Animated films are the perfect medium to communicate concepts that would be hard to replicate in real life. By using this captivating and visually engaging art form, filmmakers are able to tell the stories they want to without having to compromise due to logistical limitations. While some animated movies are designed to tell compelling and dramatic stories, these eight are a pure delight.
When it comes to being fun, these animated movies know what they’re doing. From witty banter and clever dialogue to hilarious gags and spot-on timing, these movies excel at delivering laugh-out-loud moments and lighthearted themes. When you are in the mood for a movie that will lift your spirits and keep you thoroughly entertained, these movies should be next on your watchlist.
1
‘Madagascar’ (2005)
A giraffe, a hippo, a lion, and a zebra stare perplexed at something in the African wilderness in MadagascarImage via DreamWorks Animation
Curiosity gets the better of the cat in DreamWorks’ Madagascar. The story begins with a lion named Alex (Ben Stiller) who lives in a zoo enclosure in New York City. As his tenth birthday rolls around, he begins to wonder what other life possibilities could be out there for him, and he comes up with the idea to return to the wild. Joined by his friends, a zebra named Marty (Chris Rock), a giraffe called Melman (David Schwimmer), and a hippo named Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith), the adventurous crew leave the creature comforts of home and embark on an epic adventure.
Madagascar is full of hilarious antics and exciting situations. It is vastly entertaining to watch the four city-dwelling animals reacclimate to life in the great outdoors. The cast of the movie is phenomenal and includes several actors with comedic backgrounds, such as Sacha Baron Cohen, Andy Richter, and Cedric The Entertainer. Although Madagascar was a bit overshadowed by Shrek, it is finally getting the respect it deserves and topped Netflix’s streaming charts earlier this year, climbing all the way to #5 in worldwide viewership.
2
‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ (2018)
No one had seen anything like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse when it debuted in theaters in 2018. The animation style was an energetic and fresh new presentation that combined comic book aesthetics with anime, 3D computer graphics, and more. The story was an invigorating change from established expectations. Introducing the character of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), the protagonist was a parallel, but not direct copy, of Peter Parker. This new storyline and focus opened up a whole new multiverse of possibilities, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse hit every benchmark with unparalleled flair.
Not only does Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse have a remarkable story and animation, but it also has one of the best multiverse and multiple Spider-Man cameos ever done. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse set the precedent several years before the MCU followed suit (no pun intended). This outstanding movie refuses to fit into preconceived boxes. It is both a comic book movie and a spectacular urban fantasy. It simultaneously pays homage to the canon that started it all while paving its own path. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is an absolute triumph and manages to keep all fans, new and old, happy.
3
‘Aladdin’ (1992)
The Genie smiling with a sign of aaplause above him while Aladdin and Abu look at him in AladdinImage via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
The Oscar-winning hit that remains quintessential viewing for many, Aladdin is ‘90s Disney gold. The epic adventure tale that is thousands of years old is unique for the studio in that the main character is male. A majority of Disney’s animated films focus on princesses, mermaids, etc. Aladdin, voiced by Scott Weinger, proved to be an engaging protagonist, and his rise from street urchin to fortunate prince is a story full of magic and wonder.
Although Aladdin has its flaws, it remains a favorite for many and is considered a hallmark of Disney’s Renaissance era. Robin Williams’ role as Genie is one of the best vocal performances ever committed to film, and he instantly elevated the movie and made it iconic. With its supernatural themes, nonstop thrills, and undeniable humor, Aladdin is one of the most fun family movies Disney has produced. Collider staff recommend it as one of the best feel-good movies, and it delivers on all fronts. When it comes to music, plot, and comic relief, it is hard to beat this nostalgic gem.
4
‘The Lego Batman Movie’ (2017)
Lego Robin’s cape getting in Batman’s face in Lego BatmanImage via Warner Bros.
DC movies are notably dark and broody, but one that not only breaks the mold but shatters it is The Lego Batman Movie. Will Arnett voices the caped crusader with a Lego makeover in this brilliant and absolute banger of a film. The Lego Batman Movie epitomizes the essence of Batman while never taking itself too seriously. It is a 104-minute love letter to the fans, and it is the second highest-ranked Batman movie of all timeon Rotten Tomatoes.
The Lego Batman Movie is nonstop fun no matter how you examine it. It is a delightful DC movie, an awesome Batman movie, and the best Lego movie so far. It includes all the tropes and meta references fans are expecting, while still finding ways to bring something new to the lore. If you haven’t seen this absolute riot yet, this is your sign.
Collider · Quiz
Collider Exclusive · Oscar Best Picture Quiz Which Oscar Best Picture Is Your Perfect Movie? Parasite · Everything Everywhere · Oppenheimer · Birdman · No Country
Five Oscar Best Picture winners. Five completely different visions of what cinema can be — and what it can do to you. One of them is the film that was made for the way your mind works. Ten questions will figure out which one.
🪜Parasite
🌀Everything Everywhere
☢️Oppenheimer
🐦Birdman
🪙No Country for Old Men
QUESTION 1 / 10TONE
What kind of film experience do you actually want? The best movies don’t just entertain — they leave something behind.
QUESTION 2 / 10THEME
Which idea grabs you most in a film? Great films are driven by a central obsession. What’s yours?
QUESTION 3 / 10STRUCTURE
How do you like your story told? Form is content. The way a story is shaped changes what it means.
QUESTION 4 / 10VILLAIN
What makes a truly great antagonist? The opposition defines the protagonist. What kind of opposition fascinates you?
QUESTION 5 / 10ENDING
What do you want from a film’s ending? The final note is the one that lingers. What do you want it to sound like?
QUESTION 6 / 10WORLD
Which setting pulls you in most? Where a film takes place shapes everything — mood, stakes, what’s even possible.
QUESTION 7 / 10CRAFT
What cinematic craft impresses you most? Every great film has a signature — a technical or artistic element that makes it unmistakable.
QUESTION 8 / 10PROTAGONIST
What kind of main character do you root for? The protagonist is the lens. Who you choose to follow says something about you.
QUESTION 9 / 10PACE
How do you feel about a film that takes its time? Pace is a choice. Some films sprint; others let tension accumulate slowly, deliberately.
QUESTION 10 / 10AFTERMATH
What do you want to feel walking out of the cinema? The best films leave a mark. What kind of mark do you want?
The Academy Has Decided Your Perfect Film Is…
Your answers have pointed to one Oscar Best Picture winner above all others. This is the film that was made for the way your mind works.
BEST PICTURE 2020
Parasite
You are drawn to films that operate on multiple levels simultaneously — that begin in one genre and quietly, brilliantly migrate into another. Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite is a film about class, desire, and the architecture of inequality that manages to be darkly funny, deeply suspenseful, and genuinely shocking across a single extraordinary running time. Your instinct is for cinema that hides its true intentions until the moment it’s ready to reveal them. Parasite is exactly that — a film that rewards close attention and punishes assumptions, right up to its devastating final image.
BEST PICTURE 2023
Everything Everywhere All at Once
You want it all — and this film gives you all of it. The Daniels’ Everything Everywhere All at Once is one of the most maximalist films ever made: action comedy, multiverse sci-fi, family drama, existential crisis, and a genuinely earned emotional core that sneaks up on you amid the chaos. You are someone who responds to ambition, who doesn’t want cinema to choose between being entertaining and being meaningful. This film refuses that choice entirely. It is overwhelming by design, and its overwhelming nature is precisely the point — because the feeling of being crushed by infinite possibility is exactly what it’s about.
BEST PICTURE 2024
Oppenheimer
You are drawn to cinema on a grand scale — films that understand history not as a backdrop but as a force, and that place their characters inside that force and watch what happens. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is a film about the terrifying gap between what we can do and what we should do, told with the full weight of one of the most consequential moments in human history behind it. You want your films to feel important without feeling self-important — to earn their ambition through sheer craft and the gravity of their subject. Oppenheimer does exactly that. It is enormous, complicated, and refuses easy comfort.
BEST PICTURE 2015
Birdman
You are drawn to films that foreground their own construction — that make the how of the filmmaking part of the what it’s about. Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman, shot to appear as a single continuous take, is cinema examining itself through the cracked mirror of a fading actor’s ego. You respond to formal daring, to the feeling that a film is doing something that probably shouldn’t be possible. Michael Keaton’s performance and Emmanuel Lubezki’s restless camera create something genuinely unlike anything else — a film that is simultaneously about creativity, relevance, self-destruction, and the impossibility of ever truly knowing if your work means anything at all.
BEST PICTURE 2008
No Country for Old Men
You are drawn to cinema that trusts silence, that refuses to explain itself, and that treats dread as a form of meaning. The Coen Brothers’ No Country for Old Men is a film about the arrival of a new kind of evil — implacable, arbitrary, and utterly indifferent to the moral frameworks we use to make sense of the world. It is one of the most formally controlled films ever made, and its controlled restraint is what makes it so terrifying. You want your films to haunt you, not comfort you. You are not interested in resolution if resolution would be dishonest. No Country for Old Men is honest in a way that most cinema never dares to be.
5
‘Shrek’ (2001)
Shrek looks behind at an arrow in his rear as Princess Fiona looks on in ShrekImage via (c)DreamWorks/courtesy Everett
Though Shrek was not DreamWorks’ first animated film, it is the one that catapulted the studio into stardom. A pointed satire of traditional clichés, it kicked down the door of fantasy and sat on the throne as the new ruler of how stories were going to be told. Shrek destroyed every preconceived notion about romance, beauty standards, hero types, and more. It took laser-focused shots at DreamWorks’ major competitor, Disney, and told the story it wanted to without apology.
Shrek remains a hilarious and unconventional comedy. There are enough raunchy jokes to keep adults entertained and plenty of silly situations to hold kids’ attention as well. Even though the road it takes to get there is unlike anything fairy tale movies have done before, Shrek still arrives at its own version of “happily ever after.” It changed the game forever and makes a diverting watch for viewers of all ages.
When you have a modern king of comedy, Adam Sandler, as the main character and executive producer, you know the movie is going to be fun. In Hotel Transylvania, Sandler stars as Dracula. Now a single father, Dracula tries everything within his natural and supernatural power to keep his only child, Mavis (Selena Gomez), safe from humans. His efforts result in the titular abode, which provides a safe place for monsters to stay, away from the prying eyes and sharpened pitchforks of humans. Dracula’s plan to keep Mavis from the human world starts to unravel when a wayward backpacker named Jonathan (Andy Samberg) stumbles into the hotel.
Hotel Transylvania is a silly take on spooky staples like vampires, werewolves, Frankenstein’s monster, and more. The cast is stocked with comedic talent, and the sweet father-daughter bond between Dracula and Mavis is the chewy caramel center of the movie. Hotel Transylvania is a film that audiences love, and critics love to hate, as evidenced by its widely contrasting Rotten Tomatoes scores. Last January, over a decade after its debut, Hotel Transylvania ranked #6 in Netflix’s Top 10. The love from viewers for this haunting and hilarious tale is not weakening anytime soon, and it makes for a superb watch any time of year, but especially in the fall and around Halloween.
7
‘A Goofy Movie’ (1995)
Max takes the wheel as Goofy stares at a map in the car in A Goofy MovieImage via Buena Vista Pictures
As I mentioned in another Collider article, “It was completely unexpected that a movie that relied solely on staple but lesser-known characters would become the voice of a generation.” However, that’s exactly what A Goofy Movie did. The 1995 hand-drawn feature would prove to have its finger so accurately on the pulse of the current culture that it became a time capsule, quintessentially defining the era for generations to come. The story follows Goofy (Bill Farmer) as he tries to bond with his teenage son Max (Jason Marsden), which leads to them going on a father-son road trip, whether Max likes it or not.
A Goofy Movie is surprisingly awesome. It is greater than the sum of its parts, and like discovering a hidden level in a video game, there are unexpected riches to be found. It has catchy music, an interesting plot, some low-key intrigue, identifiable characters, and a whole lot of fun. It makes an ideal choice for Disney fans and anyone wanting to relive some 1990s nostalgia.
8
‘How to Train Your Dragon’ (2010)
Hiccup flying on toothless with an explosion behind him in ‘How To Train Your Dragon’Image via Paramount Pictures
Take an underdog story, mix it with a hero’s journey, add in an Oscar-nominated score by John Powell, and you will get How to Train Your Dragon. DreamWorks’ fantasy epic launched a flawless trilogy where every movie is a 10/10 masterpiece. The first movie follows a young Viking named Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) as he challenges centuries of his village’s cultural beliefs about dragons. After a formative encounter with an elusive Night Fury, Hiccup seeks to prove that dragons are not the soulless killing machines he was taught to fear.
How to Train Your Dragon is perfect from beginning to end and doesn’t falter once. It has imaginative creature design, likable characters, and the aforementioned stupendous soundtrack crafted by Powell. It is everything a great fantasy movie should be, and it is tons of fun to watch.
