From Wikipedia - Reading time: 31 min
This is a list of adult animated films that were made from the 1920s onwards. These are films intended for a more mature audience than many animated feature films, all in theaters, direct-to-video and streaming. They are often distinct from television series or web series.
| Title | Country | Director | Studio | Year | Notes | Animation technique |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animal Farm[1] | United Kingdom | John Halas, Joy Batchelor | Halas and Batchelor | 1954 | First British animated feature | Traditional |
| Heaven and Earth Magic | United States | Harry Everett Smith | 1962 | Originally released in 1957 | Stop motion | |
| West and Soda | Italy | Bruno Bozzetto | Cineriz | 1965 | Traditional | |
| Yellow Submarine | United States, United Kingdom | Robert Balser, George Dunning, Jack Stokes animation
Dennis Abey, Al Brodax live-action |
Apple Films, King Features Syndicate, TVC London, United Artists | 1968 | Traditional/Live-Action | |
| Out of an Old Man's Head
I huvet på en gammal gubbe |
Sweden | Per Åhlin animation
Tage Danielsson live-action |
First Swedish animated feature | Traditional, Live action | ||
| A Thousand and One Nights | Japan | Eiichi Yamamoto | Mushi Production | 1969 | Traditional | |
| Maruhi Gekiga, Ukiyoe Senichiya | Japan | Leo Nisimura | Leo Production | First animated film to receive the R-18 in Japan |
| Title | Country | Director | Studio | Year | Notes | Animation technique |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foam Bath | Hungary | György Kovásznai | Pannonia Film Studio | 1980 | Traditional | |
| The Missing Link | France, Belgium | Picha | Pils Film | |||
| American Pop | United States | Ralph Bakshi | Columbia Pictures, Bakshi Productions | 1981 | Traditional/Rotoscoping | |
| Heavy Metal | Canada | Gerald Potterton | Columbia Pictures | First Canadian animated feature | Traditional | |
| Adieu Galaxy Express 999 | Japan | Rintaro | Toei Animation | |||
| Son of the White Mare | Hungary | Marcell Jankovics | Pannonia Film Studio, MOKÉP, Arbelos Films | |||
| Time Masters
Les Maîtres du temps |
France, West Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Hungary | René Laloux, Tibor Hernádi | Télécip, TF1 Films Production, Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Südwestrundfunk, Radio-Télévision Suisse Romande, British Broadcasting Corporation, Pannonia Film Studio, Hungarofilm | 1982 | ||
| GoShogun | Japan | Kunihiko Yuyama | Ashi Productions | Based on GoShogun by Kunihiko Yuyama | ||
| The Plague Dogs | United Kingdom, United States | Martin Rosen | United Artists, Nepenthe Productions | |||
| Space Adventure Cobra: The Movie | Japan | Osamu Dezaki | Tokyo Movie Shinsha | |||
| Hey Good Lookin' | United States | Ralph Bakshi | Warner Bros. Pictures | |||
| Pink Floyd – The Wall | United Kingdom | Alan Parker, Gerald Scarfe | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | Live action/Traditional | ||
| Barefoot Gen | Japan | Mori Masaki | Madhouse | 1983 | Traditional | |
| Fire and Ice | United States | Ralph Bakshi | 20th Century-Fox, Producers Sales Organization | Traditional/Rotoscoping | ||
| Rock & Rule | Canada | Clive A. Smith | Nelvana, United Artists | Traditional | ||
| Urusei Yatsura: Only You | Japan | Mamoru Oshii | Pierrot | |||
| Golgo 13: The Professional | Japan | Osamu Dezaki | Tokyo Movie Shinsha | Traditional/CGI | ||
| Lensman | Japan | Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Kazuyuki Hirokawa | Madhouse | 1984 | ||
| Macross: Do You Remember Love? | Japan | Noboru Ishiguro, Shōji Kawamori | Artland, Tatsunoko Production and Topcraft | Traditional | ||
| Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer | Japan | Mamoru Oshii | Pierrot | |||
| Bagi, the Monster of Mighty Nature | Japan | Osamu Tezuka | Tezuka Productions | |||
| The Criminal | Philippines | Fruto Corre, Nonoy Dadivas | Media Concepts, Inc. | First Filipino animated short film | ||
| Samson & Sally | Denmark, Sweden | Jannik Hastrup | Dansk Tegnefilm | |||
| Vampires in Havana | Cuba, Spain | Juan Padrón | 1985 | |||
| Angel's Egg | Japan | Mamoru Oshii | Tokuma Shoten | |||
| The Dagger of Kamui | Japan | Rintaro | Madhouse, Project Team Argos | |||
| GoShogun: The Time Étranger | Japan | Kunihiko Yuyama | Ashi Productions | Based on GoShogun by Kunihiko Yuyama | ||
| Lupin III: Legend of the Gold of Babylon | Japan | Seijun Suzuki, Shigetsugu Yoshida | Tokyo Movie Shinsha | |||
| Starchaser: The Legend of Orin | United States | Steven Hahn | Young Sung Production Co. Ltd. | |||
| Urusei Yatsura 3: Remember My Love | Japan | Kazuo Yamazaki | Studio Deen | |||
| Urusei Yatsura: Ryoko's September Tea Party | Japan | Studio Deen | ||||
| Vampire Hunter D | Japan | Toyoo Ashida | Toho, Ashi Production | Based on Vampire Hunter D Volume 1 by Hideyuki Kikuchi | ||
| Penguin's Memory: Shiawase Monogatari | Japan | Shinji Kimura | Animation Staff Room | Uses the penguin mascots from the Suntory's CAN Beer | ||
| Arion | Japan | Yoshikazu Yasuhiko | Sunrise | 1986 | ||
| Barefoot Gen 2 | Japan | Toshio Hirata | Madhouse | |||
| Fist of the North Star | Japan | Toyoo Ashida | Toei Animation | |||
| When the Wind Blows | United Kingdom | Jimmy T. Murakami | Meltdown Productions | |||
| Cat City | Hungary | Béla Ternovszky | ||||
| Bring Me the Head of Charlie Brown | United States | Jim Reardon | California Institute of the Arts | |||
| Neo Tokyo | Japan | Rintaro, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Katsuhiro Otomo | Project Team Agros, Madhouse | 1987 | ||
| Robot Carnival | Japan | Atsuko Fukushima, Katsuhiro Otomo, Koji Morimoto, Hidetoshi Omori, Yasuomi Umetsu, Hiroyuki Kitazume, Mao Lamdo, Hiroyuki Kitakubo, Takashi Nakamura | A.P.P.P. | |||
| Saint Seiya: The Movie | Japan | Kōzō Morishita | Toei Animation | |||
| Wicked City | Japan | Yoshiaki Kawajiri | Madhouse | |||
| Twilight of the Cockroaches | Japan | Hiroaki Yoshida | Madhouse, Kitty Films | Traditional/Live action | ||
| Lupo the Butcher | Canada | Danny Antonucci | International Rocketship Limited | Traditional | ||
| The Big Bang | France, Belgium | Picha | ||||
| Lupin III: The Fuma Conspiracy | Japan | Masayuki Ōzeki | Tokyo Movie Shinsha | |||
| Gandahar | United States, France | René Laloux | SEK Studio | |||
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack | Japan | Yoshiyuki Tomino | Sunrise | 1988 | Traditional/CGI | |
| Grave of the Fireflies | Japan | Isao Takahata | Studio Ghibli, Shinchosha 1988 | Traditional | ||
| Appleseed | Japan | Kazuyoshi Katayama | Gainax | |||
| Akira | Japan | Katsuhiro Otomo | Tokyo Movie Shinsha | |||
| Demon City Shinjuku | Japan | Yoshiaki Kawajiri | Madhouse | |||
| Marquis | Belgium, France | Henri Xhonneux | Aligator Producciones, Tchin Tchin Productions | 1989 | Live-action/stop-motion | |
| Riding Bean | Japan | Yasuo Hasegawa | AIC | Traditional |
| Title | Country | Director | Studio | Year | Notes | Animation Technique |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deathstroke: Knights & Dragons: The Movie | United States | Sung Jin Ahn | Warner Bros. Animation Blue Ribbon Content DC Entertainment Berlanti Productions |
2020 | Direct-to-DVD | Traditional |
| Justice League Dark: Apokolips War | Matt Peters Christian Sotta |
Warner Bros. Animation DC Entertainment | ||||
| Masameer: The Movie | Saudi Arabia | Malik Nejer | Myrkott Animation Studio | |||
| Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge | United States | Ethan Spaulding | Warner Bros. Animation | Direct-to-DVD | ||
| Superman: Man of Tomorrow | Chris Palmer | Warner Bros. Animation DC Entertainment | ||||
| Superman: Red Son | Sam Liu | |||||
| To Your Last Death | Jason Axinn | Coverage Ink Films | CGI | |||
| Altered Carbon: Resleeved | Japan | Takeru Nakajima Yoshiyuki Okuda |
Anima | |||
| Batman: Death in the Family | United States | Brandon Vietti | Warner Bros. Animation DC Entertainment |
Direct-to-DVD | Traditional | |
| Hayop Ka! | Philippines | Avid Liongoren | Rocketsheep Studio Spring Films |
Also known as You Animal! | ||
| If Anything Happens I Love You | United States | Will McCormack Michael Govier |
Gilbert Films Oh Good Productions |
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| Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train | Japan | Haruo Sotozaki | Ufotable Toho Aniplex |
Also known as Demon Slayer: Mugen Train/Infinity Train. First R-rated animated film to break several box office records, including the highest-grossing film of 2020. | ||
| Goblin Slayer: Goblin's Crown | Takaharu Ozaki | White Fox | ||||
| Soul Snatcher | China | Song Haolin Yi Liqi |
Heroplus (Wuxi) Limited Beijing White Horse Time TV & Movie Co., Ltd. Edko (Beijing) Films Limited Edko Films Limited Irresistible Alpha Limited Beijing Weimeng Internet Technology Co., Ltd. Huawen Picture Co., Ltd. Douyin Culture (Xiamen) Limited |
Live-action CGI Motion capture Rotoscoping | ||
| America: The Motion Picture | United States | Matt Thompson | Netflix Animation Floyd County Productions Lord Miller Productions |
2021 | Traditional | |
| Batman: Soul of the Dragon | Sam Liu | Warner Bros. Animation DC Entertainment |
Direct-to-DVD | |||
| Batman: The Long Halloween | Chris Palmer | |||||
| Belle | Japan | Mamoru Hosoda | Studio Chizu | Traditional CGI | ||
| Charlotte | Canada Belgium France |
Éric Warin, Tahir Rana | January Films Sons of Manual Les Productions Balthazar Walking the Dog |
Traditional | ||
| Checkered Ninja 2 | Denmark | Thorbjørn Christoffersen Anders Matthesen |
A. Film Pop Up Production Sudoku ApS Nordisk Film LevelK |
CGI | ||
| Cryptozoo | United States | Dash Shaw | Traditional | |||
| Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time | Japan | Hideaki Anno Kazuya Tsurumaki Katsuichi Nakayama Mahiro Maeda |
||||
| Flee | United States United Kingdom France Sweden Norway Denmark |
Jonas Poher Rasmussen | Neon | |||
| Green Snake | China | Amp Wong | Light Chaser Animation Studios Alibaba Pictures Tianjin Maoyan Weiying Culture Media Bilibili |
CGI | ||
| Gora Automatikoa | Spain | David Galán Galindo Esaú Dharma Pablo Vara |
39 Escalones Films The Other Film Production |
Flash animation | ||
| Jujutsu Kaisen 0 | Japan | Sunghoo Park | MAPPA | Traditional | ||
| Injustice | United States | Matt Peters | Warner Bros. Animation DC Entertainment |
Direct-to-DVD | ||
| Justice Society: World War II | Jeff Wamester | |||||
| Mad God | Phil Tippett | Tippett Studio Shudder |
Stop-motion | |||
| Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms | Ethan Spaulding | Warner Bros. Animation | Traditional | |||
| My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission | Japan | Kenji Nagasaki | Toho | |||
| Night of the Animated Dead | United States | Jason Axinn | Warner Bros. Home Entertainment | |||
| Nimuendajú | Brazil | Tania Anaya | Rotoscoping Traditional | |||
| The Spine of Night | United States | Philip Gelatt Morgan Galen King |
RLJE Films Shudder Gorgonaut Reno Productions |
Traditional | ||
| StEvEn & Parker | John Krasinski | Columbia Pictures Sunday Night Productions Point Grey Pictures |
CGI Traditional | |||
| The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf | United States South Korea Poland |
Kwang Il Han | Studio Mir Netflix |
Traditional | ||
| The Adventures of Drunky | United States | Aaron Augenblick Fletcher Moules |
Augenblick Studios Cartuna |
2022 | ||
| Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood | Richard Linklater | Netflix Animation Minnow Mountain Submarine |
Rotoscope | |||
| Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm | Matt Maiellaro Dave Willis |
Williams Street | Direct-to-DVD | Traditional | ||
| Aurora's Sunrise | Armenia Lithuania Germany |
Inna Sahakyan | Bars Media
Broom Films Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion |
Paper cutout CGI | ||
| Avatar: The Way of Water | United States | James Cameron | TSG Entertainment Lightstorm Entertainment 20th Century Studios |
CGI Live-action Rotoscoping | ||
| Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons | Matt Peters | Warner Bros. Animation DC Entertainment |
Direct-to-DVD | CGI | ||
| Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe | Mike Judge | MTV Entertainment Studios Judgemental Films Titmouse, Inc. |
Traditional | |||
| The Bob's Burgers Movie | Loren Bouchard Bernard Derriman |
20th Century Studios 20th Century Animation Bento Box Entertainment Wilo Productions |
||||
| Catwoman: Hunted | Shinsuke Terasawa | Warner Bros. Animation DC Entertainment |
Direct-to-DVD | |||
| Eien no 831 | Japan | Kenji Kamiyama | Craftar | CGI | ||
| Entergalatic | United States | Fletcher Moules | Netflix Animation | |||
| Eternal Spring | Canada | Jason Loftus | Lofty Sky Entertainment | Traditional | ||
| The First Slam Dunk | Japan | Takehiko Inoue | Toei Animation DandeLion Animation Studio |
Sports | CGI Traditional | |
| Green Lantern: Beware My Power | United States | Jeff Wamester | Warner Bros. Animation DC Entertainment |
Direct-to-DVD | Traditional | |
| Home Is Somewhere Else | United States Mexico |
Carlos Hagerman Jorge Villalobos |
Brinca Animation Studio Shine Global |
Documentary | ||
| The House | United Kingdom | Paloma Baeza Niki Lindroth von Bahr Marc James Roels Emma de Swaef |
Netflix Animation Nexus Studios |
Anthology film special comprising three separate stories. | Stop-motion | |
| Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind | United States | Rick Morales | Warner Bros. Animation | Direct-to-DVD | Traditional | |
| Nayola | Portugal France Belgium Netherlands |
José Miguel Ribeiro | Praça Filmes S.O.I.L. Productions JPL Films il Luster Luna Blue Film |
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| Odd Taxi: In the Woods | Japan | Baku Kinoshita | OLM Team Yoshioka P.I.C.S |
Based on Odd Taxi by Kazuya Konomoto | ||
| One Piece Film: Red | Gorō Taniguchi | Toei Animation, Toei Company |
Based on One Piece by Eiichiro Oda | |||
| The Other Shape | Colombia Brazil |
Diego Felipe Guzmán | RTVC Play Hierro Animación Estúdio GIZ Dinamita Animación |
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| El paraíso | Argentina | Fernando Sirianni Federico Breser |
FS Entertainment Nomad Cine EOK Producciones McFly Studio |
CGI | ||
| Unicorn Wars | Spain France |
Alberto Vázquez | Abano Producións Uniko Unicorn Wars AIE Autour de Minuit Schmuby Productions |
CGI Traditional | ||
| Wendell & Wild | United States | Henry Selick | Netflix Animation Monkeypaw Productions Gotham Group Principato-Young Entertainment |
Stop-motion | ||
| Art College 1994 | China | Liu Jian | Nezha Bros. Pictures Company Limited Modern Sky Entertainment Company Limited China Academy Of Art’s School of Animation and Game |
2023 | Traditional | |
| Metalocalypse: Army of the Doomstar | United States | Brendon Small Tommy Blacha |
Williams Street Titmouse, Inc. |
Direct-to-DVD | ||
| The Missing | Philippines Thailand |
Carl Joseph Papa | Project 8 Projects | Rotoscope | ||
| The Peasants | Poland Serba Lithuania |
DK Welchman Hugh Welchman |
BreakThru Films DigitalKraft Art Shot |
Oil-painted Rotoscoping Traditional | ||
| Robot Dreams | Spain France |
Pablo Berger | Arcadia | Traditional | ||
| They Shot the Piano Player | Spain France Netherlands |
Fernando Trueba Javier Mariscal |
Fernando Trueba PC Les Films D’ici Submarine Animanostra |
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| Resident Evil: Death Island | Japan | Eiichirō Hasumi | Capcom TMS Entertainment |
Set in the Resident Evil video game universe. | CGI | |
| The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is the Blood of the Baboon Heart | United States | Jackson Publick | Williams Street Astro Base GO! Titmouse, Inc. |
Direct-to-DVD | Traditional | |
| Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match | Ethan Spaulding | Warner Bros. Animation | ||||
| The Boy and the Heron | Japan | Hayao Miyazaki | Studio Ghibli | Winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. | ||
| Stopmotion | United Kingdom | Robert Morgan | British Film Institute blueLight |
Live-action Stop-motion | ||
| Mars Express | France | Jérémie Périn | Everybody on Deck Je Suis Bien Content EV.L Prod Plume Finance France 3 Cinéma Shine Conseils Gebeka Films Amopix |
CGI Flash Rotoscoping Traditional | ||
| Spy × Family Code: White | Japan | Takashi Katagiri | Wit Studio CloverWorks |
Traditional | ||
| Animalia Paradoxa | Chile | Niles Atallah | Diluvio Globo Rojo Producciones |
2024 | Live-action Stop-motion | |
| La familia del barrio: La película | Mexico | Rhajov Villafuerte | Lemon Studios | Based on La familia del barrio by Teco Lebrija and Arturo Navarro | Flash | |
| Glove and Beanie with Bait | United States | Javier "Javigameboy" Flores | School of Visual Arts | Flash Traditional | ||
| The Hyperboreans | Chile | Cristóbal León Joaquín Cociña |
Globo Rojo Producciones León Cociña Films |
Live-action Puppetry Stop-motion | ||
| The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim | United States Japan |
Kenji Kamiyama | New Line Cinema Warner Bros. Animation Sola Entertainment WingNut Films Domain Entertainment |
Based on the characters created by J. R. R. Tolkien | Traditional | |
| Memoir of a Snail | Australia | Adam Elliot | Arenamedia Snails Pace Films |
Stop-motion | ||
| Olivia & the Clouds | Dominican Republic | Tomás Pichardo Espaillat | Guasábara Cine Historias de Bibi Cine Chani |
Traditional | ||
| Punk'd Pooch | Canada | Aberdeen Wasley | Seneca Polytechnic | Flash Traditional | ||
| Spermageddon | Norway | Tommy Wirkola Rasmus A. Sivertsen |
Qvisten Animation 74Entertainment |
CGI | ||
| Watchmen Chapter I | United States | Brandon Vietti | Warner Bros. Animation Paramount Pictures DC Entertainment |
Based on Watchmen by Dave Gibbons | ||
| Watchmen Chapter II | ||||||
| White Snake: Afloat | China | Jianxi Chen Jiakai Li |
Light Chaser Animation Studios | Inspired by the Chinese folktale Legend of the White Snake | ||
| Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League | United States Japan |
Junpei Mizusaki Shinji Takagi |
Warner Bros. Japan DC Entertainment Warner Bros. Animation Kamikaze Douga YamatoWorks Barnum Studio |
2025 | ||
| Dog of God | Latvia United States |
Lauris Abele Raitis Abele |
Tritone Studio Lumiere Lab |
Rotoscope | ||
| Fixed | United States | Genndy Tartakovsky | Netflix Sony Pictures Animation |
Set to be Sony Pictures Animation's first R-rated film.[14] | Traditional | |
| Lesbian Space Princess | Australia | Emma Hough Hobbs Leela Varghese |
We Made A Thing Studios | |||
| Masameer Junior | Saudi Arabia | Malik Nejer | Myrkott Animation Studio | |||
| Predator: Killer of Killers | United States | Dan Trachtenberg Micho Robert Rutare |
20th Century Studios 20th Century Animation Davis Entertainment The Third Floor, Inc. |
Based on Predator by Jim and John Thomas | CGI | |
| The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep | Kang Hei Chul | Studio Mir Studio IAM Platige Image Hivemind |
Traditional |
| Title | Country | Director | Studio | Notes | Animation Technique |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires | United States Mexico |
Juan Meza-León | Ánima Warner Bros. Animation DC Entertainment Chatrone Particular Crowd |
[15] | Traditional |
| Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc | Japan | Tatsuya Yoshihara | MAPPA | [16][17] | Traditional |
| Death Stranding | TBA | Kojima Productions Line Mileage |
[18] | TBA | |
| 58th | Philippines | Carl Joseph Papa | GMA Pictures | Set to be the first fully-animated documentary film in the Philippines. | Rotoscoping |
| Beckoning | United Kingdom Serbia Spain |
Sava Živković | Snafu Pictures Bauk Pictures |
Set to be animated using Unreal Engine. | CGI |
| Rage Radio | Philippines | Mark Mendoza | Friendly Foes | Traditional | |
| Penelope of Sparta | France US |
Jérôme Combe Silvia Martelossi |
Fortiche | [19] | CGI |
| The Trap | United States | Harmony Korine | EDGLRD | Traditional | |
| Sentinel | Phil Tippett | Tippett Studio | Stop-motion | ||
| Philippines | Carl Joseph Papa | Rotoscoping | |||
| The Goon | United States | Patrick Osborne | Netflix Animation Blur Studio |
[20] | CGI |
| Ray Gunn | Brad Bird | Netflix Skydance Animation |
[21] | ||
| The Valley | South Korea | Bong Joon-ho | 4th Creative Party CJ Entertainment |
[22] | |
| Zsazsa Zaturnnah vs the Amazonistas of Planet X | Philippines | Avid Liongoren | Traditional |