Cartoon / Animation

Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas—directed by Henry Selick though often popularly associated with Burton himself—is a remarkable fusion of gothic fantasy, festive charm, and innovative stop-motion animation. Since its release in 1993, it has grown from a modestly received curiosity into a beloved classic, celebrated for its originality, artistry, and ability to enchant audiences of all ages.

Walt Disney Pictures’ 1991 animated film Beauty and the Beast is a landmark in cinema—a timeless tale brought to life with exquisite artistry, unforgettable music, and emotional depth that captivated both children and adults alike. Not only did it solidify Disney’s resurgence in the early ’90s, but it also became the first animated film ever to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, a distinction that speaks to its cinematic excellence and cultural impact.

The Iron Giant, directed by Brad Bird in his feature film debut, is one of the most emotionally resonant and artistically accomplished animated films of the 1990s. Released in 1999 by Warner Bros., the film is a stirring blend of science fiction, Cold War-era paranoia, and heartfelt storytelling. Though it initially struggled at the box office, The Iron Giant has since earned its rightful place as a modern animated classic, beloved for its sincerity, artistry, and powerful me

Crude, outrageous, and defiantly hilarious, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut is everything its title suggests and more. Released in 1999, this feature-length adaptation of the infamous animated TV series pushes boundaries with gleeful abandon.

Toy Story 2 is a rare sequel that not only lives up to the original—it arguably surpasses it. Released in 1999, four years after Pixar's groundbreaking Toy Story, this follow-up expands the universe with emotional depth, character development, and dazzling animation that reflects the studio's rapidly evolving capabilities. Directed once again by John Lasseter, the film proves that animated storytelling can be as poignant, witty, and sophisticated as any live-action film.

Directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, Disney’s The Lion King (1994) is a landmark in animated filmmaking—an emotionally rich, visually stunning, and musically unforgettable tale of loss, growth, and redemption.

When Toy Story debuted in 1995, it not only captivated audiences — it revolutionized the entire landscape of animated cinema. As the first feature-length film created entirely with computer-generated imagery (CGI), Toy Story was groundbreaking. But its technical achievement is only one part of its legacy. At its core, the film is a timeless, emotionally rich, and delightfully entertaining story that appeals equally to children and adults.

When Bambi premiered in 1942, the United States was in the early months of its involvement in World War II, and Disney’s animation studio was still recovering from labour disputes and the financial aftershocks of Fantasia and Pinocchio.

In 1969, amid the cultural thunderclap of the moon landing, the Woodstock festival, and the cresting waves of social revolution, a small animated film arrived in theatres with gentle colours and sad piano chords.

Of all the classic features to emerge from Walt Disney’s golden age of animation, Dumbo is perhaps the most paradoxical. It is at once the studio’s shortest feature and one of its most emotionally expansive. Born of necessity—crafted quickly and economically after the financial disappointment of Fantasia—Dumbo was never intended to be a major artistic statement.

Few animated films have captured the essence of romance, charm, and Americana as completely as Walt Disney’s Lady and the Tramp. Released in 1955, this landmark feature was not only a narrative triumph but also a technical one—it was Disney’s first animated film presented in widescreen Cinemascope, giving an unprecedented sense of scale and intimacy to the studio’s storytelling.

With Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, Walt Disney introduced American audiences to A.A. Milne’s beloved bear of very little brain, forever altering the way the world would picture the characters of the Hundred Acre Wood. Released on February 4, 1966 as a theatrical short (bundled with the live-action feature The Ugly Dachshund), Honey Tree was Disney’s first foray into adapting Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh stories, and it would become the foundational text for decades of animat

When One Hundred and One Dalmatians premiered in 1961, it marked a decisive departure from the lush, romantic fairy-tale aesthetic that had defined Disney’s animated features up to that point.

Few animated films capture the idea of childhood escapism as purely as Walt Disney’s Peter Pan (1953). Adapted from J.M. Barrie’s beloved 1904 play and 1911 novel, the film promised a technicolour flight to Never Land—a realm where children never grow up, pirates and fairies are real, and the problems of the adult world vanish in clouds of imagination.

In 1959, Walt Disney released Sleeping Beauty, his most ambitious and expensive animated feature to date. Nearly a decade in the making and reportedly costing six million dollars—a record for animation at the time—the film was both a technical marvel and a commercial gamble. Upon release, it was met with mixed critical reception and underwhelming box office returns, casting a shadow over the studio’s feature animation department for years.

When Watership Down was released in 1978, British audiences were offered something that animation had rarely attempted at the time: a meditative, often brutal, deeply lyrical tale about survival and freedom—told through the eyes of rabbits.

When Fantasia premiered in November 1940, it was unlike anything audiences had ever seen—or heard. Equal parts symphony, painting, myth, and fever dream, the film brought together classical music and hand-drawn animation in a visionary cinematic experience. Walt Disney’s third animated feature was also his riskiest, departing entirely from traditional narrative and character-driven storytelling.

When Walt Disney released Pinocchio in 1940, he wasn't simply following up on the unprecedented success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs—he was reinventing what animated cinema could be. More than eight decades later, Pinocchio remains a towering achievement: a film of extraordinary technical beauty, moral clarity, and emotional depth. It isn’t just a classic of animation.

The Little Mermaid (1989) is not merely an animated film—it is a landmark in cinematic and animation history. Often credited with launching the “Disney Renaissance,” the film resurrected the fortunes of Walt Disney Animation Studios after a period of creative and financial stagnation in the 1970s and early '80s.

The Jungle Book (1967) is a vibrant, musically rich animated feature that holds a special place in the pantheon of Disney classics. It was the final animated film personally overseen by Walt Disney before his death in 1966, and his handprints are visible all over its tone, characters, and structure.