The 40 most popular 1970s animation movies, ranked. Click any film for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.


The Aristocats
1970 · 1h 18m
country: United States
When Madame Adelaide Bonfamille leaves her fortune to Duchess and her children—Bonfamille’s beloved family of cats—the butler plots to steal the money and kidnaps the legatees, leaving them out on a country road. All seems lost until the wily Thomas O’Malley Cat and his jazz-playing alley cats come to the aristocats’ rescue.


The Rescuers
1977 · 1h 18m
country: United States
Two agents of the mouse-run International Rescue Aid Society search for a little orphan girl kidnapped by sinister treasure hunters.


Robin Hood
1973 · 1h 23m
country: United States
With King Richard off to the Crusades, Prince John and his slithering minion, Sir Hiss, set about taxing Nottingham's citizens with support from the corrupt sheriff - and staunch opposition by the wily Robin Hood and his band of merry men.


The Castle of Cagliostro
1979 · 1h 42m
country: Japan
After a successful robbery leaves famed thief Lupin the Third and his partner Jigen with nothing but a large amount of expertly crafted counterfeit bills, he decides to track down the forgers responsible—and steal any other treasures he may find in the Castle of Cagliostro, including the 'damsel in distress' he finds imprisoned there.


The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
1977 · 1h 14m
country: United States
Whether we’re young or forever young at heart, the Hundred Acre Wood calls to that place in each of us that still believes in magic. Join pals Pooh, Piglet, Kanga, Roo, Owl, Rabbit, Tigger and Christopher Robin as they enjoy their days together and sing their way through adventures.


The Lord of the Rings
1978 · 2h 12m
country: United Kingdom
Young Hobbit Frodo Baggins is thrown into an amazing adventure when he's tasked with destroying the One Ring, created by the dark lord Sauron. Frodo must travel in a small fellowship of nine warriors and accomplices. But it won't be an easy journey for the Fellowship of the Ring, on the ultimate quest to rid Middle-earth of evil.


The Twelve Tasks of Asterix
1976 · 1h 22m
country: France
Asterix and Obelix depart on an adventure to complete twelve impossible tasks to prove to Caesar that they are as strong as the Gods. You'll roar with laughter as they outwit, outrun, and generally outrage the very people who are trying to prove them "only human".


Pete's Dragon
1977 · 2h 8m
country: United States
Pete, a young orphan, runs away to a Maine fishing town with his best friend a lovable, sometimes invisible dragon named Elliott! When they are taken in by a kind lighthouse keeper, Nora, and her father, Elliott's prank playing lands them in big trouble. Then, when crooked salesmen try to capture Elliott for their own gain, Pete must attempt a daring rescue.


Watership Down
1978 · 1h 32m
country: United Kingdom
When the warren belonging to a community of rabbits is threatened, a brave group led by Fiver, Bigwig, Blackberry and Hazel leave their homeland in a search of a safe new haven.


Bedknobs and Broomsticks
1971 · 1h 57m
country: United States
Three children evacuated from London during World War II are forced to stay with an eccentric spinster. The children's initial fears disappear when they find out she is in fact a trainee witch.


One Million-Year Trip: Bander Book
1978 · 1h 32m
country: Japan
Bander is a 17-year-old boy from Earth who lives on a distant planet, which is populated by human shape-shifters who feed off of vegetables and animal tails. Violence soon breaks out, as invaders launch an attack on Bander's new planet. This was Japan's first 2-hour animated film for television. The program received high ratings when broadcast as part of a set of 24-hour TV programs called "Ai wa Chikyu wo Sukuu" on Nippon Television. After a long gap since his last animated film for television, this work fully reflects Osamu Tezuka's desire to achieve theatrical quality with this production.


Fritz the Cat
1972 · 1h 18m
country: United States
In late 1960s New York City, fed up with monotonous college life and police repression, free-spirited Fritz, an impenitent seducer and unrestrained party-animal, decides to explore the world. And just like that, as he flees NYC, heading to San Francisco, Fritz embarks on an endless adventure of illumination. Immersed in a world surrounded by drugs and sex, Fritz participates in mad orgies, brings about a revolution, incites mass urban riots, and crosses paths with drug-addled Nazi bikers.


The Hobbit
1977 · 1h 17m
country: Japan
The story follows the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, a diminutive creative who resides in a place called Middle-Earth before he is compelled to go on a quest to find a treasure buried deep in the heart of the Lonely Mountain.


A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
1973 · 25m
country: United States
Turkey, cranberries, pumpkin pie... and the Peanuts gang to share them with. This is going to be the greatest Thanksgiving ever! The fun begins when Peppermint Patty invites herself and her pals to Charlie Brown's house for a REALLY big turkey party. Good grief! All our hero can cook is cold cereal and maybe toast. Is Charlie Brown doomed? Not when Linus, Snoopy and Woodstock chip in to save the (Thanksgiving) Day. With such good friends, Charlie Brown - and all of us - have so many reasons to be thankful.


Lupin the Third: The Mystery of Mamo
1978 · 1h 42m
country: Japan
While attempting to win the affections of a beautiful rival, a master thief risks death to learn the secret intentions of a wealthy and seemingly immortal, but certainly ruthless, recluse.


Fantastic Planet
1973 · 1h 12m
country: Czechoslovakia
On the planet Ygam, the Draags, extremely technologically and spiritually advanced blue humanoids, consider the tiny Oms, human beings descendants of Terra's inhabitants, as ignorant animals. Those who live in slavery are treated as simple pets and used to entertain Draag children; those who live hidden in the hostile wilderness of the planet are periodically hunted and ruthlessly slaughtered as if they were vermin.


The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie
1979 · 1h 38m
country: United States
A collection of Warner Brothers short cartoon features, "starring" the likes of Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and Wile E. Coyote. These animations are interspersed by Bugs Bunny reminiscing on past events and providing links between the individual animations which are otherwise unconnected. This 1979 feature-length compilation includes several of his best cartoons. Among the 11 shorts shown in their entirety are the classics "Robin Hood Daffy," "What's Opera, Doc?," "Bully for Bugs," and "Duck Amuck". The Bugs Bunny Road Runner Movie provides a showcase not only for Jones's razor-sharp timing, but for the work of his exceptional crew, which included designer Maurice Noble, writer Mike Maltese, composers Carl Stalling and Milt Franklyn, and voice actor Mel Blanc.


Space Battleship Yamato
1977 · 2h 15m
country: Japan
When vile aliens known as the Gamilons wreak nuclear havoc on Earth, a group of survivors refit the Japanese battleship Yamato for intergalactic travel and set off on a mission to retrieve a neutralizer that will eradicate the radiation from Earth's atmosphere.


Cleopatra: Queen of Sex
1970 · 1h 53m
country: Japan
Three people from the future, who travel spiritually to the era of the Egyptian queen Cleopatra VII Philopator and her Roman lovers Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, become their closest friends as they try to unravel the nature of the plan developed in their own time by a sinister enemy.


Daisy Town
1971 · 1h 11m
country: Belgium
When the members of a caravan of pioneers find a daisy growing in the middle of the desert they decide to stop there and to build their town on this very spot. Houses soon spring up like mushrooms, immediately followed by a bank, a saloon, a prison, etc. Daisy Town is born. Unfortunately a city does not go without its bad boys and the peaceful place is soon turned into a lawless place. To restore law and order, a lawman is needed. Lucky Luke, the cowboy who shoots faster than his shadow, will be this man: all the villains had better watch out!


Nights in the Boulevard
1972 · 9m
country: Hungary
A passionate poet feels abandoned at the places of amusement in the Boulevard.


Bermuda Triangle
1979 · 7m
country: Poland
The box from the film strip becomes an arbitrary plot of action relating to the mysterious phenomena taking place in the Bermuda Triangle. Experimental short by Jerzy Kalina.


The Humpbacked Horse
1975 · 1h 7m
country: Soviet Union
Remake of the 1947 Soviet film directed by Ivan Ivanov-Vano and produced by the Soyuzmultfilm studio in Moscow.


The Revolt of the Thralls
1979 · 1h 19m
country: Denmark
A three part story about the plague, religion and revolt in Northern Europe in the period 1349 to 1542.


The Smurfs and the Magic Flute
1975 · 1h 30m
country: France
The evil knight Torchesac, who is at the service of the sinister lord of La Mortaille, gets a very powerful magic flute and uses it for evil purposes. Johan and Pirlouit, assisted by the magician Homnibus, travel to the land of the Smurfs, the only manufacturers of this sort of instrument, to get a new one and battle the usurpers.


Charlotte's Web
1973 · 1h 34m
country: United States
Wilbur the pig is scared of the end of the season, because he knows that come that time, he will end up on the dinner table. He hatches a plan with Charlotte, a spider that lives in his pen, to ensure that this will never happen.


Galaxy Express 999: The Movie
1979 · 2h 8m
country: Japan
In the future, one can achieve immortality by obtaining a mechanized body. Orphaned, young Tetsuro hitches a ride on the space train Galaxy Express 999 in the hope of obtaining a cyborg body to avenge his mother's death. Along the way, he meets Maetel, who is the spitting image of his dead mother.


Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown
1977 · 1h 16m
country: United States
The Peanuts gang, including Snoopy and Woodstock, have gone off to summer camp. After a few days of the usual activities, they all participate in a river-rafting race. Battling treacherous rapids, wild animals and cheating bullies from a rival tent, the teams make their way downriver to the finish line.


Belladonna of Sadness
1973 · 1h 27m
country: Japan
An evil feudal lord rapes a village girl on her wedding night and proceeds to ruin her and her husband's lives. After she's eventually banished from her village, the girl makes a pact with the devil to gain magical ability and take revenge.


Wizards
1977 · 1h 21m
country: United States
After the death of his mother, evil mutant wizard Blackwolf discovers long-lost military technologies. Full of ego and ambition, Blackwolf claims his mother's throne, assembles an army, and sets out to brainwash and conquer Earth. Meanwhile, Blackwolf's gentle twin brother, the bearded sage Avatar, calls upon his own magical abilities to foil Blackwolf's plans for world domination — even if it means eliminating his own flesh and blood.


Selfportrait
1971 · 5m
country: Austria
A conciliatory review of the life of the author using the techniques of animated film. In 1972, Selfportrait received the award of the New York State Council.


The Small One
1978 · 26m
country: United States
Ordered by his father to sell an old mule called Small One, a Hebrew boy in the ancient Holy Land takes the donkey to the Jerusalem market. Finding no buyers there, the boy is about to give up when he meets a kind man named Joseph, who buys Small One and uses the steed to take his pregnant wife Mary to Bethlehem.


Tintin and the Lake of Sharks
1972 · 1h 21m
country: France
Tintin and Captain Haddock are sent to guard Professor Calculus, who has invented a machine that can duplicate anything, and is staying in a village near the border of Syldavia and Borduria. However, an infamous and ruthless international criminal tries to lure Calculus and Tintin away by kidnapping two children, who live nearby, in order to get his clutches on the machine.


Wavelengths
1971 · 9m
country: Hungary
Painted and drawn figures and shapes move to a soundtrack of rapidly changing radio broadcasts.


Scooby Goes Hollywood
1979 · 49m
country: United States
Shaggy and Scooby-Doo quit their Saturday morning TV series in pursuit of Hollywood stardom.


Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town
1970 · 51m
country: United States
A postman, S.D. Kluger, decides to answer some of the most common questions about Santa Claus, and tells us about a baby named Kris who is raised by a family of elf toymakers named Kringle. When Kris grows up, he wants to deliver toys to the children of Sombertown. But its Mayor is too mean to let that happen. And to make things worse, the Winter Warlock lives between the Kringles and Sombertown.


The Cat
1971 · 10m
country: Italy
Short animated inspired by the Aesop's fable.


Snoopy, Come Home
1972 · 1h 20m
country: United States
When Snoopy receives a letter from his original owner Lila, he goes to visit her in the hospital while Charlie Brown and the gang are on the lookout for him. Suddenly, Snoopy feels that he must go live with Lila, but must say goodbye to all his friends. In his adventure to the hospital, he encounters numerous "No Dogs Allowed" signs, an annoying little girl who desires to keep him, and more!


Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure
1977 · 1h 26m
country: United Kingdom
Raggedy Ann and Andy, along with other toys, reside in the nursery of a little girl named Marcella. During Marcella's seventh birthday, Babette, from France, is introduced as the new doll from a large package. When the lecherous Captain Contagious kidnaps Babette and escapes from the nursery, Ann and Andy must navigate the Deep Deep Woods to save her.


The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat
1974 · 1h 16m
country: United States
Fritz, now married and a father, is desperate to escape the domestic hell he now finds himself in. Lighting up a joint, he begins to dream about his eight other lives, hoping to find one to provide a pleasant distraction. The drug-induced journeys he takes include spells as an astronaut, Hitler's psychiatrist, a courier travelling in hostile territory during a race war, and as a pupil of an Indian guru in the sewers of New York.
The 1970s are widely considered American cinema's strongest decade, when the studio system's collapse handed a generation of young directors unusual freedom. It ended with Jaws and Star Wars inventing the modern blockbuster.
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.