Most innovative animated films of 2024

Pixar makes a bold choice to progress its characters, placing them in new environments as Riley navigates the complex emotions of puberty. The film innovates in its continued exploration of complex human emotions, pushing boundaries on how animated films represent internal psychological landscapes.

DreamWorks Animation pushes creative boundaries with its unique blend of 2D painterly animation layered into smooth CG, creating a distinct storybook aesthetic. The film explores profound emotional themes of parenthood and found family, depicting nature's cruelty alongside hope.

This dialogue-free animated film relies entirely on its beautiful animation and expressive body language to convey a powerful story. Its painterly colors and nuanced character movements allow audiences to deeply understand emotions and themes of cooperation without a single word.

This film marks a triumphant return for Aardman, showcasing the enduring innovation and charm of stop-motion animation in a medium often overshadowed by CGI. It meticulously crafted by hand, exploring the advantages and irresponsible uses of technology with hilarious gags.

This stop-motion film is innovative for its use of the medium to tell a deeply emotional and reflective story, described as a melancholic ode to life's hardships and triumphs. It contributes significantly to the diversity of animation styles recognized in 2024.

This Spanish-French production stands out for its powerful, dialogue-free narrative, bringing a pre-9/11 New York to life with anthropomorphic animals. It innovates by evoking profound emotions about loss, grief, and growth solely through its animation, offering a unique and poignant storytelling experience.

Written by Charlie Kaufman, this film innovates by bringing a complex, introspective, and philosophical narrative to a family audience, challenging typical conventions of children's animated films. It cleverly personifies the entities of night with vibrant colors and inventive humor.

This film is innovative for its unconventional production method, which involved using real actors for the entire movie before the animation process. Its distinct 2D animation style, with some sequences rotoscoped, enhances its odd, offbeat sensibility, resulting in a unique supernatural film.

This French sci-fi noir thriller is innovative for its mature, genre-driven storytelling within animation, providing a complex and thought-provoking narrative. It delves into philosophical questions about artificial intelligence and humanity, offering a contemplative tour of a thoughtfully considered future.

This film innovates by achieving 'Certified Fresh' status, a first for the Looney Tunes franchise, indicating a successful revitalization of classic characters and humor. It likely employs updated animation or comedic timing to appeal to a contemporary audience while honoring its legacy.

This CG-animated film innovates by introducing fresh, unexpected narrative elements to the well-known Ultraman franchise, notably making Ultraman a father to a very big baby. It subverts many tropes while remaining satisfying, showcasing impressive animation from Industrial Light & Magic.

Directed by Naoko Yamada, this film innovates through its unique visual concept of seeing emotions as colors, creating a surreal experience that blends sound and animation. Its extraordinary commitment to authentic life experiences and stunning hand-drawn 2D animation makes it deeply artistic.