With indie anime FLOW stealing the Oscar, and the mainstream conglomerate studios still playing catch-up, it’s never been clearer: the most exciting animated work isn’t coming from where your uncle thinks it is.

Here are 10 films and series that pushed the medium forward this year—across continents, genres, and algorithms. Some you’ve seen. Some you missed. All are future canon.

FLOW

Dir. Gints Zilbalodis

A dialogue-free odyssey about a young cat drifting through a surreal (climate change-driven) apocalypse. Wins on vibes and innovation, but steals our attention through pure, gripping heart- we are all that cat in one way or another. With the use of Blender’s open-source creative suite- this one changed how we talk about “Oscar-level animation” forever.

Chicken for Linda!

Dirs. Chiara Malta & Sébastien Laudenbach

Franco-Italian chaos with a watercolor heart. A mom tries to make up for bad parenting with one perfect meal. Unhinged, tender, and shockingly real, we enter a home that feels like our own and pray for slice of calm and a peace of mind.

Robot Dreams

Dir. Pablo Berger

A silent, heartbreaking tale of friendship between a lonely dog and a rusty robot. With a distinctly retro feel- this one is set in an 80s NYC that grips as both nostalgic and freshly weird. Minimal dialogue, maximum emotion- a triumph of friendship and cell animation alike.

The Tunnel to Summer, The Exit of Goodbyes

Dir. Tomohisa Taguchi

Time-dilating tunnel. Dead sibling. Emotional damage. Gorgeous colorwork and a sense of scale that makes your heart expand and contract like a breathing memory.

It is sci-fi love letter territory, and you’ll be locked in from the very first minute.

Mars Express

Dir. Jérémie Périn

French sci-fi noir that deserves way more attention. Think Blade Runner if the replicants were cooler and the action scenes slapped harder. You heard us- HARDER. Cyberpunk elegance with a punk rock soul.

Scavengers Reign

HBO, 2023–2024

Technically a late 2023 drop, but it took over the year’s conversations in a way only Dan-da-Dan and Solo Leveling could match. Alien flora, tension without exposition, and the best sound design since Nausicaä. This is what happens when animators are allowed to be weird and quiet and unbothered by corporate notes.

The Glassworker

Mano Animation Studios, Pakistan

Pakistan’s first fully hand-drawn feature, directed by Usman Riaz. Raw, undeniable Studio Ghibli energy drew some criticisms from haters who can’t understand what it means to have a hero, in the end this film is regional, grounded, and told with love.

Just wait until the violin scene breaks you.

Oni: Thunder God’s Tale

Tonko House Animation, Daisuke Tsutsumi

Domee Shi meets Laika meets Japanese folklore. This Tonko House production comes from the mind of the insane masters behind a studio that broke out of the Emeryville grinder: Dice and Robert made one of the most visually stunning hybrids of the year. Watching this fuzzy world unfold feels like holding a lantern in the dark and finding your younger self in the glow.

Phoenix: Eden17

Based on Osamu Tezuka

A new adaptation of Tezuka’s Phoenix series, this one’s all about humanity, memory, and loss across space colonies. It didn’t get the mainstream rollout, but if you saw it, you know—it lingers.

Final Word:

2024 belonged to weird formats, new countries, and quiet endings.

At HYPERLIFIC we are operating under a very certain code: that the next Pixar isn’t a studio. It’s a movement—and it’s already animating.