As the son of an artist and an illustrator myself, I have been deeply interested in animation as far back as I can remember. Chances are, if you are reading this, you are a nerd and you love animated films like I do. With the rise of Disney+ and Apple TV, there are more places to watch animated films than ever before. But let’s face it, Netflix still provides more options than any other streaming service—so many options in fact, that it can be difficult to sort through them all and Netflix makes it hard to find what they actually have, much less find what’s actually worth your time. So here’s a list of 20 animated movies on Netflix you might have missed, each of which is worthy of the necessary time commitment. This list features films with gorgeous art that tackle all sides of the human experience from the glorious to the profane.
It should be noted that a few of these, while thematically profound, are not for the faint of heart. Additionally, it should be said that not all of these films are family friendly—I recommend parents read reviews on Common Sense Media before determining whether to watch any particular film on this list with their children.
20) A Whisker Away (Junichi Sato, 2020)

A Whisker Away
19) Modest Heroes (Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Akihiko Yamashita, and Yoshiyuki Momose, 2018)

Modest Heroes
18) The Breadwinner (Nora Twomey, 2017)

The Breadwinner
17) Mary And The Witch’s Flower (Hiromasa Yonebayashi, 2017)

Mary and the Witch’s Flower
16) Blame (Hiroyuki Seshita, 2017)

Blame
15) Miss Hokusai (Keiichi Hara, 2015)

Miss Hokusai
14) April & The Extraordinary World (Christian Desmares and Franck Ekinci, 2015)

April and the Extraordinary World
13) Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman, 2018)

Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse
12) Mirai (Mamoru Hosoda, 2018)

Mirai
11) I Lost My Body (Jérémy Clapin, 2019)

I Lost My Body
10) My Life As A Zucchini (Claude Barras, 2017)

My Life as a Zucchini
9) The Garden Of Words (Makoto Shinkai, 2013)

The Garden of Words
8) Song Of The Sea (Tomm Moore, 2014)

Song of the Sea
7) Boy & The World (Alê Abreu, 2015)

Boy & the World
6) Castle Of Cagliostro (Hayao Miyazaki, 1979)

Castle of Cagliostro
5) Funan (Denis Do, 2018)

Funan
4) Children Of The Sea (Ayumu Watanabe, 2019)

Children of the Sea
3) Lu Over The Wall (Masaaki Yuasa, 2017)

Lu Over the Wall
2) A Silent Voice (Naoko Yamada, 2016)

A Silent Voice
1) In This Corner Of The World (Sunao Katabuchi, 2016)

In this Corner of the World
Lovingly adapting Fumiyo Kono’s comic, Katabuchi brings to quiet life the story of a young Hiroshima woman recently moved to Kure for an arranged marriage in the war years, spanning the late ’30s through the war’s end. A film of daily life in a warring nation.
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