Top 10 Best Non-Disney Animated Filmsfeatured
Top 10 Best Non-Disney Animated Films
Whenever people think of great animated films there is a very certain company that immediately comes to people’s minds. That company obviously being Disney. When I was thinking of a potential top 10 topic my mind went to, top 10 best animated films of all time. During the thought process on potential candidates for that list, I realized I wasn’t much better. I was coming up with Disney films right off the bat and no Non-Disney films. At that point, I thought it would be best to split the list into two one just for Disney and one for Non-Disney. I decided to do the Non-Disney list first as I honestly hadn’t seen many of these films in years and wanted to enjoy them again. So let’s begin the countdown of the top 10 best Non-Disney animated films I have seen. Oh and spoiler alert.
To start, I should mention what I am calling “Disney” films. Obviously, anything produced by the Walt Disney Animation is Disney. I’m counting all PIxar and Touchstone films. I’m also counting Miramax films from when Disney owned it. I had a debate with grey area that is Studio Ghibli films. For the one thing, Disney has no effect on the actual development of the movie. However, Disney handles all distribution, marketing, and dubbing of their films in the Western world. I decided that I would include Studio Ghibli on this list, however I capped myself to just one film from them. Honestly, I have not had the pleasure of watching the subs of the Studio Ghibli films, so I have no idea how much Disney changed in the dubbing process.
Honorable Mentions
Kung Fu Panda: With my mascot being a panda, a panda movie was all but a requirement. I was personally hoping to find another one beyond Kung Fu Panda. Not that I don’t like Kung Fu Panda, I do it’s very well written and has memorable characters. Shows you that if you work at something you can do anything. It is also very funny and enjoyable for all ages. I just wanted to not be completely obvious with my panda movie choice. After watching “Panda! Go, Panda!” (very cute but I couldn’t really call it a movie given it’s really just two 30 minute shorts) and “Panda and the Magic Serpent,” (which is from the 50’s and looks like it) I gave up looking. Kung Fu Panda was the best of the 3. Not the most important of the 3 that would title would go to Panda and the Magic Serpent which was the first anime feature film in color and one of the first to come to the US. The Kung Fu Panda franchise, thus far, is great though. Highly recommend for anyone with children.
The Secret of Kells: I watched mostly films I had seen before for this list. The Secret of Kells was a notable exception. I had never seen this movie before, like most people. This movie I will not spoil since I want people to see it. This was by far the most visually stunning movie I have ever seen. The plot is a different spin on a more classic tales. It’s based in the 9th century in Ireland while Ireland was being constantly bombarded by vikings. The main character, Brendan, lives in a monastery where his uncle is the Abbott. Brendan wants to be an illuminator, which is someone who writes illuminated manuscript, but his uncle wants him to help build a wall to protect them from the vikings. Later, Brendan meets Brother Aiden who is the protector of the Book of Iona and sees Brendan as a potential successor. Not to give too much away, as this movie is quite good, there is an interesting forest fairy named Aisling who helps Brendan on his duties as a successor to the Book. There is also an indescribably beautiful fight scene in this movie. I instantly recommended this to my mom as she is going to watch my four-year old cousin next week. If you have kids, or just want to look at something pretty, give this movie a try. Absolutely recommend.
Watership Down: This is movie is frightening realistic. Basically if you’ve never seen it, it is the story of a group of rabbits leaving their warren, because of a strange vision one of them gets of them all dying. This turns out is true. As they travel they meet many obstacles in their way from hawks, cats, rats, dogs, humans, and other rabbits. They then get into a fight with a tyrannical sadistic chief of a neighboring warren named the General Woundwort. You would think based upon the fact we are talking about cute bunnies here, this is kid movie of the year, you would be wrong. This movie is basically a very accurate depiction of life as a rabbit. What that means is that, everything wants to kill you. This is a very bloody movie and the closest thing this movie got to a ‘happy ending’ was the main character dying of old age. I’m pointing out a lot of the stuff that is scary about this movie as an emphasis for you to avoid showing this to your children until they are ready. This movie is, however, brilliant. It gives a very different perspective on the world we live in. It shows that life is not all peaches and cream. The warren society presented in this movie are basically Fascist regimes. The general is both a complete psycho and a strategic genius. He’s physically also the strongest of the rabbits we meet. He honestly believes that what he says is always the right thing for the warren. All of that is contrast to Hazel, the main character of Watership Down, who knows he needs assistance to accomplish his goals given his own limitations. He’s not the smartest or strongest rabbit, but he is a natural leader that will do anything for his people. I love this movie. It is an often forgotten gem.
#10 Coraline
I first encountered Coraline in the book form a number of years ago. When I heard a movie adaption of Coraline by Henry Selick, who has a certain movie that might make the Disney list, was coming out I was cautiously optimistic. Then I saw the movie and loved it. During my process of finding great Non-Disney films this was one of the first ones that popped into my head and boy am I glad it did.
Coraline is obviously your main character. She is a generally strong female lead, although at times, she shows signs of minor abandonment issues associated with her parents rarely actually being there for her. This actually leads to the overall plot line which is that she finds another world. In this other world, she finds her ‘Other’ parents which have buttons for eyes and give her all the attention she wants. Basically the Other World is a world made by the Other Mother to grant every one of Coraline’s wishes. Because of this while the Real World is mostly shades of grey or brown and boring, the Other World is bright and colorful and fun. Throughout the story, Coraline is helped by a cat that can talk in the Other World. Through help from the cat Coraline figures out that there is way more to the Other World than it seems. The Other World as it turns out is a trap set up by the Other Mother or Beldam as she also known to capture the souls of children. She does this by having them voluntarily give up their eyes for buttons.
Let me talk about the only other character other than Coraline to matter in this story, Other Mother. The Other Mother is an extremely disturbing character. She is way too calm throughout everything and her smile would scare Freddy Krueger. She stalks her victims by making a doll that looks just like them and watches their every move through its eyes. Whatever she wants she can do within the Other World including reading minds and manipulating its physics. Honestly though, the creepiest part is the lifeless button-eyes. You know how Quint was afraid of Jaws for its lifeless eyes, it’s the same feeling here. She is definitely the best villain on this list and one of the best villains of all time.
This movie’s plot is very reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland or Wizard of Oz with a girl wishing for a more exciting life and finds it in another world. Again, the big difference here is that Coraline really just wants her parents to make time for her. This actually makes Coraline’s story more interesting to me personally. This is because Coraline has a slightly less selfish desire and it’s more relatable overall. Another big difference is Coraline handles things mostly by herself. She basically defeats an omnipotent being by herself with minor help from others. This is stark contrast to Alice and Dorothy where the only things they did by themselves was get into trouble and accidentally pour water on the main villain. The cat does at times help but he’s only slightly more helpful than the Cheshire Cat. He also picks and chooses when he wants to help and leads Coraline into traps.
This movie leaves you with a very ambiguous ending which actually works very well. The ending has Coraline with her real parents and neighbors building a garden which as the screen pans out looks like Beldam. Then you see the cat disappear behind a signpost which he hadn’t shown he could do in the Real World. Then it cuts to the black with a children’s choir, which represents the ghost children, singing a song in gibberish. It leaves you with questions like, ‘Did Coraline actually defeat Beldam or not?’ The reason this works is that it fits very well into the overall vibe of the movie.
In synopsis, Coraline is a gorgeous movie with a great plot, a strong lead and a near perfect villain.
#9 Chicken Run
Chicken Run is a movie that ages very well. I can personally admit to originally underrating this movie prior to watching it again. I remembered it being funny as a kid and having interesting characters but didn’t find it all that memorable. After the re-watch for this list I realized that there is a lot going on a kid would not understand.
Chicken Run starts with a montage of failed attempts to escape from the chicken farm. This establishes our main character of Ginger who is one of the few competent chickens. Her compassion for her fellow chickens is very admirable as she herself could have easily escaped a long time ago if she wanted. The opening montage also establishes our setting which is a chicken farm that looks disturbingly like a Nazi POW camp. Which brings up the fact that this movie has a lot of parallels to The Great Escape which kids will never get. I mean Ginger even plays catch with herself inside the cooler. After the opening montage, they present the real problem being a chicken on a farm which is your inevitable death. Thus the movie starts.
We are quickly introduced to an interesting cast of characters with Ginger being the leader. Mac being her Scottish engineering and science expert. Mac, as an adult, is the funniest character in this movie, unless you’ve never Star Trek or Braveheart. Babs is the innocent dim-witted but crafty chicken. Her jokes are very good for kids as there is a good bit less references you have to understand in order to get them. Bunty is the cynical muscle of the chickens. She is more of a physical comedy humor which is funny at points. You then, meet the male lead of the movie named Rocky. Rocky is at first glance as a typical selfish cocky American playboy. Ginger, however, sees Rocky as a means to an end to get them to escape as it appears he can fly. He offers to help them if they hide him from the circus that is trying to get him back. The relationship development between Ginger and Rocky, although still rather quick, is actually more logical than many movie relationships out there. They actually start by hating each other for their differences in their personalities and then it develops over experiences together. Mr. and Mrs. Tweedy are your main villains. Mr. Tweedy is an idiot but he actually sees that clearly the chickens are up to something. Mrs. Tweedy is a domineering, greedy, abusive and sadistic wench. She is effectively your scary warden of the chicken prison to Mr. Tweedy’s guard.
One of my favorite scenes in this movie is the slow walking scene when Ginger is going to reveal that Rocky was a fake. Just the change in expression you see from the chickens as scene goes on is simply brilliant. It takes them from a joyous moment to a complete loss of all hope in a matter of seconds. The subsequent fighting scene although, not really a rational response is still somewhat justified, given that their last hope at that point was gone. Ginger realizing that there was a different option out there and taking control of the situation the way she did, was awesome. I’m discovering that I’m a sucker for my lead characters actually taking it upon themselves to handle their situation. Is it fine if they ask for help? Yes, we all have limitations and skill sets but at least they’re owning up to their situation. Too many cartoon movies have characters that don’t do this and it bugs me. It makes for weaker, unrealistic characters overall. Admittedly, kind of weird to call an anthropomorphic chicken realistic, but she is.
In synopsis, Chicken Run is a great allegory for the hard life of prison with a brilliant cast of characters and some very funny jokes thrown in.
#8 Antz
In 1998, two animated ant movies came out within basically a month of each other. One of them was Pixar’s A Bugs Life and the other was this movie, Antz. Which side had the idea first? I, personally, don’t care, I like both movies. But if I had to rank them as movies, note: this is me as an adult, Antz is the better of the two.
Antz is a very political movie. Basically it depicts the ant society as being a fascist state with a figurehead as a queen. The ones with real power in ant society are the military. The ants are basically told from birth, do as your told, don’t question anything, it’s all good for colony. This includes characters like Princess Bala, the future queen of colony. The setup of this movie is your main character, Z, is having an existential crisis, questioning why they always do what their told and where their lot in life came from.
The leader of military, General Mandible, has control over basically everything and when he doesn’t he just manipulates the queen to do what he wants. Mandible is the Antz equivalency of Hitler, he has absolute power and desires to rid the world of those he deems unworthy. Basically, if you not a soldier that follows him blindly or Princess Bala you are unworthy to live. Taking the crazy warmongering Social-Darwinist out, he’s actually a genius. His plan to destroy the old colony had to have taken years to come up with, and he had the foresight to come up with a way to defeat the only obstacle he acknowledged in the queen’s army by sending them to a losing war.
Z is basically the exact opposite of Mandible. He is a weak worker ant with a pessimistic attitude and with a belief that everyone should do what they want. His ideals are in stark contrast to the way ant life is. He becomes a threat to Mandible because workers started to see his side and quit working, which Mandible needed his tunnel completed for his plan to come to fruition. This movie makes more than passing references to the hypocrisy that the military runs everything and workers, who build the colony, have no say in anything. Z depicts the more democratic side of politics, where everyone has a voice. He is also the prototypical anyone no matter how small and insignificant can be the hero type character. He flat-out states he’s insignificant in the movie and yet he is the one who came with the ladder to save their lives. This really is a coming-of-age story for his character, in his development from a meek worker to the colony’s hero. The relationship with Bala at times felt more like a means to get him back to the colony. Maybe if she had more development overall I wouldn’t feel that way, but as it stands that’s how it is. It still was a cute relationship and we actually get a payoff which is rare.
Antz, in contrast to the aforementioned A Bug’s Life, is clearly for adults and older children. I’ve talked about the politics in this movie ad nauseam but a lot of the jokes younger children would never get. This is a very sarcastic in tone movie overall with a lot of Woody Allen jokes in it that would go over their heads. Another thing this movie has that is not really for younger children is violence and death. This movie literally has a war scene where you see dead bodies everywhere. It also has a scene where Z’s best friend, Weaver, is both physically and mentally tortured to give up where Z is. While younger children could still enjoy this movie, its demographic shouldn’t have been them.
In synopsis, Antz is brilliant social commentary disguised as a kid’s ant movie.
#7 Shrek
This was a topic of debate. I tried to keep everything one per franchise and I knew I wanted one of the Shrek movies on my list. My debate stemmed from the fact that while there is a better villain and most of the jokes are funnier in Shrek, my favorite character in the Shrek universe is Puss in Boots and the last 10 minutes of Shrek 2 are just amazing. I finally settled to go with the original Shrek and given the number of times I horse-laughed, probably a good choice.
Basically, Shrek is an ogre that just wants to be left alone. He meets Donkey a fast-talking donkey that becomes his sidekick in their adventure. Lord Farquaad, your main villain, signed an eviction notice for Shrek’s swamp and sent all the fairy tale creatures he didn’t want there. Shrek goes to Farquaad’s to demand his swamp back. Farquaad says he will give him his swamp back if Shrek will go get Princess Fiona for him so he can become king. Shrek agrees and saves Fiona. Then Shrek and Fiona gradually fall in love. And they live happily ever after.
This movie is, by far, the funniest in the franchise. You get a good balance of Shrek’s physical and sarcastic humor with Donkey’s over-the-top personality. There is also a good mix for both adults and children. For every “he’s compensating for something” joke there’s a fart or burp joke. Among all of the Shrek movies this is easily Eddie Murphy’s best performance. His material felt new and original and more of his personality showed up in this movie than in subsequent ones. Not to just toot his horn, I give the main cast all the credit in the world for this movie. Basically, unlike later movies, your three main characters are it for most of this movie and it works great.
This movie basically calls into question, our understanding of who is a hero and who is a villain. Shrek is main character but in most fairy tales ogres are the villain. They actually call this out in Shrek 2. Shrek in the grand scheme wants to be seen for what he does not the generalizations of what an ogre does. It’s basically dealing with deeper issues of prejudice. No one ever takes the time to get to know Shrek and because of that he chooses to live alone. His story is actually very tragic for a kid’s movie. Shrek’s case is in contrast to Lord Farquaad’s as he is depicted as strong and brave and Farquaad is meek and just hides behind his men. Farquaad doesn’t do anything himself, he even sent Shrek to get his princess for him. Farquaad is also extremely prejudice against all fairy tale creatures saying that they ruin his perfect world. Worst part is that if this were an ordinary fairy tale he would be your hero.
The relationship between Fiona and Shrek is probably the most notable of the one’s on this list. Originally each saw one another as a means to get what they wanted with Shrek wanting his swamp back and Fiona her one true love. Their relationship develops by finding out more about each other. Fiona finds out that there is a person in Shrek that just needs people to give him a chance. Shrek in turn finds out that Fiona is not just this pathetic “save me” princess, there is a strong woman underneath initial layer. Honestly their relationship is making fun of other fairy tale princesses who have no development within their relationships. If Fiona had kissed Farquaad or Charming from Shrek 2 how would their relationship have been? I believe that if that had happened she would hate her life because neither of those two are right for her and she knows it. A relationship built on developed feelings is way more realistic than one built on True Love’s First Kiss.
In synopsis, Shrek is a brilliantly funny movie with underlying commentary towards societal norms.
#6 Fantastic Mr. Fox
This was a late addition to the list of movies for me to watch. My dad is my usual source for conversations on movies and television, mostly because he got forced to watch it when I was a kid. I mentioned I was doing this list and we go to talking about movies for it. He started listing off movies, most of which I had already watched for this list, then he brought up Fantastic Mr. Fox. He and I discussed it for a bit and then I decided to watch it again. It has a quirky brilliance to it, that I absolutely love. As an aside, 2009 was a great year for animated movies. With two movies from that year making this list (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Coraline), one honorable mention on this list (The Secret of Kells) and I can basically guarantee that Up will be my Disney list.
Fantastic Mr. Fox starts with Mr. and Mrs. Fox captured and her telling him she’s pregnant and they need to find safer work. Then cuts to two years later where Mr. Fox is a failing newspaper journalist that wants a better life. He buys a nice tree that oversees a trio of the biggest farms in the area. He decides to hold one last big heist of all three farms. In doing this he angers all three farmers who decide to work together to bring down Mr. Fox. The rest of the movie is basically a battle of wits between Mr. Fox and the farmers.
This is visually quirky film. You can easily tell what the animals are but they aren’t your cookie-cutter animal forms either. This movie’s overall art style reminds me of the underwater scenes from another Wes Anderson film, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. What made this movie’s art style so interesting is, other than the non-important animals i.e. dogs and prey animals, all the animals appearances were unique. They could have just made a couple of clone foxes for the kids or something but no every character looked unique. I always got a kick out watching the characters run because it’s not a natural motion for a fox to run on two feet. Also when they run typically the screen pans out and shows you all of their acrobatic prowess. I think I found this most amusing because of how skinny their legs are, while doing that stuff and a lot acrobatics were unnecessary.
Mr. Fox is pretty much horrible to his wife and son. I understand that he gave a huge part of his life when he found out his wife was pregnant, but still not justified. He longs for the good old days of stealing birds from farmers, which really feels like a mid-life crisis. He has responsibilities to take care of his wife and son but he’s going out, to steal from the meanest farmers in the area. His son just wants him to acknowledge him. What does he do? Treats his nephew more like a son than his actual son. Mr. Fox is, however, very funny. His one-liners are so subtle that you have to pay attention but he’s still very funny. Speaking of horrible person but very funny is Ash. Ash just wants his dad to give him some acknowledgement. He sees himself as a failure in his dad’s eyes because he is not an athlete like his dad. And then his cousin shows up who is a natural athlete and basically the nicest person ever and he becomes jealous. Which causes him to be rude to his cousin for most of the movie. Honestly, Ash is probably funniest character in this movie. His unintentional one-liners are great like telling Agnes she is ‘unfaithful’ or telling Kristofferson that he did not want him to get an attitude.
This movie brings up a valid question, can we ever completely change. Mr. Fox tried for two years to block out his former life as a very skilled bird thief. In the back of his mind though he always want to go back. He blames it on being a wild animal. Although, later he does acknowledge it’s really a sad plea for praise from everyone. In an ironic twist of fate, Mr. Fox, who’s looked up to by his son as something to aspire to, basically realizes that he is only really good at one thing. Which is why he starts stealing again.
In synopsis, Fantastic Mr. Fox is a quirky yet fun movie featuring characters with realistic character flaws.
#5 Ernest & Celestine
As I said in the commentary for The Secret of Kells, there were not many movies that I watched for this list that hadn’t seen before. This movie was one of the few and the only one to make my list. I was completely blown away by this movie. It was so good, I literally called my mom the second I finished watching it, and told her to play it for my cousin. I didn’t debate too many of the rankings on this list after I made it, but I had a huge debate on this vs. Akira for #4. If you have not seen this movie watch it especially if you have children.
This movie is about the unlikely friendship of a bear and a mouse. In the world of Ernest & Celestine, bears and mice live in two separate but connected worlds. The mice are taught to fear the “Big Bad Bear” who will eat them. The bear-wives share the same irrational fear of mice that many humans have. Bears live above ground and mice live below it. Mice because they ruin their incisors through constant use have to become dentists so they can fix them. They have to come to the surface to steal bear cub’s lost teeth so that they can replace their incisors. Basically, bears and mice are not supposed to be friends.
Ernest is the bear. He is a naturally gifted musician, but he is seen as a disappointment in his family’s eyes as he chose a life of music over being a judge like the rest of his family. Ernest is very much down on his luck. His home is a cottage in the middle of nowhere with holes in the ceiling. He also has no food so he goes into town each day trying to get some cash through his street performance. When he doesn’t get any cash he digs through trash to find food, which is where he finds Celestine. Celestine is obviously the mouse. She is a very gifted artist, who doesn’t understand the “Big Bad Bear” thing. The bears from above always fascinated her and she was constantly drawing them because of it. She works as an apprentice dentist even though she doesn’t want to because that’s what mice do. Over the course of months of time Ernest and Celestine become inseparable friends.
This is probably the cutest movie I’ve ever seen. There is not a scene in this movie that isn’t adorable. Even their mad tantrum’s are cute. This is the ultimate ‘I just need a good pick-me up’ movie. If you don’t leave this movie with a smile on your face you have less emotions than I do, and I didn’t even tear up watching Grave of the Fireflies.
In synopsis, Ernest & Celestine is a beautiful heartwarming movie, that any parent should share with their children.
#4 Akira
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As I stated in the Ernest & Celestine commentary I went back and forth on #4 and #5 for a while. Akira finally won out on the basis of that if I didn’t do this list I would’ve never seen Ernest & Celestine but this list had no effect on the fact that I would’ve watched Akira again. For anyone wondering why Akira is so low on my list remember I’m doing the English versions here and at times Akira’s English dub is Godzilla-bad. If you don’t know what I’m referencing I mean they would stop talking and their mouths would still be moving or vice verse still talking with their mouths closed. Didn’t detract too much but enough to keep it out of the top 3.
Akira is a very complex movie with absolutely stunning visuals. If you have never seen it basically it’s set 31 years after a very powerful esper known as Akira lost control of his powers and destroyed Tokyo and started World War III. This new world is basically dystopian future that’s ravaged by gang violence and terrorist attacks. Our main characters are Kaneda the leader of one of the biker gangs and his best friend Tetsuo. Tetsuo during a fight with a rival gang comes across an esper named Takashi which inadvertently gives Tetsuo psychic powers. Progressively we see Tetsuo fall into madness as his power grows.
One of the things to note is Tetsuo basically developed a false inferiority complex to Kaneda since Kaneda was constantly helping him. Part of his psyche’s degradation stems from him wanting to prove he was better than Kaneda. His is a classic case of when you finally get power how are you going to use it, in his case he uses it to fill his inferiority complex. To increase his power he goes on a rampage to find Akira. Again this is all just to prove he is better than everyone else. It’s kind of ironic when he finally realizes he has lost all control he asks Kaneda for help.
Something very interesting about this movie is the view we get of its world. First off, when Tetsuo goes on his rampage many people saw him, really Akira, as a messianic figure because of what he can do. It also felt like some of the people were asking for complete destruction of their world and for them to start anew. Admittedly, their world sucks but seems like a slight overreaction. Then again we are talking about a place that is vastly overpopulated and basically run by biker gangs. The experiments that sparked the psychic powers in the espers are basically implied to be preps for military or political action. To summarize, Japan was going to hold the fact that they had psychic beings over the other nations of the world in order to increase their own standing. Of course that backfired when one of their experiments lost control of his powers and destroyed their biggest city. Kind of funny how corrupt the government is in this movie as basically they are using this new Olympics stadium to make themselves look good in the eyes of world and to hide their biggest secret from it. Also as an aside, slightly weird in retrospect that Tokyo got the 2020 Olympics in real life.
In synopsis, Akira is a visually stunning, complex movie looking at how power can corrupt.
#3 How to Train Your Dragon
This movie I don’t really have a story associated with its selection unlike most of the rest of them. Truth be told there were two movies I knew would make this list before I watched any of them, this one and the one that ended up at #1. This movie and its sequel are just both absolutely great movies.
How to Train Your Dragon is basically a story of a kid trying to prove himself in the eyes of his father and village. Hiccup could be you, me, or anybody. He lives in a world where his skill set doesn’t fit. He is a weak but smart kid living a world where everyone is stupid but strong. Much of the story is dealing with Hiccup working with Toothless and developing their friendship. Along the way Hiccup figures out that much of what they know about dragons is wrong.
Forgive what I am about to say James Cameron fans. To me this movie is just a visually pleasing as say, Avatar, and has a better flight scene. Visually this movie is the pinnacle of 3D animation. The visuals are absolutely stunning. The flight scene is so well done you almost feel like you are riding Toothless yourself. That’s not the only thing that is visually amazing. All the minor details on the characters is just impressive. Everything from the individual scales on the dragons to the natural looking hair of the villagers is just so well done.
A lot of this movie is really about the internal conflict of Hiccup trying to impress his dad. His dad sees him as a complete disappointment as he is weak and accident prone. Yes he is weak, but he is also an extremely intelligent and a great inventor which his dad doesn’t see. His plight is easy to understand as most people want their parents to acknowledge and praise them for their skills. Of course, in his case he just doesn’t want to be a disappointment anymore. The saddest part in that situation is it takes a near act of sacrifice for Stoick to finally acknowledge HIccup.
The best part of this movie is the level of connection that Hiccup and Toothless show with one another. Both of them were willing to sacrifice their own lives for one another. Hiccup almost drowns trying to release Toothless. Toothless, on the other hand, literally goes against his nature in this movie, and fights the Red Death for Hiccup. Note: the Red Death in this movie is basically the equivalency of a dragon queen that is both feared and obeyed. Their relationship is basically the greatest bromance in the history of cinema and it’s between a viking and a dragon.
In synopsis, How to Train Your Dragon is a fun ride with a lot of underlying depth for its characters.
#2 Spirited Away
As I said in the opening, I decided to place one Studio Ghibli on this list. Basically, I knew it would come down to Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke. I love both movies, and they are both nearly perfect. It came down to nostalgia for me, Spirited Away I saw as kid and loved it then. Princess Mononoke I didn’t see until I was in my early 20’s. So as cheap as that may be, that’s what happened.
Spirited Away has such deep themes particularly for a children’s movie. The movie starts with your main character, Chihiro, and her parents taking a wrong turn and ending up in the spirit world. Where they end up in the spirit world is basically a massive empty theme park. Chihiro’s parents find food and start digging in. Chihiro is naturally apprehensive given the strangest of the situation so she doesn’t eat any of the food. She finds a huge bathhouse and a young boy named Haku who tells her to leave before the sunsets. Chihiro runs towards the river but finds her parents have turned into pigs and the river is already flooded so she can’t go back. The rest of the movie is her working at the bathhouse and eventually finding her way to escape to the real world.
A character to look at is No-Face. No-Face until he goes into the bathhouse is a benevolent spirit. No-Face, however, is a spirit that changes with its surroundings thus the greed and temptations of bathhouse basically lead up to him going on a rampage. Just by being in the bathhouse No-Face goes from being an innocent spirit to a complete monster. The way No-Face acts is from the thoughts and feelings of the spirits within the bathhouse. It is noteworthy that as soon as Chihiro gets him to regurgitate the greedy worker from his stomach and then leave the bathhouse he is perfectly fine again. This is basically a commentary on how temptations can affect us. It can make the best person turn into a monster.
This story is interesting in that really the most adult character is Chihiro, the 10 year-old girl. Unlike her parents, she doesn’t turn into a pig by gorging herself. She gets a job so she can live. If you look at from a theoretical point of view what do adults do? We get a job so we can live. She took care of No-Face when he was on his rampage, everyone was preoccupied getting gold from him. She’s the one actually goes and apologizes for Haku for him stealing Zeniba’s golden stamp (admitted Haku did apologize later). Chihiro was also the one to figure out what was wrong the stink spirit, which in itself was another social commentary this time against pollution. Finally in the end, she’s the one that gets herself and her parents out.
In synopsis, Spirited Away is a beautiful story with many deep themes associated with it.
#1 The Iron Giant
As I said previously, I knew The Iron Giant was going to be on this list before I even started making up a list. If you want to know what the main separation that made this #1 was I’ll tell you. I watched Littlefoot’s mom die in The Land Before Time, saw Charlotte die and her babies leave in Charlotte’s Web, listened to Somewhere Out There from An American Tail, and watched Grave of the Fireflies all with no problems. Basically, nothing really gets to me. However, while watching The Iron Giant during the ending scene when the Giant is basically telling Hogarth he going to sacrifice himself and the subsequent ‘Superman’ scene I noticed I had a man-tear coming from my right eye. This was knowing what was going to happen. No other animated film that I watched gave me such an emotional response, so how can I not make this movie #1.
The Iron Giant is movie about a young boy meeting an iron giant. Pretty basic, no? The giant due to being hit on his head is completely amnesiac and is basically the equivalency of a baby in his knowledge level. The main character, Hogarth, does his best to explain things to the giant. It turns out later the giant has a defense protocol to protect himself and it gets activated during the movie and he almost kills everyone. In the end, the giant ends up saving the entire town by appearing to sacrifice himself and being hit with a nuclear missile.
One of the most common quotes of this movie and one of its biggest themes is, “you are who you choose to be.” This is a powerful message in this movie as the giant is in constant fear that he is a weapon. Basically, this brings up the point that your origins don’t matter, it’s what you choose to do with your life that does. This is about as strong a message as you can have in kid’s movie. It tells the kid watching they can choose what they want to do with their lives. Their lives are not already set in stone. This is one of powerful quotes in all of cinema.
This movie has plenty of comedic aspects, in fact, it’s very funny. Specifically, the cannonball to drain the lake and the mom walking in on fake usage of the bathroom. However, what makes this movie so great is the tender moments within it. The giant’s reaction to discovering what death means with the deer is heartbreaking. The ‘Superman’ scene is such a powerful scene because the giant basically says I know I’m going to die if I go up there but the giant chose to still be Superman, which literally means he chose to be the hero. He chose to sacrifice himself for Hogarth’s safety. His sacrifice is one of the most selfless acts you are going to find in any movie.
In synopsis, this movie is one of the most powerful films I’ve ever seen. Oddly enough I never thought that as a kid. My assumption is, I didn’t fully understand what was going on at certain points in this movie, back in those days. The other likely scenario is I had a kid’s understanding of movies which is, the hero never dies. Of course, as an adult, I know that’s not always true. All that said, The Iron Giant is my pick for the #1 Non-Disney Animated Film of All Time.
Final Thoughts
I hope everyone enjoyed this top 10 list of the Best Non-Disney Animated Films. I know I enjoyed revisiting a lot of these movies. Any suggestions for future top 10 lists would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
About the author
cartoonpundit
I am the Cartoon Pundit. I review, comment, and generally spread my love of everything animated.
