Last Updated on March 17, 2026 by Asiana Circus
Looking for some of the most immersive and awe-inspiring animated movies for adults? Then you’re at the right place because you’ll find here everything from classics, new hits, and indie darlings to Oscar winners from around the world.
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Best Animated Movies For Adults Since 1957
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Looking for something really special or weird? Don’t worry, we got your back. These imaginative animated movies not only have unique visuals but also one-of-a-kind stories and brilliantly crafted characters and are from some of the most talented and singular film creators from all over the world.
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With the help of our list, you can discover the best animated movies for adults since 1957 from not only the USA but Russia, France, Japan, Spain, Ireland, Australia, Portugal, and even Hungary.
These animations are all great pieces of cinematic art and are all highly praised and acknowledged by professionals and movie fans alike.
19| Waltz with Bashir
Director: Ari Folman
2008, Israel/France/Germany
Waltz with Bashir is one of those films I would only put on a list like this if I really meant it, because it is not an easy watch and it is definitely not there to be “fun animation for adults.” It’s an animated documentary by Ari Folman, built around his attempt to recover his own missing memories of serving as a soldier during the 1982 Lebanon War.
As he talks to old friends and fellow veterans, the film keeps circling back toward the Sabra and Shatila massacre, which he realizes he remembers almost nothing about. What got me about this one is the choice to do it in animation at all. War memories, nightmares, fragments, the stuff your mind refuses to hold onto properly — that all makes much more sense in this form than it would in a neat, ordinary documentary. The film starts from something very specific too: an old friend tells Ari about a recurring nightmare involving 26 dogs, and that conversation sends him back into a past he has half-lost.
That detail comes straight from the official press material, and it already tells you this is going somewhere darker and stranger than most war films do. I would not sell this as “beautiful” in the same way I’d talk about Song of the Sea or Wolfwalkers, because that would be the wrong tone entirely. But I do think it belongs on a list like yours if you want one animated film that proves just how much the medium can hold.
It’s haunting, politically charged, and very hard to shake off once it’s over. If you like your animation a lot more adult, unsettling, and willing to go places most live-action films already struggle with, this is a huge one.
18| Wolfwalkers
Directors: Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart
2020, Ireland/Luxembourg/France
Wolfwalkers was such an obvious add for this list because it feels exactly like the kind of film I’m always hoping to find: hand-drawn, folklore-heavy, a little wild, and completely in love with its own world. It’s set in Ireland during a time when Robyn, a young apprentice hunter, arrives with her father to help wipe out the last wolves. Then she slips beyond the city walls, meets Mebh, and everything gets much more interesting from there. That basic setup comes straight from the official synopsis.
I love that this film does not treat the forest like a pretty backdrop. The whole point is the pull between the rigid, controlled town and the wilder world outside it, and you feel that difference in every part of the film. Robyn starts out trying to be the obedient daughter and useful little hunter, and then of course she meets the exact girl who is going to ruin that plan in the best possible way. Mebh is fierce, funny, half-feral, and impossible not to love.
17| Pinocchio
Directors: Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson
2022, Mexico, USA, France
Pinocchio is 2022’s most breathtaking, highly emotional, and deeply immersive stop-motion movie adults will surely love; probably even more than younger audiences. Fans can go on an unforgettable journey with their favorite puppet and experience this beloved tale a bit differently.
While the story has mostly the same characters and has the same story beats as the original tale in this version Pinocchio comes alive in a much eerier and more dangerous world. However, this story is not without bright, charming, and inspiring moments that turned this new classic into one of the most atmospheric tearjerker movies.
This beguiling animated movie’s main story is set during the second world war in Italy. During his adventures, Pinocchio not only has to learn important lessons about love, loss, death, and disobedience but has to also find a way to evade the soldiers of the fascist Italian army who want to use him as one of the child soldiers.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio explores darker and more painful themes than the original tale but does it with an awe-inspiring style. At its heart, it’s a wonderful and hopeful tale about individualism, the importance of unconditional love, and imperfect but loving father-son relationships that are so rarely portrayed in such a touching and profound way in cinema.
16| Cat City (Macskafogó)
Cat City is is easily one of Hungary’s most beloved animated films, and thankfully it’s also one of the few that’s fairly easy to find with English subtitles or dubbing. Set in the year 80 AMM — After Mickey Mouse — on Planet X, this wonderfully strange sci-fi comedy follows a group of gangster cats plotting to wipe out the mouse population once and for all.
What I’ve always loved about Cat City is how unapologetically weird, clever, and playful it is. The animation has its own unmistakable style, the jokes are sharp, and the whole film has that chaotic energy that makes it feel funny in a very specific way rather than generically “for kids.”
It’s absolutely one of those animated movies adults can have a great time with. It’s still nowhere near as internationally known as it should be, which is a shame, because it’s one of the funniest and most charming cult animated films Hungary has ever made.
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15| HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE (Hauru no ugoku shiro)
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
2004, Japan
Watch it on Amazon Prime Video
The story is captivating and full of wonder, the animation is breathtaking, and the colors are pure magic. Howl’s Moving Castle is one of those rare films that feels like stepping into a dream and somehow never loses that feeling, no matter how many times you watch it.
Hayao Miyazaki is one of my favorite directors and animators of all time. His most famous film is probably Spirited Away, which absolutely deserved its Oscar for Best Animated Feature, but Howl’s Moving Castle is the one that quietly sneaks into your heart and stays there for good.
The story follows Sophie, whose life changes completely after an unfortunate encounter with the Witch of the Waste leaves her under a terrible curse. That’s how she ends up meeting the mysterious wizard Howl, his young apprentice Markl, and Calcifer, the fire demon who powers the castle itself. As their lives become tangled together, they try to help one another break the spells they’re carrying, and the film slowly opens into something much bigger, stranger, and more emotional than it first seems.
If you love to read you should check out the book as well from
Diana Jones Wynne
Director: Henry Selick
2009, US
Watch it on Amazon Prime Video
Coraline is one of my all-time favorite animated films because it gets something exactly right that a lot of darker family movies miss. It’s genuinely creepy, properly weird, and still full of wonder. It doesn’t soften itself to be more charming, and it doesn’t push the darkness so far that it loses the magic either. That balance is a huge part of why I love it so much.
I also have a real weakness for stories built around strange little worlds you want to crawl into even when you know they’re bad news, and Coraline absolutely has that. The house, the tiny door, the Other Mother, the button eyes, those eerie “better” versions of ordinary people, all of it is so specific and so memorable. Henry Selick made the whole thing feel tactile in that beautiful stop-motion way where every object looks like you could reach out and touch it, which honestly just makes the creepiness worse in the best possible way.
The story follows Coraline after she finds a hidden door in her new home that leads to an alternate version of her life. At first it looks perfect compared to the boring, neglected world she’s stuck with: her other parents pay attention to her, the house feels alive, and even the neighbors seem more entertaining. Then of course it turns out that this world wants something from her, and the film gets darker from there without ever losing its strange fairytale logic.
One of the reasons this movie stayed with me is that Coraline herself is such a good heroine for this kind of story. She’s curious, a little stubborn, lonely, clever, and brave in a way that feels earned rather than preachy. So if you like animated films that are eerie, imaginative, and just a little bit mean in the best way, Coraline is such a perfect one.
If you love to read you should check out the book as well from
Neil Gaiman
13| THE LITTLE PRINCE (Le Petit Prince)
Director: Mark Osborne
2015, France
The Little Prince was one of my favorite books as well growing up, and honestly it still is, so I’m always a little nervous around adaptations of it. It’s such a delicate, strange, wise little book, and it can so easily turn into something overly sentimental or too polished. This film actually gets a lot right. It keeps the heart of the story, but gives it a new frame through the little girl and the Aviator, which lets it feel fresh without losing what people love about the original.
The story follows a serious, over-scheduled little girl who meets her eccentric elderly neighbor, an aviator who starts telling her about the Little Prince. Through that friendship, the film opens up into something much bigger and sadder and lovelier than it first seems. It’s still about imagination, yes, but also about loneliness, growing up, grief, and the way adults slowly forget the things that mattered to them when they were children. I really like that this version doesn’t just try to copy the book scene by scene.
It understands that The Little Prince works because of its feeling, not because it needs to be reproduced word for word. So if you loved the book as a kid, this is one of those adaptations that’s genuinely worth watching instead of just politely existing. And if you somehow haven’t read Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s book yet, you really should, because it’s one of those rare classics that earns all the love people give.
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12| WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE (Omoide no Mânî)
Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi
2014, Japan
Watch in on Amazon Prime Video
When Marnie was there is probably the most melancholic film on this list, and I mean that as a compliment. It’s one of those Studio Ghibli movies that feels quiet and gentle on the surface, but sneaks up on you emotionally when you’re not ready for it. Even though the story has supernatural elements, what stayed with me was how real Anna feels.
She’s lonely, withdrawn, awkward, and so used to keeping everything inside that even ordinary interactions feel difficult for her. When she starts wandering around the marsh and becomes drawn to the old villa, the whole film takes on this dreamy, fragile feeling that fits her perfectly. And then there’s Marnie, this mysterious blonde girl who seems to appear out of nowhere and who only Anna can see, which gives the story that beautiful ghostly strangeness without turning it into horror.
I also really love how delicate this film is with its emotions. It’s dealing with isolation, insecurity, memory, and the ache of wanting connection, but it never hammers any of it too hard. The animation is gorgeous, the characters feel deeply human, and yes, the soundtrack is exactly the kind you finish the movie and immediately want to listen to again. If you tend to love the sadder, softer Ghibli films, this one is such a special pick.
11| APRIL AND THE EXTRAORDINARY WORLD (Avril et le monde truqué)
Directors: Christian Desmares, Franck Ekinci
2015, France
Watch in on Amazon Prime Video
April and the Extraordinary World is such a lovely odd little film, and I have a real soft spot for it because it gives you so much to enjoy at once. You get a brilliant orphan girl, a talking cat, missing parents, mad science, secret experiments, and a steampunk version of Paris that is honestly half the reason to watch it in the first place. It’s the kind of movie that knows exactly how strange it is and has a great time with that.
10| ERNEST & CELESTINE (Ernest et Célestine)
Directors: Benjamin Renner, Vincent Patar, Stéphane Aubier
2012, France
Watch in on Amazon Prime Video
Ernest & Celestine is probably the cutest film on this list, but in a way that actually won me over instead of making me roll my eyes. I’m usually a little suspicious of anything described as “adorable,” because that can so easily mean flat, precious, and forgettable. This one really isn’t. It’s warm, funny, and genuinely lovely.
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9| SONG OF THE SEA (Amhrán na Mara)
Director: Tomm Moore
2014, Irish
Watch in on Amazon Prime Video
Song of the Sea is one of those animated films I will recommend forever because it feels like someone opened an old book of Irish myths and somehow turned it into something soft, sad, magical, and completely alive. I’m always weak for folklore-heavy animation when it actually feels rooted in its own world instead of just borrowing a few pretty symbols, and this one really does.
8| THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE (Les Triplettes de Belleville)
Director: Sylvain Chomet
2003, France
Watch in on Amazon Prime Video
The Triplets of Belleville barely uses dialogue, and honestly that’s part of why I love it. It trusts the animation, the sound, the faces, the timing. If you already have a soft spot for Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton, this kind of thing just hits differently. It has that same confidence in visual comedy, but with a much stranger, more bent-out-of-shape world.
This movie is so gloriously odd. Dark and glamorous at the same time, full of eccentric little details, awkward bodies, memorable silhouettes, and jokes that sneak up on you sideways. Even the ugliness of it is part of the charm. Nothing is polished into blandness.
Then you get Madame Souza, who is exactly the kind of heroine I adore in animated films: stubborn, elderly, practical, and absolutely not interested in giving up. When her grandson Champion is kidnapped and taken abroad, she goes after him with Bruno the dog and ends up with the most unexpected allies possible, three former vaudeville sisters who look like they wandered in from another planet. If you like animated films that are quirky, visually confident, and just a little bit weird in the best way, this one is such a good pick. It barely says a word and still has more character than most films manage with a full script.
7| CHICO & RITA
Directors: Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal, Tono Errando
2010, Spanish
Watch in on Amazon Prime Video
Chico & Rita has so much going for it that it almost feels unfair: Havana, New York, Paris, Las Vegas, jazz, heartbreak, gorgeous animation, and that very specific kind of romance where you already know it’s going to hurt a little. I’m always weak for films that are this soaked in music and atmosphere, and this one really leans into both.
6| BOY AND THE WORLD (O Menino e o Mundo)
Director: Alê Abreu
2013, Brazilian
Watch in on Amazon Prime Video
I have such a soft spot for Boy and the World because it looks playful at first and then keeps unfolding into something much bigger, sadder, and angrier than you expect. The story follows a little boy who leaves his village to search for his father, and from there the film opens out into a much harsher world of cities, machines, factories, and separation. That basic setup matches the official synopsis.
What I really love here is that the film does not stay in the safe little lane of “pretty animated quest.” It keeps its childlike perspective, but it lets that child move through a world shaped by poverty, labor, and all the uglier parts of modern life. So the magic of it is not that it stays sweet. It’s that it stays imaginative while still letting the sadness and anger in.
Its animation feels so alive instead of polished into the same glossy look a hundred other films already have. If you love animated movies that are dreamy, original, and a little bit heartbreaking, this is such a special one.
5| THE SNOW QUEEN (Snezhnaya koroleva)
Directors: Lev Atamanov
1957, Soviet
The Snow Queen is such a lovely old-school fairy tale film. It came out in 1957, and you can feel that classic storybook mood all the way through it: snowy landscapes, a brave little heroine, a truly icy villain, and that slightly formal, old animation style that makes the whole thing feel even more magical. I have a real soft spot for films like this because they don’t need to be ironic or clever about being fairy tales. They just are.
4| THE SECRET OF KELLS
Directors: Tomm Moore, Nora Twomey
2009, French-Belgian-Irish
Watch it on Amazon Prime Video
The Secret of Kells is exactly my kind of animated film because it feels ancient and enchanted without ever turning stiff or reverent. It’s set in 9th-century Ireland at the Abbey of Kells, where Brendan is stuck helping his uncle Cellach fortify the place against Viking raids, until Brother Aidan arrives with an extraordinary unfinished book and drags him into a much stranger world. That setup is straight from the official synopsis, and honestly it already has me. Monasteries, manuscripts, forests, raids, weird magic, what else do you need?
3| COCO
Directors: Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina
Publication: 2017, United States
Watch it on Amazon Prime Video
Coco is such an easy one to love. It’s warm, funny, colorful, and full of life, but it also knows exactly when to hit you right in the feelings. I’m always weak for animated films that build a whole world around music and family without turning either of those things into cheesy background decoration, and Coco really gets both. The story follows Miguel, a boy who dreams of becoming a musician even though music is basically banned in his family.
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2| Your Name (Kimi no na wa)
Director: Makoto Shinkai
2016, Japa
Watch it on Amazon Prime Video
Your Name is one of those films I almost can’t talk about normally because the moment I start, I want to tell everyone to go watch it immediately. It’s romantic, funny, strange, and properly emotional in that very specific anime way where you think you’re just having a lovely time and then suddenly your heart is in pieces. I’m also a complete pushover for stories that play with time, memory, and missed connections, so this one never really had a chance of not becoming a favorite.
1| MARY AND MAX
Director: Adam Elliot
2009, Australia
Watch it on Amazon Prime Video
Mary and Max is one of my all-time favorites, and I will recommend it forever to anyone who thinks animation has to be cute, safe, or emotionally tidy. This one is dark, funny, strange, deeply sad, and so full of feeling that it sneaks up on you when you’re not ready for it. The film follows Mary, a lonely little girl in Australia, and Max, an older man in New York, whose friendship begins when they become pen pals.
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Thank you for reading!
LeSeurdmin should be on this list
I’ve never seen it! Thanks for the tip!
I saw “Kimi no Na wa” picture in your pin, but i didn’t find the movie in your list. I think you should add this Makoto Shinkai-sensei’s movie to your list. It has a great story!
Thanks so much for the comment especially since I totally forgot to hit update on the post! =)
I really enjoy showing the “Book of Life” to my animation students, ( high school age ) great story and the animation style is different and interesting
Yes, I love ‘Book of Life’ too… it was originally on the list! =D I’m thinking of working on this list again and make it bigger with more indie & lesser known animations. Thanks for stopping by!
Miss, the movie; BOY AND THE WORLD (Boy and the World) and Brazilian not Portuguese. The spoken language is the same, but the native language is from Brazil.
Yes, it’s a beautiful one. First, we put the spoken language of the movie but changed it to the countries to be more clear.
I would really appreciate you making a list of animated films that were completely made by computer graphics :p
Thanks, Ashray, That sounds great! We love CGI movies for sure so we’ll try to fit it into our schedule as soon as possible!
Maquia 2018, spirited away 2001 and The Nightmare Before Christmas 1996 are great too.
Yes, I love Spirited Away and The Nightmare Before Christmas but I’ll have to watch Maquia. Thanks for the tip! =)