The first entirely computer-animated feature film in history is still considered by many to be the greatest. Pixar opted to make toys the subject of their debut feature rather than humans, because their technology wasn't yet up to the job of rendering realistic skin and hair. Despite having an animation crew of just 110 (compared to 800 on The Lion King), the film was richly detailed and full of breathtaking action sequences.
Disney's first feature film, based on the Brothers Grimm fairytale, proved there was a market for quality animated productions, rather then the Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies shorts that preceded it.
One of the first films to combine traditional cell animation with computer effects (notably in the wildebeest stampede) - it was the biggest-grossing animated film of all time, until Finding Nemo in 2003.
Hayao Miyazaki was considered "Japan's Walt Disney" long before Spirited Away was released, but it set a new standard for magical and surreal storytelling as well as breathtaking cell animation.
Released at the height of Disney's creative output, Pinocchio was the first animated film to win an Academy Award in a competitive category, the Best Original Song Oscar for When You Wish Upon a Star.
The underwater setting was a huge challenge for Pixar - rendering sunlight passing through water and reflecting on fish scales meant that each 1/24th of a second frame took up to four days.
It took around 100 people three years to complete Tim Burton's gothic fairytale, using miniature models - for each second of film, up to 12 stop-motion moves had to be made.
Animators required a record 327 different colours to make Japan's apocalyptic classic come to life, this was because most of the movie takes place at night, a setting traditionally avoided by animators.
The Fab Four wanted nothing to do with this when it was first mooted so voice actors were used, but the group were so impressed by the psychedelic classic they filmed a scene for the movie's end.
The animated movie about post-revolution Iran combined a host of inspirations; from black and white shadow theatre in the flash-backs to striking comic book colour for present-day scenes.
