The 25 Best Animated Films of the 21st Century So Far by The Playlist
by francescafay11 | created - 28 May 2016 | updated - 28 May 2016 | Publichttp://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-25-best-animated-films-of-the-21st-century-so-far-20150319
List published by The Playlist staff on March 19th, 2015.
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1. Spirited Away (2001)
PG | 125 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
During her family's move to the suburbs, a sullen 10-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches and spirits, and where humans are changed into beasts.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Daveigh Chase, Suzanne Pleshette, Miyu Irino, Rumi Hiiragi
Votes: 849,701 | Gross: $10.06M
2. The Incredibles (2004)
PG | 115 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
While trying to lead a quiet suburban life, a family of undercover superheroes are forced into action to save the world.
Director: Brad Bird | Stars: Craig T. Nelson, Samuel L. Jackson, Holly Hunter, Jason Lee
Votes: 808,889 | Gross: $261.44M
3. Up (2009)
PG | 96 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
78-year-old Carl Fredricksen travels to Paradise Falls in his house equipped with balloons, inadvertently taking a young stowaway.
Directors: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson | Stars: Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai, John Ratzenberger, Christopher Plummer
Votes: 1,125,255 | Gross: $293.00M
4. The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
PG-13 | 80 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
When her grandson is kidnapped during the Tour de France, Madame Souza and her beloved pooch Bruno team up with the Belleville Sisters--an aged song-and-dance team from the days of Fred Astaire--to rescue him.
Director: Sylvain Chomet | Stars: Michèle Caucheteux, Jean-Claude Donda, Michel Robin, Monica Viegas
Votes: 57,084 | Gross: $7.00M
5. The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013)
PG | 137 min | Animation, Drama, Family
Kaguya 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.
Director: Isao Takahata | Stars: Chloë Grace Moretz, James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, James Marsden
Votes: 54,027 | Gross: $1.51M
6. Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
PG | 87 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
An urbane fox cannot resist returning to his farm raiding ways and then must help his community survive the farmers' retaliation.
Director: Wes Anderson | Stars: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman
Votes: 270,416 | Gross: $21.00M
7. Waltz with Bashir (2008)
R | 90 min | Documentary, Animation, Biography
An Israeli film director interviews fellow veterans of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to reconstruct his own memories of his term of service in that conflict.
Director: Ari Folman | Stars: Ari Folman, Ron Ben-Yishai, Ronny Dayag, Ori Sivan
Votes: 60,415 | Gross: $2.28M
8. The Wind Rises (2013)
PG-13 | 126 min | Animation, Biography, Drama
Jiro 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.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Hideaki Anno, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Miori Takimoto, Masahiko Nishimura
Votes: 98,805 | Gross: $5.21M
9. WALL·E (2008)
G | 98 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
In the distant future, a small waste-collecting robot inadvertently embarks on a space journey that will ultimately decide the fate of mankind.
Director: Andrew Stanton | Stars: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard
Votes: 1,200,706 | Gross: $223.81M
10. Persepolis (2007)
PG-13 | 96 min | Animation, Biography, Drama
A precocious and outspoken Iranian girl grows up during the Islamic Revolution.
Directors: Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi | Stars: Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Gena Rowlands, Danielle Darrieux
Votes: 100,198 | Gross: $4.45M
11. Chicken Run (2000)
G | 84 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
When a cockerel apparently flies into a chicken farm, the chickens see him as an opportunity to escape their evil owners.
Directors: Peter Lord, Nick Park | Stars: Mel Gibson, Julia Sawalha, Phil Daniels, Lynn Ferguson
Votes: 212,296 | Gross: $106.83M
12. Ratatouille (2007)
G | 111 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
A rat who can cook makes an unusual alliance with a young kitchen worker at a famous Paris restaurant.
Directors: Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava | Stars: Brad Garrett, Lou Romano, Patton Oswalt, Ian Holm
Votes: 825,292 | Gross: $206.45M
13. The Lego Movie (2014)
PG | 100 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
An ordinary LEGO construction worker, thought to be the prophesied as "special", is recruited to join a quest to stop an evil tyrant from gluing the LEGO universe into eternal stasis.
Directors: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller | Stars: Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett
Votes: 388,422 | Gross: $257.76M
14. Coraline (2009)
PG | 100 min | Animation, Drama, Family
Wandering her rambling old house in her boring new town, an 11-year-old Coraline discovers a hidden door to a strangely idealized version of her life. In order to stay in the fantasy, she must make a frighteningly real sacrifice.
Director: Henry Selick | Stars: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman, Jennifer Saunders
Votes: 263,850 | Gross: $75.29M
15. Toy Story 3 (2010)
G | 103 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
The toys are mistakenly delivered to a day-care center instead of the attic right before Andy leaves for college, and it's up to Woody to convince the other toys that they weren't abandoned and to return home.
Director: Lee Unkrich | Stars: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Ned Beatty
Votes: 892,641 | Gross: $415.00M
16. Monsters, Inc. (2001)
G | 92 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
In order to power the city, monsters have to scare children so that they scream. However, the children are toxic to the monsters, and after a child gets through, two monsters realize things may not be what they think.
Directors: Pete Docter, David Silverman, Lee Unkrich | Stars: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Mary Gibbs, Steve Buscemi
Votes: 979,082 | Gross: $289.92M
17. Finding Nemo (2003)
G | 100 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
After his son is captured in the Great Barrier Reef and taken to Sydney, a timid clownfish sets out on a journey to bring him home.
Directors: Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich | Stars: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Dafoe
Votes: 1,113,638 | Gross: $380.84M
18. How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
PG | 98 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
A hapless young Viking who aspires to hunt dragons becomes the unlikely friend of a young dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he assumed.
Directors: Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders | Stars: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Craig Ferguson
Votes: 800,795 | Gross: $217.58M
19. Monster House (2006)
PG | 91 min | Animation, Comedy, Family
Three teens discover that their neighbor's house is really a living, breathing, scary monster.
Director: Gil Kenan | Stars: Mitchel Musso, Sam Lerner, Spencer Locke, Ryan Whitney
Votes: 138,240 | Gross: $73.66M
20. Millennium Actress (2001)
PG | 87 min | Animation, Drama, Fantasy
A TV interviewer and his cameraman meet a former actress and travel through her memories and career.
Directors: Satoshi Kon, Kô Matsuo | Stars: Miyoko Shôji, Shôzô Îzuka, Mami Koyama, Fumiko Orikasa
Votes: 32,076 | Gross: $0.19M
21. A Town Called Panic (2009)
TV-PG | 75 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Cowboy and Indian's only wish was to come up with a brilliant idea for Mr Horse's birthday, but when their plan ends up in utter disaster, they'll need to travel the world and back to make things right again.
Directors: Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar | Stars: Stéphane Aubier, Jeanne Balibar, Nicolas Buysse, François De Brigode
Votes: 8,712 | Gross: $0.17M
22. Rango (2011)
PG | 107 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
Rango is an ordinary chameleon who accidentally winds up in the town of Dirt, a lawless outpost in the Wild West in desperate need of a new sheriff.
Director: Gore Verbinski | Stars: Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Timothy Olyphant, Abigail Breslin
Votes: 293,123 | Gross: $123.48M
23. Winnie the Pooh (2011)
G | 63 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
While searching for honey, Pooh and his friends embark on an adventure to find Eeyore's missing tail and rescue Christopher Robin from an unknown monster called The Backson.
Directors: Stephen J. Anderson, Don Hall | Stars: Jim Cummings, Craig Ferguson, John Cleese, Bud Luckey
Votes: 28,364 | Gross: $26.69M
24. Lilo & Stitch (2002)
PG | 85 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
A young and parentless girl adopts a 'dog' from the local pound, completely unaware that it's supposedly a dangerous scientific experiment that's taken refuge on Earth and is now hiding from its creator and those who see it as a menace.
Directors: Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders | Stars: Daveigh Chase, Chris Sanders, Tia Carrere, David Ogden Stiers
Votes: 211,725 | Gross: $145.79M
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