With the 2010s now behind us, we here at Animated Views thought it was a perfect time to look back at the best of what the past decade in animation had to offer. But instead of giving you our views, we placed the ball in your hands and asked “What are YOUR picks for the best animated films from the last ten years?”
Given how eventful those years were, it wasn’t an easy choice, as animation reached an almost unprecedented level of popularity. Some highlights:
- Illumination Animation surprised pretty much the entire industry when they exploded onto the scene with Despicable Me in 2010 and seemed to produce nothing but hits after that.
- Lucasfilm got into the genre (however briefly) with their first fully animated feature Rango in 2011.
- Pixar returned to the world of Toy Story twice — and earned just the third Best Picture Academy Award nomination in history for an animated film.
- Laika saw all four films they released in the decade get Best Animated Feature Oscar nominations.
- Warner Bros. went all in with seven releases over a five year period, all but one of which was certified Fresh at Rotten Tomatoes.
- After having never claimed an Animated Feature Oscar during the award’s first 12 years of existence, Disney underwent a resurgence, winning it three times starting with the release of Frozen in 2013.
- Sony landed commercial and critical praise after Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse swung into theaters in 2018.
- Other smaller productions, like The Book Of Life and Klaus, galvanized groups of devoted fans.
- And international releases such as The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya, Song Of The Sea and more continued to impress as they gradually found their way into the States.
Like we said, with so many options to choose from, you had a downright-near impossible decision. Fortunately you were up to the task! So let’s count down the top 25 animated movies of the decade — as chosen by you, our readers — in AV’s Best of the 2010s!
(And be sure to check out the end of the list for some interesting stats about your selections, a key to the icons, and details on how the scores were tabulated.)
Tomm Moore
On Ballot: 12%
Score: 6.0
Stephen J. Anderson & Don Hall
Travis Knight
Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud
On Ballot: 12%
Score: 7.0
Sergio Pablos
On Ballot: 22%
Score: 8.4
Isao Takahata
On Ballot: 16%
Score: 9.4
Jennifer Yuh Nelson
On Ballot: 18%
Score: 10.5
Don Hall & Chris Williams
Mark Andrews & Brenda Chapman
Ron Clements & John Musker
Phil Lord & Christopher Miller
Byron Howard & Rich Moore
Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey,
& Rodney Rothman
Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee
Chris Sanders & Dean DeBlois
Lee Unkrich
Nathan Greno & Byron Howard
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2014
directed by
Tomm Moore
First Place Votes: 1% On Ballot: 12% Score: 6.0 |
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2013
directed by
Hayao Miyazaki
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2011
directed by
Stephen J. Anderson & Don Hall
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2016
directed by
Travis Knight
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2014
directed by
Dean DeBlois
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2010
directed by
Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud
First Place Votes: 3% On Ballot: 12% Score: 7.0 |
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2019
directed by
Josh Cooley
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2015
 directed by
Steve Martino
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2019
directed by
Sergio Pablos
First Place Votes: 1% On Ballot: 22% Score: 8.4 |
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2014
directed by
Isao Takahata
First Place Votes: 3% On Ballot: 16% Score: 9.4 |
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2011
 directed by
Steven Spielberg
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2011
directed by
Jennifer Yuh Nelson
First Place Votes: 0% On Ballot: 18% Score: 10.5 |
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2014
directed by
Don Hall & Chris Williams
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2012
directed by
Mark Andrews & Brenda Chapman
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2016
directed by
Ron Clements & John Musker
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2014
directed by
Phil Lord & Christopher Miller
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2012
directed by
Rich Moore
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2017
directed by
Lee Unkrich
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2016
directed by
Byron Howard & Rich Moore
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2018
directed by
Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, & Rodney Rothman
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2013
directed by
Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee
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2010
directed by
Chris Sanders & Dean DeBlois
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2015
directed by
Pete Docter
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2010
directed by
Lee Unkrich
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2010
directed by
Nathan Greno & Byron Howard
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- Only six of the top 25 movies weren’t nominated for a Best Animated Feature Oscar — most notably your #1 pick, Tangled.
- Twelve different studios are represented on the list. Disney leads all of them with 7 selections, followed by Pixar with 5, DreamWorks with 3, and Studio Ghibli with 2.
- We gave you 99 movies to choose from, with the option to write-in your own. In total, 103 titles received votes: 97 of the listed options and 6 write-ins.
- The two films receiving no votes were Ice Age: Collision Course and Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation.
- Two write-ins received multiple votes: It’s Such a Beautiful Day and A Silent Voice. The former was the highest rated write-in at #55. The others were The Angry Birds Movie 2, Colorful, The Little Prince, and Spies in Disguise.
- Rango was the only Best Animated Feature Oscar winner not to make the top 25 — but just barely missed, coming in at #26.
- Three movies nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar ended up in the bottom ten: The Boss Baby, Ferdinand, and Mirai.
- #1 Tangled had the most first place votes. #3 Inside Out and #8 Coco tied for showing up on the most ballots.
- Five sequels made the list.
- Five directors appear in the top 25 twice, three of whom have two films in the top ten: Byron Howard (#1 & #7), Lee Unkrich (#2 & #8), Rich Moore (#7 & #9), Dean DeBlois (#4 & #21), and Don Hall (#13 & #23).
- 2010 was arguably the best year of the decade, with three of the top four films and four in the top 25: (#1, #3, #4, & #20). Though 2014 has a strong claim as well with five films in the top 25 (#10, #13, #16, #21, & #25).
- 2017 and 2018 only had a single title each in the top 25, though both were in the top ten.
- This really could be considered two lists: the top nine and everything else. The gap between #9 and #10 is wider than that between #10 and #25.
- Tell us what you think in the Animated Views Forum, where you can also view the complete list of ranked movies.
KEY | |
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Oscar nominee for Best Animated Feature |
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$100 million domestic box office |
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Rotten Tomatoes adjusted score of 90% |
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AV Readers' Choice Poll selection |
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AV Best of the Year theatrical selection |
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AV review score of seven or better |
First Place Votes: rounded percentage of voters who chose the film as their #1 selection On Ballot: rounded percentage of voters who chose the film anywhere on their ballot Score: points were awarded to each film based on where it appeared on a voter's ballot; the final score was determined by totaling the film's points from all ballots, dividing by the maximum possible points it could have earned if every voter had placed the film at #1, then multiplying by 100; score is rounded to one decimal place, or two to break ties; a perfect score is 100 |
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KEYOscar nominee for Best Animated Feature
$100 million domestic box office
Rotten Tomatoes adjusted score of 90%
AV Readers' Choice Poll selection
AV Best of the Year theatrical selection
AV review score of seven or better | First Place Votes: rounded percentage of voters who chose the film as their #1 selection On Ballot: rounded percentage of voters who chose the film anywhere on their ballot Score: points were awarded to each film based on where it appeared on a voter's ballot; the final score was determined by totaling the film's points from all ballots, dividing by the maximum possible points it could have earned if every voter had placed the film at #1, then multiplying by 100; score is rounded to one decimal place, or two to break ties; a perfect score is 100 |
