Next week will see the much anticipated release of Spider-Man: Across the SpiderVerse, a movie I’ve been waiting for with bated breath since the end credits scene of the previous movie released back in December of 2018.

I’ve talked at length of my love for animated films, it is a medium that is truly only limited by the imagination of the artists behind it. After all, animation is not a genre, it is a medium that encompasses a wide variety of genres itself from sci-fi and romance, to comedy, horror, action, and more. All without having to worry about shooting on location or the safety of actors for dangerous stunts (instead budget worries are focused on animation itself).

So in anticipation for Spider-Man: Across the SpiderVerse, I’ve compiled a list of my personal favorite animated movies. A top five if you will.

5. Transformers: The Movie (1986)

Or as I like to call it “The Only Good Transformers Movie.”

Transformers was huge in the 80s, and it isn’t hard to see why. The idea of a toy car that turns into a toy robot is so stupidly simple literally anyone can see why that is awesome. Hasbro apparently thought the same thing and took two different Japanese toylines (Diaclone and Microman) and assigned good guy and bad guy designations to them in a marketing ploy not unlike the way Star Wars did it with the Rebel Alliance and the Empire.

After two seasons worth of television, Hasbro thought to bring the franchise to the big screen with a $6 million budget that let to the film looking way more polished than the assembly line produced cartoon.

The film takes place in the futuristic year of…2005 (how quaint), the evil Decepticons led by Megatron have seized control of the Transformer’s home planet of Cybertron. Optimus Prime and the heroic Autobots have set up stations on Cybertron’s twin moons, as well as a base on Earth with their human allies. While on a supply run to Earth, the Decepticons intercept the ship and kill the occupants to launch a sneak attack on Autobot City.

After a tremendous battle that sees several casualties, Optimus Prime dies from injuries sustained while fighting Megatron. Before he dies, Prime passes the Autobot Matrix of Leadership to Ultra Magnus; meanwhile, Megatron is jettisoned by his treacherous second-in-command Starscream, and drifts toward the monstrous planet eater Unicron (remember him from a few weeks ago). Megatron is reformatted into the more powerful Galvatron and sent to destroy the Matrix.

Now that is the long and short of the plot. It isn’t particularly deep, but the movie is a fun sci-fi romp. You can tell it is steeped in imagery and motifs of popular movies at the time, accompanied by a rocking 80s soundtrack and score.

The film underperformed at the box office and received mostly negative reviews, but has developed a cult following and is loved by many Transformers fans.

The film is also infamous for all the character deaths that occur. Brawn, Prowl, Ironhide, Ratchet, Wheeljack, Windcharger, Starscream, Optimus Prime and more all meet their ends in this movie (well Optimus and Starscream get better, but still). Screenwriter Ron Friedman actually advised against killing off Prime, citing that many children looked up to him and some even saw the Autobot leader as a father figure. But Hasbro felt that they needed to get rid of older product and thought the kids wouldn’t care or notice.

And as the upset and traumatized young audience showed, boy were they wrong. Some reports even say there was a kid who locked themselves in their room for two weeks because Optimus died. The lesson being that you shouldn’t assume children would be as heartlessly driven by capital as company suits, and maybe killing off a beloved character isn’t a smart move.

Regardless, this is an excellent time capsule of 80s sci-fi with incredible visuals and a great score.

4. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) This is my favorite Batman movie and my favorite DC movie as well.

Mask of the Phantasm is set within the same continuity as the excellent Batman: The Animated Series and sees Batman confronted by both a new vigilante that is killing crime bosses and the return of his former lover Andrea Beaumont. The film is told in a non-linear style that shows us scenes of Batman’s early crimefighting career and his struggles between his vow to fight injustice and his love for Andrea.

Two of my favorite scenes in the movie both revolve around the flashbacks that highlight Batman’s origin. The first sees Bruce Wayne speaking to the graves of his parents, apologetic that he wanted a chance at a normal life, that he didn’t count on “being happy” with Andrea. It’s a power scene and look into Bruce’s psyche, made all the more tragic when the relationship fails due to outside circumstances, which leads to Andrea breaking up with Bruce via a Dear John letter. This pushes Bruce further into that dark corner of his mind and leads to a scene of him donning the cowl and becoming Batman. All set to an excellent score, with the particular track called “The Birth of Batman”, playing in the background.

This movie shows the kind of results you can get when you mix creators passionate about a character, a strong cast, excellent animation and a wonderful score.

3. Akira (1988)

Our first animated offering from Japan.

Akira is one of the most celebrated films in adult animation, and for a lot of people in the Western Hemisphere, their first anime experience.

The film is based on the manga created by Katsuhiro Otomo (also director of the movie) and is set in the dystopian future of 2019 (how quaint), 30 years after the sudden destruction of Tokyo on July 16, 1988 triggered a world war. The future the film envisions sees lawlessness, gang violence, anti-government protests and near daily acts of terrorism. It tells the story of hot-headed biker gang leader Shōtarō Kaneda, and his childhood friend Tetsuo Shima. Following a motorcycle accident, Tetsuo begins to develop powerful telekinetic abilities, his abilities being compared to a mysterious esper (that’s ESP-er essentially) named Akira, whose power was responsible for the destruction of Tokyo in 1988.

This movie is incredible, and defined an entire genre of cyberpunk with its aesthetics. It was also groundbreaking in showcasing that animation could be used for more than just children’s entertainment (even though it wasn’t the first to do so). Make no mistake, Akira earns its R rating with healthy doses of violence and body horror.

Unlike other animated movies, Akira used pre-scored dialogue. This meant that the vocal performances were recorded first, and then the characters’ lips were animated to match, something that is rarely done even today.

The movies is gorgeously animated with super fluid motions and lots of stunning detail. Many iconic anime scenes were included in this film, and you may have very well seen these homages without realizing they were in reference to this movie. The most famous being the “Akira Slide”, where protagonist Kaneda does a sideways slide into view on his motorcycle, which comes to a halt with smoke and electrical sparks.

Honestly, it would probably be easier to list the things that Akira hasn’t influenced, as its fingerprint can be seen in a wide variety of not only anime that followed, but various movies, games and television owe something to this movie.

2. A Silent Voice (2016)

I actually had not heard of this movie until a couple of friends invited me to the USA release in 2017, and I was surprised to learn it was one of the most impactful films I’d ever seen.

The film is an adaptation of the manga of the same name by Yoshitoki Oima, and is both a coming of age story, and psychological drama.

The film follows Shōya Ishida, a high school boy that has become social outcast. In elementary school, he and his friends were bullies, particularly to a new girl to the school: Shōko Nishimiya, who is also deaf. Eventually, the principal gets involved when he hears of the bullying, and Shōya is framed as the sole perpetrator of the bullying, and is outcast for his reputation as a bully.

Shōya plans to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge, but at the last minute, instead chooses to make amends to all those he wronged in the past. This includes reuniting with Shōko.

The film tackles a variety of themes including bullying, redemption, isolation, self-respect and suicide. The film makes excellent use of visuals and style, as Shōya’s isolation and inability to look at people is demonstrated by having “X” shapes over the faces of other people. As he begins to rebuild and see others, those Xs fall off and Shōya (and the audience) are able to see their face. A type of visual storytelling that animation can do over live action.

A cool little tidbit, I learned that the English dub of the film (I usually always watch movies in their native language so I didn’t know this), Shōko is voiced by Lexi Cowden, a deaf actress, a decision I think really helps add to the realism of the performance.

This is a beautifully animated, scored, and written film that deals with heavy subjects, but is also extremely uplifting.

1. Spider-Man: Into the SpiderVerse (2018)

What can I say? I love Spider-Man, and apparently, so too did the creators of this movie.

By the time this movie came out, there were already six Spider-Man movies, meaning the film would need to offer something new that the others had not. Thus, it was a pretty smart move to center the film on Miles Morales, the Ultimate Spider-Man.

The story sees the origin story of Miles Morales, a Black teenager of Puerto Rican descent living in Brooklyn. Miles is bitten by a radioactive spider and soon after witnesses the death of his universe’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Soon after, Miles begins to develop spider-powers of his own, and encounters another universe’s Peter Parker (stylistically presented as “Peter B. Parker”), before long, an entire team of Spider-People is assembled for the purpose of returning them to their home universes and stopping a scheme by the Kingpin.

Part of the appeal of Miles is that his existence helps to stress the point that anyone can be Spider-Man. Spider-Man isn’t some fate or destiny, you needn’t be born rich or from another planet. Anyone can be Spider-Man and that makes the legacy of the character so approachable and enjoyable to so many people.

Stylistically, the film is like a comic book in motion, while also blending various other animation styles that create a truly unique visual style all its own. The “Leap of Faith” scene in particular is one of the best scenes in a superhero movie period.

Not to mention, this movie beat everyone else to the punch with the multiverse concept that superhero movies are currently running with.

What appeals most to me about the film is the reverence for the legacy of Spider-Man. I’ve said many times that the wallcrawler is my favorite superhero, and this movie highlights that legacy and all the aspects that make a great Spider-Man story: humor, action, heart, and heroic resolve.

This movie also came out shortly after the death of Stan Lee, co-creator of Spider-Man and about a dozen other superheroes over at Marvel. Stan Lee’s cameo got a reaction out of the audience I watched the movie with (myself included there too).

I hope Spider-Man: Across the SpiderVerse can live up to this movie’s legacy. But even if it is only half as good, it will still be one of the best superhero movies out there.

And that’s the list. As I’ve said before, animation is a wonderful medium through which to tell a story, and I wish it had more respect among viewers and critics for the possibilities and opportunities it presents.