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Animation in 2026 is undoubtedly having a moment. Between Pixar finally swinging for something original and Sony Pictures Animation continuing to push what the form can look like, this year has already been momentous for the genre. Illumination also returned the Minions to a period setting with real comic ambition, and Netflix's library of animated features is also demanding some serious attention.
Only within the first half of the year, viewers have had the pleasure of watching more quality animation than most full years, and the five features below are the best of them. This is not only because of their technical achievement, which is great, but also because of how worthwhile their stories are for a cinema ticket or the time spent on streaming.
Swapped Has One Of The Most Beautiful Worlds
Skydance Animation's second Netflix feature, directed by Nathan Greno (Tangled), is the most mixed-reviewed movie on this list and the one that rewards patience the most. Michael B. Jordan voices Ollie, a tiny woodland creature called a Pooloo living on a flooded valley island, and Juno Temple voices Ivy, a majestic bird called a Javan that is Ollie's natural enemy.
When the two accidentally swap bodies, they are forced to team up to survive and reverse the transformation, while a larger threat to their entire ecosystem slowly comes into focus. The premise is familiar: the bod-swap buddy comedy has served animation studios well since at least Freaky Friday, but Greno deploys it in an inventive ecosystem built from animal-plant hybrids and strange valley ecology that gives the film a visual identity distinct from anything else on the list. While critics found it underpowered, the 38 million views it accrued in its first week on Netflix paint a different picture of its likability.
GOAT Is The Sports Animation The Year Needed
Sony Pictures Animation's first release of the year arrived on February 13, timed to coincide with the 2026 NBA All-Star Game Weekend in Los Angeles -- and it promptly grossed $200.9 million worldwide. Directed by Tyree Dillihay in his debut, GOAT follows Will Harris, a tiny goat voiced by Caleb McLaughlin, who dreams of becoming the greatest player in Roarball. Roarball is a high-intensity full-contact sport played by anthropomorphic animals in the city of Vineland.
When a video of Will out-dribbling a star player goes viral, he gets a shock invitation to join professional team the Thorns, whose roster includes a black panther, an Andalusian horse, and an Ostrich. The film uses Sony Pictures Imageworks' animation style (like the Spider-Verse films) to give sports sequences a visual dynamism that justifies the theatrical experience.
Hoppers Is The Greatest Pixar Film Yet
Pixar's 30th feature film is the studio's best original film in years -- Hoppers marks the first time since Inside Out that a Pixar original has felt like a heartfelt technical and emotional leap rather than a refinement of familiar territory. Directed by Daniel Chong and released on March 6, it follows Mabel Tanaka (voiced by Piper Curda), a college student who transfers her consciousness into a lifelike robotic beaver to communicate with animals.
The objective is to save their habitat from a development-hungry mayor, who is voiced by Jon Hamm. The film earned $389 million worldwide on a $150 million budget, received some of the strongest reviews any Pixar film has received in years, and shot to No.1 on Disney+. Hoppers was special because it was funny, confident, and more politically specific than most other Pixar films.
Minions and Monsters Takes These Creatures To A Brand New Setting
The seventh entry in the Despicable Me franchise and the third Minions prequel film was the opening film at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. It is directed by Pierre Coffin, who has helmed every Minions film and provides the Minions' voices himself, and written by Coffin alongside Brian Lynch. Minions and Monsters follows the Minions into 1920s Old Hollywood as they accidentally become movie stars and attempt to make a monster film with the help of a former villain.
The voice cast, which comprises Allison Janney, Christoph Waltz, Jeff Bridges, Jesse Eisenberg, Zoey Deutch, and Trey Parker, is the most interesting ensemble the franchise has assembled so far. The Old Hollywood monster movie setting gives Coffin the room to pay homage to Universal's classic creature features with a wit that hasn't been attempted before.
Toy Story 5 Surpasses All Expectations To Become The Best Animation Of 2026
Toy Story 5 is special in more ways than one -- Andrew Stanton returns to Pixar in his first theatrical feature since Finding Dory in 2016, and the franchise itself is coming back after 7 years since the last Toy Story. It is also the most fully realized animated movie of 2026 because it finds something new to say after five chapters. Released on June 19 with Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and Joan Cusack returning, Toy Story 5 introduces Lilypad, a tablet that acts as the central antagonist, as the screen begins to displace Bonnie's toys in a way that every parent has watched happen in the last few years.
Keanu Reeves returns as Duke Caboom, as do Conan O'Brien, Craig Robinson, and Randy Newman. What Stanton does with the premise is more thoughtful than expected: this movie explores what it means to become obsolete with gentleness and an honesty that trusts its audience. The children who grew up watching the first three films are now adults for this possibly final chapter, but it does not depend solely on nostalgia.
