If you love animated movies, but get sick of watching the same family-friendly ones with your kids all the time, then look no further. We have gathered the best animated movies for adults that you can easily stream today. As a fun twist on animation, we found 15 movies that are for adults only because they show graphic violence, nudity, and profound language. It will give you a nice break from the animated content you watch with the young people in your life. Keep reading to check out what made our list and which streaming platform you can use.
Also Read: 10 Best Disney Plus Movies for Adults
Why is animation good for adults?
Animation is good for adults because it gives us a nostalgic view of the old shows we used to watch. Something about animation can be comforting because it’s not at all real. Plus, there is the added benefit of it being for adults only. Animation films have a wicked sense of humor in these adults-only versions and we love that. There’s a little bit more room to step over the line.
Without further ado, here are our 15 picks for the best animated movies for adults.
15. The Nine Lives Of Fritz The Cat (Apple TV)
The Nine Lives Of Fritz The Cat is about a cat getting high and reminiscing on what his life could have been. While his wife yells at him, he thinks his life could have been entirely different. Don’t we all wonder that at some point in time? His dreams take him to be an astronaut, Hitler’s psychiatrist, a courier traveling in hostile territory when there is a race war, and many more unique and disturbing places. It’s a trippy film that definitely captures some mature and dark themes of adulthood.
14. Sausage Party (Vudu)
Sausage Party is about food items that don’t know the truth about what happens when they get picked to go home with humans who are grocery shopping. They soon learn the truth when they return to the person’s house. Their world comes crashing down when they learn that they will become a meal and be eaten. He warns his pals of their fate, and they plan to escape from their enemies before the humans get to them. Be warned, it’s super vulgar and off-color, so you should only watch with your adult friends.
13. Heavy Metal (Prime Video)
Heavy Metal is about a bright green orb that symbolizes ultimate evil. It frightens a young girl with bizarre stories of dark fantasies, eroticism, and horror. The orb sphere can taint power at all times from all galaxies and dimensions. To some, it is a treasure, others; see it as a God. Very few can escape it and its powers till they work beyond death. The young girl has no idea what this orb wants from her or what to do to stop it.
12. The Animatrix (Prime Video)
The Animatrix consists of nine short films. It is about human rebels that lure hostile machines to their lab and insert them into a matrix that they designed. They attempt to teach the machines positive traits that humanity consists of. The goal is for the machines to learn compassion and empathy, which are two complex emotions even for humans to master.
11. Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (Manga TV Roku)
The Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust is about a legendary Dhampir who half-human and half vampire. She competes with an assorted family of bounty hunters in order to help young women. She was kidnapped by a vampire and was taken away from her family. There will be many fights along the way in order to do the right thing. This vampire-inspired animation will make you remember vampire stories from childhood, although this one is definitely dark and more intense for adults.
10. Batman: The Killing Joke (Max)
The Batman: The Killing Joke is about Batman trying to hunt down the Joker, who escaped. Joker takes things far by attacking the Gordon family. He wants to prove a diabolical point that only lets him go even madder than he already is. This is great to watch because it will seem nostalgic for the Batman franchise, but it cannot be watched with kids because of the profanity, violence, and gore.
9. A Scanner Darkly, (Prime Video)
A Scanner Darkly is about an undercover cop who loses his identity after taking a dangerous new drug. It brings him into this future dystopia, which is constantly under invasive high-tech police surveillance. They become aggressive in order to find out who is selling the drug and infiltrate the main leader. With drugs and violence, this animated movie definitely invites an adults-only audience.
8. Anomalisa (Paramount+)
Anomalisa is about an inspirational speaker that becomes crippled by the mundanity of his life. He comes to terms with himself after he meets a lively woman that is out of the ordinary. This movie explores how human fulfillment falls within a tension of desire and honesty. It’s very mature in terms of its subject matter, diving deep into the purpose of life and human emotion.
7. Ghost in the Shell (Tubi)
The Ghost in the Shell is about Maj Kusanagi who is trying to track down “The Puppet Master.” This mystery character illegally hacks into human hybrids with computerized minds, sending us into a futuristic and scary world. She wants to find the person controlling her brain and wonders what her life would have been like if she had more human traits. With her partner, she gets to the hacker, but the case takes a turn. Check it out on Tubi to find out what happens next.
6. Team America: World Police (Max)
Team America: World Police is about Gary Johnston, a famous Broadway actor. He gets recruited by elite counter-terrorism. They call themselves Team America: World Peace. The world starts to crumble around him. He battles with celebrities, terrorists, and falls in love. Will he be able to handle it, or will he crumble like the rest of the world?
5. Akira (Hulu)
Akira places us in Tokyo where a secret military project begins to endanger everyone. A biker gang member loses his mind when he gets into an accident and is taken by the government to a secret location. The only ones that can save him are teenagers, his biker gang, and a group of psychics. Will they rescue him? Will Tokyo survive as a city?
4. Perfect Blue (Roku)
Perfect Blue is about a pop singer who gives up her career to be an actress. An obsessed fan is stalking her and starts to go insane. It seems like the obsessed fan is a ghost from her past that she cannot run away from. Her sense of reality starts to shake her world up, and she can’t tell what’s real or not. This animated film will show you the nightmare of being famous even though it feels like a distant reality.
3. Waltz With Bashir (Mubi)
In Waltz With Bashir, an Israeli film director does interviews with veterans that were at the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. He reconstructs what he can remember from when he served during that conflict. He and other soldiers reveal their memories in the hopes it will piece the puzzle together. It is a super interesting take on animated films given that the topic is historically significant and dealing with real life memories.
2. Loving Vincent (Prime Video)
Loving Vincent is about a young man that goes to the last hometown of Vincent van Gogh, the famous painter. He needs to deliver a final letter to the troubled artist. He stays to investigate his final days before he passes. This film is the first fully painted animated movie that came out in 2017 and is heavily inspired by van Gogh. As a result, this film’s animation is unique as it uses painting to tell a story over film.
1. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Paramount+)
South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut is South Park come to life in a movie. Stan Marsh and his friends want to see an R-rated movie based on Canadian television. They learn new words from the film and start cursing, so their parents believe that Canada is to blame for how their kids talk. Americans are outraged by the film and censor it, but it becomes a war with Canada. It wouldn’t be South Park without some absurd plots, crude jokes, and foul language. This makes it to the top of our list for the best animated movies for adults for exactly that reason.
What was the first R-rated animated movie?
The first R-rated animated movie was The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat, which came out in 1974. It was about a cat who does con jobs, drug trips, and sexual encounters. It was R-rated because of drug use, criminal behavior, and advanced themes. It is not a movie that any child should watch. Whether or not you will enjoy it depends on your sense of humor because reviewers have stated that it is a slightly disturbing movie with a twisted sense of humor. This category of film often falls into a certain bucket of humor, so you’ll be able to tell if these are for you soon enough.
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Why should adults watch animated movies?
If you used to like animated movies from childhood, you should try giving adult animated films a shot. Many animated films are older because they produced many adult animation films between the 1970s and 2000s. They bring joy related to reliving and watching animated movies. Still, for adults, these movies have all the violence, drama, and crude humor that live action movies do nowadays. You might forget that these are animated while watching. It’s always good to branch out of a particular genre or streaming service, so this list provides tons of options to take a look at.