The 21 best animated movies of the 21st century (so far)

Controversial opinion: Wall-E is the best Pixar film. An imaginative journey with a space waltz, a cute robot, and a message on how we need to clean the planet and stay in shape, this is the studio firing on all cylinders. It's an almost silent movie that speaks volumes about our current moment. 

Not just one of the best from Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, Spirited Away is simply one of the best animated movies ever. It never fails to dazzle the senses, dropping us into a world of spirits, witches, castles, and dragons where our heroine searches for her parents. It's the closest you can get to entering a child's dream. 

It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's a bunch of sheep in a flying saucer! The folks at Aardman made their silliest movie in 2019 when they decided to give their herd of sheep a friend from outer space. This causes all sorts of problems in the countryside and allows the animators to spoof everything from Signs to 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The success of The Lego Movie can be credited to how perfectly it catered to children and adults alike. For kids, it was a fantastical adventure, complete with jokes, songs, and famous characters. But this Dreamworks animation is also packed with references for adults and a story that deconstructs the entire concept of daily life. It all snaps into place like legos, which is fitting for a movie about a bunch of legos coming together to take down a corporation. 

Get out those tissues! This classic from Pixar will have you crying from the very first scene. When we race through the life of Carl — skimming over the main events — we see part of ourselves in this labor of love, loss, and happiness. The rest of the movie sees Carl and a boy traveling the world in a hot-air balloon.

Road trips have never been more fun. As the Mitchells go on a cross-country adventure, they soon realize that the world is being overrun by robots. The best part of the movie is the family themselves, who are hilarious and relatable, and the director's ability to make you care about their problems. The movie will make you laugh and cry, which is all you can ask for from a family comedy.

Up there with Spirited Away as one of Hayao Miyazaki's best, The Wind Rises is another movie that dives into a magical realm. But unlike Away, this one has a dark side and is often heartbreaking. Whether it's the story of a man who makes money from war or the love that ends with cancer, The Wind lies somewhere between a field of sorrow and a breeze of possibility. 

Farmageddon isn't the only talking animals movie on our list. Pixar made a lot of noise with Finding Nemo, the story of a fish who is separated from his father and must venture through the ocean to find him. Along the way, he meets plenty of fun side characters, a shark who turns out to be a mench and a space cadet who has never been to space. 

Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel was turned into a movie thanks to animator Vincent Paronnaud, who drew on the writer's experience to create a visceral, black-and-white portrait of Iran. In the span of 20 years, it captures the many changes that the country went through, including wars, dictators, and cover-ups. Against the backdrop of broken homes, Marjane rebels against these changes the only way she knows how: with loud music! 

Before the Batman movies made superheroes dark and the Marvel Cinematic Universe made them invincible, Pixar made them more relatable and fun than they'd ever been. Countless superhero movies deal with human issues, but director Brad Bird got tons of mileage out of his middle-class milieu. With several obstacles like grocery shopping, finding a babysitter, and getting the kids to listen, the Incredibles seem like the least incredible superheroes ever. But that's what makes them so super. They're human beings who also happen to kick butt. 

The filmmakers should really apologize to anyone who thought this would be a Cast Away-meets-Gilligan adventure. Do not be fooled by the action in the trailer, which frames this as a fast-paced thriller. No, this animated film from Studio Ghibli moves as slowly as a raft making its way across the sea. It's a movie to be cherished, soaked up, and enjoyed the same way you enjoy a day at the beach.  

Wes Anderson's live-action films can often feel like cartoons. So it makes sense that he would navigate toward the realm of animation where everything is heightened, and everyone is caricatured, down to the extras lurking around the frame. The director's first foray into the world of animation saw him adapting Roald Dahl's novel, though the story is just a jumping-off point for the director to write his own story about a scheming fox.

Even before the final scene (you know the one), Toy Story 3 is already one of the most moving films ever made. Once Buzz, Woody, and the rest of the gang realize they don't have a future with Andy, we're already holding back tears. There's never been a more emotional ending, period. 

This one is not for children. The title character goes into another world where she meets her "other" parents, who have buttons for eyes and zippers for lips. That alone is creepy, but she also has to fight a witch that gives the one in Oz a run for her money. 

So let me get this straight: the studio known for emotional manipulation made a movie about emotional manipulation? What is this? Some kind of prank? Hardly. What makes Inside Out work is its voyage into a young girl's mind, where emotions like Joy and Sadness talk to each other like people. Children will learn plenty about their emotions by watching Riley's, while parents will learn plenty about their children's state of mind.  

What an odd little film! But a great one, too. Isao Takahata's protagonist is a princess who sprouts from wood and grows years in a single day. She lives an entire life in a week while the rest of the world moves at normal speed. It's a life that teaches us not to follow the rules but to follow our path, so long as that path leads to a moral destination.

There was a time when Pixar couldn't miss. Even the wildest of premises were delivered to our doorstep in a tidy package. Monsters, Inc. tells the story of two monsters in charge of scaring people, which might be the flimsiest premise since Adam Sandler spent two hours learning how to read in first grade. And yet, Pixar made it work. Somehow they turned a single joke into a monster hit. 

Boy, Pixar was on a roll. After Monsters, Inc. and The Incredibles, they came up with the story of a rat who learns to cook. There are a number of bumps along the way — mainly him being a rodent — but he eventually achieves his dream by making the perfect plate of pasta. The result is a mouth-watering success. 

Hayao Miyazaki is responsible for roughly half the movies on our list, yet even some of his devotees think this one is a misfire. Initially, a box-office failure, Howl's Moving Castle has amassed a number of fans in recent years, many of whom aren't drawn to the director's other work.

Define "animated movie." The main character is animated. Some scenes are animated. And the jokes wouldn't work if our main character wasn't animated. We'll go ahead and call Paddington 2 animated if only cause we want to sing the movie's praises. There aren't enough films out there devoted to goodwill, which makes this story of a bear buying his mom a present even more welcome. 

Another movie devoted to the power of goodwill, Ponyo is the story of a fish who runs away from home and finds a new home on land. After her dad tries to save her and her crush tries to help her, the two go on a journey that will test their love. It's a gleefully funny, colorful adventure that sees nice people doing nice things for others.