Anime/Animation Top 25 (Netflix)

1.

Corpse Bride ()
This animated Tim Burton tale set in 19th-century Europe centers on Victor (voiced by Johnny Depp), a young man who, just as he's about to wed Victoria (Emily Watson), is sucked into the underworld by a Corpse Bride (Helena Bonham Carter) who desires him for herself. Victor is fascinated by the Land of the Dead, but nothing can stop him from trying to return to his true living love. Albert Finney and Christopher Lee also lend their voices.

3.

Princess Mononoke ()
In this anime epic from director Hayao Miyazaki, Prince Ashitaka (voiced by Billy Crudup) is infected with a lethal curse, and must travel to find a cure. On his journey, he discovers himself caught in a battle between a mining town and the animals of the surrounding forest. A girl raised by wolves (Claire Danes) leads the animals, but the forest harbors deadly supernatural powers. Critic Roger Ebert hailed the movie one of 1999's 10 best films.

5.

The Invincible Iron Man ()
In this animated adventure based on a Marvel Comics character, billionaire inventor Tony Stark digs up more than he bargained for when he unwittingly unearths the Mandarin, an evil entity buried for centuries in an ancient Chinese ruin. To protect himself and save Earth's citizens from the Mandarin's destructive force, Tony invents a high-tech suit of armor and becomes Iron Man (also known as Iron Knight).

7.

Kiki's Delivery Service ()
In director Hayao Miyazaki's gentle, animated adventure, young witch Kiki (voiced by Kirsten Dunst) moves away from her family to practice her craft, but she finds that making friends in a new town is difficult. With her cat, Jiji (voiced by Phil Hartman), in tow, Kiki puts her broom-flying skills to work for a baker's wife by starting an express delivery service. She quickly discovers, however, that she can't take her abilities for granted.

9.

The Animatrix ()
Straight from the creators of the groundbreaking Matrix trilogy, this collection of short animated films from the world's leading anime directors fuses computer graphics and Japanese anime to provide the background of the Matrix universe and the conflict between man and machines. The shorts include Final Flight of the Osiris, The Second Renaissance, Kid's Story, Program, World Record, Beyond, A Detective Story and Matriculated.

11.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within ()
It's an Armageddon scenario with a Greenpeace subtext when Dr. Aki Ross races against time to keep phantom-like alien invaders from destroying what's left of life on Earth in this computer-animated adventure based on the video game. In an attempt to curb the invasion, Ross advocates a measured approach while hawkish General Hein pushes for a blind annihilation of everything on Earth. The voice cast includes Ming-Na, Alec Baldwin and James Woods.

13.

Futurama the Movie: Bender's Big Score ()
In this animated sci-fi tale, the wacky Planet Express crew returns and soon finds themselves victimized by scheming alien nudists who control Bender through a computer virus, using him to go back in time to pinch ancient treasures. Can the gang figure out how to reverse the damage their robot buddy has wrought to the space-time continuum? Celebrity voices include Al Gore, Sarah Silverman, rapper Coolio, Mark Hamill and Katey Sagal.

15.

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence ()
Writer-director Mamoru Oshii's animated thriller concocts a complex follow-up to his monster hit, Ghost in the Shell. It's now 2032, and machines and people have grown so similar they're virtually interchangeable. The fate of the human race hangs in the balance, and a robot with human tendencies, Batou, is the only one who's able to decipher why humanity has lost its allure. When he figures out the answer, he'll face life's ultimate questions.

17.

Cowboy Bebop: The Movie ()
Based on the animated television series, Cowboy Bebop is set on Mars in the year 2071 and tells the story of a spaceship captain, Spike Siegel (David Lucas), and his band of vigilantes. When one of them witnesses a deadly terrorist attack, they all set out to catch those responsible and, more importantly, cash in on the reward money.

19.

Avatar: The Last Airbender: Book 1 ()
In the first book of the Avatar saga, two siblings discover a boy named Aang who's been frozen in a block of ice. But the minute they thaw him out -- and the world learns he's the Avatar they've been waiting for -- his destiny takes a dizzying turn. With a crop of new friends, instant celebrity status and the ruthless Fire Nation on his tail, can a 12-year-old boy stay the course on saving the world?

21.

Paprika ()
In this cautionary anime tale, reality and the dream world are on a collision course after a DC-Mini -- an experimental device that can record dreams -- is stolen from a psychiatric research facility. When the thief begins intertwining the patients' nightmares with the staff's dreams, it's clear that the DC-Mini has fallen into dangerous hands. Can Dr. Atsuko Chiba and her alter ego, a sprightly avatar named Paprika, stop the madness?

23.

Metropolis ()
Set in a strictly segmented industrial labyrinth populated by humans and robots, this stylized anime adventure provides a new look at the tension between humans and androids seen in Fritz Lang's cinema classic. While searching for rebel scientist Dr. Laughton (voiced by Simon Prescott), Ken-ichi (Brianne Siddall) finds Tima (Rebecca Forstadt), a young girl bereft of memory and speech -- the new android created to take over Metropolis.

25.

Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter ()
This delectably dark animated short tells the gruesome tale of a shipwrecked sailor (voiced by Gerard Butler) forced to go to horrific lengths -- including building a raft of corpses -- to return home and warn his family of an imminent attack by an evil pirate ship. Based on a story within the graphic novel Watchmen, this release was originally part of the script for director Zack Snyder's 2009 live-action adaptation of the comic book.