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The 20 Best Animated Movies of 2020

This year’s gems sprung from both the expected and unexpected corners of the medium.
Best Animated Movies of 2020
By  · Published on December 15th, 2020

15. Trolls World Tour

Trolls World Tour animated movies 2020

We’ll never be able to talk Trolls World Tour without mentioning the pandemic. With most movie houses closed in the country, Universal Pictures opted to release the film on VOD day-and-date with its theatrical run on April 19th. Maybe it’s because my head was trapped in such a suffocating reality, but clicking “buy” on this flick sparked a gust of much-needed relief.

Trolls World Tour is a confection. It’s sweet, and you can feel your teeth rotting while you chew, but the future may never come, so you might as well enjoy the sugar high.


14. Canvas

Screen Shot At Pm

This article was already done and submitted to the editor before I had a chance to watch the Netflix short Canvas. I felt good. I felt confident. Then, writer/director Frank A. Abney III ruined it all (so sorry, Scoob!, you gotta scram).

Canvas is a powerfully silent dive into the destructive power of loss. An unnamed, wheelchair-bound grandfather wakens to another morning without his partner by his side. His daughter and granddaughter visit. He puts on a good show for them but refuses to pick up a crayon when playtime calls for it. When the little one wanders into his shuttered studio and uncovers a painting-in-progress featuring his missing bride, a shiver of anger ripples through him. Until the granddaughter reveals the love that remains behind.

Abney learned his manipulative tricks while working for Pixar, animating bits of Coco, The Incredibles II, and Soul. Canvas’ 3D animation would appear right at home amongst his past works, but the way his grandfather falls into the canvas’s healing realm injects a traditional 2D spark to the experience. These nine minutes are a pure surge of cinema, celebrating the form while clawing your heartstrings.


13. Justice League Dark: Apokolips War

Justice League Apokolips War animated movies 2020

While the world has continued to wait for Marvel movies this year, DC Comics cranked out an incredible array of animated features. Justice League Dark: Apokolips War was one of five and by far the best. Although, the other four (Batman: Death in the Family, Deathstroke: Knights & Dragons, Superman: Man of Tomorrow, and Superman: Red Son) are certainly worth a watch for those who are craving spandex excitement.

Earth barely holds together after Darkseid vanquishes Superman and his Justice League. Our last glimmer of hope resides within the soured soul of John Constantine (Matt Ryan) and his ragtag band of magical miscreants. Clark Kent fought with honor; Constantine fights to win. Honor be damned.

Justice League Dark: Apokolips War is one of those universe-crushing stories that serve as a cataclysmic reboot so Warner Bros. can start all over again with a new style and a narrative clean slate. You can be cynical about it or appreciate the climax so rarely afforded these superhero endeavors.


12. Out

Pixar Out

A man and his dog magically switch bodies, a Freaky Friday situation that comically leads to the man coming out to his parents. Lasting just nine minutes in total, Out pulls every ounce of emotion from your person. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry – all that stuff. That’s Pixar, baby. Damn the runtime.

The studio’s SparkShorts program offers creators from the fringes of Pixar to take front and center. Writer/director Steven Clay Hunter was an animator on Toy Story 4 and The Good Dinosaur, plus a batch of other flicks. Out shows that he can deliver a unique style without imploding the brand. Let’s get him a feature.


11. Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe

Phineas And Ferb The Movie Candace Against The Universe animated movies 2020

Candace can’t take it anymore. Her mother fails to witness another wild technological scheme concocted by her brothers Phineas and Ferb. The moment she screams her frustrations to the heavens, a spaceship appears above, offering unconditional love and acceptance. You see, Candace is their Chosen One, and it’s exactly the kind of news the big sis has been waiting to receive all her life.

Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe sees Phineas and Ferb on a rescue mission to save their sister from the clutches of her own ego, as well as a horde of combustible aliens. Don’t get them too excited; they’re bound to pop. Gross.

Like My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising and We Bare Bears: The Movie, Candace Against the Universe stays true to its source material. It’s not a pretender. The film ranks above the rest because it never stops with the jokes and visual gags. From the jump, creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff Swampy Marsh steer their army of screenwriters to unload everything they’ve got. A second doesn’t pass without a prank of some kind.

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Brad Gullickson is a Weekly Columnist for Film School Rejects and Senior Curator for One Perfect Shot. When not rambling about movies here, he's rambling about comics as the co-host of Comic Book Couples Counseling. Hunt him down on Twitter: @MouthDork. (He/Him)