Animation has been a part of cinema since the early 20th century, but it was really after Disney revolutionized the medium and turned it into an industry with 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs that animated motion pictures really became an integral part of the cinematic landscape. It's a medium that has evolved greatly as the years have gone on, and that has made it so that, over the course of the last 40 years, we've gotten several of the greatest animated films ever made.
Modern animation truly knows no limits, and some of the world's most talented filmmakers have shown that time and time again since 1986. Whether it's an indie passion project like It's Such a Beautiful Day, an anime classic like Grave of the Fireflies, or a multi-million-dollar Pixar project like Toy Story 3, the last four decades really have given us some animated gems without equal.
10 'It's Such a Beautiful Day' (2012)
Though it isn't even close to being a mainstream project (on IMDb, it holds only a little over 3,000 ratings), the experimental indie drama It's Such a Beautiful Day is nevertheless one of the highest-rated animated features of the 21st century on both IMDb and Letterboxd. It isn't hard to see why. Directed, written, animated, photographed, produced, and narrated by Don Hertzfeldt, it's the story of a stick figure going through a neurological ordeal.
With its well-deserved rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, It's Such a Beautiful Day is easily one of the most underappreciated animated adult dramas ever made. Leading all the way to one of the most perfect animated movie endings ever, it's an incredibly complex, emotionally mature, and visually gorgeous little gem that only runs for an hour. Its effect, however, lasts a lifetime.
9 'Grave of the Fireflies' (1988)
Image via Studio GhibliThere are popular movies that just so happen to be profoundly depressing, and then there are movies that are popular because they are so gut-wrenching. Studio Ghibli's Grave of the Fireflies is one such film. Directed by Isao Takahata, one of Ghibli's poster boys, this is one of the saddest movies ever made, all the more poignant because it's actually based on a true story.
It is, indeed, one of the heaviest animated movies of all time, but it's a must-see nonetheless. Visually gorgeous, thematically complex, and emotionally haunting, it's yet another animated masterpiece entirely deserving of its 100% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. It may not be easy to watch, but it's such an exemplary testament to the artistic powers of animation that all fans of the medium should consider it essential viewing.
8 'Perfect Blue' (1997)
Image via GKIDSPerfect Blue is yet another one of the most perfect anime features ever made, this one directed by one of the greatest auteurs the medium has ever seen, Satoshi Kon. Before his untimely passing from pancreatic cancer at the age of 46, Kon left behind one of the strongest legacies of any of his contemporaries, where Perfect Blue stands out as—ironically—the most perfect of the bunch.
It's the type of classic animated movie that has aged like fine wine, characterized by the sort of surreal and mind-bending storytelling that characterizes most of Kon's work. It's a psychologically horror film as haunting as it is enthralling, with some impressive visuals and exceptional voice acting. Highly stylized and deeply mysterious, it's one of the most perfect films ever made about the fragility of identity and the dangers of celebrity culture.
7 'Ratatouille' (2007)
Image via Walt Disney Studios Motion PicturesPixar has been trying to rediscover its creative footing over the course of the 2020s, but if it ever had a creative footing in the first place, it's because it dominated the animation scene from the '90s all the way into the 2010s. Proof of how they became such a highly beloved studio lies in what many consider their best work: Brad Bird's Ratatouille, easily one of the most acclaimed aniamted movies of the 21st century.
All of that acclaim was more than well-deserved, too. Featuring some of Pixar's strongest animation work, one of their best voice casts, and one of the most perfect Pixar movie endings, Ratatouille is a love letter to art itself that doesn't feel like it has gotten a single day old in almost 20 years. It's entertaining, it's funny, and it's so beautifully mature that anyone should be able to fall in love with it, regardless of their age.
6 'Mary and Max' (2009)
Courtesy of IFC FilmssIt's not only Hollywood and Japan that have produced the best animated films of the last four decades, and irrefutable proof of that is the Australian claymation masterpiece Mary and Max. Clay-based stop-motion animation has been a medium that has exploded greatly in popularity over the course of the last 40 years, and the medium has never produced a feature film more perfect than this one.
One of the best R-rated animated masterpieces ever, Mary and Max pretty much covers the entire spectrum of emotions that a human is capable of feeling. It can be hilarious, it can be beautifully life-affirming, it can be painfully bittersweet, and it can also be downright depressing when it needs to be. Bolstered by Toni Collette and Philip Seymour Hoffman's flawless voice performances, it's the peak of what Australian animation has to offer.
5 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' (2023)
Image via Sony Pictures ReleasingAfter Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse took the world by storm in 2018, the bar was set sky-high for its long-anticipated sequel. In the end, not only was Across the Spider-Verse able to meet that bar: It somehow raised it even higher. It's currently the highest-rated American animated film (and fourth overall) on Letterboxd, and seeing as it's one of the most perfect animated movies of the last 10 years, it isn't hard to see why.
Aside from arguably being the most visually impressive animated film ever made, full of bright colors and blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments that make it infinitely rewatchable, Across the Spider-Verse is also an endlessly thrilling, funny, and emotionally compelling superhero story. But more than anything else, it's a loving dissection of what it even means to be a superhero, a love letter to the Spider-Man mythos that fans can't get anywhere outside of the comics.
4 'Toy Story 3' (2010)
Image via Walt Disney Studios Motion PicturesBefore Toy Story 4 and Toy Story 5 came around, the Toy Story franchise was one of those trilogies where nearly every film is perfect. Toy Story revolutionized animation by being the first fully CG-animated feature in history and Toy Story 2 was the best-reviewed movie on Rotten Tomatoes for several years. But what really showed the world a whole new gold standard for Pixar sequels was Toy Story 3.
This still remains one of the most perfect films Pixar—or any other animation studio, for that matter—has ever made, praised by people of the stature of Quentin Tarantino himself. It's the single most emotionally stirring legacy sequel that Hollywood has made thus far, a beautiful story about growing up that has only gotten better and more emotional with age.
3 'How to Train Your Dragon' (2010)
Image via DreamWorks AnimationIf there's any studio that's consistently served as Disney and Pixar's most direct competition in Hollywood, it's DreamWorks. Their most perfect film is How to Train Your Dragon, and though the two sequels that it spawned are also of the highest quality, there's no beating the original in this case. It's one of the few 2010s fantasy movies that are true masterpieces.
Whether it's the incredible animation, John Powell's incredibly iconic score, or simply the deeply touching story of Hiccup and Toothless' forbidden friendship, there's virtually nothing not to love about this fantasy classic. It's imbued with the kind of thematic and dramatic depth that you don't often see in Hollywood-produced family media nowadays, and that has allowed it to remain the most timeless movie that DreamWorks has thus far produced.
2 'The Incredibles' (2004)
Image via Pixar Animation StudiosThere's a strong argument to be made that The Incredibles is Pixar's best and most perfect motion picture, a Brad Bird masterpiece that's probably the most universally-beloved animated superhero movie ever made. What makes The Incredibles stand out not just among Pixar's catalog, but the entirety of big-studio animated movies, is that even though it's most definitely family-friendly, it feels like a film that was designed for adults first and for kids second.
Indeed, Bird does an incredible job at throwing enough timeless jokes, thrilling action sequences, and powerful messages here to keep the little ones of the family happy. But at its core, The Incredibles is a political thriller standing in direct response to the United States' post-9/11 days, reflecting anxieties of government oversight and the role of the family in a new world order. It's thematically complex, sure, but it's also irresistibly fun for audiences of all ages.
1 'Spirited Away' (2001)
Image via Studio GhibliStudio Ghibli has put out several near-perfect masterpieces over the course of their 40-year-old history, but only a handful of truly perfect ones. And among them, one stand out as the clear best of the bunch: Spirited Away, winner of the second Best Animated Feature Academy Award ever handed out. Unsurprisingly, it's the work of Hayao Miyazaki, the face of Studio Ghibli and one of the greatest Japanese filmmakers in history.
This is nothing short of one of the best fantasy movies of all time, a stirring and hugely imaginative coming-of-age with a deeply immersive atmosphere and a refreshingly mature tone. The story of Chihiro and the way it's executed makes for the single most flawless animated movie perhaps not just of the last 40 years, but even in all of animation's history. Visually gorgeous, perfectly written and directed, full of great voice performances, and timeless in both its themes and story, Spirited Away is a must-see for all those who love animation.
Collider Exclusive · Oscar Best Picture Quiz
Which Oscar Best Picture
Is Your Perfect Movie?
Parasite · Everything Everywhere · Oppenheimer · Birdman · No Country
Five Oscar Best Picture winners. Five completely different visions of what cinema can be — and what it can do to you. One of them is the film that was made for the way your mind works. Ten questions will figure out which one.
🪜Parasite
🌀Everything Everywhere
☢️Oppenheimer
🐦Birdman
🪙No Country for Old Men
FIND YOUR FILM →
01
What kind of film experience do you actually want? The best movies don't just entertain — they leave something behind.
ASomething that pulls the rug out — that makes me think I'm watching one kind of film and then reveals I'm watching another entirely. BSomething overwhelming — funny, sad, absurd, and genuinely moving, all at once. CSomething grand and weighty — a film that makes me feel the full scale of what I'm watching. DSomething formally daring — a film that pushes what cinema can even do. ESomething lean and relentless — pure tension with no wasted frame.
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02
Which idea grabs you most in a film? Great films are driven by a central obsession. What's yours?
AClass, inequality, and what people are willing to do when desperation meets opportunity. BIdentity, family, and the chaos of trying to hold your life together when everything is falling apart. CGenius, moral responsibility, and the catastrophic weight of a decision you can never take back. DEgo, legacy, and the terror of becoming irrelevant while you're still alive to watch it happen. EEvil, chance, and whether moral order actually exists or if we just tell ourselves it does.
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03
How do you like your story told? Form is content. The way a story is shaped changes what it means.
AGenre-twisting — I want it to start in one lane and migrate into something completely different. BMaximalist and genre-blending — comedy, action, drama, sci-fi, all in one ride. CEpic and non-linear — cutting between timelines, building a mosaic of cause and consequence. DA single unbroken flow — I want to feel like I'm living it in real time, no cuts to safety. ESpare and precise — every scene doing exactly what it needs to do and nothing more.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
What makes a truly great antagonist? The opposition defines the protagonist. What kind of opposition fascinates you?
AA system — invisible, structural, and almost impossible to fight because it has no single face. BThe self — the ways we sabotage, abandon, and fail the people we love most. CHistory — the unstoppable momentum of events that no single person can stop or redirect. DThe industry — the machinery of culture that chews up talent and spits out irrelevance. EPure, implacable evil — a force so certain of itself it becomes almost philosophical.
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05
What do you want from a film's ending? The final note is the one that lingers. What do you want it to sound like?
AShock and inevitability — a conclusion that recontextualises everything that came before it. BEarned emotion — I want to cry, laugh, and feel genuinely hopeful, even if the world is a mess. CDevastation and grandeur — an ending that makes me sit in silence for a few minutes after. DAmbiguity — something that leaves enough open that I'm still thinking about it days later. EBleakness — an honest refusal to pretend the world is tidier than it actually is.
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06
Which setting pulls you in most? Where a film takes place shapes everything — mood, stakes, what's even possible.
AA gleaming modern city with a hidden underside — beauty masking rot, wealth masking desperation. BA collapsing suburban life that opens onto something infinite — the multiverse of a single ordinary person. CThe corridors of power and science at a world-historical turning point — where decisions echo for decades. DThe grimy, alive chaos of New York and Hollywood — fame as both destination and trap. EVast, indifferent landscape — desert and highway where violence arrives without warning or reason.
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07
What cinematic craft impresses you most? Every great film has a signature — a technical or artistic element that makes it unmistakable.
AProduction design and mise-en-scène — every frame composed to carry meaning beneath the surface. BEditing and tonal control — the ability to move between registers without losing the audience. CScore and sound design — music that becomes inseparable from the dread and awe of what you're watching. DCinematography as performance — the camera not recording events but participating in them. ESilence and restraint — what's left unsaid and unshown doing more work than any dialogue could.
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08
What kind of main character do you root for? The protagonist is the lens. Who you choose to follow says something about you.
ASomeone smart and resourceful who makes increasingly dangerous decisions under pressure. BSomeone overwhelmed and ordinary who turns out to be capable of something extraordinary. CA brilliant, tortured figure whose gifts and flaws are inseparable from each other. DA self-destructive artist whose ego is both their superpower and their undoing. EA quiet, principled person trying to make sense of a world that has stopped making sense.
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09
How do you feel about a film that takes its time? Pace is a choice. Some films sprint; others let tension accumulate slowly, deliberately.
AI love a slow build when I know the payoff is going to be seismic — patience for a devastating reveal. BGive me relentless momentum — I want to feel breathless and emotionally spent by the end. CEpic runtime doesn't scare me — if the material demands three hours, give me three hours. DI want it to feel propulsive even when nothing is technically happening — restless energy throughout. EDeliberate and unhurried — I want dread to accumulate in the spaces between the action.
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10
What do you want to feel walking out of the cinema? The best films leave a mark. What kind of mark do you want?
AUnsettled — like I've just seen something I can't fully explain but can't stop thinking about. BMoved and energised — like the film reminded me what actually matters and gave me something to hold onto. CHumbled — like I've been in the presence of something genuinely important and overwhelming. DExhilarated — like I've just seen cinema doing something it's never quite done before. EHaunted — like a cold, quiet dread that stays with me for days.
REVEAL MY FILM →
The Academy Has Decided Your Perfect Film Is…
Your answers have pointed to one Oscar Best Picture winner above all others. This is the film that was made for the way your mind works.
Parasite
You are drawn to films that operate on multiple levels simultaneously — that begin in one genre and quietly, brilliantly migrate into another. Bong Joon-ho's Parasite is a film about class, desire, and the architecture of inequality that manages to be darkly funny, deeply suspenseful, and genuinely shocking across a single extraordinary running time. Your instinct is for cinema that hides its true intentions until the moment it's ready to reveal them. Parasite is exactly that — a film that rewards close attention and punishes assumptions, right up to its devastating final image.
Everything Everywhere All at Once
You want it all — and this film gives you all of it. The Daniels' Everything Everywhere All at Once is one of the most maximalist films ever made: action comedy, multiverse sci-fi, family drama, existential crisis, and a genuinely earned emotional core that sneaks up on you amid the chaos. You are someone who responds to ambition, who doesn't want cinema to choose between being entertaining and being meaningful. This film refuses that choice entirely. It is overwhelming by design, and its overwhelming nature is precisely the point — because the feeling of being crushed by infinite possibility is exactly what it's about.
Oppenheimer
You are drawn to cinema on a grand scale — films that understand history not as a backdrop but as a force, and that place their characters inside that force and watch what happens. Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer is a film about the terrifying gap between what we can do and what we should do, told with the full weight of one of the most consequential moments in human history behind it. You want your films to feel important without feeling self-important — to earn their ambition through sheer craft and the gravity of their subject. Oppenheimer does exactly that. It is enormous, complicated, and refuses easy comfort.
Birdman
You are drawn to films that foreground their own construction — that make the how of the filmmaking part of the what it's about. Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman, shot to appear as a single continuous take, is cinema examining itself through the cracked mirror of a fading actor's ego. You respond to formal daring, to the feeling that a film is doing something that probably shouldn't be possible. Michael Keaton's performance and Emmanuel Lubezki's restless camera create something genuinely unlike anything else — a film that is simultaneously about creativity, relevance, self-destruction, and the impossibility of ever truly knowing if your work means anything at all.
No Country for Old Men
You are drawn to cinema that trusts silence, that refuses to explain itself, and that treats dread as a form of meaning. The Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men is a film about the arrival of a new kind of evil — implacable, arbitrary, and utterly indifferent to the moral frameworks we use to make sense of the world. It is one of the most formally controlled films ever made, and its controlled restraint is what makes it so terrifying. You want your films to haunt you, not comfort you. You are not interested in resolution if resolution would be dishonest. No Country for Old Men is honest in a way that most cinema never dares to be.
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