The world of animated Christmas movies is a strange one. This specific genre is the most bludgeoned victim of the archaic idea that animation is only for children, the area where the flaws in that almost industry-wide ideology are most apparent. Alongside the odd masterpiece like The Nightmare Before Christmas and Klaus, there’s a slew of yearly low-effort drek that’s cheaply thrown out to appeal to the lowest common denominator. However, throughout animation history there have been films that carry the themes and ideas that are perfect for end-of-year watching, but aren’t explicitly festive. 

There are a lot of factors in what makes a movie a great reprieve from the winter cold. Some films excel in their cosiness, weaving animation cels into a warm blanket that engulfs their viewer, or a hot tub that evaporates the stresses of the year from their bodies. Other films are more focused on catharsis, leaning into our tendencies to reflect on the year that’s been and who we aspire to be as the earth starts a new lap. The movies on the list drift between both of these ideas and occupy their extremes, a comprehensive document of every feeling on the festive spectrum.

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Wes Anderson’s first animated feature remains a standout in his filmography, and a perfect companion to the winter months. Fantastic Mr. Fox is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to browns and oranges, each frame packed with the warmest hues and the symmetrical detail that’s inherent to any of Wes’ films and scratches the brain just right. Mr. Fox is also masterful in its ability to balance its inherent conceptual silliness, a sense of humour that’s sometimes sharp and at others gleefully dumb, and the emotional depths the film shoots for. A perfect Christmas movie has all of these in perfect harmony, all that Fantastic Mr. Fox lacks is snow. 

Millennium Actress (2001)

All four films in Satoshi Kon’s tragically short career are some of the most significant works of animation ever produced. Perfect Blue is revered as one of the best debuts ever, Paprika’s imagery and commentary on the internet is renowned for being way ahead of its time, and Tokyo Godfathers has become a cult Christmas classic that plays at rep theatres every December. Millennium Actress is sometimes lost amongst the shadows of those films, but is a strong contender for his best work. This is a film about looking back at the history of Japan and at the history of film through the eyes of a fictional actress, Chiyoko Fujiwara. As form-breaking, bewildering and experimental as Millennium Actress can be, the themes remain tangible. Kon explores the idea of art and love guiding one’s life, the hazy nature of memory and the power of the movie star with expertise, culminating in one of the greatest final scenes in cinema history. 

Blue Giant (2023)

Cosy, aspirational and frequently depicting a snowy Tokyo, Blue Giant is a perfect non-Christmas Christmas movie. Dai Miyamoto is a protagonist with a one track mind, all he wants is to become the greatest jazz musician in the world. Watching Dai commit his life so fully to jazz fills you with the right mixture of envy and energy. As you decide your new years resolutions, Blue Giant should be bouncing around in your brain, acting as the benchmark for how you go and achieve them. Even with that intensity at its core, Blue Giant works as an excellent hangout film amongst three increasingly close friends. Its climax will have you punching the air. 

It’s Such A Beautiful Day (2012)

It’s Such A Beautiful Day is not wholesome, cosy or warm, but it is one of the best films ever made about the fear of letting life slip through your fingers. As much as Christmas movies look to be jolly, there should be space at this time of year for reflection and realignment. Watching Bill be told he has weeks to live and reflect on the life he has half-lived is excruciating and disturbing. It’s Such A Beautiful Day is the kind of movie you can’t wait to get out of, luring you in with its off-beat comedy before sinking its teeth into your flesh, but a completely necessary experience for those who need a reminder that life should be lived fully. 

Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)

If burnout is a disease, then Kiki’s Delivery Service is the cure. The holiday period is one of the few breaks we get from the seemingly unstoppable grind of work that siphons away our time and energy, even if what we do is based on passion and love. Kiki’s is a classic Miyazaki moral lesson, a film about how easily a passion becomes a burden when it’s something you make a living off as we watch Kiki, a young witch, lose her ability to fly after monetising it for a delivery business. Miyazaki reminds us that, even though it seems like we’re trapped by our jobs with no room to recover, we all have the free will to stop and find our direction again. That is the perfect use of your time at the end of the year.

My Life As A Courgette (2016)

Claude Barras’ stop motion masterpiece is a simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming film. Following the lives of children in an orphanage, we see the harsh reality of life clash with their innocence, found families formed as they cope with the loss of their biological families being split. My Life As a Courgette is a celebration of the myriad ways that family can manifest and how human connection carries us through adversity. Not everyone has a typical nuclear family to come home to this time of year, My Life As a Courgette tells us that home and manifest anywhere. 

Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers (1993)

Wallace & Gromit are associated with Christmas just as much as mince pies and awkward family dinners, despite none of their films taking place in the holiday period. Watching a Wallce & Gromit every year just feels like the right thing to do – they never get old and they’re universally funny, providing a common ground for whoever floats in and out of your home throughout December. The Wrong Trousers will forever be the best of the lot, a Hitchcockian thriller worthy of the man himself and home to the single greatest piece of animation ever put to screen. Gromit laying the model train tracks as he speeds along is the dictionary definition of movie magic, an ode to the beauty of animation, an endlessly rewatchable opus. 

Only Yesterday (1991)

Studio Ghibli easily could be responsible for this entire list and only picking two films from their extraordinary catalogue is a great show of restraint. Only Yesterday is such a unique and special film, a grounded adult drama that so many think has no place in animation, yet would never be the masterpiece it is in any other medium. Following 27-year old Taeko as she begins to search for a new direction on life and reflects on a similar metamorphosis she underwent in her teenage years, Only Yesterday is a classic of the ‘reflect on what has been and who you want to be’ genre, a perfect pairing with the precipice of a new year. The way that Isao Takahata parallels Taeko’s present and past, along with the ingenious visual representation of memories, makes for one of Ghibli’s most mature and fulfilling movies. 

The Iron Giant (1999)

While a lot of the films on this list have been slow and sleepy, The Iron Giant is the rare occasion where a big adventure can feel cosy. There are little pockets of this movie you can live in, sections of the story you can loop, beautiful backgrounds you can sink into as the story takes a back seat. The Hughes home feels as comfortable as the woods that surround it, the childhood feeling of hoping to discover something special and magical is palpable – it's the innocence of Hogarth that carries The Iron Giant beyond being a fun odyssey and into its status as an endless rewatchable classic. Brad Bird went on to make many masterpieces that defined genres and became cultural staples, but what he did with The Iron Giant remains unique. 

Wolfwalkers (2020)

Cartoon Saloon’s catalogue is a treasure trove of 2D animation that feels like being sitting by a fire, and Wolfwalkers is a gem among them, an autumnal arcadia that often frames its characters wrapped in a womb crafted by leaves and trees. Wolfwalkers works great as both something to lock into and a film to sit back with your eyes glazed over, just appreciating the beauty of every single image. Yet another found family story on this list, it adds a dash of mysticism and wonder that gives you the undefinable feeling that there’s something overworldly around every corner, if you could just tap into the right frequency. If you consider yourself an animation fan and you’re not familiar with Cartoon Saloon, fix that immediately.