Animation has been living through a pretty obvious paradox lately: more movies are coming out than ever, but almost no one seems to notice because most of them don’t stay in the conversation for more than a week (if that). If it isn’t a massive Disney sequel or a Spider-Verse-level phenomenon, people just move on. And that creates a weird pattern in the industry, since a lot of genuinely great films end up being treated like just another release, even though they’re often better written than plenty of live-action projects out there. Over the past six years, several have come out with great ideas, bold creative choices, and wildly different styles, yet they still got overlooked.
So with this list, the point isn’t to pretend these animated films are misunderstood masterpieces; it’s to highlight why they deserved way more attention than they actually got. Here are 5 of them.
It’s honestly hard to believe Entergalactic didn’t become a breakout hit, or at least find the level of success it realistically could’ve, because this is the kind of animated movie that feels like an event. Visually, it’s one of the most stylish projects Netflix has ever released, with a vibrant urban aesthetic that looks like it came straight out of a sketchbook. The story follows Jabari, an illustrator who’s finally starting to break through in his career, and ends up getting involved with his photographer neighbor, Meadow, and the movie is really built around that balance between creative ambition and romantic life.
But since it was marketed more like a companion piece to Kid Cudi’s album than an actual animated feature worth watching on its own, it never really got the buzz or viral attention it deserved from general audiences. And yes, the script is fairly simple, but not in a bad way — it’s simple because the whole point is to focus on vibe, chemistry, and emotion. Entergalactic is basically an animated rom-com with above-average polish and a ton of personality.
Pixar movies are usually guaranteed to be a big deal, but there are a few exceptions, and Onward is definitely one of them. It’s honestly hard to understand why it never really stayed in the spotlight, because if you actually sit down and watch it properly, you’ll realize it’s pretty good. The story follows Ian and Barley, two brothers who find a way to bring their late father back for one day, but only manage to summon half of him and have to finish the spell during an improvised road trip. It’s emotional, but it never tries to be bigger than what it is; it just wants to tell a personal story, and it nails that goal.
Some critics argued that Onward doesn’t fully take advantage of its fantasy world and plays things too safe to truly stand out, but the truth is that it’s funny, it has a solid sense of adventure, and most importantly, the heart of the movie is the relationship between the brothers. It gets that grief isn’t always dramatic crying or an inspirational speech, sometimes it’s built-up frustration and all the things you never got to say. That’s what makes the movie feel real, and it’s also why the ending lands in such an honest way.
You probably know Illumination’s movies — Despicable Me, Minions, Sing, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, to name a few — which, for a lot of people, automatically come with the reputation of being aimed at a much younger audience. Because of that, Migration ended up suffering from the same bias, and almost no one gave it a real chance, which is a shame because it’s an excellent animated film. The story follows a family of ducks who leave their comfortable life behind and decide to migrate all the way to Jamaica, even as the overprotective dad tries to control everything and avoid any kind of risk. Does it sound silly? Sure, but the pacing is fantastic, and the humor is perfectly balanced.
Migration isn’t revolutionary in any way, but it’s worth pointing out that it also isn’t lazy, and that is a huge advantage these days. Its biggest strength is how it takes that simple premise and turns it into an adventure full of small disasters and weird encounters along the way. That’s what makes it so fun to watch, because it has that classic “road trip movie” energy where it always feels like everything could go wrong at any moment, and you want to see what happens next. It’s easily one of the most entertaining animated movies from the past six years.
Most of the time, animated films are basically comfort films, right? But every now and then, one shows up that actually wants to do something different, and that’s exactly the case here. You watch Wendell & Wild, and it’s immediately clear this isn’t your typical formula-driven animated production. It’s weird, slightly dark, packed with ideas, and it has zero interest in playing it safe. The story follows Kat, a teenager dealing with guilt and trauma, who gets pulled into a supernatural world involving two demons and a bizarre resurrection scheme. Is it insane? Absolutely, but the whole package is strong enough that it deserves to be mentioned in the same conversation as Coraline.
Wendell & Wild looks incredible, with impressive stop-motion animation, unique character designs, and a twisted fantasy vibe that also comes with real social commentary. The downside is that being this bold comes at a cost: it’s the kind of movie people label as “too weird” to go viral, especially if they’re just looking for something light. It also dives into heavier themes like grief, exploitation, and corruption, and not everyone is ready for that. Still, it has more identity than most animated releases we’ve gotten in years.
The Transformers franchise is massive, but this is probably one of the biggest cases of people not giving a movie a chance because they assumed they already knew what it was. Transformers One does something that felt impossible at this point: it proves that the whole robot cars concept works best when the story focuses on friendship, ideology, and betrayal — not just nonstop action scenes. The film explores the origin of Optimus Prime and Megatron before the war, back when they were still on the same side in Cybertron, and it takes its time developing that relationship, letting the tension build until the inevitable collapse.
What’s even funnier is that it pulls all of this off with animation that’s slick, dynamic, and way more expressive than any of the live-action versions ever managed to be. Straight up, Transformers One works because it doesn’t treat the conflict as a simple “good vs. evil” story, but as two worldviews drifting apart until war becomes unavoidable. Yes, it has humor and action, but more importantly, it has actual screenplay structure — something this franchise has been missing for decades. Even now, it’s still kind of weird that people don’t talk about it as much as they should.
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