Top 3 animated movies of each year (1926-2010)
Note: This list was last updated Nov 21, 2011. See my newer list.
Below is a list of my 3 favorite feature-length animated movies for each year since 1926 (including TV movies and straight-to-video movies).
If I list fewer than 3 movies for a particular year, it means those are the only movies I've seen from that year.
Here's a list of all the animated movies I've seen.
Below is a list of my 3 favorite feature-length animated movies for each year since 1926 (including TV movies and straight-to-video movies).
If I list fewer than 3 movies for a particular year, it means those are the only movies I've seen from that year.
Here's a list of all the animated movies I've seen.
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- DirectorNoriyuki KitanoharaKazuya SakamotoNoriko TakaoStarsAya HiranoTomokazu SugitaMinori ChiharaA week before Christmas, Kyon wakes up in a world where the SOS Brigade doesn't exist. Mikuru and Yuki don't recognize him, and Haruhi and Itsuki seem to have vanished.2. How to Train Your Dragon
3. Tangled
Honorable mentions: Redline, The Illusionist, Arrietty, Toy Story 3, Batman: Under the Red Hood - DirectorAleksa GajicNebojsa AndricStevan DjordjevicStarsSanda KnezevicNebojsa GlogovacJelisaveta 'Seka' SablicBelgrade 2074. Edit is a student. After a few failed exams she decides to implant a memory chip... but, something strange starts happening to her.
- DirectorTakayuki HiraoStarsMaaya SakamotoKen'ichi SuzumuraTakako HondaA teenage demon hunter uses her mystical powers to investigate supernatural events.
- DirectorMakoto ShinkaiStarsKenji MizuhashiYoshimi KondouSatomi HanamuraTold in three interconnected segments, Takaki tells the story of his life as cruel winters, cold technology, and finally, adult obligations and responsibility converge to test the delicate petals of love.
- DirectorMamoru HosodaStarsRiisa NakaTakuya IshidaMitsutaka ItakuraA high-school girl named Makoto acquires the power to travel back in time, and decides to use it for her own personal benefits. Little does she know that she is affecting the lives of others just as much as she is her own.
- DirectorSteve BoxNick ParkStarsPeter SallisHelena Bonham CarterRalph FiennesWallace and his loyal dog, Gromit, set out to discover the mystery behind the garden sabotage that plagues their village and threatens the annual giant vegetable growing contest.
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsChieko BaishôTakuya KimuraTatsuya GashûinWhen an unconfident young woman is cursed with an old body by a spiteful witch, her only chance of breaking the spell lies with a self-indulgent yet insecure young wizard and his companions in his legged, walking castle.
- DirectorDaisuke NishioHirotoshi RissenLeiji MatsumotoStarsRomanthonyThomas BangalterA continuation of the story told in the Daft Punk music videos "One More Time," "Aerodynamic," "Digital Love," and "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger."
- DirectorAurel KlimtVlasta PospísilováStarsOta JirákJan WerichA farmer who takes to drink and meets the devil; a young boy who has to spend the night in a haunted pub; a man who grows horns overnight; a man who bets and argues with his wife; and a blacksmith who is perhaps too trusting of his young and sexy wife.
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsDaveigh ChaseSuzanne PleshetteMiyu IrinoDuring her family's move to the suburbs, a sullen 10-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches and spirits, and where humans are changed into beasts.2. Millennium Actress
3. Monsters, Inc.
Best movie of the 2000s and one of my all-time favorites.
Best year of the 2000s. All 3 are great.
Honorable mentions: Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, Waking Life, Shrek, Metropolis - DirectorYoshiaki KawajiriStarsAndrew PhilpotJohn Rafter LeePamela AdlonA legendary dhampir competes with a motley family of bounty hunters to return a young woman, who has been seemingly abducted by a vampire, to her family.
- DirectorJohn LasseterAsh BrannonLee UnkrichStarsTom HanksTim AllenJoan CusackWhen Woody is stolen by a toy collector, Buzz and his friends set out on a rescue mission to save Woody before he becomes a museum toy property with his roundup gang Jessie, Prospector, and Bullseye.2. The Iron Giant
3. Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade
I wanted to choose Trust & Betrayal as the best of the year, but it's a 4-episode OVA, not a movie, so I had to exclude it.
Honorable mentions: South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut, Fantasia 2000 - DirectorMichel OcelotRaymond BurletStarsDoudou Gueye ThiawMaimouna N'DiayeAwa Sene SarrKirikou, an unusual little boy, must search the wisdom of the forbidden mountain in order to save his village from a spell cast by the evil sorceress Karaba
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsYôji MatsudaYuriko IshidaYûko TanakaOn a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.
- DirectorOsamu DezakiStarsHiroshi FujiokaKirk ThorntonAkio ÔtsukaThe adventures of the unlicensed but genius doctor Black Jack, who encounters extraordinary people and phenomena as he attends to unusual medical cases.
- DirectorMizuho NishikuboMamoru OshiiStarsAtsuko TanakaIemasa KayumiAkio ÔtsukaA cyborg policewoman and her partner hunt a mysterious and powerful hacker called the Puppet Master.
- DirectorMichael SchaackStarsUlrich TukurMario AdorfHelge SchneiderA cat must investigate brutal murders of other cats in a neighborhood he has moved into with his owner.
- DirectorHenry SelickStarsDanny ElfmanChris SarandonCatherine O'HaraJack Skellington, king of Halloween Town, discovers Christmas Town, but his attempts to bring Christmas to his home causes confusion.Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Patlabor 2: The Movie
Best year of the 90s.
Honorable mentions: Ninja Scroll, The Halloween Tree, Ocean Waves - DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsShûichirô MoriyamaTokiko KatôBunshi Katsura VIIn 1930s Italy, a veteran World War I pilot is cursed to look like an anthropomorphic pig.
- DirectorIsao TakahataStarsMiki ImaiToshirô YanagibaYoko HonnaA twenty-seven-year-old office worker travels to the countryside while reminiscing about her childhood in Tokyo.
- DirectorHisayuki ToriumiStarsRyoko SanoAtsuko TakahataIkuko TaniCountry girl Ginga leaves her home in hope of becoming one of the Emperor's Wives.2. Hashire shiroi okami
Worst year of the 90s. Like the Clouds, Like the Wind is good, but I didn't like Hashire shiroi okami. - DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsKirsten DunstMinami TakayamaRei SakumaA young witch, on her mandatory year of independent life, finds fitting into a new community difficult while she supports herself by running an air courier service.
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsHitoshi TakagiNoriko HidakaChika SakamotoWhen two girls move to the country to be near their ailing mother, they have adventures with the wondrous forest spirits who live nearby.2. Gandahar
3. Grave of the Fireflies
Great year.
Honorable mentions: Akira, The Cat Who Walked by Herself - DirectorLeonid NosyrevStarsEvgeniy LeonovYuriy VolyntsevAnatoliy BarantsevAn old fisherman tells stories about Pomors. A collection of fairy tales about the Russian North, full of folk humor and wisdom.2. The Wings of Honneamise
3. Lupin III: The Fuma Conspiracy
Worst year of the 80s, but certainly not a bad year. 1 great movie and 2 good movies. - DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsMayumi TanakaKeiko YokozawaKotoe HatsuiA young boy and a girl with a magic crystal must race against pirates and foreign agents in a search for a legendary floating castle.2. The Adventures of Mark Twain
3. Cat City
Great year.
Honorable mentions: They Were Eleven, Project A-ko, The Great Mouse Detective, When the Wind Blows, Krysar
Dishonorable mention: The Transformers: The Movie (horrible movie)