From 1967 until he died in 2013,Roger Ebertworked as a film critic forThe Chicago Sun-Times.He quickly found popularity thanks to his easy-to-consume writing style that balanced humor with sophisticated analysis, and in 1975, he became the first journalist to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Some of his other achievements include writing numerous books on cinema analysis, writing the scripts for several satirical films, andAt the Movies, where Ebert reviewed films on television alongside fellow criticsGene Siskelfrom 1975 to 1999 andRichard Roeperfrom 2000 to 2008. Even today, over a decade after his passing, Ebert is fondly remembered as perhaps the greatest film critic.
Ebert loved cinema in all its forms, including animation. He had great respect for the medium because of its ability to transport audiences seamlessly into fantastical worlds that captured the essence of life, sometimes in ways live-action films could not due to their limitations. Naturally, Ebert had a lot of positive things to say about classic Disney films but also highlighted many from other studios.This list will showcase those non-Disney animated movies that Ebert adored, giving them the highest ranking he could and cementing them as enduring classics of the medium.
10’Sita Sings the Blues' (2008)
Ebert’s Rating: Four stars out of four.
They say art can help one process negative emotions, and this was certainly true forNina Paley.After experiencing a devastating breakup, she found unexpected solace in the Indian epicThe Ramayana, identifying strongly with the goddess Sita (Reena Shah). This inspired her to animate a film that paralleled their mutual experiences — almost entirely by herself — and blend it with songs by 1920s jazz singerAnnette Hanshaw.
Ebert was initially dismissive ofSita Sings the Bluesbutlater wrote, “I was enchanted. I was swept away. I was smiling from one end of the film to the other.” Hepraised its satirical humor— particularly the playful narrators who bicker over the myth’s inconsistencies — itseclectic animation styles, and how well it weaved its numerous storiestogether into a cohesive narrative about love, heartbreak, and how good stories can help us through our lowest periods. Thus, his review became a reminder not to judge a book by its cover.
Sita Sings the Blues
9’Shrek' (2001)
Followinga disagreement with the then CEO of Disney,Michael Eisner,Jeffrey Katzenbergleft to found DreamWorks withSteven SpielbergandDavid Geffen. They began releasing animated films done in 2D and 3D, but it wasn’t untilShrekthat they became a cultural juggernaut. Loosely based on the book byWilliam Steig,it follows an ogre named Shrek (Mike Myers) who lives in a world dominated by fairy tale clichés and must go on a quest to rescue Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) for Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) to marry, in exchange for regaining ownership of his swamp.
Ebert wasenamored byShrek’sanimation, which made the characters move and express themselves in a way that felt “real” without losing that fantastical element only achievable through animation. Beyond the animation,Ebert found the film had the perfect blend of creative jokes— many of thempoking fun at Disney clichés— and heartfelt storytelling, especially concerning Shrek himself. He hit the nail on the head when he ended the review saying, “He’s so immensely likable that I suspect he [Shrek] may emerge as an enduring character, populating sequels and spinoffs. One movie cannot contain him.”
8’Persepolis' (2007)
From 2000 to 2003,Marjane SatrapiwrotePersepolis, a graphic novel series depicting her life growing up during the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Initially, her family protests against the Shah, but when the new government cracks down on personal freedoms and enforces strict dress codes for women, Marjane (Chiara Mastroianni) finds herself in danger due to her love of Western culture. Her parents sent her to Vienna to keep her safe, but as before, she found herself in a world that she didn’t belong in.
Ebert’smain takeaway fromPersepolis’filmadaptation was how well it told its story. He compared it to othercoming-of-age tales, saying that “While so many films about coming of age involve manufactured dilemmas, here is one about a woman who indeed does come of age, and magnificently.” He alsopraised its choice of a flat black-and-white art style, as this helps pull the audience into the upheaval and alienating nature of the cultures Marjane must now navigate.
Persepolis
7’Waking Life' (2001)
First pioneered byMax Fleitcherfor hisOut of the Inkwellanimations, rotoscoping allows animators to trace over live-action frames to produce more realistic and detailed animation. It has been used in various forms over the years, butone of the stand-out examplesof the technique isWaking LifebyRichard Linklater. It follows an unnamed young man (Wiley Wiggins) as he stumbles through a lucid dream, encountering numerous people engaged in philosophical discussions.
It was this focus on such heavy-hitting themes as existentialism, the meaning of life, and free willthat captivated Ebertso much that he saw the film three times before writing his review. He described the film as “a cold shower of bracing, clarifying ideas” and noted how the film’s timing after 9/11 makes its focus on characters trying to find answers in the unknown all the more profound. The rotoscoping ties this all together, as it gives the film the feeling of a lucid dream, thanks to its striking colors and smoothed-out details contrasting with how realistic the movements and expressions are.
Waking Life
6’Metropolis' (2001)
One of Ebert’s favourite science-fiction filmsisMetropolis,Fritz Lang’s 1927 German silent classic about class division in a towering futuristic city ruled by mad scientists and populated with robots. In 2001,AkiracreatorKatsuhiro Otomoreleased an animated film of the same name, drawing inspiration from both Lang’s original and a 1949 manga byOsamu Tezuka, the “Godfather of Manga.” Set in the titular city of Metropolis, a detective and his nephew try to track down a rogue scientist but stumble into a deeper conspiracy involving a highly advanced android indistinguishable from a human and a superweapon capable of global destruction.
Ebert called thisMetropolisa “wild elaboration” of Lang’s vision andpraised its breathtaking animation, cyberpunk aesthetic, and layered themes. He highlighted it as “a surprisingly thoughtful and challenging adventure” that explores the nature of life and love, the exploitation of workers, the moral rights of machines, and the anguish of parental rejection. He also admired how the film blended Eastern and Western influences through its expressive character designs, jazz-infused score, and philosophical undertones.
5’Princess Mononoke' (1997)
Though animation was originally produced as theater shorts primarily enjoyed by adults, a shift occurred in the West when cartoons began premiering on television, targeting children. Even today, when animated films and shows have expanded to include all age ranges and story ideas, the mediumstill has to fight to be taken seriously. Thus,Ebert began his reviewofPrincess Mononokeby asking audiences to ignore their preconceptions regarding animation because to do so is to deprive themselves of a masterpiece.
The animation inPrincess Mononokeis phenomenal, with backgrounds that at times look like still frames of a real forest to fluid, detailed animation that captures the mysticism of the world and characters. Speaking of them, Ebert was most impressed with how the film doesn’t fall into the usual trappings of making one side good or one side evil but shows that humans and forest spirits are just peoplefighting for their right to livein a chaotic, ever-changing world. He also loved that the film didn’t have Prince Ashitaka (Yōji Matsuda/Billy Crudup) and Sen (Yuriko Ishida/Claire Danes) end up together due to their different lifestyles, saying, “You won’t find many Hollywood love stories (animated or otherwise) so philosophical.”
Princess Mononoke
4’Yellow Submarine' (1968)
Ebert’s Rating: Four stars out of four and Great Film Status.
At the height of their popularity, The Beatles were contracted to feature in three films for United Artists. However, due to dissatisfaction with the experience of 1965’sHelp!,they opted for a different approach for their third outing: an animated film in which they would appear briefly as live-action cameos. The result isone of the trippiest films ever made, blending surreal, abstract imagery with limited animation and set entirely to Beatles music. This approach gave it similarities to Disney’sFantasia, where the focus was less on the story, but rather blending music and animation to create a unique viewing experience.
Ebert had plenty of praiseto give for the iconic songs and the fantastic visuals, but he especially loved howYellow Submarinedidn’t try to dumb down its experience for younger audiences. As he put it, “Instead of contrived urgency, there’s unpressured whimsy, andthe movie exists as pure charm, expressed in fantastical imagery.“Yellow Submarineis a film that only gets better with age: its animation shows what can be achieved outside of major studios like Disney, and its music, tone, and visuals serve as a time machine back to the Summer of Love.
Yellow Submarine
3’My Neighbor Totoro' (1988)
Studio Ghibli is probably the most famous animation studio in Japan, known for their incredibly detailed films with realistic characters and profound themes universal to all audiences. The film that put them on the global map wasMy Neighbor Totoro, which sees two young girls move into a house that borders a forest full of spirits. It shouldn’t be any surprise that Ebert gave this filmsuch a glowing review, but to read his words really captures how much he respected animated films and young audiences.
Most of his praise comes from how the film breaks away from traditional narrative beats, such as the parents ignoring the children when they talk about spirits or using a villain to provide conflict. Instead,Totorohighlights the beauty of childhood, where turning over a rock or walking in the woods opens the door to dozens of new possibilities, thanks to the power of imagination. As Ebert said when he began his review, “Here isa children’s film made for the world we should live in, rather than the one we occupy.”
My Neighbor Totoro
2’Grave of the Fireflies' (1988)
One of the saddest war films ever made,Grave of the Firefliesfollows siblings Seita (Tsutomu Tatsumi/J. Robert Spencer) and Setsuko (Ayano Shiraishi/Corinne Orr) during the final days of the Pacific Theater of World War II. They lose their mother during a firebombing raid and eventually leave their cruel aunt to fend for themselves. However, food is becoming harder to find by the day, yet Seita refuses to swallow his pride, instead resorting to thievery to feed himself and Setsuko.
Much likePrincess Mononoke,Ebert consideredGrave of the Firefliesa film that demanded Western audiences change their preconceptions about animationthanks to its hard but poignant story about the horrors of war, the dangers of pride, and the fragility of life. He argued that animation was the perfect way to tell the story because “animation produces emotional effects not by reproducing reality, but by heightening and simplifying it, so that many of the sequences are about ideas, not experiences.” This makes the emotions of the film so memorable and raw: one moment, you are marveling with the siblings as fireflies dance and fill the darkness with light, and the next, you are crying with them when the insects die.
Grave of the Fireflies
1’Spirited Away' (2001)
Ebert’s review ofSpirited Awayis equally a glowing praise for its director,the legendary animatorHayao Miyazaki. No other director is willing to put in the same level of detail as him, in the form of creative visuals or the fluidity of animation. The backgrounds are full of tiny movements of characters, adding to rewatchability, and many scenes have lulls where “nothing happens,” which makes the worlds feel more realistic despite all the magic on display.
As for the story,Ebert loved it just as muchas the animation, thanks to how realistic the main character felt,the diverse array of colorful characters, and its powerful message about the anxieties of growing up mixed with subtle environmentalism. He alsopraised the film for targeting children specificallyrather than trying to cater to all audiences. As he explained, “Movies about specific characters in a detailed world are spellbinding because they make no attempt to cater to us; they are defiantly, triumphantly, themselves.”
Spirited Away
NEXT:The 10 Worst Disney Movies of All Time, According to Roger Ebert
