I love Halloween but I’m rubbish with scary movies – here are my 7 animated movie picks for spooky season
The best animated Halloween movies for squeamish screamers like me
· TechRadarFeatures By Josephine Watson published 25 October 2024
I adore Halloween; the costumes, the pumpkin carving, the opportunity to cause public disorder and write it off as seasonal trickery. Everything about the spooky season calls to some of my dearest passions – well, everything except the best horror movies, that is.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m impartial to a good ghost story, few and far between as they seem to be in Hollywood these days, and I will gladly puzzle my way through a mind-bending sci-fi flick like It’s What’s Inside. However as soon as things veer too far into gratuitous gore or traumatic thrillers that hit just a bit too close to home, I’m tapping out – I’ll leave that to my wonderful colleague Rowan Davies, who has spent much of this month reporting on the best horror movies to watch this Halloween from different genres.
Instead, I’m impartial to the lightly creepy but family-friendly side of Halloween movies, broadly characterized by some excellent animated movies. Here are my top picks for TechRadar's Halloween Week.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) Official Trailer #1 - Animated Movie - YouTube
RT Score: 95%
Director: Henry Selick
Runtime: 76 minutes
Where to stream: Disney Plus (US, UK, AU)
Part Brothers Grimm fairytale, part art film, The Nightmare Before Christmas is a genre-defining animated Halloween movie conceived by Tim Burton – though we owe a lot of its production and creativity to the lesser-credited director Henry Selick. Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of 'Halloween Town' feels unfulfilled by his role and yearns for something new, and stumbles upon 'Christmas Town'. What begins as a somewhat well-meaning attempt to share his discovery with his loyal subjects quickly spirals into a hostile takeover of the festive season, the kidnapping of Santa Claus, and a frighteningly close call with a bogeyman.
It’s a visual delight, effortlessly blending its raw, scratchy and stuttering animation with a soft, whimsical playfulness that only stop-motion animation can achieve. It’s macabre, it’s evocative, but most importantly it’s also fun and inventive, creating a timeless world that generations since and those to come will delight in.
Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were Rabbit UK Trailer - YouTube
RT Score: 95%
Directors: Nick Park and Steve Box
Runtime: 85 minutes
Where to stream: Netflix (US), Prime Video (UK)
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