# The 10 Best Animated Movies Ever Made

> ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, asked 5 times each, rank Spirited Away as the #1 of the best animated movies ever made, followed by Toy Story and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Spirited Away (2001, Hayao Miyazaki). All 3 AIs put it first.

Source: https://clankerlists.com/lists/best-animated-movies-ever-made · Collected 2026-10-06 · Movies

| Rank | Pick | ChatGPT | Claude | Gemini |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Spirited Away](https://clankerlists.com/items/spirited-away) (2001, Hayao Miyazaki) | #1 | #1 | #1 |
| 2 | [Toy Story](https://clankerlists.com/items/toy-story) (1995) | #2 | #2 | #5 |
| 3 | [Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse](https://clankerlists.com/items/spider-man-into-the-spider-verse) (2018) | #3 | #5 | #3 |
| 4 | [WALL-E](https://clankerlists.com/items/wall-e) (2008) | #4 | #3 | #4 |
| 5 | [The Lion King](https://clankerlists.com/items/the-lion-king) (1994) | #13 | #4 | #2 |
| 6 | [Princess Mononoke](https://clankerlists.com/items/princess-mononoke) (1997) | #7 | #6 | #9 |
| 7 | [Grave of the Fireflies](https://clankerlists.com/items/grave-of-the-fireflies) (1988) | #5 | #9 | #6 |
| 8 | [Pinocchio](https://clankerlists.com/items/pinocchio-1940-film) (1940) | #6 | #13 | #12 |
| 9 | [Akira](https://clankerlists.com/items/akira-1988-film) (1988) | #11 | #12 | #7 |
| 10 | [My Neighbor Totoro](https://clankerlists.com/items/my-neighbor-totoro) (1988) | #14 | #7 | — |

## 1. Spirited Away

Hayao Miyazaki's fantasy about a girl trapped in a spirit-world bathhouse is the one film every list agreed on. Every engine put it first. It's inventive, strange, tender and endlessly rewatchable.

## 2. Toy Story

The first fully computer-animated feature changed the medium overnight. Woody and Buzz still deliver sharp jokes and real heart, and the film remains a model of tight storytelling. Two engines had it at #2.

## 3. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

A comic-book collage come to life, with its Ben-Day dots, frame-rate play and Miles Morales at the center. It rewrote what an animated blockbuster could look like, and it made every list.

## 4. WALL-E

A lonely trash-compacting robot carries a nearly silent first act and a love story that needs almost no dialogue. Pixar's boldest swing is also one of its most moving, and it landed in every top 10.

## 5. The Lion King

Disney's Shakespearean savanna epic has the songs, the stampede and the most famous dad-death in cartoons. Gemini ranked it near the very top, while ChatGPT often left it out.

## 6. Princess Mononoke

Miyazaki's darker, grander epic pits forest gods against an iron-making town, with no simple villain in sight. It's a landmark of environmental storytelling and hand-drawn spectacle, and it made all three top 10s.

## 7. Grave of the Fireflies

Isao Takahata's devastating story of two siblings surviving wartime Japan is animation at its most humane and heartbreaking. It's hard to watch twice and impossible to forget, which is why it appeared on every list.

## 8. Pinocchio

Disney's 1940 puppet-turned-boy tale still impresses with lush multiplane artistry and real menace. Its place is old-school, with ChatGPT sometimes ranking it very high while the others mostly skipped it.

## 9. Akira

Katsuhiro Otomo's cyberpunk landmark of motorcycle gangs, psychic powers and a collapsing Neo-Tokyo opened the door to anime for global audiences. Its hand-drawn detail still looks astonishing.

## 10. My Neighbor Totoro

Miyazaki's gentle tale of two sisters and the giant forest spirit next door runs on wonder, not conflict. Claude regularly listed it, while Gemini left it out entirely. The Catbus alone earns it a seat.

## Lone wolves

- The Tale of the Princess Kaguya: only ChatGPT
- The Incredibles: only ChatGPT
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: only Claude
- Up: only Claude

## Questions

**What animated movie should I watch right now?**

Start with Spirited Away (2001, Hayao Miyazaki). Already seen it? Try Toy Story or, for something less obvious, My Neighbor Totoro.

**According to AI, what is #1 of the best animated movies ever made?**

Spirited Away (2001, Hayao Miyazaki). All 3 AIs put it first.

**Do ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini agree on the best animated movies ever made?**

Partly. 9 of the 10 picks made all 3 AIs' lists. The biggest split was The Lion King: ChatGPT #13, Claude #4, Gemini #2.

**Which best animated movies ever made did only one AI pick?**

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (only ChatGPT); The Incredibles (only ChatGPT); Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (only Claude); Up (only Claude).

**How was this ranking of the best animated movies ever made made?**

We asked ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini "What are the 10 best animated movies ever made? Rank them from 1 to 10, best first." 5 times each, every time in a fresh chat, in 2026-10. A #1 earns 10 points and a #10 earns 1; each AI's points are averaged over its runs and each AI gets an equal say.