The Best Animated Films for Adults to Watch as a Couple
The Best Animated Films for Adults to Watch as a Couple
The best animated films for adults work on at least two levels at once. On the surface there is colour, movement, humour, a story you can follow without effort. Underneath, the best ones are exploring something that matters: loss, purpose, the way a relationship changes you, what you owe the people who raised you. That combination is precisely why animation is one of the most reliable choices for couples who want to watch something together without spending twenty minutes arguing about genre.
The practical case for picking animation as a couple
Choosing what to watch together is harder than it sounds. One of you wants something funny; the other wants emotional weight. One of you is tired and needs low cognitive effort; the other wants to feel something by the end. Animation tends to thread all of those at once, which is why it rarely causes the argument that a thriller or a three-hour drama will.
But not all animation is equal, and treating it as a default rather than a considered choice usually produces a mediocre evening. A few questions are worth settling before you press play.
How much energy do you both actually have? There is a difference between wanting to be gently moved and wanting to cry. Up (2009) will do things to you in its opening ten minutes that catch most viewers off guard. Inside Out (2015) is quieter but accumulates weight across its full run. If one of you is already emotionally depleted from the week, something like Shrek (2001) keeps things lighter without shortchanging you on warmth.
What do you want from the evening? Animation can be hilarious, melancholy, visually stunning, or philosophically serious, sometimes all at once. The Incredibles (2004) runs at pace and functions almost as an action film. WALL·E (2008) is much slower and more contemplative. Both are excellent choices. They are not the same evening.
Do you share a streaming service? Most of the films below are available on Disney Plus in the UK. Shrek is on Netflix. Worth checking your subscriptions before you commit to a choice.
Handling the partner who is not sure animation is for them
If one of you is resistant to animation on principle, that reluctance is almost always about association rather than the films themselves. Animation gets filed under children's content by default, which means an adult who has not watched a Pixar film since childhood may be carrying assumptions that do not survive contact with the actual thing.
The simplest fix is to stop framing the choice as animation at all. Describe it as what it is: a film about grief, or a film about a marriage under strain, or a film about what it means to be forgotten. Let it be what it is before the other person decides whether they want to watch it. Nine times out of ten they will agree once they hear what the film is actually about.
The other thing worth knowing: most of the films on this list are deliberately structured so that adults and children experience them differently. The jokes land differently. The emotional stakes read differently. What feels like a children's adventure to a ten-year-old often reads as something far more personal to a couple in their thirties watching it on a Saturday night.
The best animated films for adults: ten picks for couples
The Lion King (1994) is a useful starting point because almost every couple will have seen it separately at different points in childhood. Watching it together gives you a reference point in common and, usually, a conversation about what each of you remembered differently. Available on Disney Plus in the UK.
Toy Story (1995) holds up far better than nostalgia alone can explain. The anxiety at its centre is genuinely adult: the fear of being replaced, of outliving your usefulness to someone you love. Disney Plus.
Up (2009) opens with a sequence that says more about a long marriage than most feature films manage in two hours. The adventure that follows is warm and funny, but it is that opening that couples tend to talk about afterwards. Disney Plus.
WALL·E (2008) is the quietest film on this list. A large portion of the first act has almost no dialogue. What it does instead is build a relationship through gesture and attention, which makes it quietly affecting for couples willing to sit with the silence. Disney Plus.
Finding Nemo (2003) is sharper about parental anxiety than most people remember. The tension between protection and letting go runs through the whole film, and it does not resolve as cleanly as you might expect. Visually, it is among the most accomplished films here. Disney Plus.
Monsters, Inc. (2001) is the funniest film on this list. The comic timing between Sulley and Mike Wazowski is as good as any double act in live action, and the film has a warmth that does not require particular emotional investment to enjoy. Lower stakes, higher laughs. Disney Plus.
The Incredibles (2004) works as a film about a marriage under strain as much as it works as a superhero film. Bob and Helen Parr are navigating competing needs, suppressed identities, and the ordinary pressures of family life. It moves fast and rewards attention throughout. Disney Plus.
Shrek (2001) is the odd one out here, both in tone and in platform. It is more irreverent than anything else on this list, and it earns its laughs without trying particularly hard to make you cry. The right choice for evenings when you want to enjoy yourselves without committing to anything emotionally heavy. Available on Netflix in the UK.
Coco (2017) is the most emotionally direct film here. It is about family, memory, and what it means to be forgotten by the people who come after you. The final twenty minutes are difficult to sit through without feeling something. It tends to produce a long conversation afterwards, which is either a selling point or a warning depending on your mood. Disney Plus.
Inside Out (2015) is the most intellectually interesting pick on this list. It takes the mechanics of emotion and memory seriously enough that watching it together gives you a shared vocabulary for things that are otherwise difficult to articulate. Disney Plus.
Frequently asked questions
Are animated films genuinely worth watching as an adult?
Yes. The best animation is written to function on multiple levels at once, with emotional and thematic content aimed at adult experience, even when the surface story involves children or talking animals. Several films on this list are among the highest-rated films of their respective years across all genres.
Which animated film works best for a couples' first watch together?
That depends on your mood. Up (2009) and Coco (2017) are the two that most frequently prompt genuine conversation between couples. Inside Out (2015) is the most thematically original if you both want something to engage with intellectually. Shrek (2001) is the safest pick if you just want to enjoy yourselves without committing to anything emotionally heavy.
Where can we watch these films in the UK?
Most are available on Disney Plus. Shrek (2001) is available on Netflix in the UK. Streaming availability changes, so check your subscriptions before settling on a choice.
How do we decide what to watch without the usual debate?
CouchSync is a free app where you and your partner each swipe on films independently and only see the ones you both chose. No negotiation, no one sitting through something they did not want to watch. Download it on Google Play or visit couchsync.com.