mjf314's Top 3 Animated Movies of Each Year (1926-2014)
My 3 favorite animated feature films (40+ min) of each year since 1926 (including TV and straight-to-video films, and excluding series). The list is sorted first by year (new to old), then by rank (best to worst).
"Honorable mentions" are films that I like but don't make my top 3. If I've seen 3 or fewer from a particular year, then I list all of them. There are a few films on this list that I dislike, but I like most of them. The more recent years (1978 and later) have better top 3s than the older years (with a few exceptions), because I've seen more films per year so I have more to choose from.
Favorite directors: Hayao Miyazaki, Mamoru Oshii, Isao Takahata, Rene Laloux, Satoshi Kon, Masami Hata, Osamu Tezuka, Eiichi Yamamoto, Karel Zeman, Rintaro, Mamoru Hosoda, Jan Svankmajer
Favorite decades: 1980s, 2000s
"Honorable mentions" are films that I like but don't make my top 3. If I've seen 3 or fewer from a particular year, then I list all of them. There are a few films on this list that I dislike, but I like most of them. The more recent years (1978 and later) have better top 3s than the older years (with a few exceptions), because I've seen more films per year so I have more to choose from.
Favorite directors: Hayao Miyazaki, Mamoru Oshii, Isao Takahata, Rene Laloux, Satoshi Kon, Masami Hata, Osamu Tezuka, Eiichi Yamamoto, Karel Zeman, Rintaro, Mamoru Hosoda, Jan Svankmajer
Favorite decades: 1980s, 2000s
List activity
703 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
185 titles
- DirectorHiromasa YonebayashiStarsSara TakatsukiKasumi ArimuraNanako MatsushimaAnna, a shy 12-year-old girl, is sent to spend time with her aunt and uncle who live in the countryside, where she meets Marnie. The two become best friends. But Anna gradually discovers that Marnie is not quite who she appears to be.2014 honorable mentions: Expelled from Paradise, Song of the Sea
- 2005–201444m8.5 (1.6K)TV EpisodeDirectorHiroshi NagahamaStarsYûto NakanoYûna WatanabeRio SasakiA strange shadow forms blocking the sun from a village following a solar eclipse. Ginko enlists the help of the villagers to solve the mystery of the shadow before it destroys their crops.
- DirectorDon HallChris WilliamsStarsRyan PotterScott AdsitJamie ChungA special bond develops between plus-sized inflatable robot Baymax and prodigy Hiro Hamada, who together team up with a group of friends to form a band of high-tech heroes.
- DirectorIsao TakahataStarsChloë Grace MoretzJames CaanMary SteenburgenKaguya is a beautiful young woman coveted by five nobles. To try to avoid marrying a stranger she doesn't love, she sends her suitors on seemingly impossible tasks. But she will have to face her fate and punishment for her choices.2013 honorable mentions: Frozen, Patema Inverted, The Boy and the World
Favorite film of the 2010s. - DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsHideaki AnnoHidetoshi NishijimaMiori TakimotoJiro Horikoshi studies assiduously to fulfill his aim of becoming an aeronautical engineer. As WWII begins, fighter aircraft designed by him end up getting used by the Japanese Empire against its foes.
- DirectorTakayuki HiraoStarsSumire MorohoshiAi KakumaMiyuki SawashiroThis is a thrilling, magical and colorful movie about the adventures of two witches who embark on an adventure to save our world from dark magic, also known as curses.
- DirectorStéphane AubierVincent PatarBenjamin RennerStarsLambert WilsonPauline BrunnerAnne-Marie LoopThe story of an unlikely friendship between a bear, Ernest, and a young mouse named Celestine.2012 honorable mentions: Wolf Children, Fuse: Memoirs of a Hunter Girl
- DirectorRich MooreStarsJohn C. ReillyJack McBrayerJane LynchA video game villain wants to be a hero and sets out to fulfill his dream, but his quest brings havoc to the whole arcade where he lives.Favorite Disney film of the 2010s.
- DirectorBibo BergeronStarsMatthieu ChedidVanessa ParadisGad ElmalehA 3D-animated movie set in Paris in the year 1910 and centered on a monster who lives in a garden and his love for a beautiful, young singer.2011 honorable mentions: Hotarubi no mori e, Tatsumi, Leafie, a Hen Into the Wild, A Letter to Momo, Children Who Chase Lost Voices, Winnie the Pooh
Best year of the 2010s. - DirectorMarcell JankovicsStarsGyula BalázsiPéter BenköÁgnes BertalanAdam's and Eve's epic journey throughout history trying to find the meaning of human life. Do we grow in wisdom as centuries pass, or just drift towards an inevitable doom?
- DirectorJean-François LaguionieStarsJean BarneyChloé BerthierJB BlancThree characters of different social classes escape their unfinished painting in search of the Painter, hoping he will complete it.
- DirectorNoriyuki KitanoharaKazuya SakamotoNoriko TakaoStarsAya HiranoTomokazu SugitaMinori ChiharaA week before Christmas, Kyon wakes up in a world where the SOS Brigade doesn't exist. Mikuru and Yuki don't recognize him, and Haruhi and Itsuki seem to have vanished.2010 honorable mentions: How to Train Your Dragon, Arrietty, Tangled, Toy Story 3, Batman: Under the Red Hood, You Are Umasou, A Cat in Paris
- DirectorJan SvankmajerStarsVáclav HelsusKlára IssováZuzana KrónerováThe film uses a mix of cut-out animation from photographs and live-action segments, and tells the story of a married man who lives a double life in his dreams, where he is married to another woman.
- DirectorSylvain ChometStarsJean-Claude DondaEilidh RankinDuncan MacNeilA French illusionist finds himself out of work and travels to Scotland, where he meets a young woman. Their ensuing adventure changes both their lives forever.
- DirectorSunao KatabuchiStarsMasao AgawaChisa BandaiRomy BeckmanInspired by her grandfather's stories, young Shinko embarks on wild flights of fancy about the history of the little town she lives in. But dreams can't fend off the realities of growing up.2009 honorable mentions: Summer Wars, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Up, Coraline
- DirectorAleksa GajicNebojsa AndricStevan DjordjevicStarsSanda KnezevicNebojsa GlogovacJelisaveta 'Seka' SablicBelgrade 2074. Edit is a student. After a few failed exams she decides to implant a memory chip... but, something strange starts happening to her.
- DirectorTakeshi KoikeStarsTakuya KimuraYû AoiTadanobu AsanoA story about the most popular racing event in the galaxy, the Redline, and the various racers who compete in it.
- DirectorTakayuki HiraoStarsMaaya SakamotoKen'ichi SuzumuraTakako HondaA teenage demon hunter uses her mystical powers to investigate supernatural events.2008 honorable mentions: Genius Party Beyond (favorite segment is Dimension Bomb), Wall-E, Kung Fu Panda, Sky Crawlers, Waltz with Bashir, Sita Sings the Blues, Idiots and Angels
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsCate BlanchettMatt DamonLiam NeesonA five-year-old boy develops a relationship with Ponyo, a young goldfish princess who longs to become a human after falling in love with him.
- DirectorYoshinobu YamakawaAmber Lee ConnorsStarsMisato FukuenMiyuki SawashiroDaisuke KishioAmagane Rinne, an upbeat schoolgirl, has died. But even dead, she still has to attend school in the underworld.
- DirectorMakoto ShinkaiStarsKenji MizuhashiYoshimi KondouSatomi HanamuraTold in three interconnected segments, Takaki tells the story of his life as cruel winters, cold technology, and finally, adult obligations and responsibility converge to test the delicate petals of love.2007 honorable mentions: Yobi, the Five Tailed Fox, Nocturna, Summer Days with Coo, Sword of the Stranger, One Night in a City, Fear(s) of the Dark
- DirectorBrad BirdJan PinkavaStarsBrad GarrettLou RomanoPatton OswaltA rat who can cook makes an unusual alliance with a young kitchen worker at a famous Paris restaurant.
- DirectorVincent ParonnaudMarjane SatrapiStarsChiara MastroianniCatherine DeneuveGena RowlandsA precocious and outspoken Iranian girl grows up during the Islamic Revolution.
- DirectorMamoru HosodaStarsRiisa NakaTakuya IshidaMitsutaka ItakuraA high-school girl named Makoto acquires the power to travel back in time, and decides to use it for her own personal benefits. Little does she know that she is affecting the lives of others just as much as she is her own.
- DirectorSatoshi KonStarsMegumi HayashibaraTôru EmoriKatsunosuke HoriWhen a machine that allows therapists to enter their patients' dreams is stolen, all hell breaks loose. Only a young female therapist, Paprika, can stop it.