All Of Your Favorite Animated '90s Movies Not Made by Disney
Though Disney animated films dominated the '90s box office, the best non-Disney films from that era reveal a renaissance for animated content. Nearly every studio in Hollywood cashed in on the public's renewed interest in animated fare. Several invested in the Don Bluth business; the Land Before Time auteur directed four films in the decade, including Thumbelina for Warner Bros., and the well-received Anastasia for Fox. Meanwhile, An American Tail: An American Tail: Fivel Goes West, produced by Steven Spielberg, marked the first entry from Spielberg's Amblimation studio, a short-lived company responsible for We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story and Balto; it eventually folded into DreamWorks Animation by the end of the decade. DreamWorks Animation, founded in 1997, is the only non-Disney success story of the '90s, releasing hits Antz and The Prince of Egypt in 1998, and laying the foundation for their reputation as the cheekier alternative to Disney's Pixar juggernaut.
The most revered non-Disney animated feature of the '90s, Warner Bros.' exciting and heartbreaking The Iron Giant, served as a cautionary tale that explains the entire decade in non-Disney animated films. Despite unanimous critical praise, without the Disney branding The Iron Giant flopped at the box office. A massive failure that, along with the failures of Osmosis Jones and Looney Tunes: Back in Action, stopped Warner Bros. Animation from making another movie for over a decade. Though they never matching the box office success, and rarely the critical success, of their Disney counterparts, animated films from the '90s not by Disney now hold a legacy of their own, and paved the way for films like Despicable Me, Kung Fu Panda, and Happy Feet.
- Fantasy, Animation, Thriller
- Actors: Robin Williams, Tim Curry, Christian Slater, Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong
- Released: 1992
- Directed by: Bill Kroyer
FernGully: The Last Rainforest is a 1992 Australian-American animated fantasy environmental film directed by Bill Kroyer. It was produced by Peter Faiman and Wayne Young, with the screenplay written ...more - Animation, Kids, Music
- Actors: Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Christopher Lloyd, Hank Azaria
- Released: 1997
- Directed by: Don Bluth, Gary Goldman
The evil wizard Rasputin (Christopher Lloyd) puts a hex on the royal Romanovs and young Anastasia (Meg Ryan) disappears when their palace is overrun. Years later, the Grand Duchess (Angela Lansbury) ...more - Animation, Kids, Adventure
- Actors: Jennifer Aniston, Eli Marienthal, Harry Connick, Vin Diesel, Christopher McDonald
- Released: 1999
- Directed by: Brad Bird
In this animated adaptation of Ted Hughes' Cold War fable, a giant alien robot (Vin Diesel) crash-lands near the small town of Rockwell, Maine, in 1957. Exploring the area, a local 9-year-old boy, ...more - Animation, Kids, Adventure
- Actors: Phillip Glasser, James Stewart, Erica Yohn, Cathy Cavadini, John Cleese
- Released: 1991
- Directed by: Phil Nibbelink, Simon Wells
Fievel and family continue their pursuit of the American dream by heading West. Fievel wants to be a lawman and his sister wants to make it as a dance hall singer. They are trying to get away from ...more - Animation, Kids, Music
- Actors: Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Goldblum
- Released: 1998
- Directed by: Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, Simon Wells
In this animated retelling of the Book of Exodus, Egyptian Prince Moses (Val Kilmer), upon discovering his roots as a Jewish slave, embarks on a quest to free his people from bondage. When his plea ...more - Animation, Kids, Adventure
- Actors: Miriam Margolyes, Lola Bates-Campbell, Kevin Bacon, Bob Hoskins, Bridget Fonda
- Released: 1995
- Directed by: Simon Wells
In this animated feature, a deadly diphtheria epidemic strikes the remote town of Nome, Alaska. With the life-saving medicine located hundreds of miles away, the residents decide to send out a ...more