How old is too old when it comes to watching animated movies? Well, the answer is you can never be too old and thankfully has some of the best animated movies available that have been released in the last few decades featuring hits from Disney, Universal Pictures, Aardman, Dreamworks and many more.
Here are the top 15 animated movies on Netflix.
15. Minions (2015)
Director: Kyle Balda & Pierre Coffin
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Jonn Hamm & Michael Keaton
Most people are either completely sick or still in complete love with the Minions. The little yellow creatures were first found in Despicable Me and unexpectedly turned into an international sensation. Looking to capitalise on this, Universal released a spinoff dedicated to just the Minions but bought back some of the other voice talents in the previous movies. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t the best movie ever neither is it better than the originals but it still gives addicts their fix of Minions.
14. Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)
Director: Joe Dante
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman, and Steve Martin
Critically, this movie did not do very well but many fans will regularly rewatch the movie just to see all their favorite Looney Tune characters. It featured the biggest Looney Tune characters such as Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny and even Roadrunner made an appearance. Steve Martin’s performance is annoying yet memorable and while the story won’t having you writing home, it’s not unwatchable.
13. The Angry Birds Movie (2016)
Directors: Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly
Starring: Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride and Peter Dinklage
One of the biggest video games to release in the past 10 years has been the mobile game Angry Birds. It broke many records and cemented the mobile phone as a valid gaming device and while its name has dwindled in the last few years, the studios decided to was time that the birds got their own feature length movie. The movie is well animated and features some big names in its cast.
12. Chicken Little (2005)
Director: Mark Dindal
Starring: Zach Braff, Joan Cusack, and Patrick Stewart
Chicken Little is the first of two animated movies on this list that focus on chickens, we’re not sure whether chickens are easier to animate but they sure do make for great movies. Young Chicken Little must do his best to convince his town that they’re being invaded by aliens along with his goofy sidekicks. It got universally panned by the critics when it first released but has since grown a dedicated fanbase who look past the movie’s shortcomings.
11. The Iron Giant (1999)
Director: Brad Bird
Starring: Eli Marienthal, Vin Diesel, and Jennifer Aniston
Brad Bird has had a hand in some of the most influential animated movies with Iron Giant likely being right up the top. He’s also been a regular director Pixar with his work on The Incredibles and the criminally underrated Ratatouille. The Iron Giant is a hand drawn animated movie about a boy who discovers a massive robot and does his best to try and concede him from the world. It demonstrates animated movies ability to grip you just the same as a live action movie can and The Iron Giant will likely leave you with a tear in your eye.
10. The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)
Director: Mark Dindal
Starring: David Spade, John Goodman, Eartha Kitt and Patrick Warburton
With a superb cast, the original Emperor’s New Groove still holds up well to newer Disney animated hits. Featuring your classic Disney morals lessons, it features Emperor Kuzco who is turned into a llama to teach him the values of being a good human and eventually returning to his throne as a better emperor. Although it didn’t do too hot in the box office, it was universally loved by the critics.
9. Chicken Run (2000)
Directors: Peter Lord and Nick Park
Starring: Mel Gibson, Phil Daniels, Lynn Ferguson and Tony Haygarth
One of Aardman’s first forays into the movie world after many successes with Wallace and Gromit was with Chicken Run. The British studio is known for its work on stop animated clay titles and continued that trend with a feature length movie focussing on a military type camp featuring chickens. The chickens must rally together to hopefully escape their compound after the owners of the farm decide to move into the chicken pie industry.
8. Coraline (2009)
Directors: Henry Selick
Starring: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French
One of the most prolific stop motion movies in the past 10 years has been the work of Coraline. The 2009 movie was directed by Henry Selick although you’d be let off if you were thinking this was from Tim Burton. The movie features a young girl who gets lured into a secret world by a doll and meets her other parents. The movie is somewhat disturbing although a welcome break.
7. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Who Framed Roger Rabbit was one of the first movies that perfected the art of combining both live action shots with animated characters and done it to near perfection. The movie released all the way back in 1988 has become a timeless character and featured many of your favorite characters but in an adult environment. It’s like nothing else and remains a timeless classic.
6. Finding Dory (2016)
Directors: Andrew Stanton
Starring: Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks and Ed O’Neill
Although the Pixar follow-up to the 2004 Finding Nemo didn’t quite reach the heights of the original, it certainly provided plenty of nostalgia and delivered fanservice for the anxiously awaiting fans of the original. Many of your favorite characters return including Dory, Melvin, Nemo and many other characters as they go searching for Dory. It came to Netflix as part of the Disney contract and arrived roughly 8 months after the theatrical release.
5. The Secret Life of Pets (2016)
Directors: Chris Renaud
Starring: Louis CK, Kevin Hart & Ellie Kemper
The Secret Life of Pets broke a record becoming the highest grossing animated movie that wasn’t from the big two studios, Disney and Dreamworks. The movie featured an impressive cast and was about animals that live dual lives in the city of New York. It’s funny, witty and has been announced to be getting a sequel due out in 2019. Go and watch this movie!
4. Zootopia (2016)
Directors: Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush
Starring: Jason Bateman, Ginnifer Goodwin, Idris Elba and Jenny Slate
Zootopia is another recent animated movie that surpassed many people’s expectations. It’s one of the funniest Disney movies of all time and is truly a movie for the whole family. Our police team featuring a rabbit and a fox are on the search of the otter who miraculously disappeared from the city of Zootopia.
3. Tarzan (1999)
Directors: Chris Buck and Kevin Lima
Starring: Tony Goldwyn, Minnie Driver, Glenn Close and Brian Blessed
A true Disney classic comes in the form of Tarzan. It’s man sequels and even a Netflix Original series never managed to achieve what the original movie did when it landed back in 1999. The soundtrack alone is enough to push this movie right up to the top but when you combine the fantastic progression and possible links to other Disney franchises this is a near perfect movie.
2. Kubo and The Two Strings (2016)
Director: Travis Knight
Starring: Charlize Theron, Rooney Mara and George Takei
As independent and unique productions like Kubo and the Two Strings become less and less common it means they’re more treasured when a hit like Kubo does come out. Filmed in a stop motion format, the movie is set in Japan where one boy is on a quest to find his father’s armor while being chased by his evil grandfather. It’s an emotional rollercoaster ride achieving what very few animated movies can nowadays.
1. Moana (2016)
Directors: Ron Clements and John Musker
Starring: Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Jemaine Clement, Nicole Scherzinger
Disney’s biggest animated release of 2016 was Moana starring Dwayne Johnson and Auli’i Cravalho. It’s about an adventurous girl who goes out on an adventure to find Maui to try and get life to return to the island she lives on. It’s beautifully animated throughout and made waves when it first released. It came to Netflix as part of an exclusive arrangement between Netflix and Disney that brings new movies to the platform around 8 months after it’s theatrical debut.
What’s your favorite animated movie on Netflix? Let us know in the comments below.
