The 20 best Netflix animated shows and movies

The fact that Love, Death & Robots counts David Fincher (Seven) and Tim Miller (Deadpool) as its creative leads should tell you that Love, Death & Robots is no cute and cuddly family show. Rather, its bite-sized episodes are full of cyberpunk-flavoured mayhem. They’re all animated in their own distinct style, from traditional hand-drawn to full on computer generated. It’s all very loud, brash, and X-rated, but there are plenty of nuggets of gold in amongst all the cyber-grime.

Across six unforgettable seasons, Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s animated dark comedy series tracked Will Arnett’s self-destructive horse-man hybrid with savage humour, as well as a surprisingly light touch with some heavy themes. Addiction and miscarriage are both handled with a fair amount of insightfulness. The animation style is of the crudely functional variety, but that just serves to highlight the snappy writing and excellent delivery from its cast, which also includes Alison Brie, Amy Sedaris, and Aaron Paul.

One of the breakout hits of 2023, Blue Eye Samurai is a breathtakingly animated series about a vengeful half-Japanese samurai, Mizu, who disguises herself as a man and commences slicing her way through feudal Japan. Ladles of blood ensure this isn’t for fainthearted, but there’s a brutal beauty to almost everything in Blue Eye Samurai. We haven’t even mentioned the voice cast, which includes the likes of Maya Erskine, George Takei, and a certain Kenneth Branagh in one of his most memorable villainous turns.

Even in this time of really-quite-good video game adaptations (there are a few on this list), it remains a surprise just how could Arcane turned out to be. Based on the world of League of Legends – a multiplayer online battle arena game, of all things – Arcane combines a striking 2D/3D hybrid visual design, a memorable steampunk world, and properly fleshed out characters. Its approach to world building is masterfully handled, and mercifully light on the kind of excessive exposition that can often blight such fantasy storytelling.

For Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, original cartoonist Bryan Lee O’Malley reassembles the starry cast of the beloved but criminally underwatched Scott Pilgrim vs. the World movie from 2010, then marries their vocal talents with a stylish cartoon world way more faithful to the source material. So far so comfortingly familiar. However, things quickly take off in a most unexpected direction, even if the twist is proudly featured right there in the title. It’s one of the boldest reboots you’re likely to find.

Who saw this coming? Warren Ellis’s take on an Konami’s video game franchise is dark, incredibly violent, and deeply cynical. However, there’s also a rich seam of humanity running through this gothic vampire tale, as a trio of heroes team together to take on the forces of darkness. Also noteworthy is the rich variety of characters to be found across Castlevania’s four seasons, with even the most monstrous of villains (none more so Dracula himself) provided with sympathetic backstories and relatable motivations.

Nimona does some genuinely interesting things with the family-friendly computer animated movie template. From its fresh sci-fi-meets-fantasy world to its forthright handling of LGBTQ themes (which allegedly saw it cancelled by Disney before Netflix and Annapurna Pictures got involved) and its innovative 3D art style, it feels fundamentally different to animated offerings from the usual suspects. Riz Ahmed and Chloë Grace Moretz voice a pair of outcasts who set out to clear their names.

Netflix produced an instant Christmas classic with its unusually grounded yet no less magical Father Christmas origin story. The Klaus of the title is no supernatural delivery man, but rather a reclusive 19th century Norwegian woodsman coerced into delivering his hand-made toys to the children of a bitterly divided island town. Even more than its strong cast (J. K. Simmons, Jason Schwartzman, Rashida Jones), Klaus shines for its distinctive animation style, which recalls the sadly overlooked Disney era just before it went all in on CGI.

If there was any initial worry that Netflix would mess up this reboot of the legendary ’80s cartoon, then installing some of the talent behind Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra was a smart move to set minds at rest. Sure enough, Voltron: Legendary Defender is an absolute blast, full of energetic robot combat, likeable characters, and believable relationships. The quality of the animation is outstanding, as we’ve come to expect from Studio Mir. If you haven’t sampled it yet, there’s eight seasons of Legendary Defender to delve into, so gorge away.

The Mitchells vs. the Machines almost fell through the cracks during the lockdown period, but thankfully Netflix was on hand to sweep it up following Sony’s aborted cinematic release plans. It’s a really rather brilliant computer animated movie from the superstar duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who made Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and The Lego Movie, among others. It sees a young aspiring filmmaker and her family embarking on a cross-country road trip to her college. When a rogue AI threatens humanity, however, the family trip turns into a mission to save the world.

Anyone familiar with the work of acclaimed Mexican director Guillermo del Toro will understand why his name is featured so prominently in the title of this Pinocchio reimagining. Del Toro creates strange, dark fairytales that unsettle and enchant in equal measure. This kid-friendly stop motion film does way more of the enchanting, but it still manages to tackle the dangers of fascism head-on whilst simultaneously telling the charming story of a young puppet who wants to be a real boy.

Retsuko isn’t your average anthropomorphic red panda. Bored accountant by day, whirling dervish of vented anger via the medium of karaoke by night, she stands as the perfect champion for a disaffected generation. The character might come from Sanrio, the same Japanese stable that houses Hello Kitty, but Aggretsuko has way more to say about modern living than everyone’s favourite kawaii cat. Cute, funny, and surprisingly moving in places, the five-season run of Aggretsuko has quietly become one of the best things on Netflix – animated or otherwise.

This Japanese-Polish animated miniseries is set in the same universe as the Cyberpunk 2077 video game, but it introduces us to a whole new cast of characters. It’s arguably a more evocative vision of Mike Pondsmith’s world, following a likeable gang of criminal anti-heroes as they indulge in daring heists and corporate espionage to fund transformative body enhancements. The animation from Japanese animation studio Trigger is an absolute assault on the senses, and the only downer is that we won’t be getting a season two.

Trollhunters spans a three-season series called Tales of Arcadia and a film finale known as Rise of the Titans, and it’s all solid gold. It was created by Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water, Pan’s Labyrinth), and is also notable for featuring one of the last ever performances by Anton Yelchin (Star Trek). The latter stars as a young slayer of malevolent magical creatures, but the series soon extends its focus to encompass an impressive ensemble cast. The CG animation is top notch, and the quality of the writing and characterisation transcends the YA fantasy adventure trappings.

Memorably hand-animated by Ireland’s Cartoon Saloon (Wolfwalkers, Song of the Sea) and based on a 1948 children’s book, My Father’s Dragon is a suitably fairy tale-like story about a young boy who befriends a dragon on a nearby island. Yes, it’s very much focused on a younger audience, but there’s buckets of charm and craft to satisfy the adults, not to mention a clear ecological message. The voice casting is on point too, with Jacob Tremblay, Gaten Matarazzo, Whoopi Goldberg, and Dianne Wiest all chipping in.

Big Mouth is an adult animation that tackles the many indignities of puberty with more frankness and insight than most. Nick Kroll plays his younger self, a clumsy middle school teenager who struggles with the various bodily changes and impulses that are afflicting him and his three friends as they grow up in a New York suburb. As outrageously bawdy as it is insightful and sensitive, Big Mouth serves as the amusing yet honest sex education class we all wish we’d had as kids.

Rebooting the He-Man universe is a bold thing to do for any creative type. Sure, us geriatric millenials/late-gen-Xers might have fond childhood memories of the original ’80s cartoon, but it was seriously hammy stuff even at the time. Everyone’s favourite comic nerd Kevin Smith took on the challenge, and he dared to do something strikingly different. In this telling, our muscle-bound hero is —SPOILER ALERT— seemingly killed off early on, leaving the memorable supporting cast to pick up the pieces. It’s a surprisingly mature take on a deliciously juvenile IP.

Pluto is an adaptation of Naoki Urasawa’s 2003 manga, and a much darker and more adult-oriented retelling of Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy. It places us in a future where robots of all shapes and sizes live and serve alongside humanity, with the best of them taking on the role of superheroes, sporting greats, and even diplomatic titans in society. Into this rich sci-fi stew drops a mysterious serial killer who starts bumping off the greatest of these mechanical heroes. The result is one of the most unique and affecting animated series on Netflix.

This quirky adult animation from Jérémy Clapin (writer of Amelie) won a whole stack of awards and nominations back in 2019, including an Oscar nomination. It’s a strange, faintly ghoulish tale about a disembodied hand (think The Addams Family’s Thing) scuttling through the streets of Paris seeking its body. The emotional heart of the move comes from a series of flashback scenes that show the hand in its previous life, attached to a young struggling pizza delivery boy who emigrated from Morocco.

It took 23 years and an injection of Netflix cash for Aardman to produce a sequel to 2000’s beloved Chicken Run. Time evidently hasn’t moved on as much for our feathered heroes, who find themselves living in peace on an island idyl. When their child Molly goes exploring and finds herself imprisoned in a high-tech food processing plant, it’s the cue for another high-risk escape plan. There’s nothing inherently new to Dawn of the Nuggets, but that Aardman stop-motion magic is still very much in effect.