Attaining the status of 100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes is an impressive accomplishment, and one that very few animated movies have ever obtained. Rotten Tomatoes is one of the best websites for movie reviews and ratings as it aggregates ratings from numerous other critics and fans alike. With all of this data, RT then calculates Freshness scores to determine how good or bad a film is. However, it’s not a straight forward 0% to 100% ranking.

The scores for both audience and critic rankings are calculated by gathering all the reviews, which can include star ratings out of four or five stars, some sites choose to assign a score out of 10, and others get even more refined with decimal place scores. However, RT takes this information and creates a percentage score based on how many of the total reviews were positive, or, scored a film over 50% of their total scoring system. As a result, it’s incredibly difficult for a movie to get a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, because that means every critic who reviewed it scored it positively.

6

Pinocchio

In 1940, Walt Disney Studios was asserting its dominance as an entertainment juggernaut. The studio had pulled together to create the incredible Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, and just 3 years later, they released another two incredible animated movies, Pinocchio, and Fantasia. Disney was drawing inspiration from popular children’s fairytales, and with the success of their first film, it appeared to pay off. Despite these films having been released the better part of a century ago, they continue to be a part of many children’s lives today.

Over the years, Pinocchio has been remastered and released in special editions on DVD, Blu-ray, and most recently on streaming with Disney+. With this in mind, the film has received numerous reviews in the decades since it was first released, and a total of 63 critics’ reviews are used to make up RT’s 100% Fresh score for the film. This is a remarkable achievement for any movie, but especially one that is about to mark its 85th anniversary.

It’s possible that this perfect score, which none of the other Disney Classic movies from the same era have, is due to Pinocchio’s largely inoffensive message, and the emotional story. Many of Disney’s other early films rely on messaging that is viewed as out of touch and inaccurate today, but with a movie about a small wooden boy coming to life, and a message about being kind, respectful and honest. Most people can get on board with that, and the visuals, storytelling, and emotion of the story make it a widely beloved classic.

5

Grave Of The Fireflies

The second studio which holds the privilege of having a 100% Fresh RT score on an animated picture is Studio Ghibli, the popular Japanese animation studio. In fact, Studio Ghibli has the most unique animated movies to score 100% on RT, with three of the six coming from the studio. Their first entry which received such widespread critical acclaim and earned a perfect score is an emotional war drama film from 1988 called Grave of the Fireflies.

Grave of the Fireflies depicts the harrowing story of two orphaned children struggling to survive in the late stages of World War II. The difference with Japanese animated films is that they are often created and aimed at a more mature audience rather than children. This is certainly true in the case of Grave of the Fireflies, as the film centers on heavy and emotional subject matter which is not intended for children.

However, the story hugely benefits from the animated format as it allows the story to get graphic and dark, without being immediately repulsive or overwhelming. The film has been hailed as one of the greatest war movies of all time, and it provides another perspective to the end of WWII through the lens of innocent Japanese children who were irrevocably affected by the terrible events. But Studio Ghibli was just getting started, and this is actually their least widely reviewed film to score 100%, with 46 reviews making up the score.

4

Only Yesterday

A few years later, in 1991, Studio Ghibli released Only Yesterday. However, it was not until 2016 that Only Yesterday received an American release with popular English-speaking actors re-recording the dialogue. The story follows a young woman who is tired of her repetitive and demanding life in Tokyo, and is visiting with family in the countryside. Throughout her visit, she reminisces about her youth, and imagines what life could have been like if things were different.

As with all of Studio Ghibli’s projects, it is very emotional, easy to connect with the story being told, and visually stunning. This combination is a large part of what went into getting this movie a 100% RT score with 60 reviews. The drama film again contains themes that may be too mature for young children, but regardless, the story is aimed at young adults struggling to find their way in life.

The film was also written and directed by Isao Takahata, one of the co-founders of Studio Ghibli, and the man behind Grave of the Fireflies. His ability to create penetrating stories that cut through and connect so deeply in presenting strong emotions is incredible, and a large part of why Studio Ghibli broke through international barriers to become a globally beloved studio. However, Takahata’s track record for perfect scores does not end with Only Yesterday.

3

The Tale Of Princess Kaguya

In 2013, Takahata directed and co-wrote The Tale of Princess Kaguya, which would mark the end of his directorial career ahead of his passing in 2018. With Studio Ghibli having established a reputation as an incredibly popular international studio, it could afford to invest significantly more in this project than the studio had ever spent before on one film. The film cost just shy of $50 million when it was completed (via MovieWeb).

As a result, the beautiful and unique animation earned the film critical acclaim with 98 positive reviews on RT, earning it a 100% Fresh score. In addition, the film was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Also, it inspired a feature length documentary to be created about Takahata and the making of the film, which was released in 2015.

The story was one of Takahata’s most emotional and resonating, as he depicted the life of a young girl who was restricted from making her own choices. The story is based on a Japanese fairy tale which Takahata had read and attempted to adapt prior, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. However, he felt the story would be better if told through the perspective of the girl, rather than the man cutting the bamboo, and his intuition was clearly right.

2

Toy Story

The third animation studio which appears on RT’s 100% score list is Pixar. In 1995, Pixar studios set out to create the first fully CGI animated film on behalf of Walt Disney Studios. The resulting film was the iconic Toy Story film, which went on to be made into a much larger franchise with more films slated for release in the future.

The first film scored a 100% RT score with almost as many reviews as The Tale of Princess Kaguya, at 96 total. This was also the next film associated with Disney to get such a high score, despite being released more than 50 years later. With the surge of using CGI, and Pixar’s groundbreaking animation and storytelling abilities, this marked a new era for animated films.

The first film follows Woody, a toy cowboy, and Buzz Lightyear, a toy astronaut, as they attempt to navigate life together in Andy’s room. The toys are able to talk, move, and think freely as soon as Andy or any other person is out of sight. Like Pinocchio, this setting is inoffensive and highly entertaining, which makes it a perfect candidate to score so well on RT.

1

Toy Story 2

Finally, despite Pixar, Ghibli, and Disney creating many more animated films, there is just one more movie that made the cut and earned a 100% rating. In 1999, the sequel to Walt Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story built upon the legacy of the first film. Once again, the story followed these beloved toys, and saw them getting into terrible and dangerous situations, while also adding new characters into the mix.

This expansion of the cast, along with an incredible story that naturally progressed events and saw characters like Buzz and Woody grow closer together, was a near perfect sequel. This was also confirmed by the 171 reviewers on RT who rated the film positively and contributed to the 100% Fresh score. While future installments rated highly, none since Toy Story 2 have managed to do the same.

Ultimately, these animated films excelled above and beyond the rest of their genre through emotional storytelling, exceptional animation styles, and captivating character performances from the voice actors. The stories and animation combined to at least create something that everyone who reviewed these projects praised them in some capacity, and contributed to that 100% Rotten Tomatoes score. With the last animated film to achieve this releasing in 2013, and a gap of more than 45 years between these film releases, the rarity is apparent.