The Best Animated Movies of 2024, Explained by the Venn Diagram

Polygon’s list of the best animated films of 2024 is full of the best animation from around the world, from surreal French films to Pixar sequels. My three personal favorites were The wild robot, To flowAnd Dreams of robots. All three are very different stylistically, which really appealed to me. But there was something else that I felt tied all three together in my head, making it a perfect triple feature of not only three good films, but three thematically harmonious ones.

I’ve broken it down into this handy Venn diagram:

Dreams of robots And To flow are both silent films, which place a lot of emphasis on the physicality of the characters and the way they express themselves without words. Survival adventure To flow is very ingrained in the way real animals move, to the point that even the most unrealistic actions seem to be could happen if the cat was really intelligent. Dreams of robotsHowever, takes place in a world of anthropomorphic animals, so its expression is more cartoonish, both in the movements of the characters and in the expressions of their faces.

Both films masterfully convey their subtle themes without any dialogue, making the messages of survival and camaraderie To flow and life-changing friendships that fall apart in Dreams of robots just hit harder.

In case it’s not very obvious, both Dreams of robots And The wild robot involve… robots! But more importantly, they both involve robots forming life-changing friendships with animals.

The beauty is that they approach these friendships in different ways. In The wild robotthe animals are – you guessed it – wild and animal-like. Roz, the main robot, is more of a stereotypical robot, programmed to behave one way and follow orders. Roz’s friendships with animals fundamentally change her, particularly the relationship between Roz and the young gosling Brightbill. In turn, the animals slowly begin to accept Roz as one of their own and learn lessons from her. There are great exchanges between all parties.

In the meantime, Dreams of robots“Animals are essentially people, and his robots aren’t really programmed specifically to do anything other than vibrate. Yet the friendship between Robot and Dog is deep and transformative. It’s more detailed and focuses specifically on the two. The film really examines how poignant and powerful a friendship can be, especially when life takes these friends in different directions.

Animals in a sci-fi wilderness devoid of humans that offers no explanation but the environmental storytelling is strong

To flow And The wild robot both take place in worlds with lingering traces of humanity, but little to no human presence. In both cases, there are clues as to what may have happened to the humans. This is a little more obvious in The wild robotsince Roz herself was made by humans. But there is still no clear answer in either film about the state of humanity and why it is so separated from the wilderness. To flow, meanwhile, takes place in a strange flooded landscape that humans have clearly left behind.

This is rich world-building that doesn’t dominate the story, but gently augments it by simply being undeniably in the background. Both films involve a certain degree of coming together after isolation and surviving through kindness, and all of this is emphasized when humanity is just an imprint instead of an all-encompassing threat or presence.

The common thread shared by all three films: they made me cry!

OK, that’s the easy answer. The real answer is that it’s about unlikely connections and how they fundamentally change who you are, and what that means for the future; that kindness and compassion are strengths, not weaknesses; and how it’s better to open up to friendship than to be alone, even though being vulnerable can be terrifying.

And because animation is a brilliant medium that allows the most fantastical things to come to life in rich and evocative ways, all of these deep-rooted themes can be communicated in stories of robots and animals in lush and unique worlds.