If you are someone who has watched Toy Story, then you might be aware of Buzz Lightyear and his mighty adventures. He was a fan favorite in all Toy Story movies and greatly deserved a movie of his own. Lightyear is an American animated sci-fi movie about the renowned space ranger Buzz Lightyear who is stranded on an unknown planet due to a poor choice made by him and follows his adventures as he tries to find a way to reach home. The film was directed and co-written by Angus MacLane, who also wrote ‘Finding Dory.’
Buzz Lightyear is a space ranger who stops at an unknown planet to search for signs of life but ends up breaking their space-traveling vessel turnip and getting stranded crew members. He attempts to build a Hyperspace crystal with the help of his teammates so that he can return to his own planet, but while testing the crystal formula, he ends up going into the future, where his crewmates have died, and their successors are introduced to him. With the help of his new teammates, Izzy, Mo, Sox, and Darby, Buzz fights several hostile lifeforms like Zurg and travels through time, hoping to return to his home planet.
The movie is a spinoff and the fifth part of the Toy Story franchise. Buzz Lightyear was first introduced in a 200o’s movie called Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins, which was then made into a tv-series from 2000 to 2001. The film was unfortunately not a hit grossing 226 million dollars worldwide while the production budget was 200 million dollars. In case you like Lightyear and want to watch more outer space sci-fi animated movies, we have curated the best movie list for you.
1. Home (2015)
Home is a 2015 sci-fi comedy film directed by Tim Johnson. In the film, planet Earth is invaded by an alien race known as Boov, and the humans are relocated to a deserted place in Australia by Boov. Oh is a Boov who once made a mistake and has now become a fugitive. On the other hand, Tip is the only human who is left on earth and is searching for her mother, Lucy, who was lost during the relocation process. The movie follows the eventful journey of Tip and Oh as they go from enemies to friends and complete their individual missions together.
Home warmed the hearts of millions with its cute characters and hilarious lines. The film grossed 386 million dollars worldwide and received mixed criticism from people. The film follows the story of Oh, a skeptic Boov who holds a party at his home, but when nobody comes, he sends an invite to everybody on the planet, including Gorg, their longtime enemy.
Due to this, Oh is declared a fugitive by the other Boov for revealing their location to their enemy. Meanwhile, Tip is a little girl and the only human left on earth who is searching for her mother, Lucy. She goes to a grocery store to get supplies for her mission to find her mother and runs into Oh.
Oh, and Tim’s friendship had a rocky start but ended up becoming unbreakable by the end of the movie. Tip finds her mother, and Oh becomes a hero in the eyes of his fellow Boov by defeating the Gorg. Home is a fun and sweet movie that will make you smile even on your bad days. The home was voiced by Jim Parsons, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, and several others.
Where to watch: Home is streaming on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV.
2. Over The Moon (2020)
Over the moon is a 2020 animated fantasy film. It tells the story of a little girl Fei Fei is devastated due to her mother’s death and decides to build a rocket in order to meet the Moon goddess Chang’e. She goes to the moon secretly accompanied by her stepbrother Chin and meets the moon goddess. The film follows the story of Fei Fei and Chang’e as they learn to move on from their loved one’s death and accept the present with the help of each other.
The film stars the voices of Cathy Ang, Phillips Soo, Ken Jeong, and several others. Over the moon received nominations for Golden Globe Awards and the 93rd Academy Awards for Best Animated Film. It was the last film directed by Audrey Wells before she died.
Where to watch: Netflix
3. Ron’s Gone Wrong (2021)
Ron’s Gone Wrong is a fictional portrayal of today’s reality in which everybody is lonely and relies on robots or mobiles to stay afloat. The film tells the story of a guy named Barney who is unable to make any friends. His father buys him a B-Bot which is a friendly robot that every classmate of Barney owns. Even though Barney’s Both is faulty, he accepts it and names it Ron. Both Barney and Ron were living happily with each other when Barney’s former friend Rich reported the bot to its manufacturing company, Bubbles.
The rest of the movie follows Barney trying to save Ron by hiding and running away from Andrew Morris, who thinks that a broken Ron is bad for the company’s image. The film received positive criticism from the viewers and grossed 60 million dollars worldwide.
Where to watch: Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video.
4. Lilo and Stitch (2002)
Lilo and Stitch is a 2022 animated sci-fi comedy film about a girl named Lilo and an extraterrestrial being named 626. It follows their adventures as 626 escapes his planet to avoid being imprisoned and ends up imitating a dog and being adopted by Lilo. The film was a great success and was made into a franchise. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, the film was the 42nd animated feature in Disney Animated Canon.
The movie starts with a doctor named Jumba Joobika being arrested and put on trial for his illegal genetic experiments. 626 is the result of Dr. Jumba’s experiment. His intelligence and strength are unmatchable, and after Dr. Jumba gets arrested, he sneaks into a spaceship and accidentally lands on a Hawaiian island called Kauai on Earth. 626 is then found unconscious by a pet shop owner who thinks he is a dog.
Then we are introduced to a little girl named Lilo who is always getting picked on by her Hula friends and has no friends. One day, Lilo’s sister tells her that they are going to adopt a dog so that Lilo has someone to talk to and play with. The dog turns out to be experiment 626, which is not an actual dog but acts like one and is named ‘stitch’ by Lilo.
The rest of the movie follows Stitch and Lilo as they become best of friends as people from Stitch’s planet try to capture him. Lilo and Stitch is a hilarious portrayal of a girl and an alien who stumble upon each other one day and end up becoming a family.
Where to watch: Lilo and Stitch are available to stream in Disney plus and Amazon Prime video.
5. Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood (2022)
Apollo 10 1/2 is an adult animated drama film released on March 2022. This film is like a dream come true for every kid that dreams of growing up and going into space after growing up. Apollo 10 1/2 tells the adventure of a man who was given the opportunity to travel in space and land on the moon when he was a 10-year-old boy. He told the story from two different perspectives and made the audience feel nostalgic about what it felt like to be an excited kid back in 1969.
Apollo 10 1/2, starring Jack Black and Glen Powell, was first released in theatres in March 2022 but later was made available to stream on Netflix in April 2022 because it received a lot of positive reviews from its audience. The viewers said they liked the film because of its visuals, writing, and nostalgic feeling.
Where to watch: Netflix
6. Treasure Planet (2002)
Treasure Planet is a 2002 action-adventure animated film and the 43rd featured film by Disney Animated Canon. The film follows the adventure of a boy named Jim Hawkins, who dreams of living a life full of adventure and traveling to other planets. When Jim was little, he used to read books about the treasure planet, and when he grew up, he found out that the planet does exist. So, a determined Jim takes off to find the treasure hidden in the treasure planet with his teammates while fighting off pirates who are also looking for the treasure.
Treasure Planet was said to be the biggest box office loss due to several other movies like Ice Age, Harry Potter, and the Chamber of Secrets, Die another day being released simultaneously. Still, the movie had a lot of positive reviews from viewers and had a lot of fans. The film was also nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Academy awards.
Where to watch: Treasure planet is available to stream in Disney plus and Amazon Prime video.
7. Meet the Robinsons (2007)
Meet the Robinsons is an American sci-fi comedy film that was released in March 2007. The movie follows the story of Lewis, an orphaned boy trying to build a time machine so that he can travel back in time and meet his mother, and Wilbur Robinson, a time traveler searching for Lewis so that he can save Lewis and stop his future from changing.
The film received mixed criticism from the viewers and generated 169.3 million dollars against a budget of 150 million dollars. The movie includes a lot of time traveling and various timelines. So, if you are someone looking for a nice and fun time-traveling animated film, then Meet The Robinsons is the right choice.
Where to watch: Meet the Robinsons is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video and Disney plus.
8. Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001)
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius is a comedy, sci-fi movie produced by Nickelodeon in 2001. The script of the film was created by Davis in 1980, but it was decided to be made into a feature film in 2001. The film tells the story of a 10-year-old boy named Jimmy, who is a genius. He is often inventing different gadgets and thinks about living life on his own. But when some aliens called Yolkians kidnap all the parents of planet earth, jimmy finds out that life is not so fun anymore. So, he decides to save his parents from the aliens and braces himself for an adventure.
The film produced by John A. Davis was loved by people all over the world for its fun characters, humor, and wit. It was a huge success grossing 103 million dollars worldwide against a budget of 30 million dollars. Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius was also nominated for Best Animated Feature in the Academy Awards and was made into a Tv series called The Adventure of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius in 2002.
Where to watch: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius is streaming on Prime Video, HBO Max, and Apple TV
9. Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
Atlantis: The Lost Empire is an animated sci-fi film by Walt Disney Animation. The film tells the story of a little boy Milo Thatch wants to become an adventurer like his late grandfather and dreams about discovering the lost continent of Atlantis. So, when he finds a book that turns out to be a map of the lost continent of Atlantis, he joins a group of courageous adventurers on an expedition to find Atlantis. The cast includes Michael J. Fox, Don Novello, Cree Summer, and others. A sequel of the film was also created in 2003 called Atlantis: Milo’s return.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Disney plus, Apple TV
10. The Iron Giant (1999)
The Iron Giant is a famous animated sci-fi film based on a novel called ‘the Iron Man by Ted Hughes. It stars Vin Diesel, Jennifer Anniston, Harry Connick Jr., and others. The film tells the story of a giant alien who looks like a robot and a young boy named Hogarth Hughes as they meet one day in a forest near a small town called Rockwell and form an unlikely friendship. Kent Mansley is a government official who hears about the Giant and wants to get rid of it because he thinks it’s dangerous. So Hogarth and his friend work together to save the innocent alien from Kent.
The Iron Giant did not succeed much, to the members of the film’s dismay but was still nominated for 15 Annie Awards, out of which, It won nine. The film was deemed the greatest animated film ever by several critics and received a lot of positive criticism.
Where to buy: Vudu, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV
11. Wall- E (2008)
Wall- E is a sci-fi movie directed by Andrew Stanton and produced by Pixar Animation Studios in June 2008. The film follows the story of a robot named Wall- E who is left on planet Earth after it becomes uninhabitable for humans while the humans are living in space inside a giant spaceship called Axiom. He then meets another robot named Eve, which is sent by Axiom and falls in love with her. When Eve is taken back to Axiom, Wall-E follows her and tells the people there about the seedling that he found on earth, which could save the planet.
The film was a major success as it grossed 521.3 million dollars worldwide with a budget of 120 million dollars. The characters of the film did not have a lot of dialogue and communicated through body language. The film received several awards, including the Golden Globe award for Best Animated Feature film, and was declared the best film of 2008 and best film of the decade by critics.
Where to watch: Disney, Amazon Prime Video.
12. Planet 51 (2009)
Planet 51, originally known as Planer One, is an American sci-fi film released in June 2009 by Sony Pictures. The film follows the story of an astronaut captain named Charles ‘Chuck’ Baker as he finds himself stranded on a planet that he thought was uninhabitable but turns out to be the opposite. Planet 51 follows the adventure of Chuck and an alien, Lem, who fixes Chuck’s spacecraft for him so that he can go back to his planet.
The film starring Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, Justin Long, and others, was said to be the most expensive film produced in Spain, with a budget of 70 million dollars. It grossed 105.3 million dollars worldwide but received a lot of negative reviews. Still, the movie received a Goya Award for Best Feature Film because of its humorous characters and fun dialogues.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV
13. Titan A.E. (2000)
Titan A.E. is a sci-fi film released in June 2000 by 20th Century Fox. The film starring Matt Damon, Drew Barrymore, and Bill Pullman, is the story of a boy named Cale who is left alone on earth by his father after an alien invasion occurs in the distant future. The surviving humans had fled on a spaceship called Titan, and the aliens known as Drej ruled the planet earth. But Titan is out of power is the human race is in danger, so Cale takes it upon himself to save Titan and, ultimately, the human race by defying Drej.
The film was directed by Gary Goldman and Don Bluth and received mixed criticism from its viewers because the storyline seemed too familiar to other sci-fi movies and thus was not able to succeed. The title of the movie Titan refers to the spaceship which was used to save the human race, and A.E. refers to After Earth.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Vudu
14. Buzz Lightyear Of Star Command: The Adventure Begins (2000)
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins is an animated adventure film released in 2000 as a spinoff of the Toy Story franchise. The film was later used to produce a television series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command in 2001 and a film called Lightyear in 2022. The movie tells the story of Buzz Lightyear grieves over the loss of his partner during a project and doesn’t want another partner assigned to him but get’s one anyway, courtesy of his Commander Nebula.
The film follows Buzz’s adventure as he tries to save his race by stopping his longtime enemy Zurg from stealing his Uni mind along with his newly assigned partner Princess Mira Nova. The film is set after the events followed in Toy Story 2 and was nominated for two Video Premier awards.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video.
15. Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Monsters, Inc is a 2001 animated comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios. It follows the story of two monsters named James ‘Sulley’ Sullivan and Mike Wazowski of Monstropolis, who work at Monsters Inc., a company that produces energy from the screams of humans. The monsters of Monstropolis believe that human beings are toxic to them and thus stay away from them. But a little girl escapes her room when Sulley goes to scare her and enters Monstropolis, leaving Sulley and other monsters scared.
The rest of the film follows Sullivan and Mike as they try to send the young girl back to her home before she is left out forever. The film was a mega hit grossing 577.4 million dollars against a production budget of 115 million dollars. Monsters, Inc. was nominated for several Academy Awards and was the third highest-grossing film of 2001. The film also got a sequel in 2013 called Monsters University.
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video, Disney plus.
16. Mars Needs Moms (2011)
Mars needs moms is a 2011 animated sci-fi film released by Walt Disney Pictures. It tells the tale of a young boy named Milo who doesn’t like doing chores and fights with his mom. Meanwhile, Martians abduct Milo’s mom to extract her ‘mom-ness’ and insert it in their bots. By the end of the movie, Milo realizes the importance of family and apologizes to his mom for his behavior, and the Martians also decide that their babies need love and care but not from bots.
The film is based on a book of the same name by Berkeley Breathed. Although the storyline was good, the movie didn’t receive a lot of good reviews and caused a major loss to the movie makers. The cast of the film includes Seth Green, Dan Fogler, Elizabeth Harnois, and others.
Where to watch: Disney plus, Amazon Video
17. Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (2011)
Green Lantern: Emerald Knights is an animated superhero film released in 2011. It tells the story of the Green Lantern Corps, who are the protectors of the universe when an alien named Krona threatens to invade their Galaxy. The Guardians of the universe and Green Lanterns must work together to defeat them, but a new green lantern member doesn’t believe in herself to be able to fight the aliens.
The movie follows the veteran Green Lantern Hal Jordan as he teaches the newest green Lantern, Arisia, about various members of the team that came before her and became legends. The film stars the voices of Eddie Berganza, Alan Burnett, Todd Casey, and others. The film received mostly positive reviews from its viewers
Where to watch: HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV
18. The Transformers: The movie (1986)
The Transformers: the movie is a 1986 animated sci-fi movie established from the ‘transformers television series. If you are someone who used to watch transformers on television as a little kid, then you are going to enjoy watching this animated film. The film cast includes Eric Idle, Leonard Nimoy, Judd Nelson, Robert Stack, and others.
The movie begins 20 years after the second season of the tv series. Optimus Prime is severely injured due to a duel against Megatron but saves the Autobots. Meanwhile, Unicron, a live planet that likes to consume other worlds, offers an injured Megatron a new body in exchange for the Matrix. Prime hands over the Matrix of leadership to Ultra Magnus, who uses it to destroy Unicron, but things don’t go his way. At the movie’s end, Hot Rod uses the Matrix and becomes the new leader of Autobot city while killing Unicron and his accomplices.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Vudu, Apple TV
19. Tom And Jerry: Blast Off To Mars (2005)
Tom and Jerry: Blast off to Mars is an animated comedy adventure film produced by Tom Minton. This film follows our favorite chaotic duo, Tom and Jerry, being their usual self and running after one another till they accidentally board a spacecraft going to Mars and meet the Martians. On Mars, Tom and Jerry find out that the Martians are planning on invading planet earth. So, they work together along with a female Martian named peep to stop the alien attack and maintain the peace on earth.
At the movie’s end, we see a robot being controlled by Spike, the dog, and chasing a scared-looking Tom as revenge. The film was released in January 2005 along with another Tom and Jerry film called Tom and Jerry: the fast and the Furry.
Where to watch: Prime Video, Vudu
20. Fly Me To The Moon (2007)
Fly Me to the moon is an animated comedy take on the Apollo 11 mission when humans were able to land on the moon for the first time in 1969. The film tells the story of three flies named Nat, I.Q., and Scooter as they get inside Apollo 11 alongside Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins and become the first flies to step foot on the moon. It also tells about how the soviet union tried to derail Apollo 11’s landing on earth, but thankfully, they failed to do so. Nat and his friends landed on earth as heroes.
The movie successfully portrays the difficulties that took place during the mission in a fictional way. Although the film was humorous and informative at the same time, it was said to be a disappointment since it couldn’t collect enough amount of money.
Where to watch: YouTube, Amazon Prime Video.
21. Battle For Terra (2007)
Centuries ago, humans terraformed Venus and Mars to use them for growing natural resources. Two centuries later, both planets want to be freed from earth, but humans don’t want that. This caused a war between the three planets resulting in them all becoming uninhabitable. The remaining humans board a spaceship called the Arc, and they search for another planet to inhabit. Terra is an Earth-like planet where an alien race lives in peace, but their peace is disturbed when they realize that humans are trying to infiltrate their planet to make it their own.
The rest of the film follows Mala, Senn, and Jim as they fight against human and their technology to save Terra and the aliens residing in it. Battle for Terra stars Evan Rachel Wood, Brian Cox, Chris Evans, James Graner, and others. It won a grand prize for Best Animated Feature in the Ottawa Animation Film Festival.
Where to watch: Vudu, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV
22. Galaxy Express 999 (1979)
Galaxy Express 999 is a Japanese anime movie produced from the manga series of the same name. It tells the story of a poor boy named Tetsuro Hoshino who wants nothing more than to get eternal life by changing his body to a mechanized robotic one, but that body is expensive. Tetsuro finds out that the only way to gain eternal life for free is if he travels the Galaxy Express till the end, so he starts looking for ways to get the pass of Galaxy Express 999.
The rest of the film follows Testuro and a woman named Maetel, who looks like his mother, as they travel through planets to avenge his mother and achieve what he has always dreamed of. Galaxy Express was the highest-grossing film in Japan and received a lot of positive criticism. The film also had a sequel named Adeiu Galaxy Express 999 in 1981.
Where to watch: Netflix
23. The Mitchells Vs. The Machines (2021)
The Mitchells Vs. The Machines is an animated sci-fi comedy film. It tells the story of Katie and her family called, the Mitchells, as they decide to go on a road trip to bond with each other while a bonkers A.I. robot, PAL, is trying to capture humans and launch them into space to take revenge on her creator Mark for abandoning her. The Mitchells decide to save the humans by stopping PAL with the help of two faulty robots, Eric and Deborahbot 5000.
The rest of the film follows the Mitchells as they try to kill PAL and learn the importance of family. The Mitchells Vs. The Machines is a fun and comedy film that was nominated for several Academy Awards and Annie Awards. With positive reviews from the viewers, the film was released on Netflix in April 2021.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Netflix.
24. Toy Story (1995)
Toy Story is the first film in the Toy Story franchise. The film tells the story of a cowboy doll named Woody who thinks he is his human, Andy’s favorite toy but feels jealous when Andy gets a Buzz Lightyear action figure as his birthday present who thinks he is a real spaceman and has to return to his home planet. When Andy and his family decide to move into a new house, Woody and Buzz are accidentally left behind and try to find their way back to Andy while being abducted by their notorious neighbor Sid Philips who likes to blow things up.
The film stars the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Eric Von Detton, and others. Toy Story was a major success grossing 363 million dollars worldwide with a production budget of 30 million dollars and also received several Academy Awards nominations. Toy Story has three other parts, two spinoffs called Lightyear, released in 2022, and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The adventure begins. A fifth Toy Story movie might also be coming soon.
Where to watch: Disney Plus, Amazon Prime video.
25. Luca (2021)
Luca tells the story of a monster child Luca Paguro who finds out that monsters can turn into humans when they are dry. One day, Luca finds a fellow monster named Alberto Scorfano, who lives on the land alone in his human form, and befriends him. Luca and Alberto dream of owning a Vespa and traveling around the world, and making this dream come true; Luca decides to take part in a triathlon whose winner will get a Vespa.
The rest of the film follows Luca as he lives as a human alongside Alberto and a girl named Giulia and takes part in a triathlon while risking the revelation of his identity. The film was nominated for Academy Awards and Golden Globe awards and received positive praise from its viewers.
Where to watch: Disney Plus.
26. Mr. Peabody and Sherman (2014)
Mr.Peabody and Sherman is an animated Sci-fi film produced by DreamWorks Animation and 20th Century Fox. It tells the story of a dog named Mr.Peabody who possesses human abilities like his intelligence and ability to talk. He adopts a human boy and names him Sherman. Mr.Peabody teaches Sherman about human history by traveling back in time using the time machine called the WABAC machine that he invented.
The rest of the film follows Mr.Peabody, Sherman, and his classmate Penny’s adventures as they travel back in time and accidentally create a whole in time which results in chaos in the present time. The film gained a lot of positive reviews from its viewers because of its fun, witty and humorous characters and lines. The film was made into a Tv series in 2015 and was released on Netflix.
Where to watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video.
27. E.T. (1982)
E.T., which stands for Extraterrestrial, is the story of an alien who is left on earth by his kind. The alien one day meets a boy named Elliot and befriends him. The extraterrestrial, or E.T., shows his healing powers to Elliot and his siblings by healing a cut on Elliot’s finger and creating a bond between them in the process. The bond causes Elliot to feel whatever E.T. is feeling, and when E.T. starts dying, so does Elliot.
The film based on Steven Spielberg’s imagination is said to be the highest-grossing movie of all time for 11 years before another one of his movies beats E.T. It received all positive reviews from critics and was called the greatest movie ever. E.T. received several Academy Awards and two Golden Globe awards for its brilliant storyline and visuals.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV
28. Monsters Vs. Aliens (2009)
Monsters Vs. Aliens follow the story of a girl named Susan who turns into a 50-foot-tall giant due to being hit by a meteorite. She is captured and held by the U.S. military, who tells her that she is being partnered with other misfit monsters and is sent on a mission to rescue the planet from an alien invasion.
The film follows Susan, who is later named Ginormica, as she grieves being different and then learns to accept it while befriending other misfit monsters. The film was successful enough, grossing 381 million dollars worldwide, to start a franchise.
