Ranked: The Best Children’s Animated Films Of All Time

Animation experts Roar Motion analysed IMDB data in a bid to discover the top-rated child-friendly animated movies. The research focused on the top 150 suggested films on IMDB with certification of U or PG for the phrase “animation”. Using this list of 150 films, each film’s IMDB user rating* and IMDB metascore** were analysed to determine which are the “top-rated” overall.

The top three included The Lion King (1994), WALL-E (2008), and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). Making up the top 10 were Coco (2017), Toy Story (1995), Toy Story 3 (2010), Up (2009), Inside Out (2015), Finding Nemo (2003), and Klaus (2019).

Matt Eyre, Director at Roar Motion, commented: “The summer school holidays are creeping over the horizon, and with it comes the yearly challenge of keeping your kids entertained for the duration of the break.

“While you might plan day trips, playdates, or organise to see the family, the weather isn’t always reliable in the UK, so sometimes you’ll need to have back-up plans for fun activities which involve staying at home.

“With this in mind, we analysed IMDB data in a bid to discover the ‘top-rated’ child-friendly animated movies for families to enjoy during the upcoming school holidays. As well as highlighting the ‘top-rated’ overall, we also looked at the films with a duration of 90 minutes or less, for those in more of a time-crunch.”

Based on a combination of both IMDB metrics, the top 10 films included:

1. The Lion King (1994) – IMDB rating: 8.5 / IMDB Metascore: 88
2. WALL-E (2008) – IMDB rating: 8.4 / IMDB Metascore: 95
3. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) – IMDB rating: 8.4 / IMDB Metascore: 87
4. Coco (2017) – IMDB rating: 8.4 / IMDB Metascore: 81
5. Toy Story (1995) – IMDB rating: 8.3 / IMDB Metascore: 95
6. Toy Story 3 (2010) – IMDB rating: 8.3 / IMDB Metascore: 92
7. Up (2009) – IMDB rating: 8.3 / IMDB Metascore: 88
8. Inside Out (2015) – IMDB rating: 8.2 / IMDB Metascore: 94
9. Finding Nemo (2003) – IMDB rating: 8.2 / IMDB Metascore: 90
10. Klaus (2019) – IMDB rating: 8.2 / IMDB Metascore: 65

For those on a time-crunch, almost half (65) of the 150 films analysed were 90 minutes or less. The top-rated shorter films included:

1. The Lion King (1994 – 88 mins) – IMDB rating: 8.5 / IMDB Metascore: 88
2. Toy Story (1995 – 81 mins) – IMDB rating: 8.3 / IMDB Metascore: 95
3. Beauty and the Beast (1991 – 84 mins) – IMDB rating: 8.1 / IMDB Metascore: 95
4. Aladdin (1992 – 90 mins) – IMDB rating: 8.1 / IMDB Metascore: 86
5. Shrek (2001 – 90 mins) – IMDB rating: 7.9 / IMDB Metascore: 84
6. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 – 83 mins) – IMDB rating: 7.6 / IMDB Metascore: 95
7. The Little Mermaid (1989 – 83 mins) – IMDB rating: 7.6 / IMDB Metascore: 88
8. Mulan (1998 – 88 mins) – IMDB rating: 7.6 / IMDB Metascore: 71
9. The Jungle Book (1967 – 78 mins) – IMDB rating: 7.6 / IMDB Metascore: 65
10. Pinocchio (1940 – 88 mins) – IMDB rating: 7.5 / IMDB Metascore: 99

Child development benefits of watching cartoons

Tasha Bailey – child & adult psychotherapist, and social influencer at @Realtalk.therapist – commented on which popular animated films can be great tools to teach children certain life lessons or skills.

She says, “The Lion King teaches children about loss and grief, by taking them through the various grief stages (e.g. denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance, internalising our lost one).

“Inside Out teaches children about the core emotions of happy, sad, anger, disgust and fear. It shows their function and how they can be expressed, as well as how they interact with each other. It shows children how all of these feelings are important and how we have some autonomy.”

Tasha commented on some of the developmental benefits of watching cartoons and animated films saying that “cartoons give children a head start in learning through colours, shapes, sounds and repetition. This helps them to develop cognitive skills in an effortless ways. Those with music and songs can help children develop and strengthen their sense of voice.

“Cartoons can also act as a social tool, as it gives them common ground with other children and so they have a starting point for conversation. Cartoons also: develop their sense of dependence and capacity to occupy their time when alone; increase their curiosity about the world outside of what is already familiar to them; allow them to learn about different personalities and ways of being, giving them permission to explore their own authentic self; help with the ability to play and be creative, through projection and role-play; and allow them to make connections with certain messages that can be helpful and resonate more than if they came from an adult.

“Cartoons can also be a great tool of stress-reduction and self-regulation, as well as increasing concentration and attentiveness. Plus, black and white simulation cartoons for babies can encourage vision development.”

Roar Motions collaborates with clients to script, storyboard, design, and animate explainer videos that sum up services or concepts in a few minutes, calling on its network of collaborators to find the perfect backing track and voiceover artist to go with the animation. For more information on Roar Motion’s animation capabilities, visit: https://roarmotion.com/animation-video/”.