There is nothing quite as thrilling as watching animation open up your heart on the big screen—whether it takes the form of polygons or hand-drawn lines. The list of feature films below represents our editors’ picks for the greatest animated films to be produced within the last 10 years, be they heartfelt explorations of sisterhood and family (Frozen, Frozen 2, The Breadwinner), poignant dives into our interiors (Inside Out, I Lost My Body), or thrilling tales of heroism (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Kubo and the Two Strings, Moana). Grab the popcorn and binge some of these over the holidays.
A Silent Voice
A suicidal social reject high schooler too ashamed of himself to look anyone in the eye reconnects with the deaf girl he used to bully. This stunningly animated, moving tale of adolescence and redemption from Kyoto Animation flew under most of America’s radar, but its almost symbolist visual choices are some of the most daring of the decade.
Frozen and Frozen 2
Yes, we included a bonus movie in this one, since the long-anticipated sequel to the 2013 Academy Award-winning blockbuster finally came out last month. Even if you were sick of this chilly-yet-heartwarming Pixar movie back in 2014 after hearing “Let It Go” one too many times, there’s no denying that it deserves its rightful place on this list, so, well, let it go.
How to Train Your Dragon series
Norse mythology, pure friendships, and dragons are the way into our hearts, and at the beginning of the decade, How to Train Your Dragon combined all of it. The story follows a dragon slayer who becomes a dragon lover, which is just the wholesome stuff we needed to make it through this decade. The care taken in staying true to the original novel and creating beloved characters like Toothless the dragon helped launch this into a whole franchise, but the original is still the best.
I Lost My Body
The bones and muscles in human hands are capable of dizzying levels of dexterity and contortion, all of which are stretched to their limits in this modern fantasy by Jérémy Clapin. His epic quest drops the protagonist’s hand into gutters, onto train tracks, and underwater, but no trauma, we learn, is as shocking as its initial severance from its human host. That’s something a lot of us can relate to.
Inside Out
We all need a reminder sometimes that it’s OK to feel our feelings, even if they aren’t all joy. And who better to play the literal embodiment of joy than Amy Poehler? With a star-studded cast (Mindy Kaling, Phyllis Smith, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, and Richard Kind) and a stunningly whimsical animation style, this movie (about a little girl struggling with her mental health after a big move) entranced us back in 2015, earning a place on our list of favorites of the decade.
Kubo and the Two Strings
When it comes to contemporary stop-motion animation, Laika leads the pack, and of the four feature films it’s produced since 2010, this folkloric fantasy set in the Kamakura period of feudal Japan is undoubtedly its finest. (Sorry, ParaNorman.) A classic hero’s journey following the young shamisen player Kubo as he searches for his stolen left eye, the film smoothly interweaves a riff on myth with a classic family drama—and contains one of the decade’s finest animated sequences to boot.
ParaNorman
This Laika film answers a question we didn’t know we needed answering: What if The Sixth Sense was animated and also an absolute damn delight? ParaNorman, which follows a little boy who gets bullied in school because he can talk to the dead, isn’t just the perfect spooky Halloween watch—its ingenuity in tackling the age-old sticky concept of death and grief makes it a good watch year-round.
Song of the Sea
Pulling from Celtic legends and stunningly hand-drawn, this offering from Cartoon Saloon (only their second feature film!) is essential viewing from the 2010s. The story follows 10 year old Ben as he helps his sister Saorsie, a selkie, find her voice and free faeries from the goddess Macha. The magical story and gorgeous animation earned it a well-deserved nomination at the 87th Academy Awards.
The Breadwinner
Nora Twomey and Cartoon Saloon’s gender-bending tale of oppressive social mores and resilience in the face of them is a film everyone should watch. We aspire to the courage of 11-year-old heroine Parvana, who dresses as a boy in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in order to feed her family.
The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl
If you like to party every now and then, you’ve probably had a couple nights where things took an odd turn, but probably nothing quite like two university students have in this inventive, euphoric fever dream of a film. While the story is captivating, it’s the trippy animation style that wins our hearts and makes this a beautifully bonkers watch.
The Secret World of Arrietty
Arguably the best adaptation of Mary Norton’s Borrowers books to date, this heartwarming tale of resourcefulness and survival follows tiny teenager Arriety and her family after her friendship with human Shawn changes their lives. Beautifully rendered in classic Studio Ghibli style, this stunning film boasts Hiromasa Yonebayashi as director and Miyazaki in a producing role. Future decades will undoubtedly recognize the brilliance of this piece of animation from 2012.
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
Studio Ghibli’s other genius, the famously methodical Isao Takahata, produced only one film in the 2010s—the film that would turn out to be his last. The film, based on the traditional Japanese Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, is a sparse, somber, stunning masterpiece of pacing and watercolors, and arguably the most beautiful film of the decade. Its ludicrous loss of the 87th Academy Award for Animated Feature Film, to Big Hero 6, still stings.
The Wind Rises
Don’t ever discount this late-period Hayao Miyazaki effort. It may be the filmmaker’s only 2010s effort and not as widely regarded as his earlier movies are, but it’s just as full of breathtaking flight sequences and a story that carves into Japan’s national identity.
Wreck-It Ralph
An arcade adventure with an Owl City soundtrack, Wreck-It Ralph was basically as 2012 as it gets. With a voice acting cast featuring Jack Brayer and Sarah Silverman, this 3D computer animated comedy by Disney enjoyed commercial and critical success. It also served as Rich Moore’s directorial debut and will be remembered as sweet, but never saccharine.
Your Name.
How could we not include the ultimate missed connections movie? Makoto Shinkai’s gorgeous film about Taki and Mitsuha, two teens who swap bodies Freaky Friday-style (but less “let’s watch the shenanigans ensue!”-style and more boob-grabbing), will make you think a little more when you meet eyes with a stranger on the subway.
Coco
Pixar infused the spirit and traditions of Dia de Muertos into an unprecedentedly colorful movie with Coco. The film, which follows young Miguel unlocking the story to his family’s history by traveling through the veil to the other side, stole viewers’ hearts and drew more than a few tears.
Moana
The detail dedicated to Samoan and Pacific Island culture and its ability to immerse viewers in song sets Moana apart. With songs written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foa’i and Mark Mancina as well as an original orchestral score, this is not merely a musical—it’s a touching experience infused with music.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse stole the show when it was released in 2018, ultimately snagging the Best Animated Feature Film at the Oscars. As the first animated feature film in the Spider-Man franchise, it had a lot to live up to and rose (dare we say, swung) to the occasion with vibrant colors that jumped off the screen, visual gags and a masterful treatment of the multiverse, leaving viewers feeling like they’ve truly dipped their toes into the world of a teen-turned-superhero.
Toy Story 3
Toy Story 3 follows our favorite toys, Woody, Buzz and the rest of the gang, as they cope with feeling forgotten by a teenage Andy, striking a chord with millennials who watched the first two films as kids. It was supposed to be the final film of the “trilogy” (how could we be so naive to think they’d let it go?), but it charmed viewers enough to get a fourth in 2019.
Zootopia
This film drew inspiration from cities like New York and San Francisco to build a whole kingdom in which animals rule, giving us the key to a city full of talking critters and predators. While the movie is technically about the first rabbit police officer earning her chops (uh, carrots?), its undertones explore more complicated subjects that mirror our world, like prejudice and stereotypes. Boasting a win of nearly every kind of award you can possibly get, including an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice Movie Award, and Annie Award for Best Animated Feature Film, this movie spoke to something deeper and more animal in all of us.
Writing: Elly Belle, Marley Crusch, John Maher, Sammy Nickalls, and Eric Vilas-Boas
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