I collected over 12 lists of the best animated films of all time from the Internet and combined them into one meta-list. The results are below: every feature or short animated film that was on at least three of the original source lists, organized in chronological order. Note: Some of the lists had feature films, some had short films and others mixed the two.
To see a version of the list organized by rank (that is, with the films on the most lists at the top) , go here.
1920s
The Adventures of Prince Achmed (Germany, 1926) (on 4 lists)
Steamboat Willie (US, 1928) (on 6 lists)
1930s
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (US, 1937) (on 8 lists)
1940s
Fantasia (US, 1940) (on 8 lists)
Pinocchio (US, 1940) (on 9 lists)
Dumbo (US, 1941) (on 4 lists)
Bambi (US, 1942) (on 6 lists)
1950s
Duck Amuck (US, 1953) (on 5 lists)
Lady and the Tramp (US, 1955) (on 3 lists)
What’s Opera, Doc? (US, 1957) (on 4 lists)
Sleeping Beauty (US, 1959) (on 3 lists)
1960s
101 Dalmatians (US, 1961) (on 5 lists)
Yellow Submarine (UK, 1968) (on 7 lists)
Storytime (US, 1968) (on 4 lists)
1970s
The Street (Canada, 1976) (on 3 lists)
Watership Down (UK/US, 1978) (on 4 lists)
1980s
The Secret of NIMH (US, 1982) (on 4 lists)
Dimensions of Dialogue (Czechoslovakia, 1982) (on 3 lists)
Street of Crocodiles (US, 1986) (on 3 lists)
The Man Who Planted Trees (Canada, 1987)
Akira (Japan, 1988) (on 9 lists)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (US, 1988) (on 7 lists)
Grave of the Fireflies (Japan, 1988) (on 5 lists)
My Neighbor Totoro (Japan, 1988) (on 5 lists)
The Cat Came Back (Canada, 1988) (on 3 lists)
The Little Mermaid (US, 1989) (on 8 lists)
1990s
Beauty and the Beast (US, 1991) (on 9 lists)
Aladdin (US, 1992) (on 7 lists)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (US, 1993) (on 7 lists)
The Wrong Trousers (UK, 1993) (on 6 lists)
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (US, 1993) (on 3 lists)
The Lion King (US, 1994) (on 9 lists)
Toy Story (US, 1995) (on 8 lists)
Ghost in the Shell (Japan, 1995) (on 4 lists)
James and the Giant Peach (US, 1996) (on 4 lists)
Perfect Blue (Japan, 1997) (on 3 lists)
Geri’s Game (US, 1997) (on 3 lists)
Hercules (US, 1997) (on 3 lists)
Mulan (US, 1998) (on 5 lists)
The Old Lady and the Pigeons (Canada/France, 1998) (on 4 lists)
A Bug’s Life (US, 1998) (on 3 lists)
The Iron Giant (US, 1999) (on 8 lists)
South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut (US, 1999) (on 6 lists)
Princess Mononoke (Japan, 1999) (on 6 lists)
Toy Story 2 (US, 1999) (on 5 lists)
The Old Man and the Sea (Russia, 1999) (on 4 lists)
Tarzan (US, 1999) (on 3 lists)
2000s
Chicken Run (UK, 2000) (on 5 lists)
Father and Daughter (Netherlands, 2000) (on 4 lists)
The Emperor’s New Groove (US, 2000) (on 3 lists)
Spirited Away (Japan, 2001) (on 12 lists)
Shrek (US, 2001) (on 7 lists)
Waking Life (US, 2001) (on 5 lists)
Monsters, Inc. (US, 2001) (on 5 lists)
Millennium Actress (Japan, 2001) (on 3 lists)
Lilo & Stitch (US, 2002) (on 3 lists)
Finding Nemo (US, 2003) (on 8 lists)
The Triplets of Belleville (France, 2003) (on 7 lists)
Tokyo Godfathers (Japan, 2003) (on 3 lists)
The Incredibles (US, 2004) (on 8 lists)
Shrek 2 (US, 2004) (on 3 lists)
The Man with No Shadow (Canada, 2004) (on 3 lists)
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (UK, 2005) (on 5 lists)
Howl’s Moving Castle (Japan, 2005) (on 5 lists)
Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride (US, 2005) (on 3 lists)
Paprika (Japan, 2006) (on 5 lists)
Lifted (US, 2006) (on 3 lists)
Persepolis (France, 2007) (on 7 lists)
Ratatouille (US, 2007) (on 6 lists)
Oktapodi (France, 2007) (on 3 lists)
The Simpsons Movie (US, 2007) (on 3 lists)
WALL-E (US, 2008) (on 10 lists)
Kung Fu Panda (US, 2008) (on 6 lists)
Waltz with Bashir (Israel, 2008) (on 6 lists)
French Roast (France, 2008) (on 4 lists)
Bolt (US, 2008) (on 3 lists)
La Maison en Petits Cubes (Japan, 2008) (on 3 lists)
Ponyo (Japan, 2009) (on 3 lists)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (US, 2009) (on 9 lists)
Up (US, 2009) (on 8 lists)
Coraline (US, 2009) (on 7 lists)
Mary and Max (Australia, 2009) (on 4 lists)
Alma (Spain, 2009) (on 3 lists)
The Princess and the Frog (US, 2009) (on 3 lists)
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (US, 2009) (on 3 lists)
2010s
Toy Story 3 (US, 2010) (on 7 lists)
How to Train Your Dragon (US, 2010) (on 6 lists)
Tangled (US, 2010) (on 5 lists)
The Illusionist (France/UK, 2010) (on 4 lists)
The Secret of Kells (France/Belgium/Ireland, 2010) (on 3 lists)
Zero (Australia, 2010) (on 3 lists)
Rango (US, 2011) (on 5 lists)
Arthur Christmas (UK/US, 2011) (on 3 lists)
Wreck-it Ralph (US, 2012) (on 6 lists)
ParaNorman (US, 2012) (on 4 lists)
Frankenweenie (US, 2012) (on 3 lists)
The Secret World of Arrietty (Japan, 2012) (on 3 lists)
Frozen (US, 2013) (on 4 lists)
The LEGO Movie (US, 2014) (on 6 lists)
Ernest & Célestine (France, 2014) (on 3 lists)
Song of the Sea (Ireland, 2014) (on 3 lists)
The Wind Rises (Japan, 2014) (on 3 lists)
Big Hero 6 (US, 2014) (on 3 lists)
Inside Out (US, 2015) (on 5 lists)
Anomalisa (US, 2015) (on 4 lists)
The Peanuts Movie (US, 2015) (on 3 lists)
Shaun the Sheep Movie (UK, 2015) (on 3 lists)
The Little Prince (France, 2015) (on 3 lists)
Zootopia (US, 2016) (on 3 lists)
Finding Dory (US, 2016) (on 3 lists)
Kung Fu Panda 3 (US, 2016) (on 3 lists)