Top 10 80's Animated Movies

As I've said before, I was born in the 80's, which was such a cool decade, and I'm a huge fan of animated movies. What I have here is a Top 10 list of what I think were the best animated movies of the 80's. This was all taking place in the decade before computer animation became such a big deal, but not the last decade for 2D animated movies. In my opinion, these movies are all great movies to raise your kids on.


#10 - The Little Mermaid (1989)
Based on Hans Christian Anderson's novel, this movie is about a mermaid who wants to be a part of the real world. This one may be a chick flick, but it's still a Disney movie. It seemed like the Disney Animated Classics were not getting as much amazing reviews after Walt Disney's death, but this movie became such a huge breakthrough for the company. With great animation and smash hit songs, "The Little Mermaid" became a blockbuster hit. While it's not one of my favorite Disney movies, I still consider it to be one of the best in the Disney library. If it weren't for Michael Eisner, we wouldn't have had such great masterpieces like this, or Beauty and the Beast, or the Lion King.


#9 - The Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation (1986)
In this movie, the Care Bears try to save the world from the evil forces of Dark Heart. My claim to fame on this one is the movie's soundtrack. Typical mid-80's pop can really get people jumping. It also has a lot of funny moments and powerful scenes. Not quite as memorable as the first Care Bears movie, but it's still good for a watch. It's a good movie for kids.


#8 - An American Tail (1986)
This movie is basically about a Russian mouse who gets seperated from his family while they were traveling to America, and now he must find them. "An American Tail" is both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. Even though Fievel was all alone looking for his family, the other characters that he meets along the way do their best to help him. It's one of Don Bluth's finest movies and a favorite to many of his fans.


#7 - Transformers: The Movie (1986)
Based off of the freakishly awesome Japanese cartoon, the Autobots are trying to stop the Unicron from stealing the Autobot Matrix. Even though this movie does have a lot of major Star Wars rip-offs, the action, the music, and the voice acting still kicks ass. If you love the Transformers, than this is definately a movie for you.


#6 - All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)
In this movie, a dog named Charlie Barkin dies and then comes back to life to seek revenge on his assassin. This movie of Don Bluth's was a big flop, but it still remains a cult classic and a favorite to many Bluth fans. As for me, I consider "All Dogs Go to Heaven" to be one of Bluth's finest, and it's a good release to be made as the decade came to a close.


#5 - The Black Cauldron (1985)
Here's a movie about a young boy and his misfit friends embarking on a quest to find a dark magic item of ultimate power known as the Black Cauldron. This is the Disney Animated Classic that time forgot. A lot of Disney fans claim that they have never seen this movie. "The Black Cauldron" made a theatrical release in the summer of 1985, and wasn't released on video until the fall of 1998. This is the only movie on my list that I don't reccomend to small children being that it's so dark, but that's what I like about it is its darkness. If you love medival stuff or gothic stuff, then this is the movie for you. It may seem a lot like "The Sword in the Stone" and "Robin Hood", but it's also as breathtaking as the Final Fantasy games. If you haven't seen this movie, than I highly reccomend you check it out.


#4 - The Chipmunk Adventure (1987)
In their first full-length adventure, the Chipmunks and the Chippettes race around the world, but little do they know, they're delivering diamonds for a group of smugglers. Again, the thing that makes this movie so great is the musical numbers. If you want to get an idea of what the 80's were all about, then the musical numbers in this movie will show you exactly what they were like. This movie will leave you begging for more once it's all over, and it'll make you want to be a world traveler. Also, if you're a fan of Alvin and the Chipmunks, than this movie's right up your alley.


#3 - The Care Bears Movie (1985)
The Care Bears are on an important mission to try to make sure the world doesn't stop caring. What can I say? The very first Care Bears movie is a great movie to raise your kids on. It may not be a theatrical masterpiece, but it's still a movie that teaches a lot of valuable life lessons, and it has a lot of likable characters and catchy songs. Another thing that makes this movie so great is that it was fully hand-drawn. Yeah, computer animation was around in the 80's, but it was used in only a few movies during that time, and this was not one of them. If you're a new Care Bears fan or were born in the 80's and lived on the Care Bears, than this movie is a strong reccomendation.


#2 - The Secret of NIMH (1982)
Based off of the book, "Mrs. Frisbie and the Rats of NIMH", Mrs. Brisby seeks out a colony of intellegent rats in order to save her ill son. "The Secret of NIMH" was the very first full-length animated movie by Don Bluth. This movie is considered to be Don Bluth's masterpiece, and some consider it to be the Star Wars of animated films. It has the same amount of darkness and drama of "The Black Cauldron". This movie was also fully hand-drawn. That's the nice thing about Don Bluth is that he always liked to make his movies in sort of an old-fashioned style and tried to stay as far away from the cutting edge as possible. Overall, it's a wonderful movie, I consider it a classic, and everyone should see it.


#1 - The Land Before Time (1988)
Join Littlefoot and his friends on a long, trecherous journey to the Great Valley. What other movie would make my #1 spot on this list than "The Land Before Time"? Lots of people around my age have claimed this to be a childhood movie of theirs. Although it's short, it is still, undeniably, a true classic and an animated masterpiece. If you don't like this movie, than either you have no heart, or you need to either grow up or grow down. This movie has stolen the heart of many, and I think that everyone should own this movie.

This is very important! Please read all of what's below before making your comment!
So conlcudes another Top 10 list of mine. Those, in my opinion, were the best animated movies of the 80's. Isn't it kind of ironic how this list turned out? It's kind of odd that this list had two of the Care Bears movies, only two of the Disney movies, and all four of the Don Bluth movies. Now, I am aware that I left out fan favorites like "The Fox and the Hound" and "The Brave Little Toaster", but keep in mind that this is my list of movies. If an animated movie from the 80's that you loved is not on my list, that means that either:
A) I haven't seen it,
B) I don't like it, or
C) I forgot all about it.
If it's "C", than consider it to be one of my honorable mentions. Still, I honestly believe that all these animated movies are great movies, and I often wonder why they don't make movies like them anymore. This concludes my article; thank you, and good night.