Romance and animation often go hand-in-hand in movies. Ever since Snow White was kissed awake by the prince, a slew of animated films showcase love in all its splendor.
We at Disc Dish considered a lot of great animated movies for the new list in our 14 Days of Romance Valentine’s Day countdown. How romantic is it that the prince falls in love with a voice in The Little Mermaid? And what about a date that swishes the couple high in the night sky on a flying carpet for the best view of fireworks from Aladdin?
Ultimately, though, we chose the films below for our Most Romantic Animated Movies. Let us know if you agree.
3. Shrek
Love with an ogre? After watching Shrek, it’s not so unrealistic. This 2001 movie is stuffed full of love, even if dear Shrek is a little slow on the uptake. Afterall, how often is a princess wooed with a blown-up bull frog for a balloon, or the offer to make her swamp toad soup for dinner? How can we resist? But the romance doesn’t stop there? Princess Fiona turns into an ogre for true love. And what about Donkey and Dragon?
Available on DVD and Blu-ray in the Shrek: The Whole Story Gift Set from DreamWorks Animation/Paramount Home Entertainment
2. WALL-E
A lot of movies from Pixar Animation Studios could have made this list — The Incredibles and Up among them — but we’re going with 2008’s WALL-E as the most romantic movie ever manufactured by the world’s foremost computer animation outlet. You wouldn’t initially expect to find romance in a film in which the title character (that’s Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth Class, in case you were wondering) is a squat robot whose sole mission is to clean up all the garbage humankind has dumped on the planet as the culpable population lazily lives in orbiting luxury spaceships overhead. But when a sleek, advanced lady robot named EVE (er, that’s Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) arrives to search for signs of life on Earth, it’s love at first radar sweep for lonely WALL-E. Subsequent adventures and mutal feelings for each other ensue, but only after the dialogue-free first half of the film, a purely visual and audio piece of cinema that details how the heartwarming robotic romance with nary a word.
Available on DVD and Blu-ray from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
This classic story of a beautiful young woman taming the beast through true love is pure romance, and Disney’s Oscar-winning 1991 animated movie is the epitome of romantic. Afterall, the beast puts his life on the line for Beauty, and she sees past his gruff exterior to his warm heart within. But what really takes the romantic cake is, of course, that scene where the lovers dance through the hall… just wonderful. And when a kiss, like in Snow White, saves the day, it’s love.
Available on DVD and Blu-ray from Disney
Honorable Mention
Some may call it puppy love, but we consider the 1955 Disney classic Lady and the Tramp a romance that follows the time honored tradition of a love story between a gal and a guy from two different worlds that make a go of it nonetheless. Lady is a well-kept cocker spaniel living a lovely life with her owners in Connecticut; Tramp is a street-wise stray mutt — can the two possibly find happiness together? It’s a Disney film, so you bet they can, Siamese cats, dog catchers and a nasty rat, notwithstanding! The spaghetti-eating scene between the smitten stray and the oh-so-cute Cocker is justifiably famous, if only for all the kids (of all ages!) it has inspired to do the same with their own honeys.
Available on DVD from Disney but hard to find
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