Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)
Disney Animation/Fantasy Quest
The 59th animated film from Disney emerges as a modest effort with a cross-Asian cultural focus that eventually builds a strong character arc
Animation
Animation refers to films in which the films are drawn individually by hand, each frame moved slightly to give the impression of movement. Animated films from the mid-1990s onwards have been increasingly drawn by computer to the point that today the art of hand-drawn animation is a dying art form.
The first animated film was Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and the success of this has spread until animation now covers a sizeable percentage of contemporary box-office earnings.
Animation in the American mainstream is almost always sold as being for family audiences (although there is a reasonable amount of animation for grown-ups, particularly outside the US, this has by and large not been financially successful). Content frequently deals with fantastic topics such as fairytale adaptations, the lives of anthropomorphic talking animals or adventures featuring young protagonists.
See also: For animation from Japan see Anime. Films in which animation is blended with live-action are discussed under Toons. For animation using three-dimensional models see Stop-Motion Animation, for animation that uses models molded in clay see Claymation. For films that remake prior animated works in live-action see Animation in Live-Action.
Ratchet & Clank (2016)
Animation/Videogame Adaptation
Animated film based on the popular computer game. On screen, this emerges as essentially an instantly forgettable variant on one of the Star Wars prequels retooled for the Under Tens with the emphasis all on frenetic slapstick and visual eye candy
Ratatouille (2007)
Pixar Animation/Talking Rat Chef
The eighth film from Pixar and Brad Bird’s follow-up to the hit of The Incredibles. Telling the story of a rat that becomes a gourmet chef, this is slightly the lesser among the high standard that Pixar have set nevertheless still immensely enjoyable
Rango (2011)
Animation/Talking Animal Western Homage
Gore Verbinski makes an eccentrically different animated homage to the Western, all cast with talking animals. The animation comes from Industrial Light and Magic and is quite unlike any other animated film.
Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)
Disney Animation/Videogame Characters Venture Onto the Internet
I had a lot of liking for Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph, a depiction of the inside of a videogame from the viewpoint of the characters. This expands the concept to the internet. Despite being the ultimate product placement film, this also rather appealingly shows Disney poking fun at themselves
Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer (1985)
Animation/Magic Horse Saves the Universe
Slight but colourful animated film for the very young based on the popular series of Hallmark cards and Mattel toys about a magical horse
Quest for Camelot (1998)
Animation/Arthurian Fantasy
An Arthurian legends fantasy adventure made as part of the animation renaissance of the 1990s. Anything serious aspirations are wrecked by the insertion of inane popular culture in-jokes
Puss in Boots (2011)
Animation/Talking Cat Adventurer
Spinoff of the popular Antonio Banderas voiced character from the Shrek sequels, this is lightweight and amiable but can be quickly forgotten
Puss in Boots (1999)
Animation/Fairytale
An obscure animated version of the classic fairytale that comes with excruciating puns, much slapstick and has clearly been animated on a low budget
Psychonauts, The Forgotten Children (2015)
Surrealist Animation
Strange, surrealist animation from Spain – the characters are the small, cute talking animals you might encounter in a standard piece of cutsie moppet animation but it exists in a disturbing world that is anything but where characters are plagued by drug addictions, mental illness and police brutality
Psycho-Pass (2015)
Anime/Future Crime Prediction Force
Film spinoff of an anime series about a future police force that uses a system to monitor the brains of the populace for the potential to commit crime. Reminiscent of Minority Report, this is not uninteresting, although falls short of being another Appleseed or Ghost in the Shell
The Prodigies (2011)
Animation/Psychic Powered Kids Go Amok
French animated film about a group of kids with psychic powers going amok. Is okay at what it does but had much of its thunder stolen by the more recent and more spectacular Chronicle
Princess of the Sun (2007)
Ancient Egypt Adventure/Animation
Very nicely made French animated film based around the daughter of the pharaoh Akhenaton
Princess Mononoke (1997)
Anime/Epic Fantasy
Stunning work of fantasy from Hayao Miyazaki. Made on an epic-sized story canvas and with a breathtaking beauty, this is one of the few original screen works to capture something of the nature and scale of written epic fantasy
The Princess and the Goblin (1992)
Animation/Fairytale
Likeable animated fantasy made for young children
The Princess and the Frog (2009)
Disney Animation/Animal Transformation
One of the more enjoyable Disney animated films from the latter half of the 00s. Featuring Disney’s first Black heroine, this embraces its New Orleans setting and turns Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale on its head with enjoyable results
Princess (2006)
Animation/Anti-Porn Vigilante
Animated film from Denmark about a man who goes on an ultra-violent crusade against the porn industry over the loss of innocence of his young niece
Princes and Princesses (1999)
Animated Fairytale Anthology
From Kirikou director Michel Ocelot, an anthology of animated fairytales that prove quite delightful
The Prince of Egypt (1998)
Animation/The Biblical Exodus
The second animated film from DreamWorks, an impressively produced retelling of The Book of Exodus and the story of Moses.
Primal: Tales of Savagery (2019)
Animation/Prehistory
A surprisingly good animated film about the relationship between a caveman and a dinosaur, all without a line of dialogue. From the director of the Hotel Transylvania films
Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)
Predator Animation Anthology
The Predator series continues. Dan Trachtenberg, the director of Prey, makes an animated offering that tells three stories of encounters between human and Predator in different eras of history
Porco Rosso (1992)
Anime/Talking Pig Aviator
Hayao Miyazaki in a more whimsical comedic mood with this story of the adventures of a talking pig aviator. Even when in a lighter vein, Miyazaki cannot help but fill the film with images of charm and considerable beauty
Ponyo on a Cliff By the Sea (2008)
Anime/Fish Girl Becomes Human
Probably the least great of Hayao Miyazaki’s films. The plot feels recycled from The Little Mermaid while Miyazaki’s recurrent themes seem more perfunctory and the film lacks many of the beautiful contrasts of epic and fragile he specialises in
Pom Poko (1994)
Anime/Raccoons Declare War on Humanity
Delightful and charming Studio Ghibli film about shape-changing raccoons that blend with humanity when their forest is threatened
The Polar Express (2004)
Animation/Train Journey to the North Pole
This broke ground in being the first animated film made using the motion-capture process. Robert Zemeckis directs with a quite magical touch
Pokemon: The Power of One (1999)
Animation/Cute Creatures
The second of the animated films spun off around the Pokemon phenomenon and an altogether better film than its predecessor due to some imaginative animation
Pokemon The First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back (1998)
Animation/Cute Creatures
The first film spun off from the popular Pokemon phenomenon and animated series, this is largely incomprehensible to anyone who is not familiar with the series
Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World (1998)
Disney Animation/Pocahontas Goes to England
One of the better among the cheap video-released sequels to their animated films Disney released during the 1990s/2000s, this actually works better than the original
Pocahontas (1995)
Disney Animation/Historical Meeting Between English & Native Americans
Disney bases an animated film on the historical character but warps the story considerably. It feels that this is a Disney animated film made more to adhere to Political Correctness than it is a good one
Planzet (2010)
Anime/Giant Robots vs Alien Invaders
Anime that has clearly been modelled along the lines of Neon Genesis Evangelion Initially, the animation is conducted with a dazzlingly realistic textured look but once the giant robot action scenes take over, these seem increasingly absurd in their anthropomorphism
Planet Hulk (2010)
Animation/Marvel Comics Superhero
Animated adaptation of the one of the biggest Marvel Comics event storylines of the 2000s – the same one also used in Thor Ragnarok. Essentially Spartacus recast with The Incredible Hulk
Planet 51 (2009)
Animation/Human Astronaut Seen as an Invader on an Alien Planet
A one-gag animated film that essentially reverses the plot of E.T, and has a human astronaut stranded on a planet of aliens and adopted by one boy. More likeable than it has a right to be.
Planes: Fire & Rescue (2014)
Disney Animation/Talking Aircraft
The second of Disney’s spinoffs from Pixar’s Cars films featuring talking anthropomorphic planes. Like the first film, this is amiable and occasionally cute but lightweight. This is beginning to feel like a franchise that is spinning out thinning ideas solely for its own sake
The Plague Dogs (1982)
Animation/Talking Escaped Lab Animals
Almost completely ignored at the time of its release, an animated masterpiece where Martin Rosen, the director of Watership Down, adapts another Richard Adams about two escaped laboratory animals. This has an incredible and at times dark emotional range far away from Disney
The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004)
Anime/Alternate History/Mysterious Tower
Beautiful anime from Makoto Shinkai, made in the Hayao Miyazaki style set in an alternate history Japan concerning a mysterious hyper-dimensional tower
The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012)
Aardman Animation/Gonzo Pirate Adventure
Amiable effort from England’s Aardman Animations that doesn’t quite scale the heights of their other films but still has an entertainingly nonsensical charm that is far more enjoyable than most Hollywood competition
The Pirate Fairy (2014)
Disney Animation/Tinker Bell Adventure
Another of Disney’s Tinker Bell spinoff adventures. This has some slickly produced animation and does some occasionally cute pieces of fanservice that tie in to Peter Pan but is ultimately fantasy being produced for the single digit age groups
Pippi Longstocking (1997)
Anarchic Girl/Animation
A likeable animated adaptation of Astrid Lindgren’s popular children’s character from the Canadian company Nelvana
Pinocchio (1940)
Disney Animation/Living Puppet Boy
One of the great Disney animated classics from the still unsurpassed era between 1937-42. The studio were at the peak of their game artistically and the film embodies a near-perfect sense of childlike innocence
The Phantom Treehouse (1984)
Animation/Boy's Adventure on a Magic Island
Australian animation about a boy’s adventure on an island amid pirates, inventors and magic creatures that in its better moments suggests a collision between Peter Pan and Pufnstuf. Unfortunately, the film is made with a budget that must have been well within four figures
The Phantom Tollbooth (1970)
Journey into Absurdist Realm/Animation
Chuck Jones, the director of numerous Warner Brothers cartoons, adapts a popular children’s book that comes with a dizzying array of surreal visuals and puns
Peter Pan (1953)
Disney Animation/Children's Adventures in a Magic Land
One of the animated Disney classics, if probably an overrated film. It throws slapstick and derring-do together in a likeable package
Perfect Blue (1997)
Anime/Psycho-Thriller
The directorial debut of Satoshi Kon, overseen by Katsuhiro Otomo, an anime concerning a troubled Japanese pop singer being cyber-stalked by a doppelganger
Penguins of Madagascar (2014)
Animation/Talking Animal Spy Capers
This spinoff from the Madagascar films is a lot more fun that I was anticipating – how could you dislike a film with John Malkovich as an octopus super-villain? Essentially cast as a spy parody, the film has a gonzo insanity that hits in with a manic delirium
The Peanuts Movie (2015)
Animation/Comic-Strip Adaptation
The comic-strip Peanuts is a wryly whimsical depiction of childhood. The movie version has been taken up by Blue Sky Studios, the ones guilty for the repetitive sequelitis that most modern animation has descended to – somehow you suspect that Charles Schulz’s intention wasn’t to reduce it to a series of slapstick set-pieces
Patlabor: The Mobile Police (1989)
Anime/Police Amok-Robot Squad
Early anime from Mamoru Oshii of Ghost in the Shell fame about a police squad set up to deal with giant robots gone amok. All of Oshii’s visuals and fascinating play of ideas are present
Patema Inverted (2013)
Anime/Two Worlds With Gravity in Opposing Directions
This anime has a surprising number of similarities to Upside Down, which was released one year earlier, both being set in two different worlds where gravity in each operates in the opposite directions and of the forbidden relationship between a boy and a girl from either world
Paprika (2006)
Anime/Dream Therapy Device
A venture inside the dreamscape from anime director Satoshi Kon who creates a beautifully animated work even if some of the ideas become excessively convoluted
The Pagemaster (1994)
Adventures in the Land of Fiction
Amiable if lightweight film where a live-action Macaulay Culkin gets animated and has a series of adventures in a Land of Fiction where he must pass through various classic stories
Over the Hedge (2006)
Animation/Talking Animals
Likeable DreamWorks animated film filled with much slapstick energy about a group of talking animals that venture into a housing estate in search of food
Open Season (2006)
Animation/Talking Animals
Passable animated film from Sony Pictures Animation, although the story arcs too closely resemble every other animated film for it to have much in the way of notability
Onward (2020)
Pixar Animation/Alternate Present Inhabited by Magic Creatures
The 22nd animated film from Pixar and also the least successful (being released only a week before theatrical chains closing down due to Coronavirus). This has an appealingly quirky and original concept not unakin to Bright that takes place in an alternate reality where magic creatures live in a world akin to our own
One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)
Disney Animation/Talking Animals
The last really good animated film made during Walt Disney’s lifetime and for the next couple of decades. Filled with cuddly anthropomorphism and charmed delights
Once Upon a Forest (1993)
Environmentally Aware Animation/Talking Animals
Appealing animated film with an environmentalist theme where four young orphan animals go on a quest to save their woods
Oliver & Company (1988)
Disney Animation/Talking Animals
One of the more forgettable Disney animated film of the 1970s/80s lull, this draws heavily on Lady and the Tramp for a talking animals retelling of Oliver Twist
Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror (2009)
Anime/Adventures in a Magical Otherworld
Exquisitely lovely anime set in a world of creatures that live on scavenged human junk. If in the end, the heroine’s allegorical quest is on the generic side, the film captivates you with the richness of colour and detail that has gone into imagining its world
The Nut Job (2014)
Animation/Talking Animal Heist Film
I went into this with zero expectations, expecting no more than a work of formula family entertainment and came out gently surprised. Essentially a talking cartoon animals variant on a heist plot, it does the formula likeably and with none of the relentless smart-ass cynicism of too many contemporaries
Norm of the North (2016)
Animation/Talking Polar Bear
As animated films go, there are few that feel like a constructor set of pieces copied from every other film than this. Audiences found the adventures of a twerking polar bear lacking too and it made a record for the lowest weekend gross for an animated film ever
Ninja Scroll (1993)
Anime/Ninja vs Demonic Forces
One of the most extraordinary of all anime films – apparently a favourite of The Wachowskis (you can see they’ve borrowed moves from it), concerning ninja facing supernaturally empowered assassins demonic forces, directed with an extraordinary visual stylism
9 (2009)
Animation/Post-Holocaust Dolls vs Evil Machines
Extraordinary animated film from Shane Acker concerning the lives of a series of stitchpunk dolls as they try to make sense of the world in the aftermath of civilisation
Night of the Living Dead Reanimated (2009)
Animated Night of the Living Dead Homage
A unique homage to Night of the Living Dead wherein the original has been recreated with a bewildering range of artwork and short pieces of animation from dozens of different artists, even scenes conducted by sock puppets and animated Barbie dolls
Night of the Animated Dead (2021)
Animated Remake of Night of the Living Dead
A remake of the original zombie film Night of the Living Dead conducted in animation
Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow (2008)
Animation/The Children of Marvel Superheroes
Whose bright idea was it to give us kid versions of The Avengers (ostensibly their children)? While Marvel have had an unparallelled string of hits on the big screen in the 00s, their attempts to replicate the successes that rival DC have had in animation have been a dismal failure
Nausicaa in the Valley of the Wind (1984)
Anime/Post-Holocaust Environmentalism
Hayao Miyazaki’s second film, a visually stunning work set in the aftermath of a holocaust. Miyazai’s frequent themes of pacifism and respect for the environment and run through building to a emotionally wrenching climax
My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Anime/Children Befriend Mysterious Creature
Possibly the most perfect of all Hayao Miyazaki’s anime, a work about childhood featuring an array of charmingly eccentric creatures. It is a film of absolutely magical charms beneath which lies a swim of adult emotions that children’s films rarely touch upon
Mulan (1998)
Disney Animation/Chinese Legend
Disney animated film based on the Chinese legend of the girl who posed as a warrior. Unlike the similar historically-based Pocahontas, this emerges as well rounded and satisfying
Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind (2022)
Animation/Interdimensional Combat/Videogame Adaptation
The third of the Mortal Kombat animated films. This abandons inter-dimensional kombat and takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, focused around the blind swordsman Kenshi
Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge (2020)
Animation/Interdimensional Combat/Videogame Adaptation
An animated film revival of the Mortal Kombat videogame franchise. This does a quite reasonable reworking of the basics, while leaving you blown away with the ultra-violent excesses of the action
Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms (2021)
Animation/Interdimensional Combat/Videogame Adaptation
The second of the Mortal Kombat animated films, this continues into another tournament, introducing a bewildering array of characters from the games amid a high degree of violence and bloodshed
Moon Man (2012)
Animation/Man in the Moon Comes Down to Earth
Beautifully made children’s film that is a refreshing change from most of the formulaic product released in the US mainstream. Comes with a sweet simplicity and an enormous freshness, while the animation is rendered with a considerable beauty that makes it just as much a film for adults
Monsters vs Aliens (2009)
Animation/Friendly Monsters vs Alien Invaders
Cutley appealing DreamWorks animated film that brings together a bunch of oddball creatures clearly intended as an affectionate homage to various 1950s sf films
Monsters University (2013)
Pixar Animation/Monsters in the Closet
Pixar’s creative decline has been the point they started making these sequels to their hits. This is a disappointing prequel to Monsters, Inc. that largely recycles the cliches of the Revenge of the Nerds films and seems lacking in any of the wacky humour or moments of cuteness we expect of a Pixar film
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Pixar Animation/Monsters in the Closet
This was the fourth animated film from Pixar and is a winning and delightful Maurice Sendakian tale about the monsters in the closet and their friendship with a young girl
A Monster in Paris (2011)
Animation/Genteel Singing Monster
A charming French-made animated film about a genteel singing monster. Nothing profound but this is beautifully animated and sweetly appealing in all the right places
Monster House (2006)
Animation/Living House Amok
Delightful motion capture animated film about children discovering a neighbourhood house that is alive. Written with refreshingly well-rounded characters and directed with a great sense of comic grotesque
The Monkey King: Uproar in Heaven (1965)
Chinese Animation/Journey to the West Adaptation
3D restoration of a classic Chinese adaptation of Journey to the West and the best film version of the story to date … an incredible film filled with psychedelically eye-popping animation and amazing action scenes, while gleefully celebrating a defiance of all authority
Monkey King: Hero is Back (2015)
Animation/Epic Chinese Legend
An animated version of the epic Chinese legend Journey to the West that was overshadowed by the hit live-action film that came out some months earlier that retold the tale with CGI
Moana (2016)
Disney Animation/Pacific Island Mythology
Despite being a huge box-office and critical success and being nominated for an Academy Award, I am in a minority in disliking this. Maybe it’s something to do with the fact that it appropriates the culture from my neck of the woods and only spins it out as a series of glib jokes and one-liners
Moana 2 (2024)
Disney Animation/Pacific Island Mythology
Disney make a sequel to Moana, their venture into Pacific Island mythology
The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)
Animation/The Machine Revolution Comedy
A surprise delight, an animated film that overspills with madcap creative energy concerning a misfit family on a road trip who come up against the machine revolution
Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014)
Animation/Time-Travelling Dog Genius and His Son
DreamWorks animated film based on an old Rocky and Bullwinkle segment about a time-travelling genius dog and his adopted human son. This takes a relentlessly content-free approach to history that strips it down to no more than a series of giddy 3D slapstick gags for the single digit age groups
Mirai (2018)
Anime/Boy Meets Family from the Future and Past
Mamoru Hosoda film nominated for the Best Animated Film at Academy Awards. A young boy jealous at the arrival of a baby sister is visited by her future self and travels through time to meet his family at different periods
Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022)
Animation/Super-Villain and Cute Mischievous Creatures
The cutely nonsensical Minions have become a pop culture phenomenon. Here we get more of them, although this is more as a Gru origin story
Minions (2015)
Animation/Cute Mischievous Creatures
The incomprehensibly manic antics of the Minions have a cuteness appeal that has overspilled the Despicable Me films and seemed like it is in danger of taking over pop culture in the last couple of years; here they get a film all to themselves with amiably lightweight results
Mindgame (2004)
Surrealist Anime
Anime based on an autobiographical manga that leaps off into a variety of styles and comes filled with madcap surrealistic visuals
Millennium Actress (2001)
Anime/Actress's Surreal Biography
An anime from Satoshi Kon that tells the story of an actress and become a surreal journey through Japanese cinematic history
Metropolis (2001)
Anime/Retro Future/Android Girl
Stunning anime remake of Metropolis based on an Osasmu Tezuka. The visuals and particularly the design are overwhelming – like a Cyberpunk film set in a stylised Art Deco world
Metropia (2009)
Near-Future Dystopia
Animated film set in a dystopian near-future Europe of constant surveillance where even people’s heads are monitored
Metegol (2013)
Animation/Table Football Team Come to Life
Spanish-Argentinean animated film about the miniature players of a table football game come to life. The animation is not the high-end quality of most theatrical releases but passable; everything plays out to to fairly predictable sports movies cliches
Merry Little Batman (2023)
Animation/Batman Christmas Film
A real head-scratching oddity, a Batman animated Christmas film
Mercano the Martian (2002)
Animation/Alien Visitor/Satire
Satiric Argentinean animated film about a Martian stranded on Earth
Memories (1995)
Anime Anthology
An anthology made up of three short films all adapted from the works of Katsihiro Otomo of Akira fame, of which Otomo also directs one of the segments
Megamind (2010)
Animation/Comic Travails of a Super-Villain
DreamWorks animated film about a super-villain that might have worked better had its thunder not been stolen by the far superior Despicable Me a few months earlier
Meet the Robinsons (2007)
Disney Animation/Gonzo Future Family/Time Travel
One of the more enjoyable efforts from the mid-2000s dead zone where Disney animation with filled with ideas that left-you scratching your head, this quickly gets demented and emerges like The Jetsons colliding with The Royal Tenenbaums
McDull – The Pork of Music (2012)
Hong Kong Animation/Talking Animal Satire
Fifth in a popular series of satiric Hong Kong animated films. Kicks in with an amusingly sarcastic bite that resembles a Beavis and Butt-Head in its story of a talking animal children’s choir but alas by about the halfway point takes itself seriously and starts to get mawkish and sentimental
Mass Effect: Paragon Lost (2012)
Anime/Videogame Adaptation
Another instance of a computer game or film franchise turning to anime to conduct a spinoff. While Mass Effect has an impressive reputation on the console screen, the film here is a dull piece that only comes in around the level of a production line animated tv episode
Mary and the Witch’s Flower (2017)
Anime/Young Witch
The third film from former Studio Ghibli employee Hiromasa Yonebayashi. Yonebayashi is seen as the carrier of Hayao Miyazaki’s mantle, so much do his films look like lost Miyazaki works. This is sweet and amiable, even if it never hits the emotional heights Miyazaki does
Mars Needs Moms (2011)
Animation/Boy's Adventures on Mars
Motion-capture animated version of a popular children’s book. The title suggests a 1950s B movie and the subtext doesn’t bear close examination but the results are engagingly put together
Mars Express (2023)
Animation/Mars Action/Cyberpunk
A French animated film, SF noir set on a future Mars with detectives fighting against someone who is jailbreaking robots. This deploys a strong and confident use of Cyberpunk tropes
Malice@doll (2001)
Anime/Sex Robot Becomes Human
Perversely original anime about a sex robot in the aftermath of civilisation who is transformed into a human. Imagine Pinocchio by way of H.R. Giger