ANIMATION – Top 10 Fantasy Animated Movies

Fantasy is one of my favorite genres. Basically, animation is just full of fantasy. It is pretty much the genre for animation currently, much more so than science fiction.

Today, I am going to give you my top ten fantasy animated movies.

You can either watch the video below or read the transcription.

You will also find trailers for each movie embedded below:

Let’s begin with my top ten.

10. Ponyo

My number ten I don’t own. I don’t have it with me, but I’ll eventually get it.

It’s Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo, which is a really cute little feature animated movie about a little fish that falls in love with a little boy.

It’s basically a retelling of The Little Mermaid, but there’s something about it, the pacing and the way it’s done and the beauty of the movie, it’s just really, really, really sweet.

On the other hand, it’s also very, very strange. And, in a lot of ways, you’re trying to figure out what exactly do these characters and things represent, and is the antagonist really the antagonist, and why is he doing what he’s doing?

It’s a very interesting movie. But, overall, the visualization and the way that it’s done and the animation of the characters, there’s something about it that kind of really pulls at you.

So, I really, really enjoyed my number ten, Ponyo.

9. Princess Mononoke

My number nine I do own a copy of. It’s Princess Mononoke.

As far as fantasy goes, this is a rated PG kind of a fantasy movie about a young man, actually, who gets cursed and has to try to find a cure, and goes off to the world to, I guess, die.

Gets shunned by his village because after he beat this demon that came into his village, the demon cursed him by giving him this kind of almost like a demon hand, and it kind of polluted him.

He had to leave his town and find out where the source of this demon, this creature that got possessed with hatred so much so that it physically manifested out of it. He had to find the source of this hatred, and maybe find a cure for his arm there.

Throughout the adventure, he finds everything he needs to find. It’s pretty intense.

It’s a great, great fantasy movie, talking animals and things like that, spirit of the forests, beautiful, beautiful landscapes, very deep themes, very adult matters, and by adult I mean mature not necessarily, you know, pornographic or anything.

I highly recommend watching Princess Mononoke. Beautiful, fantastic movie.

8. Howl’s Moving Castle

My number eight, yet another Miyazaki movie. This time it is Howl’s Moving Castle.

Howl’s Moving Castle is about a, well, a castle that moves around on legs, kind of chicken legs. Very reminiscent of Baba Yaga. And, a young woman who kind of gets caught up in it after she gets cursed.

She has low self-esteem and then gets cursed, she becomes an old lady. And, by becoming an old lady, she discovers who she really is and stops being so concerned about outer appearances  and who people think that she is, and starts growing and maturing as a person.

At the same time, she has to take care of this magical being in this moving castle, who is a wizard of immense power.

So, I highly recommend this movie, Howl’s Moving Castle. And, that is my number eight.

7. Rise of the Guardians

My number seven I don’t actually own the movie, and that is Rise of the Guardians.

As far as fantasy movies go, this is well—the Easter Bunny, Sandman, Santa Claus, Jack Frost, the Boogeyman, the Tooth Fairy, so it’s really fantastic in that vein.

It’s the unique take that they pull off with these characters that is fantastic. I really, really enjoyed the movie.

I liked the story a lot, I liked the story about Jack and how he discovers who he is and what he brings to the world.  I think it’s got a good message in that everybody needs to find their thing, you know?  Sometimes it’s not very easy to do.

So, I really liked the point of the movie. My number seven is Rise of the Guardians.

6. Coraline

Okay, my number six is one of my favorite, I guess I should say, fairy tale movies that has come out recently, and that’s Coraline.

I’ve done my videos just on Coraline because I liked it so much. It is so good. I don’t know what else I can say about it.

The models are great, the story is fantastic, I must admit, also, it’s kind of creepy.

It really does feel like a fairy tale, much more so than a lot of what Disney has came out with since Snow White. Snow White feels like a fairy tale, Pinocchio would feel like a fairy tale, but this, this feels really like a fairy tale to me.

It’s a little bit more dark, but it works, it works.

5. Spirited Away

My number five is on the same lines as Coraline, it’s basically the same. Almost the same story, or the same kind of motif, and that is Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away.

Again, it’s about a young girl who goes into a fantasy world, just like in Coraline, and she learns to become a lot more mature, like in Coraline.

These two movies are basically like sister movies. They both star a girl—they both go into a fairy tale land, and they both have to develop and mature based on what occurs within the fairy tale land, dealing with the master of that world and finding ways to outsmart or out-class or outperform or out-think these characters, and dealing with the creatures and the magic within these worlds.

They’re basically neck and neck, I just happen to like Spirited Away just a touch more than Coraline, but Coraline is just a close second.

These two movies are just fantastic. I highly recommend Spirited Away.

4. Beauty and the Beast

My number four, it’s a beautiful movie, what can I say? You’ve probably seen it, Beauty and the Beast.

Classic, it’s very romantic, it still holds up as a really great movie. It’s got great music, it’s a great story, very romantic, and it does have action-adventure elements, it’s got very scary elements in it, it’s very deep and fun and light and dark, and then it’s got like—it’s a little bit of everything.

Very great, fantastic fantasy movie, Beauty and the Beast.

3. Castle in the Sky

My number three is yet another Miyazaki movie. Notice that there’s a little bit of Disney movies and a lot more Miyazaki movies, just because Miyazaki tends to do movies that are more my taste.

This movie is definitely the more to my taste. It’s kind of Indiana Jones with magical rocks.

It’s very fantastic. There is no magic in it per-say— well no, that’s not true. There is a spell that one of the characters does in this movie that does flow from the plot.

This movie is great. I love it. Action-adventure, the main character’s seeking a long lost island. My number three is Island in the Sky.

2. Peter Pan

My number two is Peter Pan.

I’ve had Peter Pan in many of my lists. This is J.N. Barrie’s story. It’s a great, fantasy story about a boy who’s fighting pirates and not growing up, and about these kids who end up being put into Nevernever Land, which is like a fairy island.

It is just exciting, fantastic, incredibly well animated. One of Disney’s best films and something that, you know, you’ve got a great bad guy in Captain Hook.

I highly recommend if you haven’t watched this, watch it again and again. It’s just a great movie. My number two: Peter Pan.

1. Sleeping Beauty

My number one is actually Sleeping Beauty.

Sleeping Beauty, it’s got dragons in it, it’s got, basically, fairies, dragons. It’s kind of the archetype of fantasy, or at least, a fairy tale.

Beautiful girl, prince in disguise, I really do like the prince in this movie, castle, dragon, fairies, goblins, great, you know? It’s fantastic.

I really, really enjoyed this movie. I like the look, I like the art direction. I love the villain, Maleficent is just great.

My number one is Sleeping Beauty.

What’s Your Verdit

So, what do you think? What’s your favorite fantasy animated movies? I’d like to hear it.

I’ve been getting a lot of people responding to these lists with their lists, and it’s just really interesting.

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