Spirited Away is a magnificent achievement by Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, a gorgeous-looking piece of filmmaking that evokes recollections of everything from Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz to Yellow Submarine and the classic children's novel Where the Wild Things Are.

This immediate classic, about a young girl forced to labor in a bathhouse that caters to spirits, takes great joy in defying spectator expectations every step of the way, with scenes more appropriate to a hallucinogenic dream than a cinema screen. Only the Cantina in Star Wars can perhaps rival this film's bathhouse in terms of the sheer amount of strange animals wandering around. The plot of Spirited Away (also Sen and the Mysterious Disappearance of Chihiro in one of its Japanese adaptations) is based on concepts that may be found in a variety of timeless stories, such as honor, sacrifice, responsibility, and respect.

Spirited Away was released in Japan in 2001 and was taken up by Disney for an American release in 2002. The studio mishandled its nationwide release, focusing instead on marketing domestic mediocrities like The Country Bears, Treasure Planet, and The Santa Clause 2. However, it eclipsed Titanic as Japan's highest-grossing picture in 1997, a record that has yet to be surpassed 15 years later. The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature was almost certainly frosting on the cake.

Detailed information:

Release date: Jul 20, 2001 (Japan)
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Estimated budget: $19 million
Music by: Joe Hisaishi

Link to watch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0245429

Three-peats are difficult to come by in athletics, but they're much more difficult to achieve in film. Yet here is Toy Story 3, which defied the odds and exceeded all expectations to emerge as the ideal conclusion to a trilogy that will live on for centuries. After Ratatouille, WALL-E, and Up, the picture concluded a spectacular Oscar run for Pixar, as it was the fourth straight Pixar movie to win Best Animated Feature.

Andy is about to start college and needs to figure out what to do with the few surviving toys from his childhood, which have been collecting dust under his bed for years. The crew ends themselves at a daycare center that appears to be a playhouse paradise due to a misunderstanding; however, things aren't exactly as they seem, and Woody (Tom Hanks) prepares a big escape. In true Toy Story fashion, this provides plenty of opportunities for Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) to show off his bravery, Jessie (Joan Cusack) to flaunt her wit, Rex (Wallace Shawn) to bemoan his lot in life, and Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles) and Hamm (John Ratzenberger) to let loose with the sarcastic remarks.

Tackling issues of loss, identity, and self-worth, Toy Story 3 also superbly taps into the feelings most people experienced during their childhoods, when toys opened us to new worlds and new experiences.

Detailed information:

Release date: Jun 18, 2010
Director: Lee Unkrich
Gross revenue: $1.07 billion
Estimated budget: $200 million

Link to watch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435761

There aren't many contemporary films — animated or otherwise — that can rival Inside Out when it comes to presenting an appealing blend of inventiveness, intelligence, and passion. This book is intriguing in more ways than one, as it tells the narrative of Riley, an 11-year-old girl (Kaitlyn Dias). It tells the tale of what's within Riley, especially the basic emotions that have been with her since birth and are housed in her mind's "control room."

Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Bill Hader), and Disgust (Mindy Kaling) scurry to put Riley's family's move from Minnesota to San Francisco into perspective. Joy and Sadness are expelled from the control center as a consequence of an accident, and it's at this time that Inside Out truly takes off, both artistically and conceptually.

Riley teams up with his long-forgotten imaginary friend Bing Bong (Richard Kind) on a voyage that culminates in some of the most powerful set-pieces in the Pixar canon, with select scenes evoking the spirit of Hayao Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli jewels. The film's go-for-broke artistic design is only half of its attraction; it also has a significant humanist reach, which includes both family and (imaginary) friends.

Detailed information:

Release date: Jun 19, 2015 (United States)
Directors: Pete Docter, Andrew Coats, Ronnie del Carmen
Gross revenue: $858.80 million
Story by: Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Ronnie del Carmen

Link to watch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2096673

While most studios cast their animated films with any A-list actors they can get their hands on, regardless of whether or not they're the greatest candidates, Pixar always chooses the best individuals for the positions at hand, regardless of marquee value. WALL-speech E's primarily beeps and chirps with the occasional electronically changed phrase, but instead of employing Jim Carrey or Will Ferrell, they went with Ben Burtt, the multi-Oscar-winning sound designer who worked on Star Wars and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.

Burtt's dazzling moment lies at the heart of a film that, like nearly all Pixar productions, operates on a different level for adults than it does for children. It's not only that adults will appreciate the typical asides thrown their way (e.g. a musical reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey; Alien star Sigourney Weaver providing the voice of a computer). More importantly, it's because the film explores one of life's tenets: the necessity to find a companion with whom to share life's events. Of course, in this case, it's a robot in need of companionship rather than a person — particularly, WALL-E, a creaky 'bot who falls for a sleek model named EVE.

WALL-E’s comic invention is considerable, particularly during the opening half-hour — featuring practically no dialogue, this stretch allows the lovable robot to function as a metallic Buster Keaton. The only downside: even in animated form, cockroaches are still disgusting.

Detailed information:

Release date: Jun 27, 2008
Director: Andrew Stanton
Gross revenue: $521.30 million
Screenwriters: Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Pete Docter

Link to watch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0910970

In a trilogy of outstanding clay-animated cartoons, animator Nick Park initially introduced the bewildered scientist Wallace and his more clever canine sidekick Gromit, soon establishing the British odd couple as the new pioneers of plasticine. Placing them in a feature-length movie could have been a wonderful idea taken too far — thankfully, that wasn't the case, with Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit getting excellent reviews and becoming the category's lone stop-motion winner to date.

In this story, Wallace (as usually portrayed by Peter Sallis) and his silent canine companion have formed Anti-Pesto, a pest control company dedicated to humanely ridding their town of rabbits. One of Wallace's experiments goes tragically wrong just before the annual Giant Vegetable Competition, and the outcome is a giant rabbit that eats its way through the townspeople's precious goods.

Throughout the film, the wit is as abundant as the rabbit — for example, a shot of Wallace's bookcase reveals such classics as East of Edam and Fromage to Eternity — and Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes play supporting roles as the sweet-natured Lady Tottington and the gun-crazy Victor Quartermaine, respectively. Although the great majority of animated Oscar winners are CGI creations, there is one magnificent occasion when the clay is the star.

Detailed information:

Release date: Oct 08, 2005 (United Kingdom)
Directors: Nick Park, Steve Box
Gross revenue: $192.60 million
Screenwriters: Mark Burton, Nick Park, Steve Box, Bob Baker

Link to watch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0312004

The tale of a couple who stay madly in love through the decades concludes with the death of the woman in Pixar's 2009 classic Up, which starts with an emotionally painful moment. Carl Fredricksen (Ed Asner) attaches his house to thousands of helium-filled balloons and floats off to an uninhabited section of South America soon after his loving spouse passes away, only to discover too late that he has an uninvited passenger in the form of an enthusiastic 8-year-old child (Jordan Nagai).

Up finds pertinent themes of love, loneliness, and self-sacrifice flowing through its running length, in addition to giving the required thrills – those frightened of heights will stiffen up until the explosive finish. Of course, it wouldn't be a family film without at least one adorable sidekick, and Dug, a happy-go-lucky dog who, along with other (fiercer) dogs, has been fitted with a gadget that allows him to communicate, delivers just that. So it's a movie that goes to the dogs in the end, but it still gets a thumbs up from me.

Detailed information:

Release date: May 29, 2009 (United States)
Directors: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
Gross revenue: $735.10 million
Story by: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

Link to watch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1049413

Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson), Elastigirl (Holly Hunter), and other colorfully costumed characters star in 2004's The Incredibles, which looks to be merely another fast-paced superhero epic, albeit more kid-friendly. But, because writer-director Brad Bird caters to no certain audience, this one-of-a-kind children's picture is also adult-oriented in its treatment of its characters and the themes that influence their lives.

The Incredibles is presented as the modern American family that is expected to conform to the societal status quo (i.e. blend in with the bland) rather than champion its own uniqueness. While the majority of the comic relief comes from costume designer Edna Mode, an Edith Head caricature voiced by Bird himself, the drama comes from The Incredibles. Domestic disputes sparked by their suburban apathy give way to an acknowledgment of their uniqueness and, as a result, the ability to combine their resources as both criminals and family members. It's touching without being too sweet, and it's just one of the many reasons why The Incredibles is frequently, well, extraordinary.

Detailed information:

Release date: Nov 05, 2004 (United States)
Directors: Brad Bird, Alan Barillaro
Gross revenue: $631.60 million
Story by: Brad Bird

Link to watch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317705

Finding Nemo was a huge smash that summer, and it's one of the five films nominated for Best Animated Feature at the moment. Despite its qualities, it does not compare to the genuine candidates (which include Zootopia, Moana, Kubo, and the Two Strings) or its predecessor from 2003.

The narrative of Finding Nemo follows hesitant clownfish Marlin (Albert Brooks) as he sets out to rescue his son Nemo (Alexander Gould), who has been kidnapped by a deep-sea diver and imprisoned in an aquarium in a dentist's office in Sydney, Australia.

The supporting cast, which includes Ellen DeGeneres as the exuberant blue tang Dory and director Andrew Stanton as the placid turtle Crush, is endearing, and the adult-oriented humor (nods to Psycho, Jaws, and The Shining) are funny, but it is the animation itself that lifts Finding Nemo. It's simply breathtaking, with a dizzying rainbow of hues that give the sense of a live, breathing sea.

Detailed information:

Release date: May 30, 2003
Directors: Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich
Gross revenue: $940.30 million
Films in series: Finding Dory (Since 2016), Finding Nemo (Since 2003)

Link to watch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266543

Brad Bird's 2007 Ratatouille, maybe the most unjustly underestimated of all Pixar films, might have gotten a higher ranking if not for the great competition. Among the many wonderful films set in the kitchen, Babette's Feast, Eat Drink Man Woman, and Like Water for Chocolate stand out, but an animated tale about a culinary rat still manages to stand out.

Remy (Patton Oswalt) is the creature, while Linguini (Lou Romano) is the main human protagonist, a scrawny youngster who lacks his late father's amazing cooking talents. Because restaurant kitchens aren't exactly rodent-friendly, and because circumstances require the singularly untalented Linguini to pass himself off as a master chef, the two pool their efforts to restore a once-famous Paris bistro to its former glory.

Ratatouille is a love letter to Paris and a valentine to the beautiful art of cooking, and Peter O'Toole's portrayal of Anton Ego (Peter O'Toole) as a food critic who is severe exactly because he loves what he's covering may be the most honest reviewer depiction ever placed on the screen.

Detailed information:

Directed by: Brad Bird
Screenplay by: Brad Bird
Story by: Jan Pinkava

Link to watch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0382932

This 2013 Disney joy, loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen, dares to wrinkle the studio's proprietary formula a little by giving fans with not one, but two female characters — and the focus is most definitely not on finding a guy. Frozen is ultimately a story of sisterly love, with Anna (Kristen Bell) doing everything she can to defend and protect her elder sister Elsa (Idina Menzel), the queen who can't touch anything without it icing over (she's practically a cross between X-Men sweethearts Rogue and Iceman).

The backdrops are depicted in more realistic detail than the human actors' faces, as is typically the case with CGI cartoons. The animation team takes it a step further here, producing a snowy paradise that is just breathtaking to see.

The love triangle of Anna, gentleman suitor Hans (Santino Fontana), and burly outdoorsman Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) is subverted beautifully by a third act surprise, making it more difficult than most Disney films. Sven, a reindeer, and Olaf (Josh Gad), a continuously cheerful snowman, give the necessary levity, while married composers Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez deliver a powerful musical score that includes the Oscar-winning "Let it Go."

Detailed information:

Directed by: Chris Buck
Screenplay by: Jennifer Lee
Story by: Chris Buck

Link to watch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294629