Animationis an art form that never shies from jumping out of the box anc pushing the boundaries of creativity and innovation. Filmmakers are constantly racking their brains and taking leaps to try unconventional techniques. The result? A bizarre story, weird characters, and trippy animation. At their strangest, these animated movies are truly spectacular in defying expectations and putting cinema in a whole new light.
Despite the weirdness (or for it), some animated movies are surprisingly entertaining. These movies throw logic and reason out of the window, yes, but isn’t that the whole point of over-the-top humor? With visual creativity and uncanny plots, these animated movies are a puzzle waiting to be solved.
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With every strange animated movie comes the opportunity to delve into the unknown and discover the beauty that thrives when you let loose. So, it’s time to embrace the weird and enter these fantastical realmswhere nothing makes sense and everything is possible. Who knows, you might stumble upon a film that you’ll treasure for life. Without further ado, let me present the weirdest animated movies that you’ll end up loving.
10Fritz the Cat (1972)
Created by Ralph Bakshi,Fritz the Catcreated sensations when it came out in the ‘70s. Marked as one of the first animation movies with an X rating, the raunchy comedy follows an irreverent and mindless black cat named Fritz and his adventures surrounding politics, girls, college, and more. His life takes an outrageous turn when he joins a gang of outcasts in 1960s New York City and becomes a leftist revolutionary. He spends his days chasing girls, engaging in unspeakable activities, taking substances, and cruising around with his group of friends. However watchable it sounds right now, the movie created a massive social commentary with fans upon its release, and it ended up grossing over $90 million worldwide. Overall, the counter-culture tone of the film and the neat animation, paired with Fritz’s strange hijinks, makes it an interesting satirical watch.
9Fantastic Planet (1973)
Directed by French filmmaker René Laloux,Fantastic Planet, also originally known asLa planète sauvage, is known as an adult film, not for its visuals, but because it touches upon themes of existentialism and makes doleful commentary on oppression. The movie follows two tribes residing on a strange planet called Ygam. One is made of massive blue alien creatures with red eyes known as the Draags, and another is made of tiny scaled-down humans known as the Oms. Thealiens are the ruling classand humans live at their mercy. Things get really bizarre when one of the Oms gets their hands of Draag-tech and aims for the survival of their race. The psychedelic space opera is as trippy as animation can ever get. The struggle between the oppressors vs. the oppressed is portrayed using striking visuals and symbolic imagery. It addresses humanity’s place in the universe, making for a thought-provoking film.
8Belladonna of Sadness (1973)
Belladonna of Sadnessis a surreal, almost unruly film by Japanese animator Eiichi Yamamoto. It follows a medieval woman who is wronged by an aristocrat on her wedding night and exiled from her village. Her rage drives her to strike a deal with the devil, and she’s now ready to wreak vengeance. The devil gives her the powers of a witch, transforming her into a vessel of charm and insanity. She experiences increasingly surreal and tortured hallucinations and inflicts the same nightmare upon others. Too realistic and unsettling for even adults, the movie becomes grim and grotesque as Jeanne’s abilities grow. The animation is top-notch, created in a detailed medieval setting and a fantastical world of pastel and poetic lure. Despite its strange themes,Belladonna of Sadnessis actually pretty sad, as it drives a wronged woman into madness and makes her do violating stuff.
7Angel’s Egg (1985)
Mamoru Oshii does not hold himself back from diving headfirst into creating the prismatic experience that isAngel’s Egg.The non-linear story of the film follows a young girl who discovers a mysterious black egg in a strange old city. She cradles it and vows to care for it like a newborn until she meets a boy, who is unmindful of her obsession with the egg. The animation is quite ambiguous at times, featuring an abandoned world and almost no spoken dialogue. The abstract feature from the director of Ghost in the Shell is said to have multiple interpretations. It is a mosaic of metaphors about the philosophy of life and a religious imagery of faith. The science-fiction undertone also creates an immersive experience for viewers looking for something truly gripping.
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6The Brave Little Toaster (1987)
A rather fun take on bizarre,The Brave Little Toasterrevolves around a group of anthropomorphic home appliances – a toaster, radio, lamp, vacuum, and an air conditioner – who come to life in a suburban home. But only when the humans aren’t looking. Director Jerry Rees creates an absurd comedy out of launching the cast of characters into the world as getting them to look for their owner, lost in a surreal adventure.Often whimsical and weird, the inanimate objects encounter strange and crazy cat ladies and go to wild yard sales. Rees takes the entire objects coming-to-life trope and gives it a weird parody-like spin to create a film full of humor and heart.
5Alice (1988)
Lewis Carroll’s novel receives an odd screen version in this dark fantasy story where Alice gets thrown in a world full of living inanimate objects and stuffed dead animals.Aliceis an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, yes, but director Jan Švankmajer uses the most trippy stop-motion animation and abstract imagery to recreate Carroll’s fictional world. We still get the White Rabbit, Mad Hatter, and Cheshire Cat, but the familiarity of the world is twisted when armies of toys come to life. Nothing is as it seems in this weird adaptation. It defies any logic and is never straightforward with the narrative. Perhaps that’s what makes the film so captivating. Watching Wonderland unfold into an eerie yet imaginative world shows us how cinema and animation can achieve literally anything with a dash of creativity.
4Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989)
It’s likeFinding NemoandAlice in Wonderlandmash-up and create something truly dreamlike withLittle Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland. Adapted fromWinsor McCay’s classic comic stripand directed by Masami Hata and William Hurtz, the animated movie follows a young boy named Nemo, who finds himself in an unnatural world called Slumberland every night after he falls asleep. In Slumberland, Nemo goes on fun adventures with his friends Flip and Professor Genius. But one night, Nemo enters Nightmare Land, and realizes the place is ruled by the Nightmare King, who might pose a threat to him and the entire Slumberland. The movie uses the non-existent dream logic and brings to life a fascinating world, which is basically the product of a child’s imagination. Overall, Hata’s Little Nemo is a delightful animation to watch.
3Waking Life (2001)
Richard Linklater uses hissignature hallucinatory storytellingin this modernistic animated trip titledWaking Life. Much like his work in theBefore trilogyandSlacker, Linklater delves into life’s purpose and the passage of time in this self-narrated film that follows a young man as he explores the nature of reality and awareness by meeting different people in his dreams and striking deeply moving philosophical conversations. Linklater uses a unique animation style to portray dreams and the idea of a subconscious mind. The weird part of the movie is that it does not smooth into a natural conclusion but rather stays abrupt and uncanny, much like the meandering nature of life itself. The discussions are also quite interesting, shot from a digital perspective of dreamscapes in this rebellious comedy.
Related:Waking Life and the Philosophy of Dreams and Film
2The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
The Triplets of Bellevilleis a French animated film set in 1940s Montreal. The movie follows an elderly Frenchwoman named Madame Souza, who gets engulfed in an international adventure when her grandson Champion, a professional cyclist, goes missing. Her quest to find him takes her into the most annoying yet spellbinding journey. Set against the backdrop of the Tour de France, Souza’s interesting voyage is accompanied by her loyal dog, Bruno, and three sisters known as the Triplets of Belleville. From tracking down Champion’s criminal kidnappers to getting caught up with hunters and competitors, the film uses a nostalgic animation and poignant storyline and presents an uncommon tale.
1Mind Game (2004)
Japanese animator Masaaki Yuasa strikes gold with this sci-fi adaptation of Robin Nishi’s manga of the same name.Mind Gameis a fanciful adventure that follows a young boy who survives a gut-churning sweep with death. Nishi is a feeble kid who fails to protect his childhood crush from a group of dangerous monsters. His heedless personality gets him shot, and he faces God in the afterlife. The force asks him to follow a light, but wimpy Nishi runs and returns to life instead, now a changed man, as he takes his sweetheart and the two hide out in a whale. The reality distortions and the abstract portrayal of God as a rapidly changing dreamscape make the film highly captivating. Moreover,Yuasa is a genius in creating tensionand making us root for a hero who isn’t hero-like at all, with a score that matches the visuals.
