The Top Rated Animated Movies Of All Time, Ranked

If you’ve ever tried to make a “quick” list of the best animated movies of all time and ended up in a two-hour argument about whether Spirited Away outranks Toy Story, welcome home. Ranking the greatest animated films is tricky business: you’re juggling critics’ scores, fan ratings, box-office records, and a big pile of pure childhood nostalgia.

To keep things fair, this list blends several trusted sourcescritical rankings from Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, fan-powered ratings from IMDb, and legacy lists like the American Film Institute’s “10 Top 10” for animation. The result is a cross-section of movies that are both highly rated and deeply loved, across eras, studios, and styles.

Think of this as your essential watchlist: the top rated animated movies of all time, ranked, with just enough commentary to fuel your next movie night debate.

How These Animated Movies Were Ranked

Before we start handing out crowns, here’s how this ranking works. Different sites use different scoring systems, but certain titles keep floating to the top no matter where you look. To build this list, we looked at:

• Critic aggregates (Rotten Tomatoes “top animated” lists and Metacritic’s highest-rated animated features)
• Audience ratings from IMDb and user-score lists for animation
• Legacy and influence picks from AFI’s top animation list and similar long-view rankings
• Cross-over consensus studies that blend critic and fan data to highlight titles that score well on both sides

Movies that consistently landed near the top across multiple lists and decades earned higher spots here. That’s why you’ll see a mix of classic Disney, Pixar heavyweights, Studio Ghibli masterpieces, and modern game-changers like the Spider-Verse films.

The Top Rated Animated Movies Of All Time (Ranked)

1. Spirited Away (2001)

Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away is the rare movie that tops both critic and fan rankings around the world. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, frequently sits at or near #1 on IMDb’s animation charts, and is one of the highest-rated animated films on Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes.

The film follows Chihiro, a young girl who stumbles into a spirit world where her parents are transformed into pigs and she must work in a magical bathhouse to save them. It’s visually rich, emotionally layered, and quietly profound. Kids see an adventure; adults see a story about identity, greed, and growing up. It’s the kind of movie you finish and immediately think, “Yep, that belongs at the top.”

2. The Lion King (1994)

Even if you somehow missed The Lion King, you definitely know its imagery: a tiny lion cub held up against a blazing sunrise, a kingdom spread out below, and a certain warthog-meerkat duo with serious “eat insects, worry later” energy. AFI places it in the top tier of animated films, and it consistently ranks high with both critics and audiences.

Borrowing from Shakespearean tragedy and pairing it with unforgettable characters, the movie balances heartbreak and humor, epic landscapes and intimate family drama. Its emotional punch has kept it at the center of “greatest animated films” conversations for decades.

3. Toy Story (1995)

Toy Story isn’t just a great animated movieit’s a turning point in film history. As the first feature-length computer-animated film, it helped define what modern animation could be. AFI ranks it among the top animated films of all time, and it holds strong scores on Metacritic, Rotten Tomatoes, and IMDb.

The storyabout a cowboy doll struggling with jealousy when a flashy space ranger shows upis deceptively simple. Underneath the jokes and toy-box chaos, it’s really about insecurity, change, and learning that someone else’s success doesn’t erase your own value. Also, it made every millennial feel guilty for throwing out old toys, so that’s power.

4. WALL·E (2008)

WALL·E is what happens when you combine nearly silent-film storytelling with sci-fi world-building and a surprisingly sharp environmental message. For a good stretch of the movie, the main character communicates mostly with beeps, body language, and big robotic eyesand yet it’s emotionally devastating.

Analyses that blend IMDb data show WALL·E landing near the very top of all-time animated rankings, right beside The Lion King and <emSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The film is frequently cited for its bold first act, its tender robot romance, and its eerily plausible vision of a future where humans outsource everythingincluding walkingto machines.

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

When Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse arrived, it didn’t just earn high scoresit reset the visual bar for mainstream animation. Critics praised its comic-book-inspired aesthetic, kinetic editing, and emotionally grounded story about Miles Morales stepping into the Spider-Man mantle. It ranks extremely high in critic and user lists and helped inspire a wave of stylized, non-photoreal animation.

Beyond the flashy visuals, the movie is a love letter to superhero stories and to the idea that anyoneno matter their backgroundcan put on the mask and matter.

6. Coco (2017)

Coco blends Pixar’s emotional precision with a vibrant celebration of Mexican culture and Día de los Muertos traditions. The film consistently appears in the upper portion of critic-driven “best animated” lists and in user-score roundups of beloved family films.

Following aspiring musician Miguel as he journeys to the Land of the Dead to uncover his family’s past, the film explores memory, legacy, and what it means to be remembered. It’s gorgeous, musical, and almost scientifically designed to make you cry in the last act.

7. Inside Out (2015)

On paper, Inside Out sounds like a psychology lecture: personified emotions debate how to manage a child’s brain. In practice, it’s one of Pixar’s most inventive and emotionally resonant films, with towering scores on critic and fan lists.

The film turns abstract ideas like core memories and emotional regulation into colorful adventures, and it sneaks in a powerful message: sadness isn’t a bug in the system; it’s part of how we connect with others. Not bad for a movie where one of the heroes is literally a walking teardrop.

8. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the elder statesperson of this list. As the first feature-length cel-animated film, it set the foundation for the entire animated feature industry. AFI’s animation list puts it at #1, and it remains highly ranked on historical critic and user charts.

Modern audiences might find the pacing slower and the princess more passive than today’s heroines, but the craftsmanship, character animation, and musical sequences still hold up. Without this movie, the rest of the list might not exist.

9. Pinocchio (1940)

Another early Disney classic, Pinocchio regularly appears near the top of Metacritic’s and AFI’s lists of best animated movies. Its story of a wooden puppet trying to become “real” remains unsettlingly relevant in a world where we’re all trying not to turn into liars for clicks.

The film’s visual imaginationfrom the sea monster finale to the surreal Pleasure Island sequencestill looks bold decades later. And the moral about conscience and integrity has kept it firmly lodged in the cultural memory.

10. Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Beauty and the Beast was the first animated film ever nominated for the Best Picture Oscar under the traditional rules, and that prestige shows up consistently in its high rankings across AFI, Metacritic, and critic polls.

It’s a Gothic fairy tale wrapped in a Broadway-style musical, with a famously ambitious ballroom sequence that blended hand-drawn characters with computer-generated camera moves. Between the lush score and the emotional arc of its central couple, it set the template for the Disney Renaissance.

11. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

If you’re in the mood for something light, maybe skip this one. Grave of the Fireflies appears near the top of user-score lists and critic roundups of the greatest animated films, but it’s also one of the heaviest. The film follows two siblings struggling to survive in wartime Japan, and its emotional impact has made it a benchmark for what “serious” animation can do.

It’s proof that animation isn’t a genre; it’s a medium. In the right hands, it can handle wartime trauma just as powerfully as any live-action drama.

12. Up (2009)

People often talk about the wordless opening montage of Up as if it were its own short filmand honestly, it could be. But the rest of the movie, with its floating house, talking dogs, and cranky yet lovable senior adventurer, also scores high with critics and fans.

It’s a rare movie that can make you sob into your popcorn in the first ten minutes and still send you out of the theater feeling weirdly hopeful about life.

13. Finding Nemo (2003)

Finding Nemo shows up again and again in long-term rankings, from AFI’s list of top animated films to IMDb popularity charts. The ocean setting gave Pixar an excuse to flex its technical muscles, but what keeps the film at the top is the emotional core: a father’s overdue lesson in letting go.

Bonus: it also turned clownfish into the world’s most over-adopted aquarium pets, which is a strange kind of cinematic influence.

14. Ratatouille (2007)

“A rat who wants to be a chef” sounds like a bad pitch meeting dare, but Ratatouille is one of the most beloved and highest-rated animated films on critic-side lists. Its Parisian setting, careful attention to food animation, and surprisingly philosophical villain-turned-food-critic all helped it age gracefully into a modern classic.

At its heart, the film argues that great talent can come from unexpected placesand that sometimes you just need someone to take a chance on you, even if you’re… technically vermin.

15. Shrek (2001)

Shrek may not top every critic list, but it’s a juggernaut when it comes to cultural staying power and audience affection. It appears on AFI’s top animation list and on numerous fan rankings as a favorite that skewered fairy-tale conventions while secretly delivering a sincere story about self-acceptance.

Its blend of pop-culture jokes, subversive casting, and surprisingly sweet romance helped open the door for more irreverent, self-aware animated comedies in the 2000s.

What These Top Animated Movies Have in Common

The details varysome of these movies are hand-drawn, some are CG heavyweights, some are Japanese anime, and some are fairy-tale musicalsbut the top-rated animated films tend to share a few key traits:

• They play on two levels. Kids can follow the adventure, while adults get the deeper jokes and emotional themes.
• They push the medium forward. From Snow White pioneering feature animation to Spider-Verse reinventing visual style, these films changed how animated movies look and feel.
• They take emotions seriously. Even the lighthearted oneslike Toy Story or Inside Outare built on real fears, hopes, and relationships.
• They stand up to rewatching. You can revisit them years later and still find new details in the background or new meanings in the story.

That combination of technical innovation, emotional depth, and rewatch value is why the same titles keep appearing at the top of rankings, no matter which website or rating system you consult.

How to Build Your Own “Best Animated Movies” Marathon

If you want to turn this list into a viewing plan, here’s a simple approach:

1. Start with a foundation classic. Pick one early Disney film (Snow White or Pinocchio) to see where feature animation really took off.
2. Add a 90s powerhouse. Slot in The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, or Toy Story for that “Renaissance” energy.
3. Mix in a modern icon. Watch Spirited Away, WALL·E, or Spider-Verse to see how the medium evolved.
4. Choose one “emotional heavyweight.” Grave of the Fireflies, Inside Out, or Coco will do the jobjust bring tissues.
5. End with something playful. A rewatch of Up or Shrek is a great way to come back to lighter territory.

Whether you’re catching up on the classics, introducing a new generation to your favorites, or just re-watching the movies that made you love animation in the first place, these top-rated titles offer a pretty unbeatable lineup.

Personal & Fan Experiences With Top-Rated Animated Movies

Lists and rankings are helpful, but animated movies live or die in people’s memorieson worn-out DVDs, late-night streaming binges, and those moments when you put something on “just for the kids” and end up more invested than they are. Part of what keeps these films at the top of the charts is the way they keep showing up in real life.

Rewatching Classics Through Adult Eyes

Many fans describe a kind of double vision when they revisit films like The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, or Snow White as adults. As kids, they remember the animals, the songs, and the villain monologues. Coming back years later, they notice things like grief, obligation, and the pressure to live up to family expectations.

It’s common to hear people say they didn’t fully “get” the emotional core of Up or the parental anxiety in Finding Nemo until they became parents themselves. One of the quiet joys of top-tier animation is that the movie you saw at eight isn’t the same movie you see at thirty-fiveeven though every frame is technically identical.

Shared Rituals and Family Traditions

Highly rated animated movies also tend to turn into traditions. Families rewatch Toy Story or Coco every holiday. Siblings quote Shrek lines at each other years after the DVD disappeared. College roommates throw a “Pixar night” before exams because they need something comforting but not totally brainless.

Those rituals matter. They turn a “critically acclaimed animated feature” into the movie you associate with your grandparents’ couch or your first apartment’s terrible second-hand TV. The emotional halo around these films doesn’t show up on Metascore, but it absolutely keeps them in the cultural top tier.

Discovering Animation Beyond Childhood

Another common experience: people who assumed animated movies were “just for kids” discover films like Spirited Away or Grave of the Fireflies in their teens or twenties and realize how wrong that assumption was. The mature, sometimes brutal storytelling in those movies can completely reset someone’s expectations of what animation can do.

That shift often sends viewers down a rabbit hole of Ghibli films, anime features, and international animation that never shows up in mainstream kids’ marketing. Once you’ve seen hand-drawn spirits, war-time tragedies, or deeply philosophical fantasy on screen, it’s hard to go back to thinking animation is “less serious” than live action.

Streaming Era: Easier Access, Bigger Debates

Streaming has also changed how people experience these top-rated movies. Instead of waiting for a theatrical re-release or tracking down a disc, viewers can bounce between Snow White and Spider-Verse in a single evening. That easy access fuels never-ending debates online: “Is WALL·E actually better than Up?” “Does Shrek still hold up?” “Which Pixar movie is the most emotionally devastating and why is it always the one you weren’t prepared for?”

Fan rankings, social polls, and marathon watch parties all feed back into the formal ratings. When people keep revisiting and talking about certain titles, they stay visible in recommendation algorithms and top-lists. In other words, your nostalgic rewatch is also a tiny vote in favor of that movie’s lasting status.

Why These Movies Keep Topping Lists

Ultimately, the reason the same titles dominate top-rated animated rankings is simple: they deliver unforgettable experiences. Whether it’s the quiet courage of Chihiro, the tragic arc of Simba, the lonely determination of WALL·E, or the dizzying self-discovery of Miles Morales, these stories stick.

Great animation doesn’t just look goodit burrows into how you think about family, courage, love, loss, and growing up. That’s why, years after the credits roll, people still argue about where these films belong on a “greatest ever” listand why those arguments are half the fun.

Conclusion

The exact order may change depending on whether you’re a Ghibli loyalist, a Pixar completionist, or someone who thinks Shrek is the peak of cinema (no judgment). But across critics, fans, and decades, a clear pattern emerges: certain animated movies consistently rise to the top.

They’re technically impressive, emotionally rich, endlessly quotable, and built to be revisited. Whether you’re introducing a child to these films for the first time or revisiting them with decades of life experience, the best animated movies of all time have a way of feeling both familiar and brand new.

So pick a title from this list, dim the lights, and press play. With animation this good, you’re not just watching a “kids’ movie”you’re watching some of the best cinema ever made, period.