The notion that animation is just for children has been consistently debunked, as R-Rated animated films have always served as a legitimate form of artistic expression. While the popularity of Dreamworks Animation, Pixar, and Illumination may have shown that animated family films can be very lucrative, there’s also a desire to tell more complex stories within the medium that are aimed at a mature audience. Given how popular adult animated shows like South Park, Family Guy, and BoJack Horseman are, it’s a bit surprising that there aren’t more R-Rated animated films consistently released on the big screen.
Animation is a medium, not a genre, which means that the types of animated films that earn an R-Rating from the MPAA can vary dramatically in terms of style, approach, and intent. Here are R-Rated animated films that can be called masterpieces, ranked.
8
‘Memoir of a Snail’ (2024)
Memoir of a Snail is another devastating portrayal of life and maturity from Adam Elliot, the brilliant stop motion animation expert who earned acclaim for his previous film Mary & Max. Although Memoir of a Snail had the type of colorful, earthy stop-motion style reminiscent of more family friendly films like Frankenweenie or Paranorman, it tells a very deep and upsetting story about the life of a woman that was harbored by tragedy.
Memoir of a Snail broke a unique Academy Awards record, as it became the first R-Rated film in nearly a decade to actually earn a nomination for Best Animated Feature. The frank discussions about psychological abuse and mental health issues may not have made Memoir of a Snail a particularly uplifting viewing experience, but the poignancy of what Elliot’s saying about the profundity of the human condition make it absolutely worth seeking out.
7
‘A Scanner Darkly’ (2006)
A Scanner Darkly is a very interesting stylistic detour for the great Richard Linklater, who is best known for making slice-of-life dramedies like Before Sunrise, Boyhood, and Dazed and Confused. Although Linklater had previously experimented with the “rotoscoping” animation style with his 2001 film Waking Life, A Scanner Darkly is an ambitious science fiction psychological thriller that took inspiration from brilliant source material; the film was based on the writing of Phillip K. Dick, whose work also inspired classic sci-fi thrillers like Total Recall and Blade Runner.
A Scanner Darkly isn’t just a great undercover cop thriller, but a politically conscious work of commentary that examines the flaws within a system that demonizes drug users instead of trying to offer them aid. Even if they were only represented on screen in animated visions, actors like Keanu Reeves and Robert Downey Jr. do excellent work in the film.
6
‘South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut’ (1999)
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut was the culmination of a decade in which South Park had reached an incredible peak in popularity, as the transgressive Comedy Central series from Trey Parker and Matt Stone seemed to break all the rules of what one would expect from an animated show. Although South Park had always been quite clever in picking out targets to annihilate with its razor-sharp edge of raunchy satire, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut explored the issue of censorship (something Parker and Stone had no shortage of experience with) in the most hilarious way possible.
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut wasn’t just one of the funniest films of the ‘90s, but a genuinely great musical which earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for “Blame Canada.” Although there has yet to be another big screen version of South Park, the show experienced a resurgence in popularity, and Parker and Stone proved their musical merits once again when their smash hit The Book of Mormon swept the Tony Awards.
5
‘Anomalisa’ (2015)
Anomalisa is just as weird, heartbreaking, and existential as one would expect from Charlie Kaufman, who teamed up with animator Duke Johnson to make one of the most emotionally-decorating films ever made about a mid-life crisis. Those that appreciated the darkly hilarious, yet deeply sad style of Kaufman’s work on Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Adaptation were treated to another expose on loneliness that questioned whether it was possible to find meaning within the mundanity of existence.
Anomalisa is breathtaking on an animation level, as it archives a degree of expression within the characters’ faces that simply has never been seen before by the medium. The voiceover work from David Thewlis and Jennifer Jason Leigh is also wonderful, especially since the characters are crafted in a way that makes them look like the real actors who have been portraying them. Although Johnson and Kaufman worked on subsequent projects independent of one another, the brilliance of Anomalisa suggests that they were even better when they were working with each other.
4
‘American Pop’ (1981)
American Pop is one of the many great animated films from Ralph Bashki, a groundbreaking veteran of the medium who tried experimental projects in an era where studios like Walt Disney Animation and Studio Ghibli were still finding their feet. Although Bashki occasionally tried projects like the 1978 animated version of The Lord of the Rings that were aimed at a broader audience of fantasy lovers and J.R.R. Tolkien scholars, American Pop was a time-jumping jukebox musical about the development of American music.
American Pop includes one of the most impressive soundtracks of all-time, and helped to explain how America’s popular music was received in foreign countries. Although it was acclaimed in its time for the artful way of framing cultural touchstones, American Pop is also an impressive recreation of key moments in European history, including the reign of Imperial Russia and the brutality of World War II. American Pop is certainly a product of its time, as it was convinced during a particularly dangerous period of the Cold War, but it has earned its place among the boldest works of art that Bashki ever conceived.
3
‘Ghost in the Shell’ (1995)
Ghost in the Shell is one of the most influential science fiction films ever made, and certainly helped to popularize the cyberpunk aesthetic before American blockbusters like Dark City and The Matrix became mainstream. Although science fiction stories have always been interested in what exactly is defined as humanity, Ghost in the Shell brought a thoughtful perspective to the debate regarding artificial intelligence, which reached surprisingly moving moments by the time that its twisty story was wrapped up.
Ghost in the Shell drew acclaim for its stylized action scenes, which were more detailed in their recreation of gunplay, martial arts, and sci-fi worldbuilding than nearly any other animated project. Although it eventually inspired a franchise that included sequels, comic books, video games, and a critically derided live-action remake starring Scarlett Johansson, the original Ghost in the Shell is still heralded as a generational masterpiece.
2
‘Waking Life’ (2001)
Waking Life is one of the most ambitious projects of Linklater’s entire career, as it seemed to attack and disregard any semblance of formula. While Linklater has succeeded in making “hangout” films in which he gave his actors the chance to improvise moments for their characters, Waking Life managed to capture the aesthetic of a dream as it moved in between moments of cryptic contemplation.
Waking Life is aesthetically gorgeous in a way that few animated films are, as the hand-crafted nature of the artwork has ensured that it has aged better than many other animated films in the same era that relied on outdated models. Although Linklater has yet to make a film that isn’t worthy of in-depth analysis, Waking Life is a film that opens itself up to obsessive cinephiles who meticulously rewatch it in order to determine some of the latent details that would otherwise be missed. It also contains a few interesting Easter Eggs to prior Linklater films that fans of his work will not want to miss out on.
1
‘The Peasants’ (2023)
It’s a miracle that The Peasants was actually completed, as the Polish animated film was created after animators dedicated over 200,000 hours to restoring all of the imagery within the final version. Although it came from the same filmmaking team that had earned praise for their work on Living Vincent, a creative study into the legacy of Vincent Van Gogh, The Peasants is an even more ambitious project that aimed at spotlighting a particularly brutal period within the nation’s history.
The Peasants certainly earns its R-Rating, as the level of brutality, abuse, and disturbing content may still be able to shock those who routinely watch explicit material in films. Despite the horrific historical events that it captures, The Peasants is animated to look like a painting, and conveys a level of expressive emotion rarely seen within the medium. Even though it was overlooked by the Academy Awards for both Best Animated Feature and Best International Feature recognition, The Peasants will likely be remembered as a cult classic by those who have expertise within this style of unique animation.
The Peasants
- Release Date
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December 8, 2023
- Runtime
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115 Minutes
- Director
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DK Welchman, Hugh Welchman
- Writers
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DK Welchman, Hugh Welchman, Władysław Reymont
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Kamila Urzędowska
Jagna Paczesiówna
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Robert Gulaczyk
Antek Boryna
