Robin Hood (1963)
Photo: Walt Disney Pictures

Yesterday I received the new Sleeping Beauty (2-Disc Platinum Edition) DVD and I expect the Blu-ray Disc to be in my mailbox soon. In the meantime we had some great animation this summer in WALL•E and Kung Fu Panda and we have Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Bolt and The Tale of Despereaux to look forward to, but RottenTomatoes is looking backward at the moment and brings us a Top 50 list of the best reviewed animated films. Their intro reads as:

Since the earliest days of cinema, animated films have constantly evolved, drawing audiences of all ages looking for a new perspective on the world in which we live. Here at RT, we’ve dug deep to bring you our countdown of the best-reviewed animated films of all time. Like the world of animation itself, our list is wonderfully diverse: we’ve got Disney classics (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), dreamlike anime (Spirited Away), blissful stop-motion (Chicken Run), gleefully surreal foreign entries (The Triplets of Belleville), and of course, CGI from the mighty Pixar Studios (Toy Story). In short, we’ve got something for everyone: kids, grownups, fanboys, and arthouse types.

Before you start raising hackles about the fact that, say, The Secret of NIMH isn’t represented here, allow us a second to explain our parameters. Each of the films presented here has at least 20 reviews in order to maintain a measure of critical weight. We also omitted such classics as How the Grinch Stole Christmas that were made for television.

Just so you are clear, their list is made based on reviews, not the opinion of the RT editors. There is actually little to no editorial opinion in the piece as they let the reviews speak for themselves. The top ten goes as such:

1. Toy Story 2 (1999)
2. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
3. Pinocchio (1940)
4. Toy Story (1995)
5. WALL•E (2008)
6. Finding Nemo (2003)
7. Fantasia (1940)
8. Chicken Run (2000)
9. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
10. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Personally I was shocked by the films in the top ten. Certainly I like some of those films but several of them wouldn’t even be in my top 50. I know many people like The Nightmare Before Christmas, but I personally can’t stay awake through the first 30 minutes (not an exaggeration) and I would never wish to see Fantasia again and Toy Story 2 being considered better than the first is just flat out wrong. Of course, the numbers don’t lie. This is how the critical community weighed in.

I haven’t thought about it long enough to decide what my ten favorite animated films would be but here is a list I would consider:

• Robin Hood (1973)
• The Lion King (1994)
• The Sword in the Stone (1963)
• Ratatouille (2007)
• Toy Story (1995)
• Aladdin (1992)
• WALL•E (2008)
• The Incredibles (2004)
• Shrek (2001)
• Howl’s Moving Castle (2005)
• The Jungle Book (1967)

That’s ten off the top of my head and I still want to see Spirited Away, Akira and Princess Monoke. I may also consider The Iron Giant, but I would have to see it again to be sure. No matter what, I think Robin Hood would end up my personal all-time #1 animated film.

You can check out the complete RottenTomatoes list right here and I would love to hear what you guys think are your favorite animated films.

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