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Best Animated Films of 2019

Animation wasn’t the greatest during 2019 as only one great film was released in my opinion, though there were a couple of very strong ones as well. The Academy picked a bad winner, but at least they had a very solid slate overall. Foreign films weren’t the greatest this year as evidenced by my mostly American list. So here are five best animated films of 2019 with three honorable mentions.

5. Klaus

The Netflix darling that came very late in the year, Klaus proved to be a formidable opponent to ‘Toy Story 4’ at the end of the game as it only lost an Oscar to it, but other awards went mostly with Klaus. And it’s easy to see why. Though somewhat conventional in some elements, especially the protagonist, this is a charming, old-fashioned holiday classic with absolutely gorgeous, traditional HD animation. It’s such a sweet flick.

4. I Lost My Body

Though this weird French flick really ended on a weaker note and it felt quite rushed at the end, the two storylines both worked so well. The romance is actually quite moving and very well developed while the macabre moving hand storyline benefited from some truly terrific animation that offered tremendous attention to detail. It’s such a positively offbeat, crazy film that is uneven, but mostly successful at what it’s trying to do.

3. A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon

I did find this sequel quite inferior to its amazing predecessor, but it’s still respectable in its own right. The science fiction elements did rob it of its initially rustic qualities, but still all of the characters are terrific with each and every one of them getting their moment to shine. The humor is frequently excellent and the stop-motion animation’s dazzling. I also loved its heartwarming ending.

2. Missing Link

Although Missing Link is very slow paced, I mostly liked that about it. It’s more concerned with classic adventure elements than the regular kiddie action that plagues so many other American animations. This flick has a lot of heart, it is very well plotted and its approach is beautifully old-fashioned. I fell in love with its storyline about evolution and science in the 19^th century, and the characters are uniformly strong. It’s a superb return to form for Laika.

1. How to Train Your Dragon 3

What is there left to say that hasn’t already been said by me about this wonderful movie? Yes, I absolutely adored How to Train Your Dragon 3, though it’s not as fantastic as its predecessors. It still ended on such a high note with the best scene of the year which is that reunion many years later that almost made me cry how emotionally powerful it was. The animation’s dazzling, the score is stupendous and the humor’s easily the best of the entire franchise. Hiccup’s growth is also something to be admired. Thus, it’s one of my favorite films of the year and obviously my pick for best animated feature of 2019.

Honorable Mentions:

Ne Zha – Ne Zha is a Chinese blockbuster of a very high quality. Admittedly, it can be overloud and overly action-oriented, but the main character’s great, the animation is gorgeous and some of the fantastical elements here are spectacular. It’s an underseen film for sure.

Frozen II – Frozen II is of similar quality as the original. It’s very messy and overly complicated in its storyline, but quite admirably dark at times and featuring some good character moments throughout. Some of the musical numbers here are excellent.

Children of the Sea – Though very incoherent and even incomprehensible in its second half, I did like Children of the Sea for how wonderful its theme of interconnectedness is and how absolutely gorgeous its ocean scenery most certainly is.