Animated Films, Ranked
The studio animation canon ranked end to end, from the 1941 Disney features to the DreamWorks era. A complete ranking rather than a greatest list, because the bottom of it matters as much as the top.
Genre: Animated
Animated features from every studio and era, judged as films first and technical achievements second. Great animation serves story; these reviews hold it to that standard.
AnimatedArthur Christmas (2011)
Santa's bumbling son Arthur must deliver a forgotten present before sunrise, using an antique sleigh and his grandfather's wisdom. Arthur Christmas is Sarah Smith's 2011 British-American animated Christmas comedy from Aardman Animations depicting the modern operation of Santa's high-tech global…
AnimatedKlaus (2019)
A spoiled postman exiled to a frigid island town befriends a reclusive toymaker, and they invent the Santa tradition together. Klaus is Sergio Pablos's 2019 Spanish-British-American animated film depicting a spoiled wealthy postman exiled to a remote frozen island town…
AnimatedThe Polar Express (2004)
Tom Hanks performs motion capture for six different roles including the boy, the conductor, the boy's father, the hobo, the narrator, and Santa Claus. The film's central technological achievement and its central technological problem are the same thing.
AnimatedHow the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
Chuck Jones directs the animated Dr. Seuss special about a sour creature plotting to steal Christmas from the Whos in Whoville. How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
AnimatedRudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
Billie Mae Richards voices Rudolph. The special is technically stop-motion puppet animation instead of claymation, executed by Tadahito Mochinaga's animation team at MOM Production in Tokyo.
AnimatedA Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
Charlie Brown directs the Peanuts gang in a Nativity pageant after rejecting the commercialism of the season. A Charlie Brown Christmas is Bill Melendez's 1965 American animated television special depicting Charlie Brown's depression at the commercialization of the Christmas season…
AnimatedTokyo Godfathers (2003)
Satoshi Kon directs the story of three homeless Tokyo residents who find an abandoned baby on Christmas Eve and search for the parents. Tokyo Godfathers is Satoshi Kon's 2003 Japanese animated film depicting three homeless Tokyo residents, a middle-aged alcoholic…
AnimatedMy Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Hayao Miyazaki's 1988 Studio Ghibli pastoral. Two girls discover forest spirits in rural Japan.
AnimatedWALL-E (2008)
Andrew Stanton's 2008 Pixar masterpiece. Garbage robot finds love on dead Earth.
AnimatedCars 2 (2011)
2011 Pixar sequel with Lightning McQueen and Mater drawn into international espionage. Widely considered Pixar's weakest film.
AnimatedCars (2006)
2006 Pixar animated film with Owen Wilson as race car Lightning McQueen stranded in Route 66 town Radiator Springs. Cars is John Lasseter's 2006 Pixar animated film.