Yumeka’s top 20 favorite animated movies (#10-1)

Credit to linked pixiv user

Continuing from last week’s post, I’ve been counting down my top 20 favorite animated movies, ending today with my top 10…

You can check last week’s post to see the guidelines I laid down for the list, but basically any animated movie is eligible as long as it’s an original film not based on an existing TV series. And as I said before, the list isn’t completely finite as some of the movies can move up or down a spot depending on the mood I’m in ;) But these are pretty much my top 10 favorite movies as of now.

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10. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmaron

Year: 2002
Studio: DreamWorks


One of DreamWork’s older animated films and one that I don’t believe many people have seen or was even that big of a hit. But since I saw it back when it came out in theaters, I loved it and think it’s one of the more unique animated films. A family film starring animals like horses isn’t anything new, but what makes this one stand out is that the animals don’t talk…and, actually, the people don’t talk much either. There’s some first-person narration that our main horse Spirit offers (and background songs by Bryan Adams that people either like or hate), but that’s it. Most of the emotion in the film is shown through his and the other horses’ movements, whinnies, and facial expressions, which is all amazingly effective. This is unusual for a movie about animals as usually the animals talk themselves or there are a lot of human characters around that do the talking for and about them. But Spirit manages to convey a very powerful, suspenseful, and tragic story with very limited dialogue. It also has a great musical score by Hans Zimmer and the animation is lovely overall. The CG that’s used does look kind of dated today, but not that bad thankfully. The way the horses are drawn in terms of expressions and actions is extremely well done, and as a story that has to do with real events in history goes, it’s nice to see it told from the side that it’s not told from very often – the horses’ side.

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9. Princess Mononoke

Year: 1997
Studio: Ghibli


My #1 favorite Ghibli film and favorite original anime film, Mononoke was the first really mature animated work (PG-13 or higher) that I watched back when I was just getting into anime beyond Pokemon and bought in on VHS in 2000. It blew me away, and the many times I’ve watched it since, it continues to leave a mark on me. The animation is very impressive even by today’s standards, the characters – the animals and the people – are all believable and not black-and-white “heroes and villains,” and the story is fantastical and epic, with this “big” and “important” feel to it that just pulls me in every time. Plus it has an excellent English dub that I actually prefer over the Japanese version. It’s just a great film and I wish Ghibli would make more dark epic fantasies like this one.

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8. Toy Story 2

Year: 1999
Studio: Pixar


It’s a common belief that sequels can’t be as good as the original, but I don’t think that’s necessarily the case, especially for DreamWorks and Pixar (and could be the same for Disney if they’d start making real sequels with actual effort and not mediocre direct-to-video sequels…but I digress). Toy Story is one case where I feel the story gets better with each sequel, and Toy Story 2 is a lot better than the original Toy Story in my opinion. I’m not really sure what makes Toy Story 2 better than its prequel as both are, literally, stories about toys and problems they have to overcome, the former being Woody’s jealousy about Buzz and Buzz’s delusion that he’s a real space ranger, and the latter being Woody’s kidnapping and having to decide whether to go back to Andy or stay with the other toys at the museum. Perhaps the reason the sequel story works better is because there’s more emotion in it, especially coming from Jessie – her song segment “When Somebody Loved Me” breaks my heart every time! Plus, the world and cast of characters were already established in the original Toy Story, so more time could be spent in Toy Story 2 on the actual conflict at hand and fleshing out the characters more. I dunno, it’s just a fun, well written movie with a great mix of drama and comedy. There’s a reason it’s one of Rotten Tomatoes’ most highest rated films =)

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7. The Incredibles

Year: 2004
Studio: Pixar


Until the upcoming two Pixar movies on my list came out, The Incredibles was my favorite of their works. Lots of good action scenes, I like all the characters, and I love its unique spin on the superhero idea by focusing on a superhero family and the fact that they have to go into hiding and can’t reveal their powers. How the family members interact is great too, i.e., the dialogue Mr. and Mrs. Incredible share and how the kids talk to each other – they really seem like a real family and not a “cartoon family,” which is refreshing. I also like that, despite being a family-friendly movie, Mr. Incredible and his “mid-life crisis” is the focus of the movie and not the kid characters (though they get a chance to shine too of course). And as I said, it has great action scenes. The part where Mr. Incredible battles the big robot in the jungle is one of my favorite parts. So while I don’t like the movie quite as much as I did back in the day, I would still rank it among my top 10, which is saying a lot =D

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6. Beauty and the Beast

Year: 1991
Studio: Disney


Beauty and the Beast was the first Disney movie I went to see in the theaters…or maybe it was the first movie I ever saw in theaters; I was only 5 years old at the time and don’t remember exactly. But while I liked it, I didn’t get nearly as into it as I did with later Disney films like Aladdin and The Lion King. But as the years went by and I rewatched Beauty and the Beast as an adult, I came to appreciate it way more than I did as a kid. It was always my mom’s favorite Disney movie and I can understand now why it resonates more with adults than kids. The story isn’t the idealistic “princess seeking prince charming” fairy tale, as our main character Belle just wants to read books, and our “prince” in the story is anything but charming, coming off as downright cruel and frightening when Belle first meets him. Even Gaston isn’t your typical villain as he’s made out to be the handsome town hero, obnoxious of course but still not a villain until the very end. The movie has gorgeous animation, which is natural for Disney, but the songs are absolutely incredible. Definitely one of the best Disney soundtracks in my opinion along with Frozen and Hunchback. At a time when people were only just starting to take animation a little more seriously than they had in the past, the fact that Beauty and the Beast was the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture is another testament to what a Disney classic it is.

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5. WALL-E

Year: 2008
Studio: Pixar


I don’t think anyone who’s seen WALL-E will deny that it’s a unique movie. However, there seems to be a divide between people who love all of it, and those who love the first half but don’t think the second half is as good. I’m in the former camp but I can understand people liking the first half better. It is a very unique setup with a lone robot in a post-apocalyptic wasteland cleaning up trash and being an adorable romantic all by himself, then meeting and falling in love with an aggressively diligent female robot…all without any dialogue. Like with my #10 favorite Spirit, WALL-E would have been a very different movie if the main characters talked, and so much of its charm comes from how emotions are conveyed through sounds, atmosphere, and expressions rather than words. The second part of the film introduces the human characters and the overarching plot that led to Wall-E’s development and abandonment on a waste-covered Earth. While some people don’t like this part and find it either unnecessary or too environmentally preachy, I think it’s a great way to tie the film to the real world, which makes it easier to relate to, and I don’t find the environmental message too adamant. It’s more cautionary, saying “This is something that could happen,” which is fine because, well, it could, seeing as how polluted some parts of the world are and how some people are glued to their cell phones the way people in WALL-E are glued to their machines. WALL-E is a brilliant film that takes many familiar ideas, like sentient robots and people fleeing an inhabitable Earth, and creates a truly unique experience out of it.

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4. Kung Fu Panda 2

Year: 2011
Studio: DreamWorks


Surprisingly, I never saw the original Kung Fu Panda until after I saw the sequel. I remember hearing about it and saw a trailer or two, but it just looked too silly and slapstick-filled for my taste. Then years later in 2011, a friend invited me to see the sequel in theaters so I figured I’d give it a watch…and I loved it! I of course finally sat down and watched the original soon after, but found it underwhelming compared to the sequel. It wasn’t bad or anything, it’s just that the story was a lot more basic and predictable, and while it had some good serious moments, it was more focused on the comedy. Kung Fu Panda 2, however, definitely played down the slapsticks in favor of some really intense and serious action, drama, and character development. There’s a lot more development for our panda hero Po in terms of his backstory, the villain is much more interesting than the one in the original and has a really cool design (what other movie has an evil peacock? XD) and all the other characters, having been established in the original, are a lot more compelling in this movie, especially Tigress. And oh my gosh, there are some serious tear-jerking moments! Two in particular – the flashback where Po’s mother has to abandon him, and at the end where Po embraces his (adoptive) dad – I cry every time! I’m glad my initial misgivings about the original Kung Fu Panda didn’t make me miss out on this wonderful sequel. When the first movie came out and I was reluctant to see it, I never imagined that its sequel would rank among my top 10 favorite movies. I guess that proves that you never know how your tastes can change until you give something a chance ;)

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3. The Lion King

Year: 1994
Studio: Disney


This was the movie of my childhood. My first obsession, the first (and maybe only) movie I can recite entirely from memory from beginning to end, having seen it at least 100 times by now. I liked a lot of Disney and other animated movies as a kid, but none as much as The Lion King. Until the final two movies on my list came out, The Lion King enjoyed a solid 16 years as my all time favorite movie and I doubt it’ll ever stop ranking among my top 10 at least. I’m sure 95% of people reading this, especially if you’re around my age, have seen it and know what’s great about it even if you personally aren’t a fan. It’s an exciting, epic story, a unique setting of the African savannah, classic music and songs that won’t soon be forgotten, ground-breaking animation, memorable characters, and some of the darkest themes Disney had put out at the time – stuff like Mufasa being trampled to death and actually seeing his body on-screen for a while, and Simba and Scar’s final battle being surprisingly violent. Even though it lost its title as the “highest grossing animated movie of all” in recent years, it still had that title for a long damn time, which is saying a lot considering it came out over 20 years ago. And even though I obviously don’t like it quite as much as I did as a kid and am able to see more of its flaws as an adult, that’s still minor compared to what a world-wide, and personal, hit this movie was.

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2. Toy Story 3

Year: 2010
Studio: Pixar


While there was only a 4 year gap between the first two Toy Story movies, it wasn’t until 11 years after Toy Story 2 that we finally got the long-awaited Toy Story 3…and people went crazy for it! I couldn’t find anyone who didn’t like it and it finally outranked Lion King as the highest grossing animated film of all. I think a lot of the film’s adore has to do with the time it came out and the subject it deals with. Since it came out over a decade after the first two Toy Stories, all the kids who grew up with the first two films were in their late teens/early adulthood by the time Toy Story 3 came out, and the very plot of the movie has to do with Andy growing up and leaving for college, and the toys have to cope with this new development and the idea of abandonment. So I suspect that straight-to-the-gut nostalgia the movie exudes has a lot to do with the adults who love it and think the end of the movie is one of the saddest things ever. So maybe their nostalgia clouds their judgement of it a little. But I say “maybe” because, well, I’ve watched it enough times to say that even if you take that nostalgia away, it’s still a masterpiece of a movie. There’s surprisingly very little jokes and humor in it and I personally like the emphasis on the seriousness because there’s just so much emotion in this movie. You can really feel the bond the toys have for each other and for Andy, and how terribly conflicted they are about their new situation, especially Woody. Lottso is a pretty good villain who at least gets a decent backstory, there’s great suspense, especially when the toys have to sneak out of the daycare, and while the tear-jerker moment for most was the very end when Andy leaves the toys behind, the one for me is when they’re about to fall into the incinerator and, after looking hopelessly at each other, decide to hold hands and just wait for death to come – such a powerful scene! So yeah, it wasn’t until a few rewatches that I decided that I like Toy Story 3 more than my old favorite, The Lion King. Apparently Pixar isn’t done milking their cash cow just yet as there’s plans for a 4th Toy Story movie in the future. Doubtful it’ll be as good as this one but I’m still looking forward to it~

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1. Frozen

Year: 2013
Studio: Disney


As I said, Lion King was the first and, until Frozen came out, only stand-alone movie I was ever obsessed with, to the same extent I am with my other hobbies like Pokemon and anime. But then again, I was 8 years old at the time and it isn’t anything unusual for kids to get really into animated movies and the like, and I did get pretty into other movies like Aladdin and Toy Story in terms of watching them over and over and getting my mom to buy me lots of merchandise. As the years went by I of course continued to watch and enjoy animated movies as an adult, loving some enough to put on this list =) But I never really got into them again. I would watch them, like them, buy my favorites on home video and watch them a few more times, but that’s it. Unlike my favorite anime, I didn’t have the urge to buy tons of merchandise for these movies, write extensive reviews about them, or look up fan art or other fan works for them. I figured Pokemon and anime series were the only hobbies I’d obsess over and my love for Disney and other animated movies would be something on the side, to watch and enjoy them over and over but not get really into them. And that’s how things went for the past 15 years…until Frozen came along.

It’s hard to describe how obsessed I’ve been with this movie over the past 6 months, but it’s unlike any of the other obsessions I’ve had, even my few big anime ones, both in terms of intensity and how quickly it developed. Not only has the movie consumed my mind since I first saw it and driven me to write two extensive essays about it (which I’ll get to in a sec) and avidly collect all the good fan art I could find (have almost 150 pictures saved to my computer!) but how much I give my money to something is a major indicator of how much I like it…and I don’t even want to think about how much money I’ve spent on Frozen merchandise since January! Let’s just say the amount would be enough to fund my whole 5-day Anime Expo trip in July! XD I wanted to wait a bit before deciding that Frozen is my #1 favorite movie to see if its newness wears off. But here we are, half a year later, and I still can’t get enough of it (or stop spending money on it!) As for why I like it so much, well, besides why it’s special to me personally as I described above, when it comes to things in the movie itself, I already wrote all about that in two extensive posts: one I wrote here on the blog back in January and the other is a long and detailed review I wrote exclusively on Tumblr that you can read here (I also made my own translations of all the Japanese Frozen songs here). But if you don’t want to read those long posts, the tl;dr version is that Frozen not only has the usual things that make Disney movies great such as memorable characters, great animation, and brilliant music, but the story is one of the most progressive in terms of keeping beloved Disney tropes while also overturning the ones that should be overturned. Frozen just does so many things right that it could have done wrong, plus Elsa is the most complex and sympathetic female character I’ve seen in any (non-Japanese) animated work. Perhaps another movie will come along one day that will take Frozen’s place as my favorite, like what happened with my long-time favorite The Lion King. But until that happens, I say “Let the storm rage on~!

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As far as studios go, I have 2 favorites from Ghibli, 3 from DreamWorks, 5 from Pixar, and 9 from Disney, though it would be 10 from Disney if you count Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, which is technically Touchstone Pictures though Disney bought the rights early on. So Disney dominates, but that’s to be expected as I love their movies and they’ve made more animated ones than I believe any other studio. So the three highest grossing animated films of all time are my three most favorites? Feel free to call my tastes generic, but that’s just how I feel XD My tastes don’t usually match up with the general populace, but for stuff like this, I guess they do!

Now for Honorable Mentions:

Aladdin (Disney, 1992): Aladdin is another Disney Renaissance classic I loved as a kid, though out of all of them it unfortunately feels the most dated to me for some reason. Still like it a lot though and can’t wait for the Blu-ray release =)

Bolt (Disney, 2008): This movie is adorable and actually has a really good story despite being more geared towards kids than the general audience. Nothing great but cute and even has some really good emotional scenes.

Monsters Inc. (Pixar, 2001): For a while Monsters Inc. was among my favorite Pixar films but I guess I don’t like it as much as I did before. Still like it very much though ;)

Shrek 2 (DreamWorks, 2004): I liked the first Shrek, loved Shrek 2, then didn’t like Shrek 3 or 4 that much. As time went by I kinda lost my enthusiasm for Shrek 1 as well, but I still love Shrek 2. Haven’t seen it in years though so I’d have to watch it again to say for sure if it’s still a favorite or not.

Megamind (DreamWorks, 2010): Only watched it once and really liked it. Have to see it again to say for sure XD

Balto (1995, Universal Pictures): I loved Balto as a kid and even when I watched it a few times as an adult, it held up pretty well.

The Land Before Time (1988, Universal Pictures): Like Balto, I loved The Land Before Time as a kid and even among adults my age who grew up with it, it’s still considered a classic. I haven’t seen it in many years though so I wonder what I’d think of it now.

Hotel Transylvania (2012, Sony Pictures): I don’t like Adam Sandler and this movie didn’t get the best critical reception…but for some reason, having seen it twice now, I really like it! I found a lot of the humor funny and it has many genuinely touching moments.

Happy Feet (2006, Warner Bros. Pictures): Loved this one when it came out and even bought the soundtrack! Unfortunately I’ve liked it less as time has gone by but I still think it’s kind of a unique and fun movie.

The Iron Giant (1999, Warner Bros. Pictures): Never saw this one as a kid but I did decide to watch it not that long ago actually. Really liked it, but like Megamind, I’d need to watch it again to see if I should consider it a favorite or not.

And just as a closer, below is a short list of original animated films I haven’t seen yet but want to at some point. Feel free to recommend or not recommend any of them:

Rise of the Guardians
Bee Movie
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (and sequel)
Monsters vs. Aliens
The Road to El Dorado
The Croods
From Up On Poppy Hill
Mr. Peabody and Sherman
Watership Down
Despicable Me (and sequel)
Ice Age (and sequels)
The Wind Rises

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Hope you all enjoyed the list. I’ll be back next week with regular posts =) See ya then!

No Comments… read them or add your own.

  1. drawingirl94 says:

    Very interesting list. Your tastes are quite similar to mine, perhaps with an exception of number one and two. My favorite animated movies would have to be either any of the Evangelion movies, the K-ON movie, or The Lion King. Probably the Lion King. What can I say? It came out the year I was born, and I think it might be the one animated movie I’ve seen more than anything else. I actually like it a lot more now than I’m older, because I feel it has a message I can relate to more than any other animated film (Evangelion would probably come as a close second in terms of being relatable).

    It’s hard to try to explain my true feelings about Toy Story 3 and Frozen. I loved Toy Story 3 when I saw it in theaters, but I remember watching a very negative review of it on YouTube that, at the time, made very valid points about it. With Frozen, I wasn’t too much of a fan of it the first time I saw it, but I liked it a little more the second time. But again, I did see another negative review of Frozen on YouTube, and while I like Frozen a little more now, I felt it made a lot of very true and valid points about it. So basically, I’m not so sure about whether I should love those two films or not, because I do see their flaws.

    • Yumeka says:

      If I made a list of favorite anime movies, including ones based on an existing TV series, End of Evangelion would definitely be on there, and perhaps Eva 2.2 as well. Not so sure about the K-ON movie as I did like it but not that much XD

      That’s interesting that your opinions of both Frozen and Toy Story 3 were influenced by negative reviews you watched of them, so much so that you seem to feel like you’d be “wrong” for liking them now. I would say wait a bit and watch them both again, keeping what the reviews said in mind of course, but also your own personal feelings. Nothing is perfect and I’ll definitely acknowledge that both of the movies have their share of flaws, but I still love them because for me the flaws aren’t enough to overpower the good things they have. So it really just comes down to that. If you can find enough good in them, there’s nothing wrong with overlooking the flaws (especially for Toy Story 3, as you seemed to really like that one at first).

      • drawingirl94 says:

        I’m just a huge K-ON fan, so I go nuts over anything related to it. It’s special to me because it was one of the first blu-ray I imported from Japan, and it’s now a tradition of mine to watch it raw every Christmas.

        Well, a long time ago (this is kind of embarrassing), I used to be quite easily influenced by reviewers because I thought that their experience with the medium made them understand more of what they’re talking about. So that’s probably why. Nowadays, I see the value in enjoying things despite their flaws. That’s what truly puts one to the test as a fan. So I’ll definitely watch them again. I’m actually planning on getting Frozen on blu-ray soon.

  2. Cytrus says:

    Haven’t seen 10 and 4. A good list overall :D.
    Have you watched Ratatouille/any thoughts on it?

    • Yumeka says:

      Glad you approve XD

      I have seen Ratatouille a couple of times. It definitely has some good stuff even though it’s not a personal favorite of mine among Pixar movies.

  3. Myna says:

    Rise of the Guardians – kicks ass. It’s based on a series of children’s books which I have not read. But this is undoubtedly Dreamworks’ best animated feature within the past couple of years.
    Road to El Dorado – childhood classic! Appreciated it even more when I rewatched it years later.
    The Croods – I found it very boring.
    From up on Poppy Hill – Goro Miyazaki’s much better endeavor. I liked it much more than I thought I would, though it’s still not one of my favorite Ghibli films.
    Despicable Me – Yes. This one’s great. I think you’ll love it.
    Ice Age – Stick to the first two.
    The Wind Rises – Liked this one a very good deal as well.

    • Yumeka says:

      Thanks for the recommendations. I’ll likely be checking out Rise of the Guardians next as it seems to be very popular among the Frozen/Disney fandom ;)

      Not sure why I never watched Road to El Dorado as a kid since I always saw it available to rent at the video store.

      All I see of Despicable Me as far as merchandise and advertising, especially when I go to Universal Studios, is the minions. I’m assuming there’s more to the movie than them XD

  4. Kal says:

    I’ve seen all of those, and like them. The Incredibles is probably my favorite of the lot, due to the reasons you posted. It just feels so… Real… The personal interactions are really good, and the humour is great as well! It is a really good movie.

    Finally saw Frozen, and it really is a good movie. It takes everything we expected of that type of movie, and turns it all around.

    There really are lots of good movies, hard to list them all… I like the ones on the honorable mentions as well (Iron Giant is great!). I just saw “Patema Inverted”. It is an anime movie, but the plot is not really something we have seen before. I recommend to watch it if you have the time. It’s a single movie, 1:40, so it does not take too much time :)

    • Yumeka says:

      Glad you enjoyed the list =D I’m assuming after the recent Pixar announcement you were also someone who was like “Cars 3, meh…Incredibles 2, hell ya!!!” XD

      I’ll definitely be giving Iron Giant another watch. It’s not the kind of movie you should only watch once =P I’ll keep Petema Inverted in mind too.

      • Kal says:

        What?!?! The Incredibles 2!?!?! Hell yeah!!! Ejem… Had not heard about it! Thanks for the tip, will keep it in mind :)

  5. Rioraku says:

    I’d say The Lion King is my all time favorite Disney movie and really the only Disney movie I could easily, repetitively watch. I like most Disney films but don’t really LOVE them (aside from Lion King) And most Disney films after 2000 I really didn’t care for much with Tangled being an exception as I liked it quite a bit. I wanted to like Frozen but I thought it was just OK. I thought the characters were well written but the story itself just didn’t feel very intriguing.

    Pixar and Dreamworks movies I could watch more frequently but again am not especially crazy about except for Wall-E and specifically Up. That one really got to me because of the opening 10 minutes :'(. And though I haven’t seen any lately, a few of Don Bluth’s films were what I remember most from my childhood.

    As for your list of possible watches my recommendation based on previous experience:
    Rise of the Guardians – Definitely watch
    Bee Movie – Pass on it
    Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (and sequel) – Not seen it
    Monsters vs. Aliens – Watch
    The Road to El Dorado – Watch
    The Croods – Pass on it
    From Up On Poppy Hill – Not’t seen it
    Mr. Peabody and Sherman – Not seen it
    Watership Down – Not seen it
    Despicable Me (and sequel) – Watch
    Ice Age (and sequels) – Watch
    The Wind Rises – Watch

    • Yumeka says:

      Heh, it seems like people either love both Tangled and Frozen, or they like one but not the other so much. I’m the opposite of you in that, obviously, I love Frozen, but found Tangled just OK. It’s certainly not a bad movie but it’s just too “typical Disney” for me as far as the characters and story tropes. Decent songs and animation though, and I love every minute Maximus is on screen XD (I’ve seen Tangled three times by the way). But even though you don’t like Frozen as much, at least you can see some good things in it, like well written characters.

      I do like Up and I agree with pretty much everyone who’s seen it that the first 10 minutes are really something special. But I just don’t like it as much as the other Pixar films I mentioned. I dunno, for some reason the believably of the movie was shattered for me in the end when the dogs started flying the planes XD I can accept the animals in the movie being able to talk to each other and understand human speech, as that’s typical in animated movies, but the dogs flying the planes was a bit too over the top for me. It has been a while since I watched it though so I should watch it again and see if that little gripe of mine still affects my enjoyment =P

      I watched a few Don Bluth films as a kid but didn’t even find out who he was until way into adulthood XD

      Thanks for the recommendations too~

  6. Okay, you’ve made me add Frozen to my Netflix queue. XD Even though you and I often have differing tastes, at least in anime, I’m finally curious enough to want to see it.

    I haven’t seen too many Ghibli movies, but I did like Princess Mononoke the most out of all of them; and come to think of it, that was one that you recommended to me. =D

    • Yumeka says:

      Cool, definitely let me know what you think of Frozen after you watch it =D (and what you think of my big ‘ol reviews if you feel like reading those) I highly doubt you’ll like it as much as me, but I’m pretty sure you won’t dislike it either ^^,,,

      Not sure if you’ve seen Nausicaa or Howl’s Moving Castle, but among Ghibli films, I think you’d like those.

  7. Sylpher says:

    I’m also a big fan of western animated movies, Disney and Pixar in particular. Beauty & the Beast is by far my favorite, perhaps even my favorite movie of all-time, and I’m glad Disney is touching upon that magic again with the recent Frozen movie.
    Unfortunately I’m not too fond of anime movies. I watched some critically acclaimed ones like Summer Wars, Wolf Children, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Perfect Blue, but there isn’t a single one I really adore or could rewatch many times.

    I’ll mention some of my favorites that weren’t in the list:
    – Ratatouille: Best Pixar movie in my opinion, funny and thematically rich
    – Princess & the Frog: Disney’s first movie after the Renaissance that’s based on a fairytale with a princess as the lead. Love the jazz music and Charlotte.
    – Jungle Book: Great songs, animal characters, story and very exciting.
    – Brother Bear: One of the good movies during the poor 2000 era plus music by Phil Collins.
    – Enchanted: Technically a partially animated movie, but it gave off the same enjoyable vibe as Disney’s animated fairytales (with some awesome appearances of Disney voice actresses and many references)

    • Yumeka says:

      Good to know a Beauty and the Beast fan =) Such a classic~

      Yeah, I’m kind of the same in that anime movies just don’t drive me to rewatch them as much as my favorite Western animated movies. I’m not sure why as I feel many of them are great and I should want to rewatch them…but to me a lot of them are really “heavy” in terms of theme and style, which makes me have to be in a certain mood to want to watch them again. I have to mentally prepare myself for them more than your typical Disney-ish movie, if that makes sense.

      Ratatouille is great, just not a personal favorite of mine. Same with Princess and the Frog. I liked Brother Bear a lot when it came out – even bought the soundtrack – but I can recognize that it’s not one of the best…but still kind of underrated in my opinion. And Jungle Book has always just been OK. Even as a kid it was never a big one for me.

      I love Enchanted though! =D Such a cute and fun movie. I’ve actually been itching to rewatch it again after seeing Frozen since Idina Menzel is in it XD

    • Cytrus says:

      Brother Bear came this close to being good, if not for the feel-good ending, which made most of the movie feel moot :/. In my ideal world, the main character would get killed at the end, leaving the two brothers left behind, human and bear, to pick up the pieces, united by their loss and thus rising above their differences. (If I remember that movie correctly, been a long time xD).

      • Yumeka says:

        That’s an interesting idea for Brother Bear XD I didn’t mind the ending though. My main problems with it is the the humor is kind of silly, and there’s a lot of it, more than I would have liked, and there just wasn’t anything it did exceptionally well. It was pretty consistently good except for some bad jokes here and there, but nothing about it really stood out to me now that enough time has passed and I’ve seen it a few times. That’s kinda how I feel about Tangled too – there’s nothing bad about it, it’s pretty good actually, just not a whole lot in it that would make me want to keep revisiting it over and over like many other Disney flicks.

  8. Adziu says:

    The Lion King and Mononoke-hime – excellent choices! I was quite surprised about Frozen. It will be interesting to see you revisit this list in a few years and see if anything has changed. I notice almost all on your list are pretty recent – do you think that’s down to your sphere of reference or have things just improved over the years?

    I have to say, I’d have real trouble whittling my favourites down to 10.

    • Yumeka says:

      Well, like with anime, I’ve seen very few animated movies that were made before the late 80s. The ones that I have seen are all Disney, a lot of good ones of course, but they just don’t impress me as much as the ones made during the Renaissance or later. So I guess it’s both my sphere of preference (influenced by the generation I’m from/grew up in I guess) and the fact that I think Western animated movies started rapidly improving in the 90s up until today, despite a few dark periods.

      Honestly, I don’t think my list will change much in a few years. 20-30 years from now, probably, but I think most of the ones in my top 10 will remain even if they fall down a few spots ;)

      You’ve seen way more animated movies than me, so you would have to do, like, a top 50-100 as opposed to a top 20 XD

  9. seasons says:

    Before you watch Ice Age, I really think these should be in your queue first: Yellow Submarine, Dumbo, Fantasia, Lady and The Tramp, Akira, Ernest & Celestine, 101 Dalmations, The Secret of Kells, Snow White, Persepolis, South Park, Interstellar 5555: The Secret of the Interstellar Star System, the film’s of Satoshi Kon, the films of Makoto Shinkai, the films of Mamoru Hosoda, The Brave Little Toaster, CHICKEN RUN, All Dogs Go To Heaven, The Lego Movie, Waking Life, Pinocchio, Snow White, Alice In Wonderland, Wallace & Gromit, Watership Down, The Illusionist… maybe someone else will vouch for Triplets of Belleville or The Iron Giant (I haven’t seen them).

    • Yumeka says:

      I’ve seen all those you listed except Ernest & Celestine, The Secret of Kells, Persepolis, the two Interstellar movies, Waking Life, Wallace & Gromit, Watership Down (which was on my list of “plant to watch” movies), The Illusionist, and Triplets of Belleville. I’ve also seen some of Kon’s, Shinkai’s, and Hosoda’s films. Oh, and you put Snow White twice by the way ;)

  10. Firechick says:

    Oh I COMPLETELY recommend Watership Down and The Wind Rises! I saw them both and they’re insanely good, but Watership Down is EXTREMELY dark, violent, and philosophical, even though it’s about bunnies. Oh, if you’re interested, I also recommend the anime movies Ringing Bell (or Chirin no Suzu) and Sea Prince and the Fire Child. The latter is out on DVD but you can find them both on YouTube.

    • Yumeka says:

      I heard that Watership Down is a violent movie starring bunnies…that just sounds so unusual that I want to check it out XD

      I’ll keep your other recommendations in mind too.

  11. Vincent says:

    I see no mention of Disney’s Brave anywhere. It’s not the best when compared to PIxar’s other offerings but I really enjoyed it what with the fantasy Scottish setting and coming-of-age story.

    • Yumeka says:

      I’ve seen Brave a couple of times and I like it =) But like Ratatouille and Up, it’s just not a personal favorite of mine among Pixar’s films.

  12. chikorita157 says:

    While I don’t watch any western movies and animation anymore, I did enjoy a lot of the Disney classics as they were a big part of my childhood. I watched most of them, but I don’t have any particular favorites since I enjoyed most of them as a child.

    • Yumeka says:

      Well, if you liked the Disney classics from the 90s, I would recommend checking out some of their newer movies. Maybe not the stuff during the post-Renaissance slump (2000-2008) but the movies from the revival period like Princess and the Frog, Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph, and Frozen. Well, they’ll always be there if you ever want some good animated stories but need a break from anime ;)

  13. Tara says:

    I love every single film on your list and I think they’re in a similar order I’d put them in if I were to try and organize my favourites. In fact, I feel like watching Spirit now since it’s been forever. Light that film is good >w< The only thing missing for me was some Don Bluth films (I have a weakness for his Thumbelina).

    As for the ones you haven't seen yet, of the ones I've seen there I'd most strongly recommend The Road to El Dorado. I quite like the Rise of the Guardians, Despicable Me and the Ice Age films but I love El Dorado. The characters are wonderful and the story is good but it's mostly the witty dialogue that gets me every time, making it one of my all time favourites.

    • Yumeka says:

      As I was working on this post, I found out that Spirit was just released on Blu-ray this month =D I’ll definitely be buying it soon.

      I actually watched a lot of Don Bluth films as a kid but didn’t even find out who he was until just a few years ago XD Besides Land Before Time, I’ve seen Pebble and the Penguin, Rock-a-Doodle, All Dogs Go to Heaven, Feivel Goes West, and Secret of NIMH. Unfortunately out of all of those, only Land Before Time held up for me as an adult. Haven’t seen Thumbelina though.

      I’ve heard only good things about El Dorado so I’ll check it out one of these days~

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