The 9 Best Animated Movies Of 2024 So Far

Last year was a standout year for animation, and 2024 is already shaping up to be another banger. While a majority of the high-profile animation releases are due out later this summer, the first quarter of 2024 has already been promising. We at /Film are constantly singing the praises of animation as a medium, and doing our best to course-correct the ignorant idea that animation is only for children. Admittedly, this list is going to look mighty small for the time being, but it will be updated throughout the year as more films become available. As we noted last year, animation is one of the only mediums where global cinema is given an equal footing to studio-produced films in America, with the artistic visuals serving as a universal language that we can all enjoy. Meaning, this list is not limited to Hollywood animation releases ... and that's a good thing. As for now, here are the best animated movies of 2024 so far, and they're all fantastic works that deserve a spot on your watchlist.

If you thought Pokémon Concierge was adorable, you'll absolutely flip for "The Concierge." Based on the popular manga "The Concierge at Hokkyoku Department Store," this mid-length feature (It's barely 70 minutes in total) centers on a magical department store where anthropomorphic animals of all kinds can shop and dine at their leisure while treated to the best customer service imaginable. Highly-trained concierges are here to make every customer's experience the best it can possibly be, but newly-hired Akino fears that she doesn't have what it takes to provide the service required. There's an argument to be made that "The Concierge" would fare better as a limited series considering the film is structured with vignettes of Akino's many customers and experiences, but it all becomes full circle at the end with a beautiful and honest look at the trials and tribulations of working in the service industry. "The Concierge" is currently finishing up its festival run before being released later this year on Crunchyroll. It's a cozy little movie with adorable animation, lively character designs, gorgeously detailed backgrounds, and will leave viewers feeling charmed and joyful. Sometimes it's nice to sit back and enjoy a movie with low-stakes but plenty of good feelings, and "The Concierge" more than delivers. (BJ Colangelo)

Director: Yoshimi Itazu

Cast: Natsumi Kawaida, Takeo Ōtsuka, Nobuo Tobita, Megumi Han

Rating: N/A in the United States

Rotten Tomatoes Score: N/A

It's been nearly 90 years since they were introduced, and the Looney Tunes finally have their first feature-length, fully animated movie. "The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie" is not only a celebration of these iconic characters and the rich history of looney fun but also a fantastic introduction for these characters to a whole new generation. The story is simple — Porky Pig and Daffy Duck are childhood best friends and roommates preoccupied with finding a job so they can keep their house before an alien invasion puts a stop to that and forces the quasi-brothers to save the planet.

This is one of the funniest movies of the year, with director Peter Browngardt ("Uncle Grandpa") updating the sense of humor of the Looney Tunes while very much keeping the sense of "everything goes" and randomness that made the early cartoons iconic and so influential. This is particularly true of the character Farmer Jim, who raised Daffy and Porky and is responsible for the best rib-hurting, laugh-out-loud gags in the entire film. Even though the film keeps the spirit of a "Merrie Melodies" short film that prioritizes jokes and wildly imaginative animation, the film also gives Porky Pig and Daffy Duck some depth and compelling character arcs. Whether you know your "Duck Amuck" from your "One Froggy Evening" or you just know these characters from "Space Jam," there is something for everyone in "The Day the Earth Blew Up." (Rafael Motamayor)

Director: Pete Browngardt

Cast: Eric Bauza, Candi Milo, Peter MacNicol, Fred Tatasciore

Rating: N/A

Rotten Tomatoes Score: N/A

Studio Ponoc is the closest thing we have to a proper successor to Studio Ghibli, and they finally have a new movie out. After delighting with "Mary and the Witch's Flower," they are back with "The Imaginary," an adaptation of A.F. Harold and illustrator Emily Gravett's award-winning novel of the same name. The film is a mix of "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" and Stephen King's "It." Yes, "It," the movie about an evil killer clown. That's because, while "The Imaginary" is a nice little film about an imaginary friend trying to get back to his human best friend and creator, it is also about an immortal evil entity that literally eats imaginary friends with a Pennywise-like mouth that expands into infinity. Oh, and the entity is also accompanied by his own imaginary friend, a ghostly girl who looks like Sadako from "Ringu."

Like beloved kids' classics from the '80s that managed to balance heartwarming adventure stories with moments of genuine fear and darkness, "The Imaginary" feels like an old-school animated movie that doesn't talk down to kids. It offers a heartwarming story about the power of imagination, grief, and friendship, one with beautiful animation that takes on an illustrated aesthetic resembling a picture book. Like a classic Ghibli movie, "The Imaginary" can be enjoyed and appreciated by both kids and adults alike, telling an unforgettable story — with one of the year's best villains. (Rafael Motamayor)

Director: Yoshiyuki Momose

Cast: Koko Terada, Rio Suzuki, Sakura Ando, Issey Ogata (English cast: Louie Rudge-Buchanan, Evie Kiszel, Hayley Atwell, Jeremy Swift)

Rating: PG

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

What's up, kids? Emotions are hard, and coming of age can sometimes feel unbearable with all of the new hormonally-based emotions showing up out of nowhere and completely wrecking the joint. And you, adults. How are you regulating your own emotions these days? Have you figured out how to make it through the day without screaming at least once into the void or are you one minor inconvenience away from a full-on anxiety attack because you've never healed your inner-teen? Apologies for the potential existential crisis these questions may have inspired anyone reading this, but it wouldn't be a Pixar film without a little self-reflection. "Inside Out" is considered to be one of the greatest films in the entire Pixar catalog, so expectations for "Inside Out 2" were sky-high. Fortunately, the film is already both a critical and financial hit, scoring the first $1 billion box office since 2023's "Barbie."

"Inside Out 2" returns us inside the mind of Riley Andersen, who is now 13 years old and approaching her freshman year of college. Right before she and her best friends are about to embark on a 3-day hockey summer camp, puberty hits, and Riley is flooded with new emotions: Embarrassment, Envy, Ennui, and their leader Anxiety (and sometimes Nostalgia but it's too early for her). The result is absolute chaos at Headquarters, forcing the original emotions (Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Fear, and Anger) to try and stop Anxiety and save Riley from losing her sense of self. Uh, yeah, you're gonna cry about it. Sorry. (BJ Colangelo)

Director: Kelsey Mann

Cast: Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke, Kensington Tallman, Phyllis Smith

Rating: PG

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

For the past two decades, DC Comics has been the champion of superhero animation, putting out at least one animated movie starring their characters every year or so; I'll admit this steady pace played a big role in building and sustaining my passion for DC as a teenager in the 2010s. None of the DTV DC animated movies are as formally inventive as Marvel's "Spider-Verse" films, but there have been some real classics; I'm a die-hard for 2010's "Batman: Under the Red Hood."

Now, these movies converge in the crossover to end all crossovers: "Crisis on Infinite Earths," named for the 1986 comic crossover (by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez) that reset the DC Universe. It uses the thick-lined animation style introduced in "Superman: Man of Tomorrow" but alludes to even earlier DC movies (the late Kevin Conroy will even be back as Batman in "Part Three"). Thanks to perpetual mismanagement, we haven't gotten a cinematic DC Universe that embodies the fun of different corners of a comic universe converging; last year's "The Flash" tried and then fell face down. The animated DC movies stepped in to pick up the slack and are more than up for it. "Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Two" releases on April 23, 2024, and then "Part Three" comes later this year. (Devin Meenan)

Director: Jeff Wamester

Cast: Matt Bomer, Ashleigh LaThrop, Jensen Ackles, Darren Criss, Stana Katic, Nolan North, Liam McIntyre, Matt Lanter, Jimmi Simpson, Zachary Quinto, Meg Donnelly, Jonathan Adams.

Rating: PG-13.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%

What happens when pair up animation veteran Sean Charmatz and the brilliant mind of Charlie Kaufman and have them do a DreamWorks animated movie for kids? Well, the result is about as weird as you would imagine. "Orion and the Dark" follows the neurotic young Orion (Jacob Tremblay), who is afraid of everything but especially the dark. One night, as he struggles to fall asleep, Orion is whisked away (read: kidnapped) by Dark, the embodiment of darkness itself (Paul Walter Hauser). Dark simply wants to show Orion that darkness is cool, but of course, getting a kid to overcome their fear is easier said than done.

Though the story is entertaining enough, the characters are memorable, and the animation by Mikros Animation (the studio behind "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem) is fantastic, with tactile and almost stop-motion-like characters and stylish backgrounds. But what truly makes "Orion and the Dark" special is Kaufman himself. The writer doesn't hold any punches even when working in family-friendly animation. Dark introduces himself through a short film narrated by Werner Herzog that jokes about being rejected by Sundance, there are complex conversations and metaphysical themes, and the narrative itself goes from fun adventure into a meta-narrative and generational tale about the importance of storytelling and facing existential fears in parenting. It is deeply weird, visually dazzling, and a one of the best movies of the year so far. (Rafael Motamayor)

Director: Sean Charmatz

Cast: Jacob Tremblay, Paul Walter Hauser, Colin Hanks, Natasia Demetriou, Ike Barinholtz

Rating: TV-Y7

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

"Robot Dreams" surprised movie fans when it earned a nomination for the Best Animated Feature Oscar, but in truth this is a most deserving film, and one of the best movies finally getting released in 2024. This is a beautiful story about love, loss, and friendship — a movie about a dog and his robot best friend. Based on a 2007 graphic novel by Sara Varon, Pablo Berger makes his animation debut with "Robot Dreams," a 2D animated film that is beautifully crafted, and full of vibrant color. This is a love letter to 1980s New York City, each moment filled with details and references that make the city feel alive. The frame, and by extension the city, is so overwhelmingly filled with things that it is hard to find meaningful connections within that cacophony of images and sounds.

"Robot Dreams" is devoid of dialogue, but full of emotion, with the characters' facial expressions and body language making the two main characters as emotive as any Oscar-winning performances. An early scene of the two bros rollerblading in Central Park to the tune of Earth, Wind & Fire's "September," becomes one of the most joyful and then poignant scenes in a movie this year. From that, the song becomes an anthem for the movie, its lyrics about looking back and bygone days of glory becoming more resonant as the film goes on. (Rafael Motamayor)

Director: Pablo Berger

Cast: Ivan Labanda, Albert Trifol Segarra, Rafa Calvo

Rating: N/A in the United States but was given a PG rating in the United Kingdom

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%

"Spy x Family Code: White" hit U.S. theaters this past March (distributed by Crunchyroll) as a standalone spin-off of the anime series (just called "Spy x Family" with a silent "x"). Like similar anime movies-based-on-TV, it's basically a 100-minute episode of the show, but don't fret.

My /Film colleague (and our site's alpha weeb) Rafael Motamayor called "Spy x Family Code: White" a perfect on-ramp to the series itself. I can confirm his thesis; I haven't seen the show (getting to it! — my anime watchlist is overflowing). Even so, I thought this movie was a delight.

"Spy x Family" takes place in a pastiche of Cold War Europe. Spy Loid Forger and assassin Yor Briar wind up "married" as part of each other's respective assignments (while both are none the wiser to each others' real lives). Rounding out the family is their psychic daughter Anya. It's like the FX thriller-drama series "The Americans," but with more anime shenanigans and a fluffy dog.

What seismic event kicks off the feature-length story of "Code: White"? Why, a Forger family vacation. It's a fitting setting since "Code: White" itself feels a lot like taking a blissful trip. Some of the show's running gags went over my head, but the primary humor of a husband and wife's mutual secret-keeping still hits for newbies. Even as the stakes heat up in the third act, with both Loid and Yor fighting across a burning zeppelin to rescue Anya, the movie is as breezy and quick-footed as any spy should be. (Devin Meenan)

Director: Takashi Katagiri

Cast: Takuyka Eguchi, Atsumi Tanezaki, Saori Hayami, Kenichirou Matsuda

Rating:PG-13

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

Since 1966, Ultraman has been one of the biggest and most recognizable figures to come out of Japan. While he's yet to become a superstar here in the West like Godzilla or Hello Kitty, real ones know that Ultraman is the real deal, and one of the coolest characters of the last 100 years. 2022's "Shin Ultraman" was a relatively popular crossover hit, but Netflix's new animated film "Ultraman: Rising" could very well be what finally gets mainstream Western audiences to embrace the tokusatsu hero. Not only is it one of the best animated films of 2024, but it's also one of the best superhero movies in years. The directorial debut feature of Shannon Tindle ("Kubo and the Two Strings," "Lost Ollie") and co-director John Aoshima ("DuckTales," "Gravity Falls"), "Ultraman: Rising" is a reinvention of the Ultraman mythos, changing the character from an alien superhero (that looks like a robot) to a young man named Ken Sato (Christopher Sean) who is the son of Ultraman, Professor Sato (Gedde Watanabe).

After years of living in America, star baseball player Ken moves back to Japan with the plan of being a star baseball player by day and a superhero by night, even if he's not thrilled about his responsibility as a hero. Japan is under attack by kaiju, and he needs to help out even if citizens are critical of the Ultraman saving. One day he does battle with the Gigantron, and comes across a newly hatched baby Gigantron in the process. Ultraman saves the baby before the militarized Kaiju Defense Force can kill it, putting him on the unlikely journey toward fatherhood. With stunning animation from ILM and a heartfelt story that just won't quit, "Ultraman: Rising" is a must-watch. (BJ Colangelo)

Director: Shannon Tindle, John Aoshima

Cast: Christopher Sean, Gedde Watanabe, Tamlyn Tomita, Keone Young

Rating:

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%