The '90s were truly a golden age for animated films. Disney ruled the box office with an iron fist, leading to a veritable avalanche of 90s animated movies created in hopes of usurping the throne. The rise of VHS allowed '90s kids everywhere to enjoy their favorite animated films over and over again, sometimes much to the displeasure of their parents.

Still, as fans grew older, they held onto most of our memories of these films, but there were a few that they managed to forget along the way. However, despite relative obscurity, there is nothing to say that these films aren't of the same caliber as the more famous fare they share VHS stacks with.

Updated on July 27th, 2023 by Fawzia Khan: 90s cartoon movies remain some of the most comforting and nostalgic movie night picks. They were funny, evocative, and full of heart, but some underrated gems have been forgotten on the way. This list has been updated with even more old animated movies from the 90s for viewers who want to relive their childhoods again.

Updated on December 17th, 2023 by Jordan Iacobucci: This list has been updated to conform with CBR's formatting standards.

25 Anastasia

Directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, Anastasia breathed life into the classic Russian legend about the titular princess, who got lost when evil Rasputin cursed the Romanovs. This old cartoon movie holds a special place in the hearts of 90s kids but has been forgotten in the onslaught of animated movies since then. It emphasized that love (of all kinds) was the most important in one's life, and the emotional storytelling and worldbuilding by Bluth was second to none. It had all the quintessential animated movie tropes, but tastefully done.

24 Whisper Of The Heart

One of the most romantic Studio Ghibli movies, Whisper of The Heart remains an underrated gem from Hayao Miyazaki's oeuvre of cartoon movies from the 90s and beyond. It revolved around Shizuku Tsukishima, a young teen who was interested in writing for a living. One day, she noticed that all her library books had been checked out by the same person: Seiji Amasawa. Serendipity and her love for writing unite the two teens, who embark on a journey of ambition and young love together. Full of heart and adolescent emotion, it is a movie that can be rewatched countless times.

23 The Swan Princess

Based on the ballet Swan Lake, The Swan Princess was the first of a series of eleven movies. With vibrant animation and a lush feel, this forgotten animated movie suffered from stiff competition from The Lion King at the time of release. The quintessential fairytale still holds up today.

It featured Princess Odette, a young girl who gets transformed into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. While her enchanted pond was full of adorable critters and friends like Jean-Bob the frog, Speed the turtle, and Puffin the bird, she longed to be human again. This could only be achieved by her one true love. The Swan Princess has sequels coming out to date, but the original is worth tuning into today, too.

22 Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm

This DC animation is finally getting its due on its 30th anniversary this year, with a remastered 4K Ultra HD edition of the movie being launched in the fall. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm followed the Caped Crusader as he chased a new villain called the Phantasm. Batman also had a considerable amount of suspicion about him when Gotham's various gangsters and crime lords started dropping dead, and people thought that Bruce was murdering them.

In a sea of Batman movies, it's easy to forget this one, but it still delivers on the punches to date. It also has some of the best voice acting in an animated film by the likes of Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill.

21 Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search For Christopher Robin

This direct-to-video classic cartoon movie was an endearing original story about Disney's Winnie the Pooh and his friends. One day, Christopher decided to go to school and left his friends a note. Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit, and Eeyore missed the note, and thinking that Christopher was in danger, set out on an adventure to rescue him from the dangerous "Skull."

Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin was definitely meant for a younger audience, but it had the typical charm and quaintness that many 90s kids relate to in Disney movies. Revisiting these beloved characters feels less like a blast from the past, but a warm hug from one's childhood days.

20 Rock-A-Doodle

Odds are, Rock-A-Doodle isn't on any "best animated films of the '90s" list. But this unusual musical holds a special place in the hearts of many '90s kids. The film follows Chanticleer, a young rooster with dreams of becoming a rock star, who is convinced by the shadowy Grand Duke of Owls to cease crowing every morning and run off to the big city to become a superstar.

Unbeknownst to Chanticleer, it is his crow that causes the sun to rise in the morning, causing the world to fall into darkness upon his departure. Sure, the story of a pompadour-wearing, Elvis-wannabe rooster isn't exactly The Little Mermaid, but plenty of '90s kids wore out their VHS copies of the movie with repeat viewings.

19 The Thief And The Cobbler

Plenty of '90s kids will likely remember seeing The Thief and The Cobbler on the shelves of the local Blockbuster and writing the film off as an Aladdin rip-off. But The Thief and The Cobbler remains a '90s classic that is unfairly forgotten these days.

Released under both its original title and Arabian Knight, the film follows a good-natured cobbler named Tack as he draws the ire of Grand Vizier Zigzag and works with Princess Yum-Yum to save the city from the villainous One-Eyes. With its Arabian setting and a prominent blue-skinned character, critics were quick to label the film a knock-off, but the label was unjustified, as the movie had been in production since 1988.

18 The Prince And The Pauper

The '90s are largely regarded as the Disney Renaissance, with the House of Mouse churning out hit after hit from 1989 to 1999. But that's not to say that every film to grace theaters bearing the Disney name in the '90s was destined for greatness; in fact, there were plenty of '90s Disney theatrical releases that slipped into obscurity, like The Prince and The Pauper.

Released as a short played before the 1990s' The Rescuer's Down Under, this featurette casts Mickey Mouse as both titular roles in the classic Mark Twain tale of, well, a prince and a pauper who swap places. While The Rescuers Down Under underperformed at the box office, The Prince and The Pauper would find a second life on VHS.

17 Rover Dangerfield

Rover Dangerfield is an obscure animated film that took the famous comedian Rodney Dangerfield, turned him into a cartoon dog, and sent him on a wacky, family-friendly misadventure; as strange a concept now as it was in 1991. Too pure for the adult fans of Dangerfield, and a star that no child would recognize, Rover Dangerfield was weird through and through.

The film follows the titular Rover as he is taken from his Las Vegas home and forced to adjust to life on a farm, leading to plenty of "no respect" jokes. A critical and commercial failure, the film found a second life on VHS.

16 Thumbelina

The '90s gave rise to an assortment of animated films in which a plucky female protagonist bucks tradition and embarks upon an adventure, only to ultimately find love. While Disney had this formula down to a science, there were plenty of other animation companies eager to take a crack at the popular trope, which brings us to Thumbelina.

A loose adaption of the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, the Don Bluth-directed Thumbelina whisked viewers away to a magical land in which the minuscule Thumbelina embarks upon an adventure to find love. Despite adapting a beloved and well-known fairy tale, interest in the film was low, leading Thumbelina to land with a thud at the box office.

15 DuckTales The Movie: The Treasure Of The Lost Lamp

Sure, plenty of '90s kids have fond memories of Disney's DuckTales, but you'd be hard-pressed to find many who remember Scrooge McDuck's lone cinematic outing, DuckTales The Movie: The Treasure Of The Lost Lamp. Hitting theaters in 1990, the DuckTales movie took Huey, Dewey, and Louie to the Middle East. While there Uncle Scrooge investigated the recently unearthed treasure chest of Collie Baba.

When a genie's lamp is discovered, the group finds themselves targeted by the evil Merlin, who seeks to utilize the Genie to conquer the world. While the DuckTales TV series remains a beloved pop-culture touchstone, the DuckTales movie is all but forgotten these days.

14 The King And I

The King And I is a classic Rogers and Hammerstein musical with an equally beloved film adaption from the '50s. Is the 1991 animated adaption of The King And I held in the same regard? Not quite.

The classic tale of the King of Siam learning to change thanks to an encounter with an outgoing British woman, the animated adaption added an adorable animal sidekick and a Barbara Streisand song for good measure. Despite these changes, the film was a box office bomb and was quickly shuffled off to home video. Once on VHS, The King And I became a "guess I'll watch this movie again" staple of '90s kids everywhere.

13 Quest For Camelot

In the '70s and '80s, animated films with medieval settings were everywhere, but by the '90s, medieval tales were seen as passé. Apparently, nobody bothered to tell Warner Bros. this, as the studio released Quest For Camelot in 1998, leading to one of its biggest bombs of the decade.

Serving as a loose adaption of the children's novel The King's Damosel, the film follows aspiring knight Kayley and her ragtag group of friends as they embark upon an adventure to retrieve the mythical sword Excalibur. With an impressive voice cast including Gary Oldman, Eric Idle, and Pierce Brosnan, the film seemed destined for big things but flopped in theaters.

12 Doug's 1st Movie

Everyone remembers Doug as one of Nickelodeon's original NickToons — one of the channel's most beloved shows. But '90s kids seem to forget that Doug not only jumped ship to the competition but received the cinematic treatment in the process.

In 1996, Disney picked up the rights to Doug, and promptly brought the property to the Disney Channel, releasing a film tie-in in the process, bearing the perhaps-too-hopeful name of Doug's 1st Movie. The film followed the affable Doug as he teamed with his best friend Skeeter and perennial crush Patti Mayonnaise to protect a lake monster from the rich and powerful Bill Bluff.

11 We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

We're Back! is a movie about a bunch of dinosaurs who have been granted intelligence by an alien who comes to modern New York City to hang out with rambunctious kids. Said children must then contend with an insidious carnival owner that has a screw for an eye.

That might sound strange, but ask any '90s kid, and they will tell you: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story rules. Based on the 1987 children's book of the same name, We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story managed to delight and terrify in equal measure, with lovable characters and a terrifying villain.

10 The Princess And The Goblin

George MacDonald's 1872 fantasy novel The Princess and the Goblin is widely regarded as a children's fantasy classic and remains a beloved genre staple to this day. The 1991 film adaptation of this classic novel, however, is slightly less revered.

The simple tale of an adventurous princess discovering a race of music-hating goblins, The Princess and the Goblin made history as the first Welsh animated feature and was expected to do well at the box office. Ultimately, the film was eclipsed by The Lion King, leading to The Princess and the Goblin bombing at the box office. When the film ultimately hit VHS, it was bolstered by an ad campaign in which it was positively reviewed by children, leading to a surge in sales.

9 Olive, The Other Reindeer

Every year, TV is inundated with bland, forgettable movies about Christmas. While the world certainly wouldn't miss another generic Hallmark Channel original movie about an orphan learning the true meaning of Christmas, this avalanche of made-for-TV movies causes some true gems to get lost in the shuffle.

That brings us to Olive, The Other Reindeer. Hitting the airwaves in 1999, this whimsical animated film adapted a beloved children's book in which a Jack Russell terrier named Olive teams up with a con artist penguin named Martini to save Christmas. It's A Wonderful Life it ain't, but Olive, The Other Reindeer found a dedicated following on home video and remains a beloved classic among the '90s crowd.

8 The Pebble And The Penguin

Having cut his teeth directing the animated video games Dragon's Lair and Space Ace, Don Bluth found success on the silver screen, directing classics such as An American Tail and The Land Before Time. By the '90s, Bluth was an established director, leading to the prolific animator cranking out numerous films, including the oft-forgotten The Pebble And The Penguin.

Released in 1995, The Pebble and The Penguin followed timid penguin Hubie as he tries to win the heart of the beautiful Marina by retrieving a pebble that fell from the sky. Despite managing to outperform A Goofy Movie at the box office, The Pebble And The Penguin remains mostly forgotten these days.

7 Tom And Jerry: The Movie

Some things in life aree timeless. Turns out, watching a cartoon cat try to murder a cartoon mouse is one of those timeless joys that we can all agree with. Despite originating all the way back in 1940, Tom and Jerry experienced a sort of resurgence in the early '90s, leading to the release of Tom and Jerry: The Movie in 1992.

Tom and Jerry: The Movie sent the beloved Hanna-Barbera characters off on an adventure involving a timid little girl being controlled by her evil aunt, with plenty of cartoon violence thrown in for good measure. Despite being mute for more than 50 years, Tom and Jerry: The Movie shook things up, giving the titular characters voices, and allowing the bloodthirsty cat and mouse duo to burst into song.

6 A Troll In Central Park

The King of '90s animation, Don Bluth, directed A Troll In Central Park would hit theaters in 1994. It's the fantastical tale of a Dom DeLuise-voiced troll named Stanley, who is banished to New York City's Central Park because of his magical green thumb.

The film seemingly had all the elements to become another breakout hit for Bluth, but it would ultimately bomb at the box office due to lack of promotion. However, plenty of movie-hungry '90s kids would grow to love A Troll In Central Park when it hit home video.