8 Best Silent Animated Movies to Watch
- Leia Emeera
- Aug 21, 2024
- 8 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Silent animated movie is an animation style that conveys the story through no dialogue. Moreover, silent animated movies are the fruit of what artists can do in the face of scarcity. By removing speech, it forces creators to tell the story through setting, movement, expression, colour, and music so the audience can feel all the emotions.
So, let’s make haste and move right into 8 silent animation movie recommendations.
8 Recommended Silent Animated Films
1. Gertie the Dinosaur
Release date: February 18, 1914
Genre: Comedy
Animation Method: Traditional Animation
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Winsor McCay
Rated: Not Rated
Gertie the Dinosaur is one of the earliest animated movies and the earliest one to feature a dinosaur. It was made in the early 1900s, during the age of silent cinema. Essentially, the silent animated movie follows Gertie and her master, McCay. The dynamics of the duo closely resemble those of a circus animal and its trainer, where McCay would nudge her to do simple tricks.
Unique and innovative for its time, Gertie the Dinosaur is an intricate silent animation where breaths are rhythmic, backgrounds relatively detailed, and thick skin folded cohesively. Instead of speech, they used dialogue intertitles—even then, they had to get visually descriptive to make up for the dinosaur’s lack of communication in human languages.
This keyframe silent animated film was drawn on rice paper and photographed atop cardboard, but more importantly, it has ultimately contributed largely to animation as we know it today.
2. Fantasia
Release date: November 13, 1940
Genre: Fantasy, Musical, Drama
Animation Method: Traditional Animation
Country of Origin: USA
Directors: Samuel Armstrong, James Algar, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Ben Sharpsteen, David D. Hand, Hamilton Luske, Jim Handley, Ford Beebe, T. Hee, Norman Ferguson, Wilfred Jackson
Rated: G
Fantasia is a great piece from Disney’s history. It was considered experimental at the time, with silent animation being comprised of a series of musical sequences. It’s an anthology film that acts as an homage to classical pieces.
This animated movie features orchestral compositions by Bach, Beethoven and Stravinsky, among others. Segments differed in tale, where each would have storylines that were reliant on the music of the scene.
The silent animation was fully hand-drawn, since the technology for computer-generated films would not be available for decades. Fantasia was a work of elaborate detail.
Each segment had designated colour schemes according to the themes of a musical piece, and three-dimensional puppets were created for reference. It’s an outlier of Disney’s movies, very different from the old and modern classics we all love today.
3. Idiots & Angels
Release date: January 14, 2009 (France)
Genre: Fantasy, Comedy, Drama
Animation Method: 2D Animation
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Bill Python
Rated: N/A
Angel is an anti-hero—or at least, he starts off as so. In this silent animation, Angel is a man who is self-servient and abusive, who spends his time reproaching the people in his path.
However, he diverges from his morally discordant behaviours when he wakes up with wings attached to his back. He first tries to remove the wings, but eventually gives in to the good that his newfound appendages provide.
Idiots & Angels is a 2D animated movie where drawings were scanned and colourised digitally. This silent animation is mostly composed of hues of browns, blacks and sketchy lines.
Where there were colours outside of muddied shades, they were muted. Ultimately, this created visuals that were as grimy as Angel’s character. With this and music to match, Idiots & Angels is a solid example of storytelling through films with no dialogue.
4. The Illusionist
Release date: June 16, 2010
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama
Animation Method: 2D Animation
Country of Origin: France
Director: Sylvain Chomet
Rated: PG
Interestingly, this animated film, The Illusionist, is derived from an unpublished script written by a French mime. It surrounds an illusionist, a master of deceptive showmanship, and his fickle-tempered rabbit.
The two move out of London, struggling to compete with modern entertainment. The Illusionist hops from small cafes and speakeasies, heartbroken. However, once he meets Alice, a young and naive woman, for better or for worse, things change.
The silent animation method itself was created by an international team, with members and individuals across continents working on this silent animated film. It’s a 2D hand-drawn piece and comes with the charm of imperfections that computer-generated imagery struggles to fully replicate.
Even in moments of inactivity, scenes stay captivating because of the human-like nature of rough lines and graphite. This is an intentional decision to deliver the themes of art, love, and social structures.
5. Shaun the Sheep Movie
Release date: February 6, 2015
Genre: Comedy, Adventure
Animation Method: Claymation
Country of Origin: USA
Directors: Mark Burton, Richard Starzak
Rated: PG
This predominantly silent animated movie is a classic spin-off of an equally classic television series. Shaun the Sheep is a Claymation about a scheming Shaun, who plots to escape mundanity.
He devises a plan to buy himself a day off on his farm—but this goes awry when his farmer hits his head and becomes an amnesiac. The farmer wanders into a city salon, and his sheep are left to fend for themselves.
The Shaun the Sheep Movie is mainly made of modelling clay and thumbprints—truly leaving a human touch to the fictional movie. The fluidity and freedom that Clay brings make up for the lack of dialogue from the main cast.
Facial expressions and movements are exaggerated and elaborate, doubling as a way to deliver messages and as slapstick comedy. Shaun the Sheep has always been a family favourite, and this silent animated film is no exception.
6. Flow
Release date: 2024
Genre: Survival, Animal Adventure
Animation Method: 3D Animation
Country of Origin: Latvia
Director: Gints Zilbalodis
Rated: PG
A flood takes over a cat’s home, or rather, his whole world seems to be caught in an apocalyptic water world. The protagonist is a cat that teams up with animals you won’t typically see cats make friends with.
However, in a world where you must survive, you can’t exactly choose who you can depend on. The story revolves around the importance of companionship and how support can help you rather than choosing to be alone.
Fully utilising the free and open-source software Blender, Gints Zilbalodis showcases that you don’t need expensive tools to produce award-winning films, or even voices for that matter.
Flow is a compelling story of a black cat and its unlikely companions. If you like stories that keep you on your toes, Flow is unpredictable and deep and has audiences go, “What’s going to happen next?”
Also read: 7 Best Stop-Motion Movies to Watch
7. The Batik Girl
Release date: 2019
Genre: Cultural, Fantasy
Animation Method: 2D Animation
Country of Origin: Malaysia
Director: Irwan Junaidy
Rated: PG
After a tragedy strikes the protagonist, she finds comfort in a magical world within a batik painting. This culturally rich animation is vibrant and moving in how one can cope with grief through the expression of art.
The Batik Girl not only showcases the beauty of a traditional art form on a global scale but also how such expression can help manage grief better and healthier. At first, our Batik Girl refused to face the reality of her crumbling world, though the peace she felt when she stumbled upon the batik her grandmother made encouraged her to try.
Enraptured by the beauty of batik, she let herself dive into the magical world of batik born from her imagination and found peace amid her grief. A great example of the fact that not all films with no dialogue are boring or lack depth.
A beautiful 10-minute short silent animated film that teaches the audience not only the wonders of batik but also how children cope with grief in the world around them.
8. Kitbull
Release date: 2019
Genre: Drama
Animation Method: Hand-Drawn 2D Animation
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Rosana Sullivan
Rated: PG
An adorable and emotional film about a kitten and a pitbull. An unlikely pair considering their demeanour. The audience finds that the kitten does not like company at all until it finds itself trapped in a six-pack ring and saved by the pitbull, who had been wanting to play with the kitten.
The kitty softens up to the pitbull when it discovers that it has been hurt by its owner. Determined to keep it safe from harm, the kitten helps the pitbull escape and finds freedom in the streets and eventually a new home.
Despite being a short silent animated film, the expressions and gritty atmosphere of the kitten and the streets reflect the gloomy circumstances that the strays are in. When it progresses, the animation becomes brighter and more vibrant.
A sweet, animated film for a quick feel-good feeling. Stemming from Rosana Sullivan’s enjoyment of watching cat videos, Kitbull evolved the simple idea of a sketched-out black cat into a deep and meaningful animation.
TESSR to Manage Your Animation Projects
All of this amazing animation has one thing in common: a well-thought-out organisation to execute the project. While we may not know what tool they use to execute their plan, we highly recommend TESSR for the very fact that we can help you start out!
Here are some beneficial features for your next animation projects:
TESSR Insights
TESSR Insights helps everyone on your team to be able to see each other’s workload and performance. It enables both leaders and team members to support each other using real-time data.
While there is a fear of micromanagement, this feature actually prevents that. With a transparent view of everyone's tasks, you will know everyone’s capacity and prevent overworking the team.
TESSR Scene Hub
A useful feature for visual projects, as Scene Hub allows you to track, review, manage, and update scene or visual progress in a single pop-up window. The Scene Hub can help you stay organised and focused and work efficiently with real-time updates. So, you will be able to make informed decisions with accurate data on your progress.
TESSR Woohoo
TESSR Woohoo is a tool where you can track how much the project has progressed according to the module’s calculated weighted completion percentage. This assists both leaders and team members in knowing what to prioritise when fulfilling their tasks and when they track the progress of their project.
Conclusion
Silent animated movies represent the origins of the medium, and remarkably, this classic form still endures. Though no longer as widely popular or universal as it once was, it remains timeless rather than outdated. Moreover, some creators are still dedicated to preserving and evolving the art of silent animation even today.
Author Bio
From Malaysia, Leia Emeera is a writer at TESSR and a published author. She has been putting pen to paper ever since she learned how to, and has an anthology to her name, titled 'Ten'. Leia loves music, games and her beloved labrador retriever, George. She aims to further her studies in English Literature and Creative Writing the moment her gap year ends. 'Till then, you will find her sitting behind a desk, writing with TESSR.
Connect with her on LinkedIn: Leia Emeera
With a background in Arts English, Adilla has been a casual writer for various hobbies like parodies of animated shows and plots for board games. She loves to read anything and everything from fantasy stories to articles on tips and tricks. Now an advocate for mental health and effective project management for the creative industry. Currently, Adilla resides in Malaysia and is a creative writer at TESSR. To know more about her, check out her LinkedIn.