If you look closely at the standout animated features of the year— Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse , The Boy and the Heron , Elemental , Nimona , and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem —you see a medium that has stopped asking for permission to be taken seriously and simply demanded it. In 2023, animation was not about escaping reality; it was about surviving it.
(Studio Ghibli)