Disney is the elephant in the room. Always. When you think of animation, your brain probably defaults to a talking mouse or a princess singing on a mountaintop. It’s a reflex. But honestly? Some of the most visceral, heart-wrenching, and visually experimental cinema in the last thirty years has absolutely nothing to do with Team Mickey. We are living in a golden age of animated movies not disney, and if you’re only sticking to the mainstream blockbuster path, you are missing out on the weird, the gritty, and the genuinely profound stuff happening on the fringes.
Animation isn't a genre. It’s a medium. This is a hill I will die on.
When you look at what’s coming out of studios like Cartoon Saloon in Ireland or the legendary Studio Ghibli in Japan, you realize that the "family-friendly" label is often a cage. Some of these films are for kids, sure. But many are definitely not. They handle grief, war, environmental collapse, and the existential dread of growing up in ways that live-action struggles to capture.
Why Studio Ghibli Changed Everything
You can’t talk about animated movies not disney without starting with Hayao Miyazaki. The man is a titan. While American studios were perfecting the "formula"—the sidekick, the villain song, the happy ending—Ghibli was making films where the "villain" was often just a complicated person or a misunderstood spirit.
Take Spirited Away. It’s not just a fantasy flick. It’s a fever dream about identity and greed. Chihiro doesn’t defeat a big bad guy with a sword; she survives a bureaucracy. It’s brilliant. Then you have Princess Mononoke. That movie is brutal. It’s a messy, bloody look at the conflict between industrial progress and nature. No one is "right," and no one is "wrong." That kind of nuance is rare in big-budget Western animation.
Ghibli's hand-drawn style feels tactile. You can almost smell the rain on the pavement or the grass in the meadows. It’s a stark contrast to the often "plastic" look of early CGI. Even now, in 2026, the influence of My Neighbor Totoro or Howl’s Moving Castle is everywhere. These films proved that animation could be quiet. They weren't afraid of silence. Sometimes, just watching a character wait for a bus in the rain is more moving than a thirty-minute chase scene.
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The European Invasion: Cartoon Saloon and Beyond
Ireland’s Cartoon Saloon is basically the Pixar of the Atlantic, but with way more folklore and much cooler geometry. If you haven't seen Wolfwalkers, stop what you're doing. Seriously. The way they use "wolf-vision"—this sketchy, charcoal-heavy style—to show how a wolf perceives the world is breathtaking. It’s something you can only do in animation.
Their "Irish Folklore Trilogy"—which includes The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea—is a masterclass in 2D art. While everyone else was rushing toward 3D realism, they leaned into flat, tapestry-like visuals. It feels like a storybook coming to life.
Then there’s France. French animation is... different. It’s often darker and more philosophical. I Lost My Body is a movie about a severed hand trying to find its owner. Sounds like a horror movie? It’s actually a poetic meditation on memory and loss. It’s weird. It’s beautiful. It’s exactly the kind of thing Disney would never touch with a ten-foot pole.
Stop-Motion: The Beautiful Nightmare
There is something inherently creepy and charming about stop-motion. It’s the "uncanny valley" done right. Laika Studios is the king here. Coraline is arguably one of the best "horror" movies for kids ever made. That button-eye stuff? Pure nightmare fuel.
What makes Laika special is the sheer labor involved. Every frame is a physical photograph of a physical object. In Kubo and the Two Strings, they built a giant skeleton puppet that was sixteen feet tall. Think about that. They didn't just click a button; they built a monster.
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- The Nightmare Before Christmas (Often mistaken for Disney, but it’s pure Henry Selick/Tim Burton energy).
- Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. This isn't the singing puppet you know. It’s set in fascist Italy. It’s about death and what it means to be a "real boy" when the world is falling apart. It won an Oscar for a reason.
- Chicken Run. Aardman Animations is the goat of British humor. It’s basically The Great Escape but with poultry. It shouldn't work, but it’s perfect.
The "Spider-Verse" Effect and Shifting Styles
We have to talk about the shift in 3D. For a long time, every 3D movie tried to look like Toy Story. Smooth textures. Realistic lighting. Then Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Sony) hit the scene and broke everyone's brain.
It used "on-ones" and "on-twos" (different frame rates) to create a comic-book feel. It added halftone dots and hand-drawn lines on top of 3D models. It was messy and vibrant. Since then, we've seen a massive shift in animated movies not disney toward "stylized" 3D. Look at The Mitchells vs. the Machines or Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. They don't want to look real. They want to look like art.
This is a huge win for audiences. We are finally moving away from the "homogenized" look of big-studio films.
Adult Animation: Not Just South Park
There is a huge misconception that "adult animation" just means "crude jokes and swearing." It doesn't.
Flee is a documentary. Yes, an animated documentary. It tells the story of an Afghan refugee, and the animation allows the subject to remain anonymous while visually representing his trauma and memories in a way live-action footage never could. It was nominated for three Oscars in the same year—Best Documentary, Best Animated Feature, and Best International Feature.
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Then you have Anomalisa by Charlie Kaufman. It’s a stop-motion film about a man who perceives everyone in the world as having the same face and voice. It’s incredibly depressing, deeply human, and definitely not for kids.
Why This Matters Right Now
The market is shifting. Streaming services like Netflix and Apple TV+ are pouring money into independent creators. They know that Gen Z and Millennials don't view animation as a "kids' genre." We grew up on Avatar: The Last Airbender and Fullmetal Alchemist. We want stories that respect our intelligence.
If you’re looking for animated movies not disney that actually challenge you, you have to look toward the indie distributors like GKIDS. They are the ones bringing over gems from Japan, Europe, and South America. Without them, we wouldn't have seen The Boy and the Heron or The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (which, by the way, looks like a moving watercolor painting and will make you sob).
How to Find Your Next Favorite Film
Don't just scroll the "Family" section. That’s a trap.
- Check out the Oscar nominees for Best Animated Feature from the last five years. Ignore the winner (it’s usually Disney/Pixar by default). Look at the nominees. That’s where the real gold is.
- Follow the Studio. If you liked Spider-Verse, look at what Sony Pictures Animation is doing. If you liked Kubo, follow Laika.
- Look for "International" labels. Some of the best stuff is coming out of Brazil (The Boy and the World) or Japan (anything by Mamoru Hosoda, like Belle or Wolf Children).
Your "Not-Disney" Starter Pack
If you want to branch out, here is exactly where to start.
Start with Spirited Away for the vibes. It’s the gateway drug to non-Western animation. Then, move to Kubo and the Two Strings to see what modern stop-motion can do. If you want something that feels like a punch to the gut, watch Grave of the Fireflies—but honestly, only watch it if you're prepared to be sad for three days. It’s a war movie that just happens to be animated.
For something fun and wildly creative, The Mitchells vs. the Machines is the move. It’s fast-paced, hilarious, and feels like it was made by people who actually understand internet culture without being "cringe" about it.
Actionable Steps for Animation Fans
- Broaden your search terms: Instead of "best cartoons," search for "GKIDS films" or "independent animated features."
- Support hand-drawn art: Follow creators on social media who are pushing for 2D animation. The industry won't keep making these if we don't watch them.
- Explore different cultures: Animation is a window into how other cultures tell stories. A Japanese "ghost story" is fundamentally different from a European one.
- Watch the credits: Look for names like Phil Lord and Chris Miller (the duo behind Spider-Verse and The Lego Movie) or Tomm Moore (Cartoon Saloon). Following directors is better than following brands.