10 Animated Movies That Did Time Travel Even Better Than Back to the Future
With these animated gems shining across several temporal dimensions, their brilliance is universally resonant.
Who doesn’t want to go back in time and relive the milestones of their life, such as having first kisses or hearing their voice crack for the first time?
Well, watching fictional stories like movies and TV series is obviously not going to be of much help in that regard. However, what those entertaining experiences can provide is a wealth of excitement and hidden wisdom, which is particularly true of animated films that use the concept of time travel.
Without further ado, let’s take a peek at some of those animated movies.
Regular Show: The Movie
Based on Cartoon Network’s hit show, this movie is set in the interim between the first two episodes of Season 7. Its plot revolves around protagonists Mordecai and Rigby’s attempt to set right a past mistake by using a rewinding apparatus, undermined by their evil former school instructor. The film offers viewers more of the original’s crazy humor and has a surprising amount of depth in certain emotional scenes.
Steins;Gate: The Movie - Load Region Of Déjà Vu
The full-length film is a sequel to the anime series Steins;Gate, and an uncommonly good one at that. It follows Rintaro Okabe as he journeys across several timelines to prevent a tragic incident, which leads to unexpected results due to his multiple forays through time causing him to fade into oblivion, with his love interest Makike Kurisu retaining only faint memories about Okabe. The film’s touching story is insightful and sets a good dramatic arc for its characters.
Mr. Peabody & Sherman
This DreamWorks animated comedy stars a child prodigy who travels across multiple eras with his canine adoptive dad to fix the damage caused by the whiz-kid’s earlier meddling with the fabrics of time. While somewhat plodding, the movie features a good comedic interplay between its protagonists and provides a heartfelt portrayal of a family relationship.
Quantum Cowboys
An eclectic blending of live-action and animation sets Quantum Cowboys apart from its ilk. The story takes place in a sci-fi Western setting and depicts two frontiermen who assist a woman in reclaiming her land. Ambitious, gripping, and thought-provoking, this project is a welcome departure from medium conventions.
Godzilla: The Planet Of The Monsters
This animated kaiju title falls into the sci-fi genre and chronicles the odyssey of humanity’s descendants from the spaceship Aratrum, who, after drifting in space for 20,000 years, return to their precursors’ homeworld of Earth which has become uninhabitable in the wake of the havoc wreaked by the monstrous Godzilla. Although lacking in story and character development department, the film has arresting visuals and plenty of spectacle.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
The famous anime adaptation of the eponymous novel tells the story of schoolgirl Makoto Konno, who gets ahold of a device that enables her to travel through time, which she employs to gain advantages in everyday life. As she continues to time-leap, Makoto learns of the consequences that her exploits have produced and comes to terms with the limits of her power. An exciting story about coming of age, this film is a beautiful study of the dangerous repercussions of time travel.
Mirai
In this animated film, the kid protagonist Kun, who is angry at his newborn sister, Mirai, for drawing the attention of his parents from him, discovers a way to journey through time, which allows Kun to meet his many relatives. His interactions with each of his family members, among which is a future version of Mirai, leave Kun with a newfound respect for his nearest and dearest, leading him to mature as a person. Mirai is a heartwarming and ingenious tale with a meaningful approach to the time travel concept.
Meet The Robinsons
This Disney animated flick is a family-friendly adventure film that follows an underage inventor who is sent into the future by a child time traveler to aid his family, the Robinsons. The hero, Lewis, grows attached to the family. Before long, he joins their fight against an enigmatic bowler-hatted villain, who must be stopped in order to maintain the balance of time.
Your Name
In Your Name, a schoolgirl living in a rural town finds herself swapping bodies with a boy who dwells in Tokyo, which allows them to influence each other’s lives. As the plot progresses, it is revealed that their body-switching antics make them travel through time as well, and that the heroes need to correct the course of the past to prevent the girl’s death. While futuristic on the surface, the story is emotional and down-to-earth.
A Christmas Carol
The House Of Mouse’s adaptation of the titular Charles Dickens novel employs motion-captured animation and adheres to the classic story. Curmudgeonly miser Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by ghostly spirits who take him through various stages of his life, including the future, and compel him to change his outlook on reality. Fittingly offbeat and dazzling at the same time, this rendition of the iconic tale can never fail to excite.