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Best Animation Movies On A First Date Night In That Will Mess With Your Mind

The best animation movies on a first date night in that will mess with your mind. A hand-curated list of animation films for Moviepiq.

A first date movie needs to do several things at once: be engaging enough to talk about, not so intense it kills the mood, and ideally leave you both with something to say when the credits roll.

Animation isn't a genre — it's a medium. And in the right hands, it reaches emotional places live-action simply cannot.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse movie poster
1
2018 · ★★★★☆ 8.4/10

Teen Miles Morales becomes Spider-Man of his reality, crossing his path with five counterparts from other dimensions to stop a threat for all realities.

Up movie poster
2
2009 · ★★★★☆ 8.3/10

78-year-old Carl Fredricksen travels to Paradise Falls in his home equipped with balloons, inadvertently taking a young stowaway along for the ride.

WALL-E movie poster
3
2008 · ★★★★☆ 8.4/10

In the distant future a small waste collecting robot inadvertently embarks on a space journey that will ultimately decide the fate of mankind.

The Lion King movie poster
4
1994 · ★★★★½ 8.5/10

Lion prince Simba and his father are targeted by his uncle, who wants to ascend the throne himself.

Coco movie poster
5
2017 · ★★★★☆ 8.4/10

Aspiring musician Miguel, confronted with his family's ban on music, enters the Land of the Dead to find his great-great-grandfather.

The animated films that last are the ones that never condescend. They trust their audience — child or adult — to handle complexity, loss, and wonder in equal measure.

Your Name movie poster
6
2016 · ★★★★☆ 8.4/10

Two strangers find themselves linked in a bizarre way. When a connection forms, will distance be the only thing to keep them apart?

Toy Story movie poster
7
1995 · ★★★★☆ 8.3/10

A cowboy doll is profoundly threatened and jealous when a new spaceman figure supplants him as top toy in a boy's room.

Howl's Moving Castle movie poster
8
2004 · ★★★★½ 8.6/10

When an unconfident young woman is cursed with an old body by a spiteful witch, her only chance of breaking the spell lies with a self-indulgent yet insecure young wizard.

The Incredibles movie poster
9
2004 · ★★★★☆ 8.0/10

A family of undercover superheroes, while trying to live the quiet suburban life, are forced into action to save the world.

Grave of the Fireflies movie poster
10
1988 · ★★★★½ 8.5/10

A devastating story of a young boy and his little sister struggling to survive in Japan during World War II.

The best mind-bending films don't cheat. They follow their own logic rigorously — which is exactly why the rug-pull, when it comes, is so disorienting.

A great animated film reminds you that the most universal emotions don't need to be rendered in flesh and blood to feel completely real.