No. 5: E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
OK, so it's not exactly "animated," but there sure was some creativity behind bringing E.T. - that lovable little extra-terrestrial - to the big screen! The 1982 hit about a stranded alien and his loving relationship with a fatherless boy always manages to strike a chord with audiences of any age. The special effects almost look a bit quaint now with all the computer advancements that have occurred since, but they also have more heart behind them than a lot of what we see today.
The two oldest and best-known characters in science-fiction are monsters and aliens. And in this case, it's actually quite literally Monsters Vs. Aliens. This movie even throws in some giant robots for fun. This animated film, probably one of DreamWorks' best, has great characters and entertains kids of all ages, adults included.
Unlike some other Disney films, Lilo & Stitch was developed from scratch. It's a heartwarming-yet-action-packed story about what it means to be a family. The moral behind the animation is that with enough love, patience and maybe a chainsaw anybody can change, even little blue evil alien experiments. See the film and you'll understand!
The Iron Giant isn't just a great sci-fi/animated film, it's one of the best movies out there about human intolerance to outsiders and the fear that causes so much violence. It's an emotional film about one boy's determination to help a friend and the humanity that comes from something that's not human or biological. This story, about coming of age, is has outstanding 2-D animation and is about as good a film about an alien robot as it gets.
Wall-E is considered by many to be one of the best animated films of all-time. Not only a wonderful tale about of newfound love and opposites attracting, it's also a great sci-fi story with messages about environmental destruction and the human influence combined with robot/human relations - all classic sci-fi themes. In the first half of the movie we get to experience Wall-E's daily grind as a refuse collector and organizer left behind on the devastated planet Earth. Humans have decimated the planet's resources and livability, fleeing the trashed planet for a temporary colony in space while robots like Wall-E clean up their mess. In the second half we learn more about the humans and how little they understand about what they did.