10 Best Animated Films On Netflix (According To Rotten Tomatoes)

Many Beautiful & Critically Acclaimed Animated Films Can Be Found On Netflix

6 min readSep 18, 2020

Stills from Mary and the Witch’s Flower and The Breadwinner

Being one of the most popular streaming sites, Netflix has a lot to choose from when it comes to animated films. From DreamWorks to Illumination and even Disney, there’s plenty of both kid and adult-friendly animated titles.

Some animated films go above and beyond, pushing the traditional boundaries of the craft and offering more, visually and creativity, for audiences. While many titles have come and gone, there are still many great animated films with a Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

10. Next Gen (80%)

Next Gen is a computer-animated action and science fiction film, taking place in a technologically advanced reality. A young girl named Mai isn’t as fond of robots and technology as her mother, and when they attend a product launch together, she wanders off and ends up meeting a large robot named 7723. Eventually, they build a partnership that will ultimately change Mai’s negative feelings towards robots.

The creators of the film state that pretty much all the animation was created with Blender, an open-source 3D computer graphics software program. The animation is bright and colorful, while the technology depicted in the film had a unique 1970s vibe to it.

9. Mary And The Witch’s Flower (89%)

Upon discovering a magic flower that can give her magical powers, Mary Smith finds herself at Endor College, where she convinces the professors that she is a highly skilled witch.

The director of Mary And The Witch’s Flower is no stranger to award-winning animation. Hiromasa Yonebayashi, also known as Maro, worked for Studio Ghibli before collaborating with Studio Ponoc. He previously worked on The Secret World Of Arrietty and When Marnie Was There. Similarly styled to many Studio Ghibli films, Mary And The Witch’s Flower offers breathtaking detail and very lifelike characters.

8. Boy & The World (93%)

This animated adventure movie from Brazil has a very unique style of animation. A mix of drawing, painting, and digital animation, the film has almost no dialogue (and when it does it’s Portuguese played backward) and relies on its beautiful visuals to communicate the story.

While waiting for a train to come to pick him up, the protagonist, Cuca, is swept away to a strange new world, where he encounters an old man. It isn’t until machines (shot live-action) begin tearing apart his animated surroundings that he learns the truth about the old man and what’s going on. Boy & The World has collected several Best Animation awards and honorable mentions at various film festivals around the world

7. The Little Prince (93%)

Another film with a unique visual style, The Little Prince combines flawless stop-motion animated characters in a digitally created computer-animated background. While the language of the film is English, The Little Prince is a French film based on a book that premiered at Cannes in 2015.

With a star-studded voice acting cast, including James Franco, Jeff Bridges, Paul Giamatti, Rachel McAdams, and several others, The Little Prince was a huge financial success, despite budget cuts preventing it from being released in theaters.

6. Klaus

There are countless animated films centered around the topic of Christmas and other holidays. From hand-drawn to stop-motion animation, many make watching these films part of their holiday traditions.

Klaus is a Christmas film that stands out from the rest. With 3D animation on the rise, a lot of viewers miss seeing 2D animated films on their screens. There’s something special about seeing the style revitalized in Klaus, although it’s taken to a whole new level with volumetric lighting and texturing, giving the 2D animation a more unique and modern take.

5. The Breadwinner (95%)

A young girl named Parvana must disguise herself as her male cousin to provide for her family while her father is unjustly imprisoned. The Breadwinner is a suspenseful drama from the award-winning Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon and is produced by Angelina Jolie.

Rotten Tomatoes calls it “visually stunning,” with a story that’s just as good, confronting difficult real-life problems. The Breadwinner made its debut at Toronto International Film Festival and received a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards.

4. I Lost My Body (96%)

An adult drama-fantasy film from France, I Lost My Body is another Best Animated Feature nominee that centers around a young man named Naofel, who falls in love with a woman named Gabrielle and at some point, loses his hand. It covers themes on love, loneliness, and loss, and was met with great success when it debuted at Cannes Film Festival in 2019.

I Lost My Body marries hand-drawn 2D animation with CGI, layering the 2D on top to give the images a more hand-crafted look.

3. Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (97%)

Image from Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse was a wonderful and refreshing addition to the Spider-Man franchise, which had already contained more than its fair share of live-action movies.

The story follows a young man named Miles Morales, who encounters Peter Parker fighting Kingpin as Spider-Man. Before he’s killed by Kingpin, Peter gives Miles a thumb drive that would eventually help him destroy the sinister device that Kingpin is building. Having also been bitten by a radioactive spider, Miles teams up with a washed-up version of Spider-Man from a parallel universe to continue his own Spider-Man’s legacy. The goals for the animation team were to make the viewer feel that they had “ walked inside a comic book,” by implementing many traditional techniques used in comic book illustration.

2. My Life As A Zucchini (99%)

Also called My Life As A Courgette, this is a Swiss dramedy made with stop-motion animation. It follows a little Swiss boy named Icare (who goes by the nickname Courgette), who attempts to navigate his life in an orphanage. Even though it’s more geared towards children, the movie also deals with heavy themes and challenges.

My Life As A Zucchini has collected several awards, including a Best Animated Feature nomination at the Academy Awards, and it’s been praised by critics for its colorful and pleasing character design.

1. Song Of The Sea (99%)

Song Of The Sea is another critically acclaimed film from Ireland’s Cartoon Saloon. It tells the story of a boy named Ben, who discovers his sister is a selkie (or sea fairy). The hand-drawn animation is considered by many critics to be a beautiful work of art. Rotten Tomatoes calls it “ a saga overflowing with family-friendly riches,” combined with beautiful imagery and a strong narrative.

Director Tomm Moore was also responsible for The Secret Of Kells, which is done in the same refreshingly different style of animation.

NEXT: The 10 Animated Films That Would Have Won Best Animated Feature In The 90s

Originally published at https://screenrant.com on September 18, 2020.