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Best Animation Movies On A Long Flight From The 2020S That Will Make You Cry

The best animation movies on a long flight from the 2020s that will make you cry. A hand-curated list of animation films for Moviepiq.

A long flight is one of the few times you have no choice but to sit still and actually watch a film — no phone calls, no errands, nothing to do but commit. Use it wisely.

The 2020s have already produced films that will be studied for decades — lean, precise, unafraid to take audiences seriously. use the freedom of their medium to tell stories with a rawness and beauty that's uniquely their own.

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.

Great films that make you cry do so because they've made you care. By the time the emotion lands, you're not surprised — you're just not ready for it.

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.