Summary

• Adult animated movies offer deeper, mature stories not just for kids, embracing themes of violence and sexuality while captivating adult audiences.
• From severed hands on journeys to dystopian visions, these movies showcase animation's limitless potential for storytelling at any age.
• Animated films like "I Lost My Body" and "Wolfwalkers" challenge perceptions of what adult animation can accomplish, pushing the boundaries of the medium.

The best animated movies for adults prove there is no reason to view the medium as just for children. Since the early days of cinema, animation has been a big draw, especially for families — with Disney's animated projects (as well as their various competitors) bringing wondrous fairy tales to life even before the first color film. While the best-animated movies often appeal to all ages, with parents enjoying the thrilling stories as much as their children, there's often been a misconception that cartoons were only made for younger audiences.

Luckily, as with animated adult comedies on television, films fight against those perceptions and deliver brilliant animated movies tailored to an adult audience. While this sometimes means they include violence and sexuality seen in live-action R-rated movies, it also means there are deeper and more mature stories that might not appeal to kids but could take adult audiences on a journey that can only be told in animated form. As more animated movies for adults have arrived with ever-increasing budgets throughout the years, the best cartoons that aren't for kids include some classic films.

25 I Lost My Body (2019)

An Oscar-Nominated French Film About A Severed Hand Trying To Find Its Missing Body

The French animated movie I Lost My Body takes a unique story and delivers a strangely beautiful movie with it. It centers around a severed hand that escapes from a laboratory and makes its way across Paris, attempting to reunite with the rest of its body. The premise might suggest a more macabre movie, but I Lost My Body is a surprisingly heartfelt story with a journey that leads to a satisfying conclusion.

It centers around a severed hand that escapes from a laboratory and makes its way across Paris, attempting to reunite with the rest of its body.

I Lost My Body premiered in the Critics' Week (Semaine de la Critique) section of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. At Cannes, it ended up as the first animated movie to ever win the Nespresso Grand Prize in that award's history (the award's first year was 2001). It went on to earn countless Best Animated Film awards while also receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature, although it lost out to Toy Story 4.

I Lost My Body is currently available to stream on Netflix.

24 Mad God (2021)

A Trip To Stop-Motion Hell From An Oscar-Winning Visual Effects Producer

The best stop-motion animated movies showcase the beauty and brilliance of the medium, with Mad God being one of the most ambitious examples. While stop-motion movies can certainly be more aimed at kids, Mad God is decidedly not. The story follows an assassin who ventures into a hellish underworld of tortured souls and grotesque creatures. This animated movie for adults started life as a Kickstarter project from Oscar-winning visual effects producer Phil Tippet which was 30 years in the making.

Tippet began working on the movie after he worked on Jurassic Park in 1993, believing he wanted to find a way to save stop-motion animation from disappearing with the advent of CGI. The result is a stunning visual experience that showcases how stop-motion can deliver unbelievable scenarios that compete and exceed CGI. Mad God premiered at the Locarno Festival in 2021 and joined Shudder's lineup of programming in 2022. It went on to win the Best Feature Film Animation at the prestigious Ray Harryhausen Awards.

Mad God is available to stream on Shudder.

23 Wolfwalkers (2020)

A Multi-Award Nominated Irish Fantasy Tale With A Truly Unique Art Style

Animated fantasy movies may feel as though they are tailor-made for a younger audience. However, the Irish animated studio Cartoon Saloon has excelled at making magical animated adventures that appeal to older audiences perhaps more than younger ones. Wolfwalkers follows Robyn (Honor Kneafsey), a young girl whose father has been tasked with hunting a local wolf. However, she soon befriends a magical young girl with the ability to transform into a wolf at night.

It is a beautifully animated movie with stunning 2D art that feels like both a throwback and totally original animated feature. It received nominations for Best Animated Feature Film at the Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and BAFTA Awards. With a voice cast including Sean Bean, the movie won five Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature - Independent and the Satellite Award for Best Animated or Mixed Media Film.

Wolfwalkers is available to stream on Apple TV+

22 The Wind Rises (2013)

Hayao Miyazaki's Biography Of A Famed Japanese Aviation Engineer

While Studio Ghibli uses its stunning animation to tell fantastical stories at times, it also uses it to tell much more grounded and human stories. The historical drama The Wind Rises is a fictionalized biographical film of Jiro Horikoshi, a Japanese designer responsible for precursors to the planes used to bomb Pearl Harbor. Initially meant to be Hayao Miyazaki's final film, it is another showcase of his incredible talents as a filmmaker as well as a complex look at a historical figure.

It was nominated for several awards, including Best Animated Feature at the Oscars and Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globes. The Wind Rises did win the Annie Award for Outstnading Achievement for Writing in a Feature Production and the Japan Academy Film Prize for Animation of the Year. The movie has an 88% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Wind Rises is available to stream on Max.

21 Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio (2022)

A Legendary Horror Director's Dark Take On A Classic Fairy Tale

There have been several versions of Pinocchio over the years, but Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro managed to find a new and worthwhile approach to the familiar story. While it follows the same basic premise of the wooden boy that comes to life, there is an interesting element of Geppetto rejecting Pinocchio as a mistake. The setting in Fascist Italy also adds to the intriguing new take, and this version of Pinocchio is one of the best-animated movies for adults, even if it's relatively free of R-rated elements.

It is a funny, heartbreaking, and visually marvelous tale of mortality while also earning del Toro another Oscar, this time for Best Animated Feature (he previously won Best Picture and Best Director for his fantasy movie The Shape of Water). The movie also won the same award at the Golden Globes and Annie Awards. Pinocchio has a 96% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio is currently available to stream on Netflix.

20 Beavis And Butt-Head Do America (1996)

Mike Judge's Beavis And Butthead's Feature-Length Debut

Mike Judge brought his Beavis and Butt-head characters to the big screen in Beavis and Butt-Head Do America. Instead of sitting around and watching TV like on the MTV series, the duo hits the road in their big-screen debut, albeit in order to track down their stolen TV. Judge’s work on Beavis and Butt-Head was an early pioneer in adult-oriented animation on television, and he was one of the first to bring that style from the small screen to the big screen.

Undoubtedly one of the most influential animated movies for adults, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America lives on through memes. It also kickstarted Judge's career, as he directed Office Space three years later and has since brought King of the Hill to the small screen and brought back Beavis and Butthead for a new generation with the Paramount+ original movie, Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe.

Beavis And Butt-Head Do America is currently available to stream on Paramount+

19 The Lord Of The Rings (1978)

The Animated Version of Tolkien's Epic

Ralph Bakshi set out to animate The Lord of the Rings trilogy across two movies. However, due to problems behind the scenes, Bakshi only ever managed to make the first one, covering The Fellowship of the Ring and the first half of The Two Towers. Still, Bakshi’s adaptation has achieved cult status as undeniably a different take on the material. Peter Jackson acknowledged its influence on his own adaptation of Tolkien’s work a couple of decades later, and these can even be observed in some of the best scenes from Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The movie did well at the box office when released, making $30.4 million on a $4 million budget (via Box Office Mojo), and it received a 2022 re-release. Critical response was mixed upon its release, with many criticizing the animation and the fact the movie didn't have a conclusive ending since it was expected to start a trilogy. However, it has been reappraised and has become a legitimate cult classic.

The 1978 Lord of the Rings cartoon is available to rent and purchase on multiple platforms.

18 Ghost In The Shell (1995)

The Anime Classic That Helped Birth The Matrix Franchise

Mamoru Oshii’s original Ghost in the Shell movie from 1995 remains a timeless classic of the cyberpunk genre. Apart from touching on challenging themes surrounding transhumanism and institutional politics, Ghost in the Shell is an example of how combining traditional cel animation and computer graphics was already perfected back in the '90s. The movie’s influence on The Matrix franchise was so strong that the Wachowskis reportedly pitched the project to studios by screening Ghost in the Shell and telling executives they wanted to basically just do that but in live-action.

This is another movie that was a box office disappointment that ended up becoming a massive cult favorite in the years to come. However, despite making less than expected at the box office, it was still a critical success, nominated for five Annie Awards, the most ever for a Japanese movie at that time. This included Best Animated Feature and Best Achievement in Directing, but it lost out to the first Toy Story movie.

Ghost in the Shell is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

17 Mary And Max (2009)

A Stop-Motion Exploration Into Isolation And Companionship

Inspired by his relationship with his own pen pal in New York, writer-director Adam Elliot made Mary and Max, a stop-motion claymation animated dramedy about an isolated Australian girl and the overweight American with whom she exchanges letters. The movie’s use of colors to represent its characters, from Max’s dreary noir-tinged palette to Mary’s warm sepia tones, is exemplary, while the story itself is a heartfelt testament to the virtues of human interaction in all its forms.

Mary and Max is extremely effective at juxtaposing its child-friendly animation style with deeply adult themes. The tragic and emotional story takes a deep look at addiction, loneliness, and mental illness, and the ending is a gut punch that makes this much more than just another animated movie. It went on to win the Best Animated Feature Film Award at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards and the Best Direction in a Feature Film by the Australian Directors Guild.

Mary and Max is available to stream on AMC+

16 Grave Of The Fireflies (1989)

Studio Ghibli's Heartwrenching World War II Tale

Grave of the Fireflies centers on a pair of siblings as they seek to survive the end of World War II in the city of Kobe, Japan. In the first few moments of the film, it is revealed both passed away, and the rest of the movie is a flashback about their journey. This, however, does nothing to cushion the blow of the crux of this truly tragic movie. It should be noted that Grave of the Fireflies is a highly emotional experience that not all viewers are prepared for. However, its valuable lessons about humanity make it a must-see.

The movie shows the horrors of World War II's ending on innocent Japanese citizens, mostly focusing on children, and that makes this a very hard movie to watch. While the movie was slightly disappointing at the box office, it was universally acclaimed upon its release and has a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, widely considered one of the greatest animated movies ever made — adult-themed or otherwise.

Grave of the Fireflies is available to rent on Apple TV

15 Fantastic Planet (1973)

A Psychedelic High-Concept Apocalypse From The 1970s

On the planet of Ygam, humans are minuscule in comparison to the Traags from this world. Humans are considered to be animals and are thus kept as pets and even hunted. A young Traag adopts a human child after the human's mother is killed by Traag children. This starts a series of events that show the world in a much larger scope. Animated in the 70s' signature psychedelic visual style, Fantastic Planet reveals the sheer depth that can be explored through psychedelic cartoons and high-concept sci-fi elements.

To this day, Fantastic Planet is largely lauded for offering a new spin on the apocalypse. A French-language animated movie by René Laloux, the movie is based on the Stefan Wul novel, Oms en série, and tells a very interesting story about human rights and racism. It received an overwhelmingly positive 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while also winning the Special Prize at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival.

Fantastic Planet is available to stream on Max.

14 Fritz The Cat (1972)

The Notorious X-Rated Satire That Helped Spawn South Park

In addition to adapting half of The Lord of the Rings saga, Ralph Bakshi helmed the X-rated animated satire Fritz the Cat. While its comic sensibility doesn’t hold up particularly well today, the revolutions made by Fritz the Cat can’t be understated. Where Fantastic Planet inadvertently gave rise to psychedelic animation, Fritz the Cat was the first true cornerstone for comedic adult cartoons, cementing its reputation as one of the most explicitly adult animated movies.

If it hadn’t been for Fritz the Cat pushing adult content and mature themes through an animated prism in the early ‘70s, giants like South Park, Rick and Morty, and The Simpsons might not be where they are today. The movie, despite its X-rating, was a huge success, making over $90 million worldwide, which was a massive profit on its $7800,000 budget (via AV Club). While critics in the 70s bashed its use of profanity, violence, and sex and drug use, it set the table for the future of adult animated movies.

13 Jay & Silent Bob’s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie! (2013)

The Animated Debut Of Kevin Smith's Jay & Silent Bob

It’s always a joy to watch when Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith get together for another appearance as Jay and Silent Bob. Jay & Silent Bob’s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie! adapts Smith’s Bluntman and Chronic comic books for the screen. The animation style is simplistic, but the crude comedy in Smith’s script is perfect for these characters - not unlike the entire premise of South Park.

The movie has a ton of great moments, including a post-credits stinger in which a cameoing Stan Lee recruits the titular duo onto the Avengers. For sheer comedic value, Jay & Silent Bob’s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie! is a worthy continuation of this franchise. Kevin Smith had previously made an animated TV series based on Clerks, and while Smith didn't direct this movie, it is officially part of the View Askewniverse and its closing credits referenced Clerks III.

Jay & Silent Bob’s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie! is available to rent on YouTube

12 The Breadwinner (2017)

An Unflinching Look At The Rule Of The Taliban From A Child's Eyes

Set in 2001 during the Taliban's control over most of Afghanistan, the Oscar-nominated The Breadwinner centers around eleven-year-old Parvana. After her father is unjustly imprisoned, Parvana must provide for her family. She dresses as a boy to get around Taliban laws and plans to rescue her father. The film is beautifully animated and is a heartfelt and inspiring story of a child's determination to help her family amid their war-torn surroundings. Rated PG-13, The Breadwinner is sometimes considered a family film, but the events are ultimately more suited for mature audiences.

For emotional depth The Breadwinner is near-unrivaled among the best-animated movies for adults. It premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival and then earned a Best Animated Feature nomination at the Academy Awards. However, it lost out on that award to Pixar's Coco. The movie has an outstanding 95% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Breadwinner is available to rent on Apple TV

11 The Animatrix (2003)

A Series Of Shorts That Tie Into The Matrix Movies

Set in the world of The Matrix trilogy, The Animatrix is an anthology movie that explores the events prior to when machines rose up against humanity. The Animatrix features nine short stories, and through seven different directors and animation styles, it unravels what viewers knew all along: humans have no one to blame for the machine revolt but themselves. By enhancing the lore and history behind the live-action movies in ways that fully leverage the various animation styles of its directors, The Animatrix builds the mythology in exciting ways.

The shorts have some big-name animated voice artists, including Phillip LaMarr (Samurai Jack), John DiMaggio (Futurama), Tara Strong (The Powerpuff Girls), Kevin Michael Richarson (The Batman). Kid's Story also provides a treat for fans of the movies as both Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss return as Neo and Trinity. The movie was only released on home video and was a huge success, making $68 million (via Forbes).

The Animatrix is available to rent on Apple TV

10 Isle Of Dogs (2018)

Wes Anderson's Stop-Motion Take On Every Dog's Worst Nightmare

Despite the adorable dogs in its ensemble, Isle of Dogs is not a movie for kids. Its violence was tame enough to avoid an R rating, but it’s still pretty disturbing. In fact, Isle of Dogs mixes the themes of trauma beautifully with Wes Anderson's signature quirky humor. After adapting Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox as a stop-motion animated feature, Wes Anderson returned to the medium for the story of a near-future Japan in which canine flu leads to all dogs being banished to a trash-filled island.

Moreover, while many adult animated movies and stop-motion films do not make a lot of money, Isle of Dogs is one of Wes Anderson's highest-grossing movies, behind only The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Moonrise Kingdom. It is also one of his best reviewed, sitting at 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie also earned two nominations at the Academy Awards, including Best Animated Feature and Best Score.

Isle of Dogs is available to stream on Disney+

9 Sausage Party (2016)

Seth Rogen And Evan Goldberg's Belief-Defying R-Rated Movie About Talking Food

In a shockingly crude parody of the worlds conjured up by Pixar, Sausage Party is set in a world where food products are sentient. They dream of making it to “the Great Beyond,” until they discover that they’ll be eaten. Superbad’s Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg brought their R-rated sensibility to a seemingly lighthearted animated romp that includes drugs, suicide, and an extended orgy sequence. It also has an interesting story about food products learning about the mysteries of what happens next in life — a very adult theme in a raunchy comedy.

Disney’s go-to composer Alan Menken contributed to the soundtrack, while the voice cast of Sausage Party contains such A-list comedic talent as Jonah Hill, Kristen Wiig, Paul Rudd, and Danny McBride. The movie also received a lot of praise for a raunchy animated movie, with an Annie Awards nomination, an MTV Movie & TV Awards nomination, and a surprising critical response, sitting at 82% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Sausage Party is available to stream on Netflix.

8 Persepolis (2007)

Oscar-Nominated Graphic Novel Adaptation About The Iranian Revolution

Marjane Satrapi adapted her own autobiographical comic book for the screen with her Oscar-nominated masterpiece Persepolis, a coming-of-age story about a girl growing up during the Iranian Revolution. It was heavily influenced by Satrapi’s own experiences in West Asia. Although the story specifically speaks to Iranian experiences, it deals with universal themes and can be enjoyed by anybody with a heart. While Persepolis strangely remains an underrated gem, it's also one of the greatest period movies, ever.

It also marks one of the few traditionally animated movies nominated for an Oscar since the Best Animated Feature was established. The movie received universal acclaim, as it was a rare adult animated feature that wasn't a "cartoon" and was instead a biopic whose director chose to use animation over live-action filmmaking to tell her story. It tied for the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and ended up nominated for the Palme d'Or.

Persepolis is available to rent on Apple TV.

7 Akira (1988)

The Dystopian Sci-Fi That Helped Introduce Anime To The West

Set in dystopian Neo-Tokyo, Akira is one of the defining works of cyberpunk cinema. When Tetsuo Shima acquires telekinetic abilities in a motorcycle crash, he uses those abilities to take on corruption in the city, eventually going after the oppressive political powers. The global success of Akira helped to popularize anime in the Western world and remains a huge inspiration for live-action movies, with the likes of Looper and Nope paying homage.

Apart from laying the groundwork for contemporary cyberpunk itself, Akira's overarching themes, animation style, and even actual shots continue to influence sci-fi and fantasy to this day. The movie remains a cult favorite, and a movie that both anime and mainstream fans hold up as one of the greatest animated movies ever made. Japanese cyberpunk and adult animated movies owe a lot to this classic masterpiece.

Akira is available to stream on Hulu.

6 It's Such A Beautiful Day (2012)

An Experimental Journey Into One Man's Memories

The plot of It's Such a Beautiful Day can be a bit difficult to understand at times, but this is not the point of the film. This experimental piece follows the main character, Bill, and the memories of his life, all told in a fascinating artistic style. Upon first glance, viewers may look at the seemingly crude drawings and think little of them, but the animation style is incredibly unique and evokes a variety of feelings while watching it. The movie features a nuanced look at memory loss and

It's Such a Beautiful Day is perfect for those looking for something they've never seen before in an adult animated movie. The three shorts that make up this feature-length movie were shot separately, and the first of them won the 2007 Sundance Film Festival Grand Prize for Short Film. Together, It's Such a Beautiful Day holds a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and shows the brilliance of Don Hertzfeldt's (The Animation Show) work.

It's Such A Beautiful Day is currently unavailable for streaming