30 Best Animated Movies On Hulu

With animation, all things are possible. Without any of the limitations imposed by physical reality, filmmakers can let their imaginations go absolutely crazysauce in whichever style of story they choose. Even if we disregard the vast history of animated films and focus exclusively on what's available on Hulu, we can see a catalogue that ranges from dystopian cyberpunk to CG fairy tale satire and iconic staples of children's media, with quite a few other stops in between. 

So, if you're looking for something to watch, we've got you covered. After all, animation has something for everybody ... unless you definitely need to see live actors. Then we can't help you.

Updated on December 29, 2021: When it comes to colorfully animated, (mostly) family-friendly movies, Hulu is constantly changing the offerings in its catalog. In order to keep things current, we'll be updating this list each month so you can stay informed on all the animated action happening over on Hulu.

Put the "Twilight" sequels in a blender with one or two of the numerous children's movies about talking dogs, and the resulting concoction might resemble this whimsical Australian production. The heir apparent to a secret society of werewolves unexpectedly transforms into a poodle, then embarks (pun intended) upon an amusing journey alongside his fellow English-speaking pooches.  

• Starring: Loren Gray, Adriane Daff, Jane Lynch

• Director: Alexs Stadermann

• Year: 2020

• Runtime: 89 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 67%

Ever since they first showed up in the pages of The New Yorker, the Addams Family have been a pop culture institution. They made their way to TV in the 1960s and showed up on the big screen in the '90s. And in 2019, the creepy, kooky, and altogether ooky family got the CGI treatment for a whole new generation of fans. In fact, we give the film big points for gelling the original 1930s designs with 2020s computer animation. (If you think "The Addams Family" is just ripping off Tim Burton, you've got it a little backwards.) So anyone in the mood for something sweet and spooky, well, "The Addams Family" is where it's at.

• Starring: Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloë Grace Moretz

• Director: Conrad Vernon, Greg Tiernan

• Year: 2019

• Runtime: 87 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 45%

In his untouchable career, Samuel L. Jackson has conquered gritty crime thrillers, superhero movies, and films concerning large numbers of serpentine reptiles appearing on airborne travel vehicles — so naturally, he's also an anime star. A follow-up to the 2007 "Afro Samurai" miniseries, "Afro Samurai: Resurrection" leans much harder in the direction of "Pulp Fiction" than anything to do with an Avenger Initiative, so parents take note — that "MA" rating is not an exaggeration. 

• Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Lucy Liu, Mark Hamill

• Director: Fuminori Kizaki

• Year: 2009

• Runtime: 90 minutes

• Rating: MA

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 72% (Audience Score)

Right up there next to "Blade Runner" and "The Matrix" on the list of most influential cyberpunk films in history, "Akira" is an utterly engrossing onslaught of mind-melting visuals and an essential watch for folks with any fondness for high-concept sci-fi. It's got sociopathic biker gangs, a shadowy authoritarian government, grotesque body horror, a telekinetic antichrist, and a profoundly creepy teddy bear; plus, it's one of the only established genre IPs that Hollywood cannot seem to remake despite its best efforts.     

• Starring: Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama

• Director: Katsuhiro Ohtomo

• Year: 1988

• Runtime: 124 minutes

• Rating: R

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

Here's a film that dares to ask questions like, "What if the Man in the Yellow Hat and Curious George switched places?" and, "What if instead of a horse, 'Horsin' Around' was about a gorilla who adopted a human orphan?"  

Swedish children's story "The Ape Star" chronicles the unconventional family unit that forms when a warm-hearted jungle creature becomes the legal guardian of a young girl. The voice cast includes Stellan Skarsgård — whose other 2021 credit, in an instance of gleeful incongruity, happens to be terrifying Baron Vladimir Harkonnen in "Dune." 

Really, the selling point for "The Ape Star" is its effortlessly pleasant animation style and nonabrasive approach. It make a good pre-nap time watch for folks of any age.    

• Starring: Stellan Skarsgård, Rebecca Gerstmann, Pernilla August

• Director: Linda Hambäck

• Year: 2021

• Runtime: 76 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: N/A

An adaption of Osamu Tezuka's classic manga, "Astro Boy" didn't exactly set the world on fire during its theatrical run. More than a decade later, however, it stands a much better chance of resonating with the sort of folks who appreciate the Wachowskis' "Speed Racer" and other modern takes on retro Japanese pop culture. Plus, it's fairly bonkers. Essentially the tale of Pinocchio merged with Marvel's Vision, the titular robot youth has to fight a giant iron nemesis voiced by Samuel L. Jackson. It's exactly as fun as it sounds.

• Starring: Freddie Highmore, Kristen Bell, Nathan Lane

• Director: David Bowers

• Year: 2009

• Runtime: 94 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 50%

Let's clarify that "Batman & Bill" is not truly an animated film — it's a live-action documentary with animated components. But due to the relevance of its subject matter, we feel it warrants inclusion. The Caped Crusader kicks in more than his fair share to the history of animation, after all. 

In this an essential watch for fans of superhero media in all of its forms, writer and exceptionally dedicated Batfan Marc Tyler Nobleman uncovers the unfortunate truth behind Batman's authorship. Bob Kane had been inaccurately credited as Batman's sole creator for decades, but the Dark Knight would look totally different and way less cool without the contributions of artist Bill Finger.   

• Director: Don Argott, Sheena M. Joyce

• Year: 2017

• Runtime: 93 minutes

• Rating: N/A

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%

Charlie Brown is bad at baseball, a poor speller, and largely unsuccessful in romantic endeavors. But despite his many faults, his notoriety among American-made fictional characters is surpassed only by the likes of Batman, Darth Vader, and, uh ... his dog, Snoopy. 

The first cinematic foray of the "Peanuts" gang landed in the late '60s, but it might as well have been last week. Charlie Brown is timeless. Who can't relate to constant uphill battles, low self-esteem, and the looming suspicion that your animal companion is constantly upstaging you?  

• Starring: Peter Robbins, Pamelyn Ferdin, Glenn Gilger

• Director: Bill Melendez

• Year: 1969

• Runtime: 85 minutes

• Rating: G

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 95%

The directorial feature-length debut from Chris Miller and Phil Lord, "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" borrows its title from a 1978 children's book, then buys a ticket for the crazy train and rides it straight to bonkersville. 

Bill Hader lends his pipes to benevolent and discouraged mad scientist Flint Lockwood, who builds a device that makes various dinner entrées – hamburgers, spaghetti and meatballs, etc. — fall from the sky. Such an invention would result in instant ecological catastrophe in real life, but it works out just fine for Lockwood ... or does it? 

In addition to that crazy plot, the voice cast is incredible. The combined awesomeness of Bruce Campbell and Mr. T might crush reality if they ever appeared in the same live-action movie, but within the animated framework of "Cloudy," their voices safely coexist. 

• Starring: Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan

• Director: Chris Miller, Phil Lord

• Year: 2009

• Runtime: 90 minutes 

• Rating: PG 

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%

There's more than a little live action in "The Congress" — a cautionary sci-fi mediation on celebrity and superficiality — but it takes a hard turn into a fully animated constructed reality after approximately 50 minutes. Robin Wright plays "Robin Wright" — the fading star of "The Princess Bride" — who funds treatments for her ailing son by selling her digital image and identity to a Hollywood studio. We suspect Disney corporate executives watched this and took notes.    

• Starring: Robin Wright, Harvey Keitel, Jon Hamm

• Director: Ari Folman

• Year: 2014

• Runtime: 122 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 72%

Catching up with the cave-dwelling family introduced in 2012's "The Croods," this 2020 sequel garnered slightly better reviews than its predecessor, and includes 100 percent more Peter Dinklage and Kelly Marie Tran. The eponymous family must adjust to encroaching modernity and traverse eye-catching, vibrant CG environs. Meanwhile, prehistoric beasts provide amusement or antagonism, depending on the species and circumstances.    

• Starring: Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds

• Director: Joel Crawford

• Year: 2020

• Runtime: 95 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 77%

Technically, "A Very Monkey Christmas" premiered as a special extended-length episode of the long-running "Curious George" animated series — but if Hulu lists it as a movie, who are we to argue? 

Curious George lacks the capacity to comprehend the concept of language, which prevents him from telling the Man with the Yellow Hat what he wants for Christmas. Making matters worse, George can't buy the Man with the Yellow Hat a Christmas present because George has no idea what money is or how it works. Do not fret, for these problems have solutions, and the process that brings about their resolution is utterly freakin' adorable.    

• Starring: E.G. Daily, Frank Welker, Jeff Bennett

• Director: Scott Heming, Cathy Malkasian

• Year: 2009

• Runtime: 59 minutes

• Rating: TVG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 64% (Audience Score)

Dr. Seuss's immortal saga of a boring, rainy afternoon interrupted by a rhyming, singing, anthropomorphic feline might not pan out so hot as a live-action project, but its status as a certified cartoon classic remains intact. Naturally it's splendid for kids, and better yet, this "Cat in the Hat" incorporates surrealism and stream-of-consciousness that should appeal to adults adhering to a certain chemical-consumption regimen.

• Starring: Allan Sherman, Daws Butler, Pamelyn Ferdin 

• Director: Hawley Pratt

• Year: 1971

• Runtime: 30 minutes

• Rating: G

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: N/A

Don't you hate it when you find a tiny modernized society residing on a speck that's too small for the naked eye to discern, and everyone you try to tell about it calls you delusional? We sure do — and so does Horton the elephant. In the hands of the studio that conjured up 2008's "Ice Age," Dr. Seuss' art becomes an effortless fit for digital animation. The cast also happens to include Steve Carell, Amy Poehler, and Jim Carrey at the height of their powers.

• Starring: Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Amy Poehler

• Director: Jimmy Hayward, Steve Martino

• Year: 2008

• Runtime: 88 minutes

• Rating: G

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 80%

Are you resistant to trying new things? Specifically, do you relentlessly push back against encouragement to sample oddly hued breakfast platters? Are you acquainted with a compact fellow named Sam-I-Am, and do you think poorly of this individual? Then, sir or madam, you have problems. Put "Dr. Seuss on the Loose" into your eyeballs posthaste, and learn the error of your ways...   

• Starring: Allan Sherman, Hans Conried, Paul Winchell

• Director: Hawley Pratt

• Year: 1973

• Runtime: 25 minutes

• Rating: G

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: N/A

On one hand, when people say they don't like anime, they're essentially talking about endeavors like "Fairy Tail...The Phoenix Priestess." And sure, fine, maybe not every element of the manga adaptation is wildly original, the plot occasionally wanders into incompressibility, and the casual sexualization of its characters is a little problematic. But if you're hunting for escapism stuffed with swords and sorceries, you could easily do worse.     

• Starring: Tia Lynn Ballard, Colleen Clinkenbeard, R. Bruce Elliott

• Director: Masaya Fujimori

• Year: 2012

• Runtime: 85 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 81% (Audience Score)

We shouldn't stand by every line he ever drew, but Dr. Seuss deserves our admiration for somehow placing an explicitly anti-capitalist, pro-environment allegory on network television in the midst of Richard Nixon's America. The original "Lorax" is perhaps the most prescient of all Seuss stories — as the oceans rise and climate disasters batter the coasts, today we see a Once-ler hive mind debate real-world Loraxes on a routine basis. 

• Starring: Bob Holt, Athena Lorde, Hawley Pratt

• Director: Hawley Pratt

• Year: 1972

• Runtime: 25 minutes

• Rating: G

• Rotten Tomatoes score: 83% (Audience Score)

Proof that horrendous box office performance is no indication of quality, "Missing Link" provides Hugh Jackman a chance to showcase his underutilized creative timing alongside Zach Galifianakis in an update on the adventure genre template. Explorer Sir Lionel Frost (Jackman) is charged with escorting Mr. Link (Galifianakis) on a quest to find other members of his species in Shangri-La — a location that doesn't exist in the real world, but might exist in the "Missing Link" shared universe?      

• Starring: Hugh Jackman, Zach Galifianakis, Zoe Saldana

• Director: Chris Butler

• Year: 2019

• Runtime: 94 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%

While not a transcendent piece on the level of "Akira" or "Neon Genesis: Evangelion," "Ninja Scroll" is absolutely one of the first anime a generation of genre aficionados remembers renting on VHS, back when VHS rentals were a thing. Some of its shock value elements seem questionable in hindsight (content warning for sexual assault) but "Ninja Scroll" remains viable for its artful execution of quick 'n bloody fight sequences, and its bleak rendering of feudal Japan.    

• Starring: Koichi Yamadera, Emi Shinohara, Takeshi Aono

• Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri

• Year: 1993

• Runtime: 90 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

Blu, a domesticated exotic bird, is the last male Spix's macaw on the planet. He is, therefore, his species' only hope for another generation. If the story of "Rio" was as simple as putting Blu on a plane to Brazil and introducing him to a female macaw with a rebellious spirit, his life would be easy. Instead, Blu must contend with an attempted kidnapping, his own embarrassing inability to fly, and plenty of additional shenanigans.

• Starring: Anne Hathaway, Jesse Eisenberg, Jemaine Clement

• Director: Carlos Saldanha

• Year: 2011

• Runtime: 96 minutes

• Rating: G

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 72%

Are you tired of characters constantly gabbing and yakking throughout the runtime of whichever movies they're appearing in? Then you may be delighted to know that not a syllable is uttered throughout "Shaun the Sheep Movie." You'll hear plenty of "baaahs," of course — but no pesky words. This chronicle conjured up by the same folks behind the "Wallace and Gromit" features finds wool-covered weirdos dashing through a city, and seems to resonate with adults just as much as the wee ones.   

• Starring: Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes, Omid Djalili

• Director: Mark Burton, Richard Starzak

• Year: 2015

• Runtime: 85 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 99%

Charlie Brown has a dog who can use a typewriter and is also a master surfer. Basically, he gets to live with this creature who has literal superpowers, but all he ever does in complain. Maybe Charlie Brown deserves to be miserable. But forget him — luckily for the rest of us, the ongoing musical adventures of the "Peanuts" gang continue in "Snoopy Come Home," the critically lauded sequel to "A Boy Named Charlie Brown." 

• Starring: Chad Webber, Robin Kohn, Stephen Shea

• Director: Bill Melendez

• Year: 1972

• Runtime: 80 minutes

• Rating: G

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

Through a well-informed adult lens, "Space Jam" is essentially a sneaker commercial and an easy payday for Bill Murray barely disguised as a movie. But for some millennials, it's a cornerstone of their childhoods. And if folks want to celebrate an cultural artifact from a carefree period in their lives, who are we to judge? Come on and slam, and welcome to the jam, friends...  

• Starring: Michael Jordan, Wayne Knight, Bill Murray

• Director: Joe Pytka

• Year: 1996

• Runtime: 87 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes score: 44%

Superhero films have been basically the most popular thing in the world for two decades, and animated movies about talking animals never seem to go out of style. So the fact that "StarDog and TurboCat" is a relatively rare melding of the two genres seems like pure insanity. Hollywood loves money — therefore, we should already have dozens of big budget movies where cats are Batman, right?

Not only does "StarDog and TurboCat" address the public's demand for crime-fighting kitties, it's also a pretty decent animated flick for the whole family. Sure, critics are split on the film, but if you or your kids are looking for something in the delightful vein of "PAW Patrol," then this is the perfect film for you.

• Starring: Luke Evans, Nick Frost, Gemma Arterton

• Director: Ben Smith

• Year: 2019

• Runtime: 91 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 50%

Andy Samberg voices a baby-delivering bird in this Warner Bros. effort that pulls high marks for splashy animation and a wide range of supporting voice cast star power. Perhaps the script could've used another draft, but if you wanted to watch "Citizen Kane," you would watch "Citizen Kane." If you watch "Storks" it's because you're in the company of children who require a distraction, and if Key and Peele show up as cartoon wolves for a few scenes, that's only a deal sweetener.  

• Starring: Andy Samberg, Katie Crown, Kelsey Grammer

• Director: Nicholas Stoller, Doug Sweetland

• Year: 2016

• Runtime: 83 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 65%

Fair warning — without any pre-existing familiarity with the "Sword Art Online" (SWO) light novels, manga, or anime, "Ordinal Scale" may render you instantly lost in the wilderness of franchise mythology. On the bright side, Hulu also supplies the SWO series, which we'll oversimplify as a "Matrix"/"Ready Player One"/YA hybrid. Ergo, if one wishes to make sense out of "Ordinal Scale," the necessary context is very available.  

• Starring: Haruka Tomatsu, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Ayana Taketatsu

• Director: Tomohiko Ito

• Year: 2017

• Runtime: 120 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 75% (Audience Score)

In terms of Warner Bros.-produced children's comedy cartoons from the 1990s sporting an ensemble cast and non-serialized, anthology-style storytelling, "Animaniacs" pretty much eats "Tiny Toon Adventures" for lunch. But let's not allow the relative inferiority of "Tiny Toons" to overshadow "How I Spent My Vacation" — a worthy source of nostalgic chuckles for grown-up '90s kids.

• Starring: Charlie Adler, Jonathan Winters, Edie McClurg

• Director: Rich Arons

• Year: 1992

• Runtime: 79 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88% (Audience Score)

The lone feature-length film entry of the "Trigun" franchise, "Badlands Rumble" presents us with an anachronistic sci-fi setting in the spirit of old school Hollywood Westerns. Naturally, it's loaded with outlaws and trigger-happy knuckleheads with absurdly awesome names like "Vash the Stampede," "Millions Knives," and "Dominique the Cyclops." Best viewed after consuming the 26-episode anime which, conveniently enough, you can also find on Hulu.  

• Starring: Shô Hayami, Tsutomu Isobe, Masaya Onosaka

• Director: Satoshi Nishimura

• Year: 2010

• Runtime: 90 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 80% (Audience Score)

For some arbitrary reason, society tells us children need to know about colors, numbers, and what noises animals make. We've neglected to address the necessity of teaching kids the differences between genres of music ... until "Trolls World Tour." 

Thanks to this film, which picks up where "Trolls" leaves off, today's youngsters won't have to wait until college to learn that metalheads can be narrow-minded, country music fans should be approached with caution, and every techno DJ is exactly the same.     

• Starring: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Rachel Bloom

• Director: Walt Dohrn

• Year: 2020

• Runtime: 91 minutes

• Rating: PG

• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 71%

Formerly the final hurrah of "Animaniacs" until the oddball '90s afterschool staple returned in 2020, "Wakko's Wish" entails a seemingly downtrodden Wakko Warner scrounging to afford surgery younger sister Dot needs quite urgently, apparently. But we can assure you, this film's plot synopsis makes it sound much more dire than it is. "Wakko's Wish" is actually a whole bucket of silliness and shenanigans, to tell you the truth.   

• Starring: Rob Paulsen, Jess Harnell, Tress MacNeille

• Director: Liz Holzman, Tom Ruegger, Rusty Mills

• Year: 1999

• Runtime: 80 minutes

• Rating: NR

• Rotten Tomatoes score: 79% (Audience Score)