brilliant. It’s got a shot that’s always stuck with me, when Buzz Lightyear discovers he’s a toy. He’s sitting on this landing at the top of the staircase and the camera pulls back and he’s this tiny little figure. He was this guy with a massive ego two seconds before… and it’s stunning. I’d put that as one of my top ten films, period.”

And as you can see, I’ve put it at the top of my top ten animated films, albeit I’ve confined this entry to the classic trilogy of films from Toy Story 1 to 3. The franchise does include other works, notably the fourth film in 2019 and the fifth film in 2025 – I actually think the fourth film is decent but I just couldn’t compare it to that original trilogy of Toy Story 1-3 as a near perfect trilogy.

 

 

RATING: 5 STARS*****

S-TIER (GOD TIER)

 

 

 

TOP 10 ANIMATED FILMS (TIER LIST)

*

S-TIER (GOD TIER)

*

(1) TOY STORY

Yes – I’ll count the first three films as a near perfect film trilogy, with the second film as perhaps the best. The fourth film was decent but just doesn’t compare to the first three films.

(2) SHREK

Again – I’ll count the franchise, although I’d swap out the lackluster third film for the fourth, with again the second film as perhaps the best.

(3) KUNG FU PANDA

Like Toy Story, I’ll count the first three films – but with the first film as best. The fourth film is lackluster.

*

If Toy Story is my Old Testament of animated films, then Shrek and Kung Fu Panda are my New Testament.

*

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

*

(4) THE INCREDIBLES

I’ll include both films but the original shines over the sequel.

(5) MEGAMIND

Sticking with the superhero parody theme from the previous entry, I just have a soft spot for this underrated gem.

(6) PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH

I had not expected such a stunning performance from what is a sequel to a Shrek spinoff – but there you have it.

*

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

*

(7) WRECK-IT RALPH

Yes – I’m only counting the first film

(8) INSIDE OUT

(9) ZOOTOPIA

*

X-TIER (WILD TIER – BEST OF 2024)

*

(10) THE WILD ROBOT