The 40 most popular 1940s animation movies, ranked. Click any film for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.













Daffydilly Daddy







The Gift


















1940s cinema is split by the war: propaganda and home-front melodrama, then the darker, more cynical film noir that followed. Italian neorealism emerged from the rubble at the decade's end.
Animation spans hand-drawn features, stop-motion, and CG spectacle — and, far from being a children's format, it holds some of cinema's most formally daring work. Studio Ghibli, Pixar, and a wave of international auteurs have made it one of the medium's most consistently inventive corners.