Netflix, the library for all sorts of films, also has a particular liking towards animation. One reason for that could be how popular animation films are in general. They are loved by people of all ages and backgrounds. Why you might ask. Well, apart from being more flexible than the live-action films, animation deep down always talks about important values – a simple, motivational plotline that inspires us to look at life more positively. Leading away with the best films from the industry are studios like Disney and Pixar. With all that said, here’s the list of really good animation movies on Netflix that are available to stream right now.
15. Coraline (2009)
Subtle moments of dreamy wonders and surreal surroundings make this addition to Netflix a refreshing experience. Solely made with the ‘stop-motion’ technique, ‘Coraline is a unique take on the genre. It depicts a young girl’s desperate attempts at making her life more adventurous. The ever-curious Coraline, bored with her existence, decides to explore her house and finds that there is a secret door that leads to a wondrous world that initially looks enticing but eventually becomes devious. This color palette of cinematic brilliance is a must watch as it will surely entertain, intrigue and quench your thirst for something refreshingly different.
14. Bee Movie (2007)
Breaking the rules of the ‘Hive’, a bee decides to fly out and talk to a human and finds out that everything bees ever believed about their existence proves to be a big ‘lie’. Playing the lead role of the bee is Jerry Seinfeld for whom, after a long hiatus from comedy, the role gave him the suited opportunity to play the leader who defies conventions. He convinces the other bees to sue humans for harvesting honey from them. The rest is out there for you to check out yourselves. The plot is funny, bold and insanely hypothetical with the makers going to the extent of having a court scene where the bees argue with the judge, who barely manages to see the source of the voice.
Read More: Best Movies on Netflix India
13. Tarzan (1999)
Nineteen years back, Disney sparked a revolution with a single shot of the young Tarzan sliding down tufts of tree branches like it’s a ‘piece of cake’ for him. A young orphaned human baby who is adopted by a gorilla and grows up in the wilderness gives us a rejuvenating look at what the forest can truly produce – a soft-hearted, nature-loving son of the wild. Peppered with good humor and a strong plot, ‘Tarzan’ is a must-watch for all animation lovers.
12. Leap (2017)
This faithful take on a young girl’s dream of becoming a dancer becomes personal as it throws us into a story that poetically shows the lives of people who never give up on their dreams. Set in Paris, ‘Leap’ stars ‘Elle Fanning’ as Felicie, a young adventurous girl with a flair to tap her feet and a mind that is ever-ready to endure any struggle to become the greatest dancer in the world. With beautiful animation flaring in the colorful city of Paris, ‘Leap’ is more for the ones with a heart that desires romance to goofy comedy.
11. A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (2019)
If you have loved watching 2015’s ‘Shaun The Sheep Movie’, there is no reason why you will not love its standalone sequel, where our eponymous character gets hold of an intergalactic friend. The directorial debut of Will Becher and Richard Phelan happened with this stop-motion animation film. The story of the film centers around a cute little alien called Lu-Lu who finds himself on the earth without any spacecraft to return back to his home planet. When he finds his way to Mossy Bottom Farm, Shaun befriends him, and on hearing of his predicament, he decides to help Lu-Lu in whichever way possible. The two of them then go through a series of comical adventures to make Lu-Lu’s journey to his home planet a smooth one. ‘A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon’ is quite an engaging film that takes us deeper into the world of Shaun and his friends at Mossy Bottom Farm. Besides being loaded with lovable characters, the movie also holds on to the charm which made the franchise famous in the first place.
10. Angela’s Christmas (2017)
The 2017 animated film ‘Angela’s Christmas’ is set in Ireland during the early 20th century, and is based on Frank McCourt’s novel called ‘Angela And The Baby Jesus’. The central character of the film, Angela, is based on McCourt’s own mother and her adventures on the day before her sixth birthday. Believing that baby Jesus is cold and hungry at the church, Angela steals him and takes him to her own home to give him proper care. This film is one that comes with lessons on the importance of taking care of one’s family. Selfless caring is something which is very important for keeping a family together, and this life lesson is given a lot of importance in ‘Angela’s Christmas’.
9. Duck Duck Goose (2018)
Directed by Chris Jenkins, ‘Duck Duck Goose’ centers around the adventures of a goose and two ducklings, after the three of them get separated from their respective flocks. The goose in question, Peng, has been left behind by his flock because the leader of the same did not approve of the way he carries himself. On the other hand, these two ducklings, Chi and Chao, get separated from their flock while looking for a place called Pleasant Valley. After some initial hesitation, Peng decides to take the ducklings with him and use them to locate his own flock. However, even after he does return to his flock, Peng feels bad for the ducklings and goes along with them in order to help them return to their mother. The main problem with this film is that it is crammed up with stock characters and does not provide us anything out of the ordinary.
8. Flavors Of Youth (2018)
An anime anthology drama film, ‘Flavors Of Youth’ comprises of three different stories, each of which gives us a peek into the lives of Chinese youth living in three different cities of the country. The first story revolves around Xiao Ming, a man who fondly remembers the noodles he used to have with his grandmother back when he was younger. He spends his days in the city trying to find something that would closely resemble the food he so fondly remembers. The second story is centered around a fashion model, Yi Lin, who is not confident about her career, and wonders whether it would be better to switch professions and become a fashion designer just like her sister. The last story is about a boy and a girl who have grown up together as neighbors and later fell in love. When they grow up, they become afraid that their lives after school might set them apart from each other. Each story is brilliantly told through beautiful animations and characters whom we can relate to. This is a heartwarming film that definitely deserves a watch.
7. Godzilla: Planet Of The Monsters (2018)
The story of this anime film begins at a point in time when humans have escaped from the earth and taken shelter elsewhere after Godzilla attacked the planet and took over it. Now, 20,000 years after this incident, a group of people are trying to go back to the earth and recolonize it once again. While everyone wants to settle on the earth and lead a peaceful life, there is one young man called Haruo who wants revenge for the death of his parents at the hands of this mythical monster. The best part about the movie is definitely its mind-blowing animation. Viewers who have only watched the western version of ‘Godzilla’ must check out this film in order to understand how Godzilla is conceived of in the country where it first came into being.
6. Godzilla: City On The Edge of Battle (2018)
The sequel to ‘Godzilla: Planet Of The Monsters’, this film continues the story of the humans trying to take back the earth from the clutches of Godzilla. Having failed in their first attempt, now they should come up with something radically different. This is when Haruo comes across a tribe whom he believes to be the descendants of the humans who were left behind on the earth. These humans had developed a mechanical monster called Mechagodzilla in order to fight their oppressor, but the machine was destroyed by Godzilla after an intense fight. Now it is the nanotechnology from the remaining parts of the machine which the tribesmen along with Haruo are trying to use to fight Godzilla once again. Despite its lofty potential, the film leaves us wanting for more. The characters are not well-fleshed out, and hence we cannot really empathize with them at any point.
5. Gnome Alone (2017)
The story of ‘Gnome Alone’ centers around a little girl called Chloe, who has moved into an old decrepit house with her mother. One day, while she is alone at home after school, Chloe and one of her neighborhood friends Liam discover that the gnomes they have heard about are actually alive in the house and are constantly protecting the earth from the destructive creatures known as Troggs. Chloe and Liam come to know from the gnomes that the Troggs have managed to open up a portal into Chloe’s house and are planning to attack the earth from there. This makes Chloe realize that she should team up with the gnomes to fight the Troggs and prevent them from causing widespread destruction. There is a certain degree of sarcasm in the humor and the leading character of Chloe is quite likable as well. Barring these two positive factors, there are not many surprises you can expect from this movie.
4. I Lost My Body (2019)
The winner of the Critics’ Week Grand Prize at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, ‘I Lost My Body‘ is one of the most interesting animated films you will ever come across. The story begins with that of a severed hand that escapes a Parisian laboratory in order to find the body of which it was once a part. While looking for the same, this hand in question comes across a pizza delivery boy called Naoufel who is in love with a librarian called Gabrielle. We are informed that the hand knows about Naoufel and Gabrielle, and they are the only ones who can help the hand locate its body. The most interesting aspect of this film is that it is entirely told from the point of view of the hand. With a brilliant story and a rare mastery at creating poetic scenes, this debut feature film by Jérémy Clapin is truly one of a kind.
3. Pachamama (2018)
An extensively researched film, ‘Pachamama’ is filled with wonderful characters, colorful scenes, and a story that deserves to be told. The director of the film, Juan Antin, based the story on the Inca civilization and spent 14 years researching the period and the place where it flourished. ‘Pachamama’, the name of the film, is actually a god of the Incas whom they worship for an abundant harvest. The idol of the Pachamama is made out of gold, and when the tribe fails to pay their taxes, a tax collector takes away this idol instead. The central character of the film is a little boy called Telpulpai who is very hurt with how the tribe is treated by the tax collector. Telpulpai decides that he will try and retrieve the idol and restore it back to the place from where it was taken. Beautifully crafted, ‘Pachamama’ has some rather important messages for kids. Its sweet but compelling storyline is something everyone can relate to.
Read More: Best Anime Shows of All Time
2. Sahara (2017)
A French-Canadian production, ‘Sahara’ can easily be called the desert equivalent of the ‘Madagascar’ franchise. The film is centered around a venomous desert snake called Ajar, who is constantly mocked and humiliated by his peers because he has never molted his skin to allow a new one to grow. It so happens that a princess belonging to the clan of the green, non-venomous snakes called Eva is not at all happy about only living in an oasis. She always wants to explore the outside world. In the meantime, Ajar and his friend Pitt, a scorpion, put on disguises and enter the oasis. Despite being soon discovered, the two of them manage to escape, and this is when they come across Eva, who has also escaped using a disguise. Soon, Ajar falls in love with her, but before their romance can flourish, Eva gets kidnapped by an evil snake-charmer. It is now upon Ajar and Pitt to rescue the princess no matter what challenges come their way. Although the animation of this film is somewhat nice, its main problem is the fact that the film’s content in certain places is not at all children-friendly, and thus parents should definitely be around if children are shown this film.
Read More: Best Cooking Anime
1. The Little Prince (2015)
Based on a novella by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, this film is told from the perspective of an aviator who once had to land in the Sahara desert because of technical problems in his aircraft. He continues to live in the desert and has a little girl as a neighbor whom he slowly befriends. One fine day, the aviator tells this girl about the most fascinating person he has ever met in the desert- a young boy who told him that he was a prince from an extraterrestrial planet. In order to keep a document about his meetings with the little prince, the aviator even comes up with a book full of illustrations and writings which he gives the girl to read. When the aviator is hospitalized during the summer, the girl decides to go look for the little prince to ask for his help. She could never have imagined that her wish would send her right into the world of the illustrations where she would finally get to meet the prince. The animation of the film is brilliant, and what stands out is the fact that the film builds its story around the source material instead of being just a direct adaptation.
Read More: Anime Like Overlord
