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Best Animation Movies of the 1980s, Ranked by IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDB
45 animation films from the 1980s are in our catalog; the 45 best are ranked below. Top of the list is Grave of the Fireflies (1988), at 8.5 on IMDb. The average IMDb score across this list is 7.2. Biggest split between audiences and critics: An American Tail, 6.9 on IMDb against 38 on Metacritic.
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| # | Movie | Genre | IMDb | Tomato | Meta | TMDB | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grave of the Fireflies '1988 | Animation / Drama / War | 8.5 | 100% | 94 | 8.5 | Isao Takahata |
| 2 | My Neighbor Totoro '1988 | Fantasy / Animation | 8.1 | 94% | 87 | 8.1 | Hayao Miyazaki |
| 3 | Akira '1988 | Animation / Sci-Fi / Action | 8.0 | 88% | 68 | 7.9 | Katsuhiro Otomo |
| 4 | Warriors of the Wind '1984 | Animation / Fantasy | 8.0 | 87% | 86 | 7.9 | Hayao Miyazaki |
| 5 | Castle in the Sky '1986 | Fantasy / Animation / Action | 8.0 | 97% | 78 | 8.0 | Hayao Miyazaki |
| 6 | Who Framed Roger Rabbit '1988 | Fantasy / Animation / Comedy / Crime | 7.7 | 96% | 83 | 7.5 | Robert Zemeckis |
| 7 | Kiki's Delivery Service '1989 | Animation / Fantasy | 7.8 | - | 85 | 7.8 | Hayao Miyazaki |
| 8 | Vincent '1982 | Animation / Fantasy | 8.3 | - | - | 7.8 | Tim Burton |
| 9 | The Little Mermaid '1989 | Animation / Fantasy | 7.6 | 92% | 88 | 7.4 | John Musker |
| 10 | The Snowman '1982 | Animation / Fantasy | 8.2 | 80% | - | 7.6 | Dianne Jackson |
| 11 | The Secret of NIMH '1982 | Animation / Fantasy / Mystery / Sci-Fi | 7.5 | 93% | 76 | 7.4 | Don Bluth |
| 12 | The Land Before Time '1988 | Animation / Drama | 7.4 | 65% | 66 | 7.2 | Don Bluth |
| 13 | Mickey's Christmas Carol '1983 | Animation | 8.0 | 100% | - | 7.7 | Burny Mattinson |
| 14 | The Fox and the Hound '1981 | Animation / Drama | 7.2 | 75% | 65 | 7.2 | Richard Rich |
| 15 | The Last Unicorn '1982 | Fantasy / Animation | 7.3 | 75% | 70 | 7.3 | Jules Bass |
| 16 | The Plague Dogs '1982 | Animation / Drama | 7.7 | 70% | - | 7.8 | Martin Rosen |
| 17 | The King and the Mockingbird '1980 | Animation / Fantasy | 7.7 | 100% | 87 | 7.8 | Paul Grimault |
| 18 | The Transformers: The Movie '1986 | Animation / Sci-Fi / Action | 7.2 | 64% | 43 | 7.1 | Nelson Shin |
| 19 | When the Wind Blows '1986 | Animation / War / Drama | 7.7 | 88% | - | 7.5 | Jimmy T. Murakami |
| 20 | The Great Mouse Detective '1986 | Animation / Mystery / Crime | 7.1 | 79% | 73 | 7.0 | Ron Clements |
| 21 | The Brave Little Toaster '1987 | Animation / Fantasy | 7.2 | 79% | - | 7.0 | Jerry Rees |
| 22 | Alice '1988 | Animation / Fantasy | 7.4 | 95% | - | 7.4 | Jan Švankmajer |
| 23 | Luxo Jr. '1986 | Animation / Comedy | 7.2 | - | - | 7.0 | John Lasseter |
| 24 | Asterix in Britain '1986 | Animation / Comedy | 7.1 | - | - | 6.8 | Pino Van Lamsweerde |
| 25 | An American Tail '1986 | Animation / Comedy / Drama | 6.9 | 76% | 38 | 6.8 | Don Bluth |
| 26 | Angel's Egg '1985 | Animation / Fantasy / Mystery / Sci-Fi | 7.7 | - | - | 7.7 | Mamoru Oshii |
| 27 | Knick Knack '1989 | Animation / Comedy | 7.4 | - | - | 7.0 | John Lasseter |
| 28 | Vampire Hunter D '1985 | Animation / Fantasy / Horror | 7.0 | 82% | - | 6.6 | Toyoo Ashida |
| 29 | Heavy Metal '1981 | Animation / Sci-Fi / Fantasy / Musical | 6.6 | 66% | 51 | 6.5 | Gerald Potterton |
| 30 | Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies '1986 | Action / Animation / Comedy / Fantasy / Sci-Fi | 6.6 | - | - | 6.9 | Daisuke Nishio |
| 31 | Wicked City '1987 | Animation / Fantasy / Horror | 6.7 | - | - | 6.7 | Yoshiaki Kawajiri |
| 32 | Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle '1987 | Action / Animation / Fantasy / Horror | 6.5 | - | - | 6.7 | Daisuke Nishio |
| 33 | All Dogs Go to Heaven '1989 | Drama / Animation / Comedy / Fantasy | 6.8 | 48% | 50 | 6.8 | Don Bluth |
| 34 | Fire and Ice '1983 | Animation / Fantasy / Sci-Fi | 6.5 | 60% | 45 | 6.7 | Ralph Bakshi |
| 35 | Asterix vs. Caesar '1985 | Comedy / Animation | 6.8 | - | - | 6.5 | Paul Brizzi |
| 36 | Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School '1988 | Animation / Mystery / Fantasy | 6.8 | - | - | 7.4 | Charles August Nichols |
| 37 | Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure '1988 | Action / Animation | 6.8 | - | - | 6.7 | Kazuhisa Takenouchi |
| 38 | Red's Dream '1987 | Animation | 6.3 | - | - | 6.1 | John Lasseter |
| 39 | Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone '1989 | Animation / Action / Fantasy | 6.7 | - | - | 6.9 | Daisuke Nishio |
| 40 | Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf '1988 | Animation / Comedy | 6.6 | - | - | 7.4 | Ray Patterson |
| 41 | Oliver & Company '1988 | Animation / Comedy | 6.6 | 52% | 58 | 6.7 | George Scribner |
| 42 | Tin Toy '1988 | Animation | 6.5 | - | - | 6.1 | John Lasseter |
| 43 | Asterix and the Big Fight '1989 | Animation / Comedy | 6.4 | - | - | 6.3 | Philippe Grimond |
| 44 | The Adventures of André and Wally B. '1984 | Animation / Comedy | 5.3 | - | - | 5.2 | Alvy Ray Smith |
| 45 | The Black Cauldron '1985 | Animation / Fantasy | 6.3 | 57% | 59 | 6.4 | Ted Berman |
Our catalog covers roughly the 8,800 most-rated films on TMDB, so lesser-known titles may be missing. Order uses a confidence-weighted IMDb score so a perfect score from a handful of votes does not beat a well-established classic; the scores shown are the raw ones.
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Directors on this list
Isao Takahata Hayao Miyazaki Robert Zemeckis Tim Burton Don Bluth Ron Clements John Lasseter Daisuke Nishio Ralph Bakshi Charles August Nichols
Actors on this list
Mayumi Tanaka Bob Hoskins Christopher Lloyd Vincent Price Mickey Rooney Kurt Russell Mia Farrow Alan Arkin John Hurt John Mills Pierre Tornade John Candy