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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Flow leads this ranking, but the best animated films of 2024 span far more than one awards winner: from intimate stop-motion and wordless survival to inventive studio sequels and family adventures. The order below weighs visual craft, storytelling and emotional impact, stylistic distinctiveness, ambition, and audience accessibility. Awards and box office provide useful context—not an objective verdict on quality.
How this ranking works
This is an editorial ranking, not a scorecard certified by awards bodies or ticket sales. It brings together award-recognized independent and international films with major studio releases, judging each on how its animation serves the story, how memorable its emotional or thematic ideas are, and how distinctively it uses the medium. The Academy’s 2025 Animated Feature nominees are a strong recognition-based starting point, but nomination does not dictate a film’s position.
Commercial figures below are limited to the UK and Ireland theatrical market unless stated otherwise. They show reach in that territory, not worldwide performance or artistic merit. The Academy’s awards honored films released in 2024.
What are the best animated movies of 2024?
| Rank | Film | Animation and storytelling | Recognition and reach |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flow | A visually expressive, wordless animal-survival story whose quiet observation and environmental scale make its minimal dialogue a strength. | Won the 2025 Academy Award for Animated Feature Film, the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Animated, and the European Film Award for Best Animated Feature. Academy results; Cannes awards retrospective. |
| 2 | Memoir of a Snail | Stop-motion offers a tactile home for a melancholy, adult-facing story; its modest scale and emotional candor distinguish it from broad family comedy. | Nominated for the 2025 Academy Award for Animated Feature Film. Academy results. |
| 3 | The Wild Robot | A polished adventure that turns a robot’s adaptation to the natural world into an accessible story about care, belonging, and change. | Nominated for the 2025 Academy Award for Animated Feature Film. Its UK and Ireland 2024 theatrical gross was £13,847,636, according to the Film Distributors Association’s 2025 yearbook. Academy results; FDA Yearbook 2025. |
| 4 | Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl | Handmade stop-motion, visual jokes, and the familiar inventor-and-dog partnership make this a distinctive comic choice. | Nominated for the 2025 Academy Award for Animated Feature Film. Academy results. |
| 5 | Inside Out 2 | Builds on its predecessor’s emotional-personification concept with a new stage of growing up and a lively ensemble of feelings. | Nominated for the 2025 Academy Award for Animated Feature Film. Disney reported a worldwide gross of $1.46 billion on July 24, 2024; that is Disney’s dated company figure, not a current all-time ranking. Its UK and Ireland 2024 theatrical gross was £59,228,395. Disney announcement; Academy results; FDA Yearbook 2025. |
| 6 | Transformers One | A science-fiction origin story whose world-building and focus on the relationship between its central characters give the franchise a different angle. | Its UK and Ireland 2024 theatrical gross was £4,606,953, according to the Film Distributors Association’s 2025 yearbook. FDA Yearbook 2025. |
| 7 | Moana 2 | A colorful, musical return to ocean voyaging, with a broad family-adventure appeal and a continuing story for its heroine. | Its UK and Ireland theatrical gross was £42,270,521 in the FDA’s 2025 yearbook; the total includes box office through February 28, 2025, because the film remained in cinemas at the end of 2024. FDA Yearbook 2025. |
| 8 | Despicable Me 4 | A fast, slapstick-heavy installment that favors comic momentum and familiar characters over reinvention. | Its UK and Ireland 2024 theatrical gross was £48,235,509, according to the Film Distributors Association’s 2025 yearbook. FDA Yearbook 2025. |
| 9 | Kung Fu Panda 4 | Martial-arts action and broad comedy carry another chapter in a long-running family franchise. | Its UK and Ireland 2024 theatrical gross was £21,981,784, according to the Film Distributors Association’s 2025 yearbook. FDA Yearbook 2025. |
| 10 | Migration | A light, accessible family flight adventure that earns its place through an inviting premise and straightforward comic storytelling. | Its UK and Ireland 2024 theatrical gross was £21,431,305, according to the Film Distributors Association’s 2025 yearbook. FDA Yearbook 2025. |
Why Flow takes the top spot
Flow earns first place through the unity of its form and its story. Its largely wordless approach asks viewers to read behavior, movement, and changing landscapes rather than rely on explanatory dialogue. That restraint gives its animal characters room to feel specific and its journey room to become tense and affecting. It also makes the film a distinctive counterpoint to dialogue-driven studio animation.
#1 Best Overall
![Transformers One (2024) [Blu-ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51pHS0chsjL._SL160_.jpg)
- TRANSFORMERS ONE is the origin story of OPTIMUS PRIME and MEGATRON, better known as sworn enemies, who were once friends, bonded like brothers who changed the fate of Cybertron forever.
Its awards standing reinforces its prominence without proving that it must rank first: Flow won Animated Feature at the 97th Academy Awards, alongside the Golden Globe and European Film Award for animated feature. After the Oscar win, director Gints Zilbalodis told the Associated Press, “I hope this will open of doors to independent animation filmmakers around the world.” Associated Press report.
Which 2024 animated movies are worth watching?
For an unusual, contemplative film
Choose Flow for a story that relies on image and sound rather than conversation, or Memoir of a Snail for stop-motion with a more adult, bittersweet emotional register.
Rank #2
- Halloween 3-Movie Collection (Blu-ray + Digital)
For families and younger viewers
The Wild Robot is the strongest pick here for an emotionally resonant adventure; Moana 2, Kung Fu Panda 4, and Despicable Me 4 suit viewers looking for established characters, comedy, and spectacle. Migration offers a lighter, self-contained family outing.
For franchise fans seeking a different angle
Transformers One takes its series into an animated origin story, while Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl delivers handmade stop-motion comedy rooted in a familiar duo.
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Rank #3
![The Super Mario: Bros. Movie / Galaxy Movie [2023-2026] [Blu-ray] [Region Free]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Y0GRHsn4L._SL160_.jpg)
- COMPLETE 2-FILM COLLECTION – Includes The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) and Galaxy Movie (2026)
- BASED ON NINTENDO'S ICONIC FRANCHISE – Join Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Toad, and more in two exciting animated adventures
- FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY – Packed with action, comedy, colorful animation, and memorable characters for viewers of all ages
- HIGH-DEFINITION BLU-RAY – Enjoy both films with excellent picture quality, immersive audio, and bonus features
- REGION FREE BLU-RAY – Compatible with Blu-ray players worldwide
What the awards and box office do—and do not—show
The Academy nominated five films for its 2025 Animated Feature award: Flow, Inside Out 2, Memoir of a Snail, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, and The Wild Robot. That shortlist supports their inclusion among the year’s notable films, but it is recognition, not a universal ranking.
The Film Distributors Association reported £232.5 million in UK and Ireland gross for 71 new animated releases in 2024. Its ten highest-grossing animated theatrical titles totaled £225,992,161, but that separate table includes a reissue, Coraline (15th Anniversary), and the cinema-programming title Peppa’s Cinema Party; it is not a curated list of the year’s best new films. Disney’s July 24, 2024 announcement placed Inside Out 2 at $1.46 billion worldwide at that time. These figures describe different markets and measures, so they should not be compared as if they were a single quality test. Film Distributors Association Yearbook 2025; Disney announcement.
Rank #4
![Moana: 2-movie Collection (Moana 2016 + Moana 2 2024, Bundle) [Blu-ray] [Region Free]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51iv1CAUC2L._SL160_.jpg)
- 2-MOVIE BLU-RAY COLLECTION – Includes Moana (2016) and Moana 2
- DISNEY FAMILY ADVENTURES – Perfect for all ages
- HIGH DEFINITION PRESENTATION – Bright, colorful animation
- BELOVED CHARACTERS & MUSIC – Iconic Disney storytelling
- HIGH DEFINITION PRESENTATION – Bright, colorful animation
Current streaming destinations and physical editions vary by territory and are not established here; check local services for current availability.
