#6

The Incredibles

Released: November 5, 2004

Runtime: 115 minutes

Rating: PG

Animation Style: blends stylized 1960s retro-futurism with caricatured 3D computer character animation

Studio: Pixar/Disney

The Incredibles was an epic super hero story featuring a family. Many called it the best Fantastic Four film we have ever gotten. Brad Bird directed this masterpiece and gave us a classic villain. One of my favorite quotes from the film came from Syndrome who said, “Everyone can be super! And when everyone’s super… no one will be.”

Voice cast: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer Fox, Jason Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Brad Bird, Elizabeth Peña, Teddy Newton, Jean Sincere, Bud Luckey, Wallace Shawn, Lou Romano, Michael Bird, Dominique Louis, Bret Parker, Kimberly Adair Clark and John Ratzenberger.

#7

How to Train Your Dragon

Released: March 26, 2010

Runtime: 1 hour 38 minutes

Rating: PG

Animation Style: stylized 3D character design with grounded, realistic movement and cinematography

Studio: DreeamWorks

The film that kicked off one of the best animated trilogies of all time, How to Train Your Dragon even had one of the best live-action remakes, a rare occurance for sure. The scene where Hiccup and Toothless go flying for the first time is one of the greatest moments in movie history.

Voice cast: Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kristen Wiig,T.J. Miller, David Tennant, Ashley Jensen, Robin Atkins Downes, Philip McGrade and Kieron Elliott.

#8

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker

Released: December 12, 2000

Runtime: 77 minutes

Rating: PG-13

Animation Style: Bruce Timm art style

Studio: Warner Brothers

The highest Batman movie on the list is this one featuring the return of the Joker into the orbit of Terry McGinnis. The scene with Joker and Tim Drake from the past was totally haunting and took this from a great film to an instant classic.

Voice cast: Will Friedle, Kevin Conroy, Angie Harmon, Tara Strong, Dean Stockwell, Mathew Valencia, Andrea Romano, Mark Hamill, Arleen Sorkin, Melissa Joan Hart, Michael Rosenbaum, Don Harvey, Henry Rollins, Frank Welker, Lauren Tom, Rachael Leigh Cook, Teri Garr, Ryan O’Donohue, Vernee Watson-Johnson, Mary Scheer and Jason Stanford.

#9

The Iron Giant

Released: August 6, 1999

Runtime: 87 minutes

Rating: PG

Animation Style: hybrid animation style that blends traditional hand-drawn 2D animation for the human characters and environments with computer-generated imagery (CGI)

Studio: Warner Brothers

One of the most emotional movies about a giant robot you will ever see. The Iron Giant is a wonderful story of a boy and his gigantic robot. It is a wonderful movie and one of the most underrated classics on this list.

Voice cast: Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick Jr., Vin Diesel, James Gammon, Cloris Leachman, John Mahoney, Eli Marienthal, Christopher McDonald, M. Emmet Walsh, Frank Welker, Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas .

#10

Big Hero 6

Released: November 7, 2014

Runtime: 1 hour 42 minutes

Rating: PG

Animation Style: a groundbreaking fusion of traditional hand-drawn aesthetics, cinematic realism, and cultural hybridity

Studio: Disney

Into the Top 10 we go…. Big Hero 6 is an Academy Award winning film based on some lesser known Marvel Comics characters. This is outside the MCU, and includes the breakout character of Baymax.

Voice cast: Scott Adsit, Ryan Potter, Daniel Henney, T.J. Miller, Jamie Chung, Damon Wayans Jr., Genesis Rodriguez, James Cromwell, Maya Rudolph, Alan Tudyk, Katie Lowes, Daniel Gerson, David Shaughnessy, Bill Bush and Stan Lee.

#11

Toy Story

Released: November 22, 1995

Runtime: 81 minutes

Rating: G

Animation Style: computer-generated imagery (CGI)

Studio: Pixar/Disney

One of the greatest animated franchises of all time, kicked off by this excellent film. The friendship that developed between Woody and Buzz Lightyear carries this franchise. Toy Story is a marvel.

Voice cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, John Ratzenberger, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, Jim Varney, John Morris, Erik von Detten, Laurie Metcalf, R. Lee Ermey, Sarah Freeman, Penn Jillette, Joe Ranft, and jeff Pidgeon.

#12

Klaus

Released: November 8, 2019

Runtime: 97 minutes

Rating: PG

Animation Style: a unique blend of traditional hand-drawn 2D animation and innovative volumetric lighting that creates the illusion of 3D depth

Studio: SPA Studios/Netflix

Another surprise as this came out of nowhere and was nominated for Best Animated Picture at the Oscars. A wonderful origin story for Santa Claus and one of the best animated holiday movies ever.

Voice cast: Jason Schwartzman, J. K. Simmons, Rashida Jones, Will Sasso, Neda Margrethe Labba, Pablos, Norm Macdonald, Joan Cusack, Reiulf Aleksandersen, Sara Margrethe Oksal, Sergio Pablos, and Sam McMurray.

Additional children’s voices:  Evan Agos, Sky Alexis, Jaeden Bettencourt, Teddy Blum, Mila Brener, Sydney Brower, Finn Carr, Kendall Joy Hall (who voiced Annelise Ellingboe), Hayley Hermida, Lexie Holland, Brooke Huckeba, Matthew McCann, Tucker Meek, Leo Miller, Joaquin Obradors, Víctor Pablos, Lucian Perez, Bailey Rae Fenderson, Maximus Riegel, Emma Shannon, Ayden Soria, Sunday Sturz, Hudson West, Gordon Wilcox, Emma Yarovinskiy, and Julian Zane.

#13

The LEGO Movie

Released: February 7, 2014

Runtime: 100 minutes

Rating: PG

Animation Style: computer-generated (CGI) animation style that mimics physical stop-motion brickfilms

Studio: Warner Brothers/Animal Logic

Another film that was a huge surprise. Who would think that a movie about LEGO creatures would be anything but stupid. Yet, The LEGO Movie was one of the best movies of 2014. There is a short section of live action during the animation, but I determined that this would still count under the animation rules I set down at the beginning since the live action stuff was a minimal part of the movie, even if it contained some of the most emotional parts.

Voice cast: Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Melissa Sturm, Cobie Smuthers, Jadon Sand, Anthony Daniels, Keith Ferguson, Billy Dee Williams, Shaquille O’Neal, Will Forte, Dave Franco, Jake Johnson, Keegan-Michael Key,Christopher Miller, and Graham Miller.

#14

Grave of the Fireflies

Released: April 16, 1988

Runtime: 89 minutes

Rating: NR/Unrated

Animation Style: grounded, painterly, and naturalistic

Studio: Studio Ghibli

One of the most beautiful and saddest Studio Ghibli films. I had heard so much of some of the other classic Studio Ghibli movies, but not much about this one and it was absolutely spectacular. It is a classic war film as well as a deeply personal family tale. This is the highest Studio Ghibli film on my list and, if you have not seen it before, it is worth your time.

Voice Cast: It depends on which version of the film you watch. The original Japanese voice cast included Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Yoshiko Shinohara, and Akemi Yamaguchi.

#15

Shrek

Released: May 18, 2001

Runtime: 90 minutes

Rating: PG

Animation Style: 3D computer-generated semi-realistic style

Studio: DreamWorks

Shrek is a wonderful movie that spawned several sequels and a Broadway musical. The movie had some of the most iconic characters of animation.

Voice cast: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow, Vincent Cassel, Conrad Vernon, Chris Miller, Cody Cameron, Simon J. Smith, Christopher Knights, Aron Warner, Jim Cummings, Kathleen Freeman, Andrew Anamson, Bobby Block and Michael Galasso.

#16

How to Train Your Dragon 2

Released: June 11, 2027

Runtime: 1 hour, 42 minutes

Rating: PG

Animation Style: 3D computer-animated style

Studio: DreamWorks

A wonderful sequel to a classic animated movie. This, amazingly, found a way to elevate the emotions even further than the original.

Voice cast:  Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kristen Wiig, T.J. Miller, Cate Blanchett, Djimon Hounsou, Randy Thom,  and Kit Harington.

#17

Spirited Away

Released: July 20, 2001

Runtime: 124 minutes

Rating: PG

Animation Style: traditional hand-drawn 2D animation blended subtly with digital technology

Studio: Studio Ghibli

One of the classic Studio Ghibli films, Spirited Away was a masterpiece. When I watched it, I was anxious that the hype was too much, but those fears washed away with this beautiful film.

Voice cast: – Daveigh Chase, Suzanne Pleshette, Jason Marsden, Susan Egan, David Ogden Stiers, Lauren Holly, Michael Chiklis, John Ratzenberger, Tara Strong, Mickie McGowan, Jack Angel, Bob Bergen, Rodger Bumpass, Jennifer Darling, Paul Eiding, Sherry Lynn, Mona Marshall, Candi Milo, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, Phil Proctor, Jim Ward.

#18

The Lion King

Released: June 24, 1994

Runtime: 88 minutes

Rating: G

Animation Style: traditional 2D hand-drawn animation style combined with early digital technology

Studio: Walt Disney

One of the Renaissance films for Walt Disney, The Lion King is a coming of age tale of the future King of the Jungle. The film is very much like an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It also featured one of the great soundtracks of all time with Elton John performing.

Voice cast: Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Moira Kelly, Niketa Calame, Madge Sinclair, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Cummings, and Robert Guillaume.

#19

Finding Nemo

Released: May 30, 2003

Runtime: 100 minutes

Rating: G

Animation Style: a blend of computer-generated (CGI) hyper-realism and stylized cartoon character design

Studio: Pixar/Disney

A brillaint father-son flick that sees Nemo get himself lost across the vast ocean. One of the best storie from Pixar, and that is saying a lot.

Voice cast: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Dafoe, Geoffrey Rush, Brad Garrett, Allison Janney, Stephen Root, Austin Pendleton, Vicki Lewis, Joe Ranft, Andrew Stanton, Elizabeth Perkins, Nicholas Bird, Eric Bana, Bob Peterson, Barry Humphries, Bruce Spense, Bill Hunter, LuLu Ebeling, Jordan “Jordy” Ranft, Erica Beck, Erik Per Sullivan and John Ratzenberger.

#20

Beauty and the Beast

Released: November 22, 1991

Runtime: 84 minutes

Rating: G

Animation Style: Hybrid of traditional hand-drawn cel animation with pioneering computer-generated (CG) imagery.

Studio: Disney

One of the movies that kicked off the animation renaissance for Walt Disney Studios in 1991. Beauty and the Beast was a majestic tale as old as time. I remember not wanting to see this as a college student when it came out, but what the heck did I know? Now Beauty and the Beast kicked off the Top 20 of the Top 100.

Voice cast:  Paige O’Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, Angela Lansbury, Bradley Michael Pierce, Rex Everhart, Jesse Corti, Hal Smith, Jo Anne Worley, Mary Kay Bergman, Kath Soucie, Jack Angel, Phil Proctor, Bill Farmer, Patrick Pinney, Brian Cummings, Alvin Epstein, Tony Jay, Alec Murphy, Kimmy Robertson, and Frank Welker.