11 Best Netflix Animated Movies to Watch Right Now (July 2026): ‘Scarlet’ and More

Princess Scarlet (Mana Ashida) doesn’t like her uncle, Claudius (Koji Yakusho), at all. She has a very good reason for her hatred – Claudius killed her father, King  Amleth (Masachika Ichimura), to take the throne and rule Denmark. After consuming a poisoned cup of wine intended for Claudius, Scarlet finds herself in an underworld, a dimension between the living and the dead. Scarlet has to find her way out, or else she’ll be stuck there forever.

Claudius? Amleth? Denmark? If you’re thinking Scarlet’s plot sounds a lot like William Shakespeare‘s Hamlet, you’re right – the film very loosely adapts that famous tragedy but puts its own crazy spin on it. The result is one of the most visually innovative and gorgeous anime movies made in the 21st century. A notable highlight is Scarlet’s depiction of an afterlife filled with Japanese paramedics from the future and dragons. Moody and ambitious, Scarlet is an unforgettable experience and one of the best animated films on Netflix right now.

Tim Templeton (Miles Bakshi) is a 7-year-old boy who isn’t too enthused about having a new baby brother, Ted (Alec Baldwin). It’s not that he doesn’t like sharing the spotlight – he thinks his baby brother is up to no good. It turns out he’s right – Ted is really a Boss Baby, a super-intelligent toddler who is on a secret mission to investigate how puppies are draining love from babies around the world. Tim wants Ted out of the family, and the only way to do that is to help Ted on his mission and satisfy the Big Boss Baby (Edie Mirman).

A surprise blockbuster in 2017, The Boss Baby spawned an all-ages franchise that includes several sequels and spinoff shows. The original remains the best, as it combines a deliberately silly premise with some pretty sharp jokes. As the titular bossy toddler, Baldwin is hilarious – he channels his 30 Rock character, Jack Donaghy, into a role that requires him to be as insufferable as possible. It’s a part Hilaria’s husband was born to play, which is both a compliment and an insult.

The paintings of renowned artist Vincent Van Gogh are the primary source material for one of the oddest and most gorgeous nominated films of the last decade, Loving Vincent. Young Armand Roulin (Douglas Booth) is tasked with delivering the last letter from a painter, Vincent (Robert Gulaczyk), who committed suicide a year earlier, to his beloved brother, Theo (Cezary Łukaszewicz). It seems like a simple task, but Armand soon finds out that Vincent was far more complicated and interesting than he thought. As he interviews the people who knew the starving artist, Armand begins to suspect his suicide might have been a murder committed by someone close to him.

You have to admire the chutzpah of the film’s directors, Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman, to make an animated film using van Gogh’s Impressionistic style. You wouldn’t think it would work, but it does, and it’s all in service to a moving story about the painter himself. Loving Vincent uses rotoscope animation to replicate many of van Gogh’s famous works, like “Starry Night Over the Rhône” and “Wheatfield with Crows,” which creates an unforgettable, dreamlike atmosphere. The talented voice cast includes Little Women’s Saoirse Ronan and Rivals star Aidan Turner.

Ordinary Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is bitten by a radioactive spider while riding the subway, and he finds himself developing strange powers that mirror those of the famous Spider-Man. But when Spider-Man is murdered at the hands of the nefarious Wilson Fisk, AKA Kingpin (Liev Schreiber), a void is left that Miles tries to fill himself. But when he meets a Peter Parker (Jake Johnson) from another dimension, he discovers many other Spider-Men exist across the multiverse. With his new powers and new friends, Miles must fight to stop Kingin from destroying his universe.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is already a modern classic, and it’s always worth giving it a shout-out if you haven’t yet given in to its bounty of pleasures. The gorgeous animation and aesthetic style, paired with exciting action, terrific voice performances, a great sense of humor and a genuinely textured emotional core, help to make this Spider-Man movie one of the very best across animation and live-action genres.

KPop Demon Hunters has become a global phenomenon, with sing-along movie screenings and chart-topping hits. We’re not surprised it’s become so huge — the story of Rumi (Arden Cho), Mira (May Hong) and Zoey (Ji-young Yoo), KPop singing stars by day who protect the world from demons by night, is wonderfully original. It’s also funny and moving, with beautiful animation that pays homage to Korean culture and universal themes of identity, morality and family.

If you can’t get enough KPop Demon Hunters, you can now watch the Sing-Along version on Netflix as well.

Beloved cop Officer Knight (Peter Hastings) and his faithful sidekick dog Greg chase down a notoriously villainous cat, but both Knight and Greg are gravely injured in the line of duty. To save both their lives, Knight’s head is transplanted onto Greg’s body, and together they become the crime-fighting Dog Man (also Hastings). While adjusting to his new identity and missing his former life, Dog Man must contend with nemesis Petey the Cat (Pete Davidson) and his plot to clone himself.

Dog Man is an easy delight for kids from start to finish, but it doesn’t leave parents in the lurch — there’s plenty of gags and humor that will tickle a more mature funnybone, too. The relentless, frenzied pacing keeps you entertained at all times, and the lighthearted, silly tone is deliriously infectious. Overall, Dog Man is the pick of the litter.

In 1993’s short film The Wrong Trousers, Wallace (Peter Sallis) and his trusty dog Gromit were plagued by a homicidal penguin named Feathers McGraw. More than two decades later, Feathers has escaped from prison and bears a deadly grudge against his captors. When Wallace (now voiced by Ben Whitehead) invents a helpful robot Gnome, Feathers finds a way to get inside its head to devious ends.

The classic stop-motion animated duo return to the big screen in Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, which is helmed by their creator and long-time director Nick Park. The delightful movie bears much of the same humor and inventiveness as previous Wallace and Gromit films, and is a warm, charming visual feast for viewers of all ages.

Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz) looks like an ordinary girl, but she has an incredible power — she’s a shapeshifter who can turn into any animal. Rebellious and energetic, Nimona uses her power to cause chaos throughout the medieval-futuristic world in which she lives. When Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed) is framed for killing the Queen, Nimona decides he’s an evil genius and demands to become his villainous sidekick. (Ballister, for his part, has no interest in villainy and just wants to prove his innocence.)

As Ballister and Nimona grow closer, more of her dark past is revealed, and with them are secrets about the kingdom and the very nature of their society. You’ll love the character Nimona for her humor, her bravery and her steadfast commitment to being herself. You’ll love the movie Nimona for its unique art style, its fun soundtrack and its profound message about prejudice and acceptance.

When PAL, a Siri-esque operating system voiced by Olivia Colman, rebels against her creators and turns every machine on earth into an evil robot, the world’s only hope is the Mitchell family. That’s unfortunate, because the Mitchells are weird, chaotic, and currently not getting along very well. Aspiring filmmaker Katie (Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson) is asserting her independence from her dad Rick (Danny McBride), while Rick’s eagerness to hold on tighter to his little girl is keeping him from understanding the woman she’s becoming. 

But due to a tech-free enforced family road trip, the Mitchells end up being the only humans who aren’t captured, and it’s up to them to stop PAL before every human is launched into space. This hilarious, heartwarming family film has profound themes of communication and understanding, as well as visual gags that will make you do a spit-take. 

The Sea Beast takes an intriguing concept — the sea monsters that were once depicted on maps in the unknown reaches of the ocean — and builds a whole world out of it, full of swashbuckling fun and poignant relationships. The story follows a young girl named Maisie Brumble (Zaris-Angel Hator), who stows away on the ship of the legendary monster hunter Jacob Holland (Karl Urban). Together, they embark on a thrilling adventure that makes them look at the sea “monsters” in a whole new way. The breathtaking animation and the inspirational narrative invite the audience to take a look at their own biases and examine what they think they know about “heroes” and “villains.” 

Maisie is a lovable protagonist and a great role model for kids. She’s smart, brave and thoughtful, and her determination and commitment to doing what’s right make her a heroine worth imitating. The Sea Beast is an entertaining and heartwarming story that captures the grandeur and excitement of pirate stories and blends that with thoughtful allegories for a modern audience. 

This stop-motion epic is a retelling of the story of the puppet who can’t lie as you’ve never heard it before. It’s de-sanitized, darker and more dramatic than the Disney version (although that version was pretty scary too!), set in fascist Italy during World War II. But the magnetically charming performance of Gregory Mann as the titular puppet gives it a sense of whimsy and fun, and the animation is a stunning sight to behold. The rest of the voice cast is full of well-known actors, including Ewan McGregor as Sebastian J. Cricket, Pinocchio’s conscience.

This version of Pinocchio has more in common with Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth than with any Disney film, but kids will still enjoy its clever storytelling. In the end, it’s probably the adults who will get the most out of the film. (There’s also a 20-minute documentary film about the making of Pinocchio, and if you’re interested in the animation process, it’s a fascinating watch.)