Animated Movies You are Sleeping on (but Shouldn’t)

Animation covers so much more than the handful of blockbusters everyone talks about. Across different countries and styles, filmmakers have been telling rich stories with distinctive artwork, inventive sound, and bold storytelling that deserve more attention. These films span hand drawn craft, stop motion ingenuity, and digital experimentation, and they come from studios big and small.

This list gathers animated features that flew under many people’s radar yet reward anyone who seeks them out. You will find intimate dramas, imaginative adventures, and historical tales that use the medium in striking ways. Each entry includes clear details on what it is, who made it, and why it stands out so you can pick your next watch with confidence.

‘The Secret of Kells’ (2009)

Irish studio Cartoon Saloon presents a fantasy rooted in medieval monastic life. The story follows a young apprentice who helps complete an illuminated manuscript while a looming threat approaches the abbey. The film blends mythological elements with monastic daily routines and uses motifs inspired by Insular art.

Director Tomm Moore and co director Nora Twomey shape images that echo the Book of Kells with knotwork patterns and flattened perspective. The score by Bruno Coulais and the use of Irish language phrases reinforce the setting. The production launched Cartoon Saloon’s signature style that continued in later films like ‘Song of the Sea’ and ‘Wolfwalkers’.

‘Ernest & Celestine’ (2012)

This Franco Belgian feature adapts Gabrielle Vincent’s picture books about an unlikely friendship between a bear and a mouse. The plot follows the pair as they navigate a society that keeps species apart while authorities pursue them for petty crimes. The narrative explores class division through parallel worlds above and below ground.

The movie’s watercolor look comes from delicate line work and airy palettes that echo the original illustrations. Directors Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar, and Benjamin Renner keep the pacing light while the score by Vincent Courtois adds a playful tone. The film later spawned the follow up ‘Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia’.

‘April and the Extraordinary World’ (2015)

Set in an alternate Paris where scientists vanish and technology stalls at steam power, this adventure follows a young inventor searching for her family. The world features coal driven machines, armored lizards, and a smog covered skyline. The script adapts a graphic novel concept by Jacques Tardi.

Directed by Christian Desmares and Franck Ekinci, the production merges cel shaded animation with meticulous background design. The movie uses a mystery structure with gadgets and subterfuge that lead to a hidden scientific colony. Its visual world connects to French bandes dessinées traditions seen in works like ‘The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc Sec’.

‘A Silent Voice: The Movie’ (2016)

This Japanese feature tells the story of a former bully who seeks to make amends with a deaf classmate. The plot covers school years and young adulthood with careful attention to sign language, hearing aids, and communication barriers. It examines the effects of ostracism and the steps toward accountability.

Director Naoko Yamada and studio Kyoto Animation employ detailed character acting and thoughtful framing. The soundtrack by Kensuke Ushio emphasizes interior emotion with repeating motifs. The film adapts Yoshitoki Oima’s manga and includes supervised use of Japanese Sign Language, which shapes several key scenes.

‘In This Corner of the World’ (2016)

The narrative follows a young woman in Hiroshima and Kure during wartime, depicting household routines and rationing alongside air raids. It maps specific neighborhoods and relies on period research to recreate street layouts and clothing. Diaries and municipal records informed visual details in kitchens and markets.

Director Sunao Katabuchi focuses on everyday gestures like drawing, cooking, and mending as anchors for memory. The film uses soft pencil textures and desaturated palettes that shift after major events. An extended cut later added scenes that expand family relationships while keeping the same historical framework.

‘The Girl Without Hands’ (2016)

This adaptation of a Brothers Grimm tale uses minimalistic line art and blocks of color. The story follows a miller’s daughter who resists a bargain with a malevolent spirit and seeks safety over many years. The narrative structure moves through trials, exile, and reunion.

Director Sébastien Laudenbach animated the feature largely solo using a fluid brushlike technique. The soundtrack integrates Foley and sparse music to highlight silence and movement. The result is a stylized approach that preserves the darkness of the original folk narrative while remaining accessible.

‘The Red Turtle’ (2016)

A wordless survival story follows a castaway on a remote island who encounters a mysterious turtle. The plot tracks shelter building, foraging, and seasonal cycles, then moves into magical realism as the castaway’s life changes. The absence of dialogue foregrounds environmental sounds like wind and surf.

Directed by Michaël Dudok de Wit in collaboration with Studio Ghibli, the film combines hand drawn figures with digitally assisted backgrounds. The color design shifts from bright daylight to moonlit sequences, marking time and mood. The production emphasizes universal themes through simple staging and precise editing.

‘My Life as a Zucchini’ (2016)

This stop motion drama centers on a boy who moves into a group home after a family tragedy. The story explores social workers’ procedures, school integration, and the dynamics among children with different backgrounds. Scenes depict case meetings, supervised visits, and adoption processes.

Director Claude Barras uses expressive puppets with large eyes and stitched textures. The screenplay by Céline Sciamma adapts a novel and balances sensitive subjects with clarity. The film’s short runtime and focused setting keep attention on routines like chores, playtime, and class assignments.

‘Lu Over the Wall’ (2017)

A middle school band in a seaside town meets a mermaid who responds to music. The plot covers rehearsals, local superstitions, and a festival that turns chaotic when fear spreads. The movie links water movement and dance through rhythm based sequences.

Director Masaaki Yuasa and Science SARU animate with elastic poses and rapid motion. The music ranges from garage rock to pop choruses and drives several set pieces. The town’s geography of breakwaters and warehouses shapes chase scenes and crowd behavior across tidal flats.

‘The Breadwinner’ (2017)

Set in Kabul under Taliban rule, the story follows a girl who disguises herself as a boy to support her family after her father is taken. The narrative includes market trading, errands for neighbors, and encounters with checkpoints. Folktale sequences are intercut with the main plot to provide cultural context.

Directed by Nora Twomey and produced by Cartoon Saloon, the film uses distinct design for the folktale portions with cutout inspired silhouettes. The production team consulted Afghan artists and advisors to depict clothing, signage, and architecture accurately. The score by Mychael Danna and Jeff Danna blends regional instruments with orchestral writing.

‘Mary and the Witch’s Flower’ (2017)

A girl discovers a rare flower that grants temporary magical abilities and leads her to a distant academy. The plot follows class sessions, laboratories, and the consequences of experiments. The story adapts Mary Stewart’s novel about a plant with extraordinary properties.

Studio Ponoc, founded by former Studio Ghibli staff, produced the film with Hiromasa Yonebayashi directing. Backgrounds feature lush forests and British countryside landmarks. The flying sequences integrate hand drawn effects with layered clouds to create a sense of altitude and speed.

‘Mirai’ (2018)

A young boy struggles with the arrival of a baby sister and meets relatives across time in a series of encounters. The structure moves through everyday moments like train commutes, tantrums, and family chores. Historical vignettes introduce ancestors and show how choices echo through generations.

Director Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu design a modern home as a central stage, using sliding doors and staircases for playful blocking. The animation pays close attention to toddler movement and the unpredictability of pets. A sequence at a massive train station recreates signage and platform layouts with accuracy.

‘Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms’ (2018)

The story follows an immortal girl who raises a human child while kingdoms fight over her people’s longevity. The narrative spans years of political alliances, weaving, and changing borders. It tracks the logistics of adoption, travel papers, and military recruitment.

Directed by Mari Okada at P. A. Works, the film features elaborate cloth patterns and architecture inspired by multiple cultures. The score by Kenji Kawai underlines the contrast between domestic life and public ceremony. The production balances large scale battles with intimate scenes of caregiving.

‘I Lost My Body’ (2019)

A severed hand moves through a city to find its owner while the main timeline follows a delivery worker learning a new trade. The movie intercuts past and present to reveal how an accident reshaped a life. Street level details include metro tunnels, rooftops, and apartment courtyards.

Director Jérémy Clapin uses tactile sound design such as escalator hums and kitchen tools. The animation blends realistic movement with inventive point of view shots from the hand’s perspective. The film is based on a novel and uses monochrome flashbacks to separate memory from current events.

‘Promare’ (2019)

Firefighting mechs battle a group whose powers cause crystalline flames. The plot covers emergency response tactics, political cover ups, and engineering upgrades that change the balance of power. Terminology for equipment and formations appears across briefings and field operations.

Director Hiroyuki Imaishi and studio Trigger deploy bold shapes and angular character designs. Visual effects use cubic particles and saturated lighting that create a distinctive heat shimmer. Composer Hiroyuki Sawano’s score supports large scale action with recurring themes tied to factions.

‘Children of the Sea’ (2019)

After an incident at school, a girl meets two boys with unusual ties to the ocean. The story examines marine research, aquarium routines, and celestial events that draw crowds to the shoreline. Scientific exhibits and ship equipment appear throughout.

Studio 4°C and director Ayumu Watanabe adapt Daisuke Igarashi’s manga with watercolor skies and detailed aquatic life. The soundscape highlights whale song and water pressure effects. The finale combines astronomical imagery with undersea phenomena in a long abstract sequence.

‘Wolfwalkers’ (2020)

Set in Kilkenny during a period of deforestation, the story follows a hunter’s daughter who meets a girl from a shapeshifting tribe. The plot involves patrols outside city walls, trapping methods, and the politics of a fortified town. Hand drawn maps and boundary markers figure into key decisions.

Directors Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart use contour lines and woodcut textures. Backgrounds show layered pencil lines while transformations are animated with overlapping shapes. The production design contrasts rigid city grids with organic forest forms to communicate opposing worldviews.

‘On-Gaku: Our Sound’ (2019)

A trio of students with no musical training forms a band and discovers a hypnotic groove. Scenes show practice sessions with simple cords and borrowed instruments. The story tracks school festival planning and the logistics of hauling gear in small spaces.

Director Kenji Iwaisawa spent years animating the film with a small team using limited movement for comedic timing. The soundtrack features bass driven tracks and a climactic outdoor performance. The film adapts Hiroyuki Ohashi’s manga and keeps deadpan delivery throughout.

‘The Wolf House’ (2018)

This Chilean stop motion feature creates a single continuous space that morphs as a storybook nightmare. It retells a parable linked to a real world cult through shifting walls, painted faces, and paper puppets. The camera never cuts in conventional ways as rooms reshape around the protagonist.

Directors Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña constructed sets inside a gallery and photographed on site. Paint and tape are applied directly to walls and then altered frame by frame, leaving traces visible. The sound design uses overlapping narrators in multiple languages to heighten unease.

‘The Summit of the Gods’ (2021)

A photojournalist in Japan investigates a missing climber and a lost camera connected to early Everest attempts. The narrative moves from city research to high altitude expeditions. Gear lists, permits, and acclimatization schedules appear across several scenes.

Director Patrick Imbert adapts Jiro Taniguchi’s manga with realistic mountain environments. Ice fields, rope teams, and avalanche risk management are depicted with technical clarity. The animation captures light on snow and the rhythm of breath at altitude.

‘Belle’ (2021)

A shy student becomes a star in a massive online world with a digital persona that draws millions. The plot compares school life and virtual concerts while moderation systems and identity protection influence events. The architecture of the virtual space includes floating arenas and avatar hubs.

Director Mamoru Hosoda uses hand drawn characters with CG environments for the online world. Composer Taisei Iwasaki coordinates vocal tracks that appear as diegetic performances. The production references ‘Beauty and the Beast’ while updating the setting to contemporary social media.

‘Flee’ (2021)

This animated documentary recounts the journey of an Afghan refugee who builds a new life in Europe. Interviews provide primary testimony while animation protects identities and visualizes memories. The film covers migration routes, legal frameworks, and the process of seeking asylum.

Director Jonas Poher Rasmussen integrates archival audio with stylized sequences for recollections. The production uses varied line styles to indicate certainty versus ambiguity. The approach demonstrates how animation can document lived experience when cameras were not present.

‘The Spine of Night’ (2021)

A fantasy epic follows a witch and a scholar across eras as a mystical bloom changes empires. The story includes sieges, desert caravans, and forbidden archives. Episodes connect through a guardian at a mountaintop shrine.

Directors Philip Gelatt and Morgan Galen King employ rotoscope techniques reminiscent of earlier adult animation. The cast includes voice performances recorded to match long action takes. The production relies on hand painted backgrounds and layered effects to create a heavy metal aesthetic.

‘Klaus’ (2019)

A spoiled postal trainee is sent to a remote northern town where feuds have halted mail service. The plot covers delivery routes, school reopenings, and town governance as new traditions take shape. Tools like sleds and sorting racks become part of the action.

Director Sergio Pablos developed lighting technology that simulates volumetric depth on hand drawn art. The soundtrack and sound effects support winter settings with creaking wood and wind. The film revisits the origin of a familiar figure through community building rather than magic alone.

‘Nimona’ (2023)

In a techno medieval city, a disgraced knight teams up with a shapeshifter to expose a conspiracy. The narrative explores security certification, propaganda, and surveillance towers that define the metropolis. Action sequences use transforming bodies to solve practical obstacles like locks and walls.

Directed by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, the film adapts ND Stevenson’s comic with angular character design and neon accented palettes. The production moved studios during development and completed with a new distributor. The final cut preserves the core relationship between the main duo and emphasizes identity themes.

‘The Triplets of Belleville’ (2003)

A grandmother and her dog pursue a kidnapped cyclist across the Atlantic and into a city filled with jazz and oddball entertainers. The plot features training regimens, ocean travel, and nightclub schedules. Visual gags come from exaggerated silhouettes and mechanical contraptions.

Director Sylvain Chomet uses limited dialogue and leans on music by Benoît Charest. The animation caricatures urban design while staying grounded in recognizable routines. The film later connected to the short ‘The Old Lady and the Pigeons’ through shared sensibilities.

Share your favorite hidden gem animated movies in the comments so everyone can discover what to watch next.