Best Animation Studios in the World & Their Latest Films

The best-known animation studios in the world include Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, DreamWorks Animation, Illumination, Sony Pictures Animation, Aardman, Laika, Studio Ghibli and Ireland's Cartoon Saloon, plus Japan's top anime studios, such as Toei Animation, MAPPA, Kyoto Animation and Ufotable. Each has a distinct style and a run of hit or award-winning films. One famous name is gone: Disney closed Blue Sky Studios, the home of Ice Age, in April 2021.

This guide covers what each studio is known for, its most recent work, and how they compare by technique. We’ve checked every studio’s current status and latest release, including the 2025 films that rewrote the record books: Sony’s KPop Demon Hunters, Ufotable’s Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle and China’s Ne Zha 2.

The best animation studios at a glance

Studio	Based in	Founded	Main technique	Known for	Recent work
Walt Disney Animation Studios	Burbank, US	1923	CGI (hand-drawn heritage)	Frozen, Zootopia, Moana	Zootopia 2 (Nov 2025)
Pixar Animation Studios	Emeryville, US	1986	CGI	Toy Story, Inside Out, Up	Hoppers (Mar 2026)
DreamWorks Animation	Glendale, US	1994	CGI	Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon	Forgotten Island (Sep 2026)
Illumination	Santa Monica, US	2007	CGI	Despicable Me, Minions, Super Mario	The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (Apr 2026)
Sony Pictures Animation	Culver City, US	2002	CGI, stylised	Spider-Verse films, KPop Demon Hunters	GOAT (Feb 2026)
Aardman Animations	Bristol, UK	1972	Stop motion (clay)	Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep	Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom (Sep 2026)
Laika	Oregon, US	2005	Stop motion	Coraline, Kubo and the Two Strings	Wildwood (US release 23 Oct 2026)
Studio Ghibli	Tokyo, Japan	1985	Hand-drawn	Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro	The Boy and the Heron (2023)
Cartoon Saloon	Kilkenny, Ireland	1999	Hand-drawn 2D	Song of the Sea, Wolfwalkers	Julián (TIFF 2026)
Toei Animation	Tokyo, Japan	1948	2D anime	Dragon Ball, One Piece, Sailor Moon	Long-running TV anime
MAPPA	Tokyo, Japan	2011	2D anime	Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man	TV anime series
Kyoto Animation	Uji, Japan	1981	2D anime	A Silent Voice, K-On!	TV and film anime
Ufotable	Tokyo, Japan	2000	2D anime with heavy digital effects	Demon Slayer, Fate/Zero	Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle (2025)
Nickelodeon Animation	Burbank, US	1992	2D and CGI	SpongeBob, Avatar: The Last Airbender	The Legend of Aang (moved to streaming)
Netflix Animation Studios	Burbank, US	2018	2D, CGI and stop motion	Klaus	In Your Dreams (Nov 2025)

Walt Disney Animation Studios

Founded by Walt and Roy O. Disney in 1923, it’s the longest-running animation studio in the world. It made the first feature-length cel-animated film in the US and is still the benchmark for family animation. Its modern run of CGI musicals and comedies includes Frozen, Moana and Zootopia.

Latest: Zootopia 2 was released in November 2025.

Pixar Animation Studios

Pixar began in 1979 as the Graphics Group of Lucasfilm’s computer division and was spun off as its own company in 1986, with funding from Steve Jobs. It made the first fully computer-animated feature film, Toy Story (1995), and is known for original stories with big emotional hooks: Up, Inside Out, Coco. It’s part of The Walt Disney Company.

Latest: Hoppers, about a young animal lover who “hops” her consciousness into a robotic beaver, was released in March 2026.

DreamWorks Animation

DreamWorks built its name on irreverent comedy with Shrek, then broadened into adventure with Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon. Its films are distributed by Universal Pictures.

Latest: Forgotten Island, about two best friends stranded on an island where forgotten memories take physical form, opened in September 2026.

Illumination

Illumination is behind Despicable Me and the Minions, and partnered with Nintendo on the Super Mario films. Its films are known for broad, fast comedy and big box-office numbers.

Latest: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, made with Nintendo, was released in April 2026.

Sony Pictures Animation

Sony Pictures Animation pushed the look of CGI forward with the comic-book style of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which mixes 2D and 3D techniques.

Its biggest recent hit was made for Netflix: KPop Demon Hunters (2025) became Netflix’s most-watched title ever, with 325 million views in its first 91 days. It also won Best Animated Feature at the 98th Academy Awards in 2026.

Latest: GOAT premiered in Los Angeles on 6 February 2026 and was released in the US on 13 February 2026.

Aardman Animations

Founded in Bristol in 1972, Aardman is the world’s best-known claymation studio. Nick Park won four Academy Awards with Aardman, including for the Wallace & Gromit films The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave, and Aardman’s Chicken Run (2000) became the highest-grossing stop-motion film. Read more in our guide to claymation.

Latest: Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom, the third film in the Shaun feature trilogy, was released in September 2026.

Laika

Laika is a stop-motion studio known for intricate, often dark fantasies such as Coraline, ParaNorman and Kubo and the Two Strings. Its president and CEO, Travis Knight, is also a director.

Latest: Wildwood, directed by Travis Knight and based on Colin Meloy’s novel, had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on 11 October 2026. Its US theatrical release is 23 October 2026.

Studio Ghibli

Japan’s Studio Ghibli, founded in 1985 by Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata and producer Toshio Suzuki, is famous for hand-drawn films including My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron (2023) won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Latest: In 2026, Ghibli’s classics returned to US cinemas through the year-long Studio Ghibli Fest, including Spirited Away for its 25th anniversary.

Cartoon Saloon

Ireland’s Cartoon Saloon, founded in Kilkenny in 1999, makes richly designed hand-drawn films rooted in folklore and story: The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, The Breadwinner and Wolfwalkers. All four were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and the studio has five Oscar nominations in total.

Latest: Julián, the feature directorial debut of the studio’s creative director Louise Bagnall, was presented at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2026.

The best anime studios

Studio Ghibli is the best-known Japanese studio in the West, but most anime is made for TV by studios that turn out series rather than one film every few years. These are the names fans mention most often:

Toei Animation

Founded in 1948 as Nihon Dōga and renamed Toei Animation in 1956, it’s one of Japan’s oldest studios. It’s behind some of the longest-running anime ever, including Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon and One Piece.

MAPPA

Founded in 2011 by Madhouse co-founder Masao Maruyama, MAPPA quickly became one of the most talked-about studios, with Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, the final season of Attack on Titan and the second season of Vinland Saga.

Kyoto Animation

Based in Uji, near Kyoto, “KyoAni” is known for polished, emotionally detailed work such as K-On!, Sound! Euphonium and the film A Silent Voice (2016).

Ufotable

Tokyo-based Ufotable, founded in 2000, is famous for cinematic action that blends 2D characters with heavy digital effects, in Fate/Zero and Demon Slayer. Its Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle (2025) became the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time.

Beyond Japan: China’s record-breaker

The biggest animated film of all time didn’t come from Hollywood or Japan. China’s Ne Zha 2, released in January 2025, became the highest-grossing animated film in history and the first animated film to pass $2 billion worldwide.

TV and streaming studios: Nickelodeon and Netflix

Nickelodeon Animation Studio

Nickelodeon is one of the biggest names in TV animation, behind SpongeBob SquarePants and Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Latest: The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender, which continues the Avatar story with older characters, was dropped from Paramount’s theatrical plans and moved to streaming.

Netflix Animation Studios

Netflix set up its own animation studio in 2018. Its first feature, the hand-drawn Christmas film Klaus (2019), announced it as a serious player. Netflix also released Guillermo del Toro’s stop-motion Pinocchio (2022), which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Latest: In Your Dreams was released in November 2025, and Steps is scheduled for 20 November 2026.

What happened to Blue Sky Studios?

Blue Sky Studios, the studio behind Ice Age, Rio and Ferdinand, no longer exists. Disney acquired it as part of its 21st Century Fox deal in 2019, announced its closure on 9 February 2021, and the studio closed on 10 April 2021, affecting about 450 employees. Disney kept the film library and characters through 20th Century Animation.

Animation studios for business videos

The studios above make films and series for entertainment. If you need animation for a business, such as a product launch, a SaaS demo or a medical explainer, you need a studio that specialises in explainer videos and marketing animation. At Animation Explainers, that’s all we do; see our explainer video company page.

How to choose between animation styles

Each studio’s look comes from its technique. If you’re comparing styles for your own project, this is the short version:

• CGI (Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, Illumination, Sony): flexible, polished and good for complex worlds.
• Stop motion (Aardman, Laika): tactile and handmade, but slow to produce.
• Hand-drawn 2D (Ghibli, Cartoon Saloon, the anime studios): expressive and painterly.

For a fuller comparison, see our guide to the different types of animation.

Here’s our showreel, with a selection of recent business explainer work:

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