ONTD Original: Greatest animation movies of all time
Belladonna Of Sadness - Eiichi Yamamoto 1973
Avant-garde art film. It follows the story of Jeanne, a peasant woman who uses black magic to get revenge against the men who raped her and accused her of witchcraft. It is notable for its erotic, violent, and psychedelic imagery.
The list contains animation movies known for gaining a cult following, being highly acclaimed, alternative or independent. So no Disney, Ghibli, Pixar, etc...
American Pop - Ralph Bakshi 1980
It tells the story of 4 generations of a Russian Jewish immigrant family of musicians whose careers parallel the history of American popular music in the 20th century. Known for its animation using rotoscoping, a process in which live actors are filmed and the subsequent footage is used for animators to draw over, and a variety of other mixed media including water colors, computer graphics, live-action shots, and archival footage.
Fantastic Mr. Fox - Wes Anderson 2009
Based on Roald Dahl's children's novel of the same name, about a fox who steals food at night from 3 mean, wealthy farmers. Fed up with Mr. Fox's theft try to kill him so they dig their way into the foxes' home. However, the animals are able to outwit the farmers and live underground.
Perfect Blue - Satoshi Kon 1998
Highly lauded psychological thriller, following Mima Kirigoe, member of a Japanese idol group, who retires from music to pursue an acting career. As she becomes a victim of stalking, murders begin to occur, making her lose her grip on reality, blurring the lines between fantasy and reality. Aronofsky’s Black Swan heavily took from this movie.
Akira - Katsuhiro Otomo 1988
Post-apocalyptic cyberpunk film, based on Otomo's manga of the same name. Set in a dystopian 2019, tells the story of Shōtarō Kaneda, biker gang leader whose childhood friend, Tetsuo Shima, acquires incredible telekinetic abilities after an accident, eventually threatening an entire military complex amidst chaos and rebellion in the futuristic metropolis of Neo-Tokyo. The soundtrack draws heavily from traditional Indonesian gamelan and Japanese noh music.
Anomalisa - Charlie Kaufman 2015
Stop-motion comedy-drama referencing the Fregoli delusion, it follows a lonely customer service expert who perceives everyone as identical until he meets a unique woman in a Cincinnati hotel. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, and five Annie Awards, becoming the first animated film to win the Grand Jury Prize at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival.
Angel's Egg - Mamoru Oshii 1985
Art film collaboration between artist Yoshitaka Amano (Final Fantasy main artist) and Mamoru Oshii. It features very little spoken dialogue. Its sparse plot and visual style have led to it being described as "animated art rather than a story".
Persepolis - Vincent Paronnaud 2007
French-Iranian drama based upon the Marjane Satrapi autobiographical graphic novel of the same name. The story follows a young girl as she comes of age against the backdrop of the Iranian Revolution. Premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, where it co-won the Jury Prize.
It's Such A Beautiful Day - Don Hertzfeldt 2012
Experimental dark comedy. The film is divided into 3 chapters and follows the story of a stick-figure man named Bill, who struggles with his failing memory and absurdist visions, among other symptoms of an unknown neurological illness, implied to be brain cancer. The film employs both offbeat humor and serious philosophical musings. It received critical acclaim and won numerous awards.
I Lost My Body - Jérémy Clapin 2019
French drama fantasy, premiered in the International Critics' Week section at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Nespresso Grand Prize, becoming the first animated film to do so in the section's history. It follows a severed hand trying to find its body, that of a boy with no aspirations.
Faust - Jan Švankmajer 1994
Combining live-action footage with stop-motion animation, puppetry and claymation. Borrowing and blending elements from the Goethe story with traditional folk renditions and elements of Modernism and Absurdism, and a Kafkaesque atmosphere, enhanced by being set in Prague, the tone being dark but humorous.
Fantastic Planet - René Laloux 1973
The allegorical story, about enslaved humans living on a strange planet dominated by giant humanoid aliens who consider them animals, and how they escaped from their tyrant ways. It is based on the 1957 novel Oms en série.
Malice In Wonderland - Vince Collins 1982
Independent short film loosely based on Alice In Wonderland, depicting surreal and psychedelic imagery in an aggressive art style.
Allegro Non Tropo - Bruno Bozzetto 1976
Featuring 6 pieces of classical music, the film is a parody of Walt Disney's Fantasia, two of its segments being derived from the earlier film. The classical pieces are set to color animation, ranging from comedy to deep tragedy.
The Plague Dogs - Martin Rosen 1982
Directed by Martin Rosen, who also directed Watership Down, featuring heavy animal cruelty themes, violent imagery, and emotionally distressing scenes. It is centred on 2 dogs, Rowf and Snitter, who escape from a research laboratory in Great Britain. In the process of telling the story, the film highlights the cruelty of performing vivisection and animal research for its own sake, an idea that had only recently come to public attention during the 1960s-70s.
A Town Called Panic - Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar 2009
It follows the everyday events of the characters Cowboy, Indian and Horse who live together in a small rural town as they go about their lives. The animation is designed to appear crude, as if done by a child (the characters evoke the look of cheap toy figurines) and the events of the characters' daily lives are extremely surreal and slapstick.
Fist Of The North Star - Toyoo Ashida 1986
Not a direct adaptation of the manga, telling an alternate story that rearranges characters and plot elements from the manga's first 72 chapters. A global nuclear war turned most of Earth into a contaminated wasteland, with humanity's survivors now fighting over uncontaminated food and water supplies. Kenshiro, a master of the deadly martial art Hokuto Shinken, is traveling with his fiancee Yuria, after a combat where he loses Yuria, seven wounds are engraved on Ken's chest.
Yellow Submarine - George Dunning 1969
British musical adventure film inspired by the music of the Beatles, the film received widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike. John Lennon later said: "I think it's a great movie, it's my favourite Beatle movie. Sean loves it now, all the little children love it."
Wicked City - Yoshiaki Kawajiri 1987
Based on Black Guard, the first in a series of 6 novels of the same name. The story takes place towards the end of the 20th century and explores the idea that the human world secretly coexists with the demon world with a secret police force known as the Black Guard protecting the boundary.
Kirikou And The Sorceress - Michel Ocelo 1998
French film that is drawn from elements of West African folk tales, it depicts how a newborn boy, Kirikou, saves his village from the evil witch Karaba. Adapted into a musical, later on, in 2007.
The End Of Evangelion - Hideaki Anno & Kazuya Tsurumaki 1997
Japanese psychological science fiction, it serves as a parallel ending to the Neon Genesis Evangelion television series, in which teenage Shinji Ikari pilots Evangelion Unit 01, giant humanoid mecha designed to defend against supernatural entities called Angels. The film picks up where the television show's 24th episode ended, and the cause of the events depicted in the show’s episodes 25 and 26 occurs in the middle. Though it won several awards, it has received mixed reviews based on its complexity. Filmmakers voted The End of Evangelion one of the 100 best animated films of all time.
Your Name - Makoto Shinkai 2016
Romantic fantasy film that tells the story of a high school boy in Tokyo and a high school girl in a rural town, who suddenly and inexplicably begins to swap bodies. It was critically acclaimed for its animation, complex narrative, musical score, and emotional weight. Being a major commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing anime film and Japanese film worldwide of all time, the fifth-highest-grossing film of all time in Japan, the ninth-highest-grossing traditionally animated film, and the 16th-highest-grossing non-English film worldwide. A live-action remake set in the United States is currently in development at Paramount Pictures.
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