A quick look at the highest-rated animated movies on IMDb reveals that no one in the world has defined the genre as well as Japanese auteur Hayao Miyazaki. Indeed, at least three of the top 15 films are either directed by him or made by his acclaimed animation house Studio Ghibli. But there are a whole bunch of others, too, that have contributed to the art form in ways that have helped make it increasingly popular — and widely acceptable — among cinema lovers.
Animated movies have been enthralling audiences at cinemas since the early 20th century. The first feature-length movie in this genre was the Argentine film El Apóstol, released in 1917. Walt Disney popularised the art form soon after, making it one of the most essential genres in cinema through the rest of the 20th century.
Major production houses and top animators have since been at the forefront of presenting splendid, though sometimes complex, stories through this medium, and their efforts have led to constant innovations in the genre. From hand-drawn animation of early Disney films to computer animation in more recent movies, each animated movie may appear different from the other because of the wide range of styles and their executions present in the genre.
Further, the uniqueness of the art forms of culture also influences the animation industry. This is why a Miyazaki film or most Japanese animation films, better known as anime, are distinctively different from the animation styles seen in other parts of the world.
Interestingly, the best animated movies on IMDb include most of the styles within the genre that are present today. Perhaps the best example which proves that this medium has not only come a long way but has established itself as a mainstream genre in direct competition with live-action is the humongous success of the 2023 animated film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. The computer-animated film, which hit the screens on 2 June, collected over USD 500 million in global box office revenue in 25 days and landed at the top of the IMDb charts in its genre.
As more animated movies hit the screens over the years, the highest-rated status on IMDb will certainly witness changes. What will, however, remain unchanged is the influence animation films have had on their beloved fans.
The top animated films on IMDb loved by fans worldwide
Directors: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson
Release date: 2 June 2023
Voice cast: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Vélez, Jake Johnson, Jason Schwartzman, Issa Rae, Karan Soni, Daniel Kaluuya, Oscar Isaac
IMDb rating: 8.9
Synopsis: Miles Morales/Spider-Man (Moore) goes on a multiversal journey with Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman in which they encounter multiple versions of Spider-People, all of whom must band together to prevent the collapse of the multiverse. But all of them are not on the same page even as the threat becomes truly dangerous.
Image credit: Sony Pictures Animation – © 2023 CTMG, Inc. All Rights Reserved. **ALL IMAGES ARE PROPERTY OF SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT INC. FOR PROMOTIONAL USE ONLY./IMDb
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Release date: 20 July 2001 (Japan)
Voice cast: Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino, Mari Natsuki, Takeshi Naito, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Bunta Sugawara
IMDb rating: 8.6
Synopsis: Chihiro Ogino (Hiiragi) is a 10-year-old girl who accidentally enters a mystical world through a forest in the Japanese countryside with her parents, who turn into pigs. Chihiro must find a way to get her parents back and leave the supernatural world where gods, spirits and strange creatures reside.
Key award won: Oscar for the best animated film
Image credit: IMDb
Directors: Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff
Release date: 24 June 1994
Voice cast: Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Moira Kelly
IMDb rating: 8.5
Synopsis: Simba (Thomas), a young lion cub, is exiled after his father, Mufasa (Jones), is killed by his uncle, Scar (Irons), for the throne. Years later, an adult Simba (Broderick) returns with friends Timon (Lane) and Pumbaa (Sabella), and his love, Nala (Kelly), to retake the throne.
Key awards won: Oscar and Golden Globe for best original score and original song; Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
Image credit: © Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved./IMDb
Director: Isao Takahata
Release date: 16 April 1988 (Japan)
Voice cast: Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Akemi Yamaguchi, Yoshiko Shinohara
IMDb rating: 8.5
Synopsis: Seita (Tatsumi) is a young boy who is forced to take care of his toddler sister, Setsuko (Shiraishi), when the two are separated from their parents because of the American bombing of their village in World War II. As the days progress, Seita and Setsuko find it hard to survive.
Image credit: © 1988 – Toho Company/IMDb
Director: Andrew Stanton
Release date: 27 June 2008
Voice cast: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy, Sigourney Weaver
IMDb rating: 8.4
Synopsis: Earth has become a wasteland and a very large group of humans have left on a space journey in the far future. A small robot named WALL·E has spent several centuries on the planet performing his programmed waste-collecting task. One day, he encounters an advanced probe named EVE (Knight), who has been sent back to Earth to test if humans can return. Then begins WALL·E’s space adventure which can shape the future of mankind.
Key awards won: Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe for the best animated film
Image credit: © Disney/PIXAR. All Rights Reserved./IMDb
Directors: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman
Release date: 14 December 2018
Voice cast: Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry, Lily Tomlin, Luna Lauren Vélez, Zoë Kravitz, John Mulaney, Kimiko Glenn, Nicolas Cage, Liev Schreiber
IMDb rating: 8.4
Synopsis: Miles Morales (Moore) becomes Spider-Man and takes on Kingpin (Schreiber). But the crime lord has opened portals that have brought five uniquely powered Spider-People to Morales’ universe, including Peter B. Parker (Johnson).
Key awards won: Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA for the best animated film
Image credit: Sony Pictures Animation – © Â2018 CTMG, Inc. All Rights Reserved. **ALL IMAGES ARE PROPERTY OF SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT INC. FOR PROMOTIONAL USE ONLY./IMDb
Directors: Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina
Release date: 22 November 2017
Voice cast: Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Renée Victor, Ana Ofelia Murguía, Edward James Olmos
IMDb rating: 8.4
Synopsis: Miguel (Gonzalez) is a young boy who dreams of becoming a musician like his long-deceased idol Ernesto de la Cruz (Bratt), but his family has had a ban on music for generations. In desperation, Miguel enters the Land of the Dead where he meets a trickster named Héctor (Bernal), who promises to help him find out his late great-great-grandfather.
Key awards won: Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe for the best animated film; Oscar for best original song
Image credit: © 2017 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved./IMDb
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Release date: 26 August 2016 (Japan)
Voice cast: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Mone Kamishiraishi
IMDb rating: 8.4
Synopsis: Mitsuha Miyamizu is a teenage girl in a rural Japanese town, and Taki Tachibana is a teenage boy in Tokyo. One day, a magical event results in the swapping of their bodies. With time, the swapping begins to happen more frequently and their relationship deepens. Finally, they decide to meet each other in person, but they are also separated by time.
Image credit: IMDb
Director: John Lasseter
Release date: 25 November 1995
Voice cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, John Morris, Erik von Detten
IMDb rating: 8.3
Synopsis: Woody (Hanks) is a cowboy doll who grows jealous when his owner, a young boy named Andy (Morris), gets a new toy, Buzz Lightyear (Allen). Despite their dislike for each other, the two must cooperate to escape a sadistic Sid Phillips (Von Detten) after they accidentally land in his clutches.
Image credit: IMDb
Director: Lee Unkrich
Release date: 18 June 2010
Voice cast: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Morris, Michael Keaton, Timothy Dalton
IMDb rating: 8.3
Synopsis: Woody (Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Allen) and Jessie (Cusack) plan for their own ‘great escape’ from a daycare centre where they mistakenly landed when Andy (Morris) was preparing to move to college. But before that, they must convince the other toys that they were not abandoned by Andy.
Key awards won: Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe for the best animated film; Oscar for best song
Image credit: © Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved./IMDb
Director: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
Release date: 29 May 2009
Voice cast: Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai, Bob Peterson
IMDb rating: 8.3
Synopsis: Carl Fredricksen (Asner) is a 78-year-old balloon salesman who ties thousands of balloons to his house to make them fly to a beautiful South American place called Paradise Falls. But a young kid named Russell (Nagai) stows away in his house, and the grumpy Fredricksen must adjust to his presence.
Key awards won: Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe for the best animated film; Oscar, Golden Globe for best original score
Image credit: © Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved./IMDb
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Release date: 12 July 1997 (Japan)
Voice cast: Yōji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yūko Tanaka
IMDb rating: 8.3
Synopsis: Ashitaka (Matsuda) is a prince who needs to find a cure for a lethal curse he has been infected with. In the process, he finds himself in the middle of a war between a mining colony led by Lady Eboshi (Tanaka) and the gods of the forests led by a princess named San (Ishida).
Image credit: © 1997 Studio Ghibli/IMDb
Directors: Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich
Release date: 30 May 2003
Voice cast: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Dafoe, Geoffrey Rush
IMDb rating: 8.2
Synopsis: Marlin (Brooks) is a timid clownfish who sets out on an adventure of a lifetime to rescue his son, Nemo (Gould), who has been caught by a diver at the Great Barrier Reef and taken to Sydney. Marlin is joined by blue reef fish named Dory (DeGeneres) who has a short memory. Will the two be able to find Nemo?
Key awards won: Oscar for the best animated film
Image credit: © 2003 – Buena Vista Pictures/IMDb
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Release date: 20 November 2004 (Japan)
Voice cast: Chieko Baisho, Takuya Kimura
IMDb rating: 8.2
Synopsis: A curse turns a young Sophie (Baisho) into a very old woman. To break it, she travels to find a young wizard named Howl (Kimura) who lives in a castle that moves on its own.
Image credit: © 2004 – Studio Ghibli/IMDb
Directors: Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava
Release date: 27 June 2007
Voice cast: Patton Oswalt, Lou Romano, Ian Holm, Peter O’Toole
IMDb rating: 8.1
Synopsis: Remy (Oswalt) is a rat who lives in the sewers running below one of Paris’ most acclaimed restaurants. His gift of cooking and desire to become a chef brings him into contact with a young kitchen worker named Alfredo Linguini (Romano), with whom he starts preparing dishes. Their ultimate test would be to get the approval of renowned food critic Anton Ego (O’Toole), but they must stay hidden from the rat-hating owner Jonah Robert Skinner (Holm) until then.
Key awards won: Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe for the best animated film
Image credit: tzohr – © Disney Enterprises, Inc. and Pixar Animation Studios. All Rights Reserved./IMDb
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