^{Credit: Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (GKIDS), The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (Ketchup Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation), Arco (Neon), KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix, Sony Pictures Animation)}

The animation industry weathered through some disheartening moments in 2025. Pixar made a charming, original film with Elio, but few saw it in theaters. Paramount made a Smurfs movie so forgettable that they didn’t even submit it for Best Animated Feature consideration. Disney made a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI, and they’re far from the only company buying into the slop. For all the lows, there were several bright spots. Ne Zha 2 grossed over $2 billion, becoming the highest-grossing animated feature of all time. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle is not only the highest-grossing Japanese film ever, but proof that anime can equal big bucks at the U.S. box office. Then there are these ten films, which I consider the year’s best of the best.

^{Credit: Endless Cookie (Obscured, Mongrel Media, Scythia Films)}

10. Endless Cookie: Endless Cookie is an animated documentary, although at times, it plays like an animated reality show. Imagine if you dozed off between reruns of The Real World and Liquid Television after eating a box of Chips Ahoy! in the 90s. Endless Cookie is the surreal dream you’d have. Seth and Peter Scriver’s film explores Cree culture, the injustices that Indigenous individuals still face, and the bonds of family that can stretch beyond borders. Other times, though, it’s about the vehicles in Halogames, a bear that marked its territory on a discarded couch, or toilets. Basically, whatever pops into the heads of the filmmakers and others who happen to be in the room. For anyone who doesn’t think an animated film can be improvised, they’ll feel differently after watching Endless Cookie.

^{Credit: Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc (Crunchyroll, Sony Pictures Releasing)}

9. Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc: The anime that inspired Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc could be slow at times, but seriously revved up whenever the titular character made an appearance. The same can be said about this feature film, which builds to what might be the most bonkers battle of the year. For its first hour, I found myself asking why this was a movie and not the second season of the show. Watching this spectacle, I suddenly understood why it needed to be saved for the big screen. Director Tatsuya Yoshihara and studio MAPPA go all out with an extended climax that can only be described as pure sensory overload.

^{Credit: I Am Frankelda/Soy Frankelda (Cinema Fantasma)}

8. I Am Frankelda: What if you threw Tim Burton, Jim Henson, Laika, and Guillermo del Toro into a blender? You’d get I Am Frankelda, the debut feature from brothers Arturo and Roy Ambriz. Not only is this their first film, but I Am Frankelda is the first stop-motion animated feature from Mexico. On a visual level, the film is anything but amateurish. This Gothic horror romance stitches such meticulous wonder into every frame that you’d swear it came from masters who spent decades perfecting their craft. While I Am Frankelda has yet to see a general release in the U.S., it’s currently available to stream on HBO Max in Mexico.

^{Credit: Lost in Starlight (Netflix)}

7. Lost in Starlight: By 2050, we’ll have perfected hologram technology and sent astronauts to Mars. Yet, true music fans will still be keeping vinyl in style. At one point, Lost in Starlight sees a couple browsing through old records, stumbling upon a copy of Once. As different as these two films are, Lost in Starlight and Once are both about distance between people. In Once, it’s an unspoken distance with the central couple only able to connect intimately through their music. In this Korean animated feature from director Han Ji-won, the distance is more literal with one character venturing to space. Even when on the same planet, it can sometimes feel like the person you’re closest to is a galaxy away.

^{Credit: Predator: Killer of Killers (20th Century Studios, Hulu)}

6. Predator: Killer of Killers: An animated anthology worthy of comparison to The Animatrix. Unlike that film, Predator: Killer of Killers doesn’t experiment with different animation styles or directors. The film’s overarching style fits the tone, though, channeling Arcane if it were painted with blood. Dan Trachtenberg also makes a case for why he should be given the keys to this franchise. Trachtenberg couldn’t have pulled this off without his co-director, however. Joshua Wassung is a co-founder of The Third Floor, a visual effects company that’s worked in film, games, and theme parks. Killer of Killers marks their first animated feature. They hit the ground running, although it’s not like this studio is starting from square one, getting their feet wet with Marvel, Star Wars, and even RRR.

^{Credit: Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)}

5. Zootopia 2: Anyone who thought “racism was solved” at the end of Zootopia missed the point. Considering that Trump won the election several months later, it’s safe to say that most people didn’t take the message to heart. For all the progress made since the civil rights movement, Zootopia reflected how little we’ve changed as a species. Almost a decade later, the first film is as relevant as ever, making a sequel more than welcome. Zootopia 2 reminds us that prejudice and political corruption may never go away, although that doesn’t mean the little guy should stop trying to make a difference. It does so with clever writing, immersive environments, and timely themes that don’t just feel like a rehash.

^{Credit: Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (GKIDS)}

4. Little Amélie or the Character of Rain: There are a handful of special movies with the power to make one say, “That’s childhood.” Little Amélie or the Character of Rain captures a specific point in a child’s early development. It’s a time when everything is new and the universe seemingly revolves around you. Through Amélie’s wide, green eyes, it’s as if she can bend reality at will. Amélie inevitably learns that some things are beyond her control. For the animators behind the drawings, though, anything is truly possible. Animation serves as the ideal medium to convey the limitless curiosity, confusion, and creativity of a growing mind. Little Amélie isn’t just one of the best animated movies of the year, but one that reminds us why the art form has more advantages than live-action.

^{Credit: The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (Ketchup Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation)}

3. The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie: Cheating a little since this technically debuted last year, but since the film had a general release in 2025, I’m counting it. Plus, I stand by that if Ketchup Entertainment held off on its Oscar-qualifying run, The Day the Earth Blew Up would’ve had a better shot at a Best Animated Feature nomination. Regardless, we should be grateful that this movie saw the light of day at all. Amid shakeups at a crumbling Warner Bros., animator Peter Browngardt has recaptured what Termite Terrace started through the Looney Tunes Cartoons streaming series. With The Day the Earth Blew Up, Browngardt delivers a magnum opus that would make golden age animators like Bob Clampett proud. His daughter Ruth Clampett even makes a cameo as a waitress who throws Daffy and Porky a bone.

^{Credit: Arco (Neon)}

2. Arco: We’ve seen movies where characters time-travel via phone booth, DeLorean, and even hot tub. Arco may be the first where people travel through time with a rainbow. More specifically, a technicolor dreamcoat, albeit not quite like the one from the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. Director Ugo Bienvenu’s background includes work in short subjects, television, comics, and illustration. With his feature directorial debut, Bienvenu doesn’t just hit the ground running. He soars above the clouds where the titular Arco lives with his family. He’s made a breathtaking first film that stuns from the opening sequence, as we’re immersed in a future where Earth’s land has been left to rest while humanity dwells in skypad homes right out of The Jetsons.

^{Credit: KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix, Sony Pictures Animation)}

1. KPop Demon Hunters: On paper, KPop Demon Hunters sounds like Jem and the Holograms crossed with Totally Spies! and Sailor Moon. If that doesn’t sound like it would be up your alley, it’s from the same studio behind the Spider-Verse movies. Did that get your attention? While not helmed by the Lord-Miller team, KPop Demon Hunters is animated with the same vivacious energy and fast-paced humor. What sets it apart is the music, which goes beyond simply being a string of catchy pop songs, though they are all earworms. More importantly, the music is used to convey what the characters are going through emotionally in a story about battling inner demons along with physical ones. The premise sounds bonkers, which directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans fully embrace. As chaotically kinetic as KPop Demon Hunters can be, it’s also a surprisingly poignant story of self-acceptance.

Nick Spake is the Author of Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows Volumes 1 and 2. Available Now!