Top 50 Obscure Animated Movies
Note: This list was last updated Apr 18, 2012. See my newer list.
These are my favorite animated feature-length films with less than 1000 votes. All of the non-English language films on this list have been subbed or dubbed into English. If you need help finding any of them, send me a PM.
I excluded some sequels, so I'll list my top 5 sequels here:
Unico in the Island of Magic
Kara no Kyoukai 5: Paradox Spiral
The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya
Adieu Galaxy Express 999
Ah! My Goddess: The Movie
I included Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer because you can understand it without watching the TV show (but you should at least know the premise of the TV show).
This list is also available on iCheckMovies.
These are my favorite animated feature-length films with less than 1000 votes. All of the non-English language films on this list have been subbed or dubbed into English. If you need help finding any of them, send me a PM.
I excluded some sequels, so I'll list my top 5 sequels here:
Unico in the Island of Magic
Kara no Kyoukai 5: Paradox Spiral
The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya
Adieu Galaxy Express 999
Ah! My Goddess: The Movie
I included Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer because you can understand it without watching the TV show (but you should at least know the premise of the TV show).
This list is also available on iCheckMovies.
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- DirectorRintarôStarsMasako NozawaMasako IkedaYôko AsagamiThe adventures of a brave young boy who travels from planet to planet in a determined quest to avenge his mother's death.
- DirectorKarel ZemanStarsLudek MunzarJaroslav MouckaChristian BrücknerA young boy becomes an apprentice for a mysterious sorcerer, working at the sorcerer's strange and sinister mill where secretive black magic is being taught and performed at a very heavy price.
- DirectorMasami HataStarsHitoshi TakagiMinori MatsushimaAkira KamiyaAn innocent lamb learns about life and death when he seeks revenge upon the wolf who slaughtered his mother.Japanese
- DirectorsToshio HirataOsamu TezukaStarsKatsue MiwaRyouko KitamiyaKazuko SugiyamaWhen Unico, a young unicorn, is taken from his family by evil gods, his powers of joy and happiness are put to the test. Can Unico's power triumph the darkness?
- DirectorsWan LaimingCheng TangStarsYue-Feng QiuRun-Sheng FuHans AlfredsonSun Wukong, the King of the Monkeys, sets off on his first adventure to gain a worthy weapon. This earns the attention of the Jade Emperor of Heaven.
- DirectorOsamu TezukaStarsYuzuru FujimotoMasaru IkedaKazuhiko InoueTezuka Osamu's tale of a genetically engineered pink American Mountain-lion named Bagi and the friendship she develops with Ryo, a lonesome bike gang member.Japanese
- DirectorMamoru OshiiStarsFumi HiranoToshio FurukawaAkira KamiyaThe night before the school festival, things seem to be repeating themselves. Gradually, all the world functions come to a stop, the only ones that are not affected are a select group of student friends.
- DirectorsAurel KlimtVlasta PospísilováStarsOta JirákJan WerichA farmer who takes to drink and meets the devil; a young boy who has to spend the night in a haunted pub; a man who grows horns overnight; a man who bets and argues with his wife; and a blacksmith who is perhaps too trusting of his young and sexy wife.Czech stop-motion
- DirectorKimio YabukiStarsKeiko TakeshitaTarô ShigakiAsao KoikeA prince falls in love with a princess cursed to change into a swan by day, but their love is threatened by the sorcerer who keeps her imprisoned.Japanese
- DirectorEiichi YamamotoStarsAiko NagayamaChinatsu NakayamaMasaya TakahashiAfter being raped by an evil feudal lord and subsequently getting banished from her village, a peasant girl makes a pact with the Devil to gain magical powers and take her revenge.
- DirectorLeonid NosyrevStarsEvgeniy LeonovYuriy VolyntsevAnatoliy BarantsevAn old fisherman tells stories about Pomors. A collection of fairy tales about the Russian North, full of folk humor and wisdom.Soviet
- DirectorMichael SchaackStarsUlrich TukurMario AdorfHelge SchneiderA cat must investigate brutal murders of other cats in a neighborhood he has moved into with his owner.German
- DirectorKimio YabukiStarsShinobu ÔtakeAi KanzakiTokuko SugiyamaA young girl meets the Spirits of the Twelve Months when she is sent out during a winter snowstorm to collect galanthus, a flower that blooms in April.
- DirectorMasami HataStarsTôru FuruyaMami KoyamaIkue SakakibaraA prince of the sea and a child of fire engage in a tragic forbidden romance.
- DirectorJohn HubleyStarsAlvin EpsteinJudith CoburnRay HubleyShow is an animated tracing of the eight stages of life, from infancy to old age, as they have been described in the works of psychoanalyst Erik H. Erikson.
- DirectorHisayuki ToriumiStarsRyoko SanoAtsuko TakahataIkuko TaniCountry girl Ginga leaves her home in hope of becoming one of the Emperor's Wives.Japanese
- DirectorGisaburô SugiiStarsMayumi TanakaChika SakamotoJunko HoriTwo kittens go on a metaphysical journey on a magical railroad train.
- DirectorMario PilusoStarsRay BradburyLeonard NimoyAnnie BarkerFour children learn the origins of Halloween customs while trying to save the life of their friend.American
- DirectorsShuchen WangJingda XuDing Xian YanStarsKe BiBanjô GingaDaisuke GôriTells the fable from Chinese mythology about the young warrior Nezha who takes on a group of evil dragons.
- DirectorShin'ichi TsujiStarsMîna TominagaBin ShimadaMichio HazamaAfter two-month-old kitten Chibi-neko is abandoned by her former owners, she is found by 18-year-old Tokio. Although his mother is allergic to cats and has a great fear of them, she agrees to let him keep the kitten because she fears he is becoming too withdrawn after failing his university entrance exams. Chibi-neko soon falls in love with Tokio. In her own mind, Chibi-neko is a small human who speaks in human words, although people only ever seem to hear her meow, and she believes that all humans were once kittens like her. A stray cat tells Chibi-neko of a paradise called Cottonland, where dreams can come true.Japanese
- DirectorsIvan Ivanov-VanoBoris ButakovStarsJim BackusAleksey GribovMariya VinogradovaEnthrallingly and fervently, colorfully and directly narration about the surprising adventures of little Ivanushka and his true friend - magic Horse, outwitting a foolish and greedy tsar.Soviet
This is a remake of the 1947 film (by the same director). I haven't seen the original because it's not available with English subtitles. - DirectorsSatoshi DezakiTsuneo TominagaStarsAkira KamiyaMichiko KawaiHideyuki TanakaCosmo Academy has set a test for ten of its applicants to survive on a spaceship for 2 months. But there is an eleventh member aboard.Japanese
- DirectorsJirí TrnkaMilos MakovecStarsHelena PatockovaJaromir SobotoaDetsky pevecky sbor Jana KuhnaA Chinese emperor prefers the tinkling of a bejeweled mechanical bird to the song of a real nightingale. When the Emperor is near death, a nightingale's song restores his health and teaches him to revolt against his glittering but shallow world.Czech stop-motion
Based on H. C. Andersen's fairy tale. - DirectorIsao TakahataStarsChinatsu NakayamaNorio NishikawaKiyoshi NishikawaChie Takemoto is a small dependable girl who lives in Osaka with her dad. She has two goals - to get her troublesome father, who runs a tavern, some work and then get him to make up with her mother who left him.Japanese
Same director as Grave of the Fireflies. - DirectorMarcell JankovicsStarsGyörgy CserhalmiVera PapGyula SzabóIn this dreamlike Hungarian folk myth, a horse goddess gives birth to three powerful brothers who set out into the Underworld to save three princesses from three evil dragons and reclaim their ancestors' lost kingdom.Hungarian
