Jan 15, 2023

Twitter Users' Favorite Animated Films That Aren't Big-Budget American Movies

Twitter user AsleepTurnpike took to Twitter earlier this week to ask other users for examples of animation that transcend commercial American feature-length animation aimed at children.

If you really believe that animation is an art form, I think you should list at least three great animated films that are not mainstream Western children's films to prove that point. (Hard mode is not Ghibli either).

- Ed (@AsleepTurnpike) January 9, 2023

Thanks to Twitter's new engagement monitoring system, this tweet has been viewed over 850,000 times. The post has received more than 600 replies and 1,400 retweets, with hundreds of personalized suggestions from anime fans. On the other hand, some of the replies dismiss the original prompt as gatekeeping.

Regardless of how readers feel about the prompt, the end result is a list of great animated feature films that prove, as Guillermo del Toro says, the status of animation as a medium and "not a genre for children."

Below we have collected some replies and retweets with great viewing suggestions:

Amberly Ferrule suggested "The Triple Pains of Belleville," "I Lost My Body," and "The Secret of Kells":

"The The Triple Affliction," "I Lost My Body," and "The Secret of Kells"

"Sleeping Beauty" is my favorite, but it doesn't necessarily count on the list, so I went with other phenomenal films pic.twitter.com/stK4LjpttC

- Amberly Ferrule . (@MayflyMayDie) January 10, 2023

Another Cartoon Salon feature that got a lot of love was 2020's Wolfwalker:

watch (cannot stress this enough) Wolfwalkers pic.twitter.com/dgDWWE4nP7

- james cameron's strongest soldier (@alexscandaddy) January 10, 2023

Ken Koike's "Red Line" received a huge response:

The best animated film to come out of the late 00s. Pure hand-drawn art that flows like water. pic.twitter.com/1eQtkQwXNC

- Texas Red . (@Ripfist) January 10, 2023

The Night is Short, Walk On Girl, Persepolis, My Life as a Zucchini Trio hits:

The Night is Short, Walk On GirlPersepolisMy Life as a Courgette pic.twitter.com/ZhDXhnxRq6

- Lucas (@realPhoenixFire) January 10, 2023

Pat mentioned Fantastic Planet, Yellow Submarine, Heavy Hundreds agreed:

Fantastic PlanetYellow SubmarineHeavy Metal pic. twitter.com/sFRPwor95u

- pat (@saotomestan96) January 10, 10 2023

Cartoon Brew contributor Vincent Alexander listed "Son of the White Mare", "Allegro non Tropo", and "The Triplets of Belleville":

Too many to list Too many to list, but "Son of the White Mare" (1981), "Allegro non Tropo" (1976), and "The Triplets of Belleville" (2003) are all classics. https://t.co/Ell2yUzcpG pic.twitter.com/cXyjnntsAr

- Vincent Alexander (@NonsenseIsland) January 12, 2023

Other selections include "Tales of Tales" and "Alice":

1. Tales of Tales, Yuri Norstein 2. Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo 3. Triplets of Belleville, Sylvain Chaumet 4. Alice, Jan Svankmajer pic.twitter.com/CkHHc7dkJk

- Earnest Tweets (@trevorflagstaff) January 10, 2023

Liz and the Blue Bird:

We worship Naoko Yamada in this house. She is a genius. Liz and the Blue Bird is one of my favorite movies, animated or not pic.twitter.com/MLNz2uuOkj

- ffff (@RoosedInstitute) January 11, 2023

The Last Unicorn, Perfect Blue, Silent Voices:

. The Last Unicorn . Perfect Blue . Silent Voice pic.twitter.com/1VkgKnZCVx

- Lovey Dovey Cassy. (@cassyhoneybee) January 11, 2023

Besides Fantastic Planet, someone mentioned two René Laleu films Were: Time Mastor and Gandahar (aka The Light Years):

God, I wish there were more René Larue movies... pic.twitter.com/exsI8u4f07

- . HemmsFox . (@HemmsFoxStudios) January 10, 2023

And we suggested "Mind Games", "Theta Sings the Blues", "Consuming Spirits" and "Adama". Here are four great features from the past 20 years:

"Mind Game" (2004) directed by Masaaki Yuasa "Theta Sings the Blues" (2008) directed by Masaaki Yuasa. Nina Paley, "Consuming Spirits" (2012) Director Chris Sullivan Adama (2015) Director/Screenplay Simon Rouby https://t.co/0AYP7Fnhc6 pic.twitter.com/u1VHkTrxe8

- cartoonbrew.com - Animation News (@cartoonbrew) January 12, 2023

These works are just the tip of the iceberg and there are many more great suggestions in the replies. We would also love to hear your favorite examples of non-mainstream animated feature films that push the boundaries of what's possible in animation.