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TIME lists their top 25 animated films

Alan Gardner201 mins

TIME magazine has listed their top 25 animated films of all time. Here’s the link to the start (#25). You have to go through 25 pages to get to the number one. I’m going to spare you a bit of time by giving you 25-6. The last five you’ll have to visit their site.

25. Lady and the Tramp, 1955
24. The Fantastic Mr. Fox, 2009
23. Yellow Submarine, 1968
22. Horton Hears a Who, 2008
21. Kung Fu Panda, 2008
20. Paprika, 2007
19. Tangled, 2010
18. The Lion King, 1994
17. Akira, 1988
16. Happy Feet, 2006
15. Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, 2005
14. The Adventures of Prince Achmed, 1926
13. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937
12. Toy Story, 1995
11. Toy Story 3, 2010
10. The Little Mermaid, 1989
9. Finding Nemo, 2003
8. The Triplets of Belleville, 2003
7. Up, 2009
6. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, 1999

In posting this, I’m not saying this is in anyway authoritative or that I agree with it (really, South Park at #6????).

20 thoughts on “TIME lists their top 25 animated films”

  1. Any top 25 list that includes Happy Feet is not to be taken seriously. I don’t need to know what the top 5 are, because this list is designed to piss off animation nerds to get eyeballs to their website. This was a list compiled by a movie critic, not any sort of authority on animation. Just move along, folks… nothing to see here.

  2. Any top 25 list of great animated films that doesn’t include FANTASIA is bunk.

  3. Don’t pretend to know anything about web traffic and compensation models but my dumb ass knows enough to recognize 26 page click thru’s and I spit out the hook.

    And I don’t see “Felix the Cat” listed.

  4. I was pretty surprised by several on this list, and disappointed at some missing (right there with you, Mark, about Fantasia–and what about Iron Giant? There was plenty of room for that, too).

    At least I wasn’t disappointed by #1.

    That Best Of list slideshow is nothing new to Time. They do it often. It’s commonplace on lot of other sites, too.

  5. I agree with Iron Giant. And Happy Feet shouldn’t be on there all. And ‘horton Hears a Who’? Really.

    Oddly, the one thing I totally agree with is is Fantasia not being on it. Except for the ‘Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ the rest of the film is DULL. Beautiful? Sure, but d-u-l-l.

    It’s one of those things that people seem to pretned is great, but isn’t. Like ‘Ethan Frome’, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, the movie ‘Psycho’ having more than one good scene, and 90% of the works of Charles Dickens and Tim Burton. 😀 😀 😀

    (I can judge like this, because obviously I’m perfect 😉 )

  6. I feel like they took a bunch of animated movies and as they went down the list just picked them from a hat. I do agree with some of these (Paprika, Lion King, Akira, etc) but some of these don’t even come close to belonging on something like this ><

  7. Wow. Anyone who says people “pretend” to like 90% of Charles Dickens has never cracked a Dickens novel. IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE?? People “pretend” to like it? PSYCHO?? FANTASIA dull????

    Ed Power??? More like “Ed Puddinghead”

  9. I almost mentioned The Incredibles. It’s one of my favorite Pixar movies–I would gladly put it in place of Toy Story 3. Parts of Fantasia may have been a little boring, but there’s no denying the beauty of the work. I think in most animated films I’ve seen, there have always been bits that were more boring than the rest of the film. There’s probably not a film on the list without one of those.

    Still, I think they got #1 right.

  10. Yes, they did get #1 right, in my opinion, although I wasn’t sure they’d do it considering the others in that list. “Happy Feet”? Seriously? “Iron Giant”, “Lilo and Stitch” and “The Emperor’s New Groove” all could’ve replaced it on that list, and while “Fantasia” might seem somewhat boring to some, it’s importance in the history of animation and film is of great consequence.

  11. I forgot to add that a list of “the best of animation” that includes the South Park movie isn’t a serious list. Seriously.

  12. You know, it’s not a spoiler if someone tells us the top five, or at least #1. Not all of us have time to click through the entire slide show.

  13. Pinocchio is their #1. But the Bugs Bunny Road Runner movie is in their Top 5 as well, which i question even though I’m a huge classic WB fan.

  15. I’m glad to see Bugs Bunny honored, how can there be a ‘Top’ animation list without honoring Chuck Jones, the greatest animation director all all time.

  19. Time’s best-of lists are always goofy, and this one is no exception. That said, it’s hard to quibble with the top picks. “Spirited Away” is one of the most bewildering and beautiful movies I’ve sat through, animated or otherwise.

    “Fantasia” is a notable omission. My young kids love it (or at least parts of it), but it’s fair to argue that it proved a masterstroke in a subset of animation that numbers exactly one film (not counting “Fantasia II”).

    Also, it seems Corliss and Co. have a Brad Bird problem. “The Incredibles.” “The Iron Giant.”. Not “Ratatoullie,” even?

  20. The Southpark Movie is deserving of Number 1. Trey Parker and Matt Stone are geniuses and Bigger Longer and Uncut is hilarious and outstanding in every way.

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