Top 37 Animated Films with Female Protagonists (2023)

Another update on an old list - a list of one of my favourite subjects: animation with female protagonists!

These are my new personal fave animated movies where women and girls rule. The list counts down in the order of enjoyment, with number one being my absolute favourite of all time.

Rules: No sequels, unless it is a sequel to a film which has a predominant male protagonist; the film applies if the female protag is working equally alongside a male protag (as in, they both clearly, unequivocally count as joint protagonists, or if the female character has a little more screentime and development, and more of an arc, than her male counterpart); and I will only write side commentary if I have anything new and relevant to add to the film.

The link to my Top 25 Animated Films with Female Protagonists post from four years ago (you can bet a lot has changed since then!) is in Part 1 and Part 2, for more info.

Right, here I go!

37. Any animated film with a female protag from 2023

Ha! Sorry. Cheating with a current placeholder here, for a film that hasn't come out yet. I'm saving a potential spot for either Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken, Wish, or Nimona. It could go to any one of them, or others I haven't yet heard of.

[November 2023 EDIT: Now that I have seen the three films above, I have to give Nimona the spot on here, despite how technically Nimona herself is not the protagonist. Genderqueer/genderfluid/LBGTQ+ rep FTW, though. Ruby Gillman counts as an honourable mention.

2024 EDIT: Oh to heck with it: Elemental counts as well. Love that film, and wish I'd seen it sooner.

So, with the three films mentioned in the above two paragraphs, plus one more, this could really be a Top 40 Animated Films with Female Protagonists list. Let's see if I can find another film worthy to be on it. Hooray for more numbers!

2024 REEDIT: Aaaaannnnd I've just discovered A Greyhound of a Girl (2023), and I love that, too. So, that's 40 Animated Films with Female Protagonists! I should redo this list in another post 😄😅😆🤣]

Starting the list proper now!

36. Any Barbie movie.

Cheating again, I know. But any of them could truly count. Some are actually pretty good. Though my personal favourites are Barbie in the Nutcracker, Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus, Barbie and the Three Musketeers, Barbie & the Diamond Castle, Barbie: Star Light Adventure, Barbie and the Secret Door, and Barbie: Princess Charm School. Girl power!

(Can't wait for Greta Gerwig's live-action Barbie movie, too.)

35. Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs (2019)

I've said some negative stuff about this film in the past. But I've looked into it again, and little, niggling things in the writing aside, it is actually rather good. Fun and colourful, and a well done fairy tale subversion. It is also very rewatchable, and a great comfort film. It sure cheered me up a bit.

I just wish there was a Snow White adaptation/retelling where she has female friends, you know?

34. Sita Sings the Blues (2008)

33. The Cat Returns (2002)

32. Tangled (2010)

31. Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

30. Belle (2021)

29. Finding Dory (2016)

28. Wolf Children (2012)

27. Whisper of the Heart (1995)

26. My Neighbour Totoro (1988)

25. The Princess and the Frog (2009)

24. Anastasia (1997)

23. Cinderella (1950)

22. The Secret of NIMH (1982)

21. Frozen (2013)

20. Alice in Wonderland (1951)

19. Mulan (1998)

18. Sleeping Beauty (1959)

17. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

16. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013)

15. Wolfwalkers (2020)

14. Persepolis (2007)

13. Turning Red (2022)

12. Moana (2016)

11. Coraline (2009)

10. The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)

9. When Marnie Was There (2014)

8. Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)

7. Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

6. The Breadwinner (2017)

5. Chicken Run (2000)

(I'm not yet convinced that those making the sequel this year don't deserve to go to hell. Why does everything have to have a sequel these days!? Leave the classics alone!!!!!!)

4. Brave (2012)

3. Millennium Actress (2001)

2. Beauty and the Beast (1991)

1. Inside Out (2015)

No changes or surprises there LOL. My favourite film ever.

I have no high hopes for the sequel coming in 2024.

And that's all folks! Folks of all genders, I mean.

Enjoy your day, and your life. Live fully, calmly, and happily. Show compassion, care and love whenever and wherever you can, to yourself and others. Practice self-care.

Graphic Novel Review - 'Batgirls Vol. 2: Bat Girl Summer' by Becky Cloonan (Writer), Michael W. Conrad (Writer), Neil Googe (Artist), Robbi Rodriguez (Artist), Rico Renzi (Colourist)

A vast improvement over the first 'Batgirls' volume in terms of pacing, exposition delivery, natural and less clunky dialogue, and just a lighter, breezier execution to the action and mystery superheroine adventures of Barbara "Babs" Gordon, Stephanie "Steph" Brown, and Cassandra "Cass" Cain in Gotham.

'Batgirls Vol. 2' is gritty and gruesome, but not too much, and there are plenty of cute and colourful moments. Even the various cartoony artwork is easier on the eyes this time. There remains a strong emphasis on sisterly love and female friendship, and while the storyline does include a main hetero romance (and it's not the only one), it's Babs/Batgirl and Dick Grayson/Nightwing, so I'm not complaining. They're adorable together.

Do I ship Babs and Dick, or Starfire and Dick? I really don't mind.

'Batgirls Vol. 2' picks up and resolves most of the plot threads that the previous volume seemingly forgot about. It's still far from perfect; still messy, with discarded new side characters and other plot threads and details left up in the air for future issues. The resolution to the serial killer mystery plot driving everything ends up being underwhelming, too. Also, is there any point and significance to the summer setting? Other than having characters complain about the heat, make bad puns, and eat ice cream? But it's an enjoyable comic all the same.

One side character who isn't sidelined and forgotten about carelessly is Alysia Yeoh! Babs's bestie! I've missed her! Trans rep FTW! (Steph and Cass are a clear bestie pair, too.) Plus reporter and crime podcaster Grace O'Halloran is a major key player in the second volume, as is Commissioner Renee Montoya. And remember Seer, the anti-Oracle? While she only appears in the first two issues, she's an important part in the Batgirls' new lives, for sure.

The girl power is strong in this book, and none of the women have any powers! Them and a cute, smart, precocious, useful little girl called Maps, and a sword-swallowing henchwoman called Lulu Laroux.

And spoilers but I don't care: Killer Moth is in this. So is the Penguin, but he's a sidelined cameo, sadly.

Adorable, funny, dark, violent and action-packed, with bright colours unperturbed by the aforementioned serial killer mystery plot. 'Batgirls Vol. 2: Bat Girl Summer' is a good continuation of the Gotham girls' current storyline.

It's a shame that Batwoman isn't actually in it, though, despite what the comical covers show. Nor is Black Canary present. Or Catwoman.

As of writing, I am interested in checking out only a couple of DC comics: Josie Campbell's 'The New Champion of Shazam!' and G. Willow Wilson's 'Poison Ivy' run. More women power! Two series left, then I may be truly done with the company for good. Wish me luck.

Final Score: 3.5/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'The Moth Keeper' by K. O'Neill

No surprise, it is another cosmically, celestially beautiful fantasy graphic novel by K. O'Neill.

There is a moon, and moths; specifically, enchanted Moon-Moths. And a Moon-Spirit/goddess. And lanterns on sticks for Moon-Moths, who pollinate a magic tree with purple flowers called a Night-Flower once a year. Squee! This is an ideal aesthetic I never knew I possessed and preferred! There is a desert, which contains villages divided by light/day and dark/night. The themes of loneliness, isolation, low self-esteem and depression are simply yet no less wonderfully conveyed through this setting.

Currently I cannot think of any place lonelier, and more existentialist, than a big, wide, seemingly empty, uninhabited and endless desert; during the hot, suffocating and unbearable day, but especially during the dark, ceaseless night. Only the moon and stars may be there to keep one company, and it is just as easy to get lost in them and their "comfort" - their fickle, temporary, cyclical comfort - than in total darkness, alone and scared.

But fear not, for 'The Moth Keeper', as literally dark as it mostly is, is an all-ages story about hope, love, support, and overcoming loneliness and the shadows of our past. K. O'Neill is known for many things as an artist and writer - such as their LBGTQ+ inclusion, and not using villains in their coming-of-age, coming-to-light-from-grief-and-hardships stories - and one of them is that they never talk down to their audience. A lot of pages in 'The Moth Keeper' don't have dialogue at all; the art in the settings and characters' expressions tell us everything we need to know. K. O'Neill is a passionate, crafty storyteller.

Plus the characters are anthropomorphic animal people, like in 'The Tea Dragon' trilogy. So this light/dark desert fantasy world is adorable, too. Some people have animal ears and tails, some just have pointy elf ears, and some are human-sized animals with clothes on, like Madame Jaellara the story collector owl woman (story collecting, and "building your own library", à la 'The One Hundred Nights of Hero' and 'The Magic Fish', is another theme I love!). Funnily enough, the whole book makes me think of what a fantasy franchise in the 'Arthur' animated series might look like.

I adore the titular Moth Keeper, the young Anya, who is newly chosen for the role, and is struggling to put on a serious, cool and aloof front, when really, she is unsure of herself. She is desperately lonely in her duties, which she has convinced herself is right for her, as she'll be useful to everyone in her found family and home as the vitally important Moth Keeper. Her insecurities and lack of self-worth will reach a breaking point, sooner or later, in the unpredictable, mysterious desert. She, who is supposed to be the light for others against the darkness, may become as lost, and as tempted by the moon and the stars, and other warm light sources, as the Moon-Moths she has vowed to protect...

Anya's relationship with her only friend her own age, the even younger-seeming Estell, is lovely and charming. Estell is a crippled healer in training, and an optimist. She cares deeply for Anya and always works hard to look out for her, and the rest of her village. Estell's kind, selfless, caring nature is admirable, though a bit too much for such a small body. Self-care is important, as well! Both girls are determined in her own special way.

There are two elder characters who look after Anya and Estell: the former Moth Keeper and mentor Yeolen, and the healer and apothecary mentor Aimoss. They are a couple. They are just like Hesekiel and Erik from 'The Tea Dragon' series, and it is a warm, comforting, wholesome thing to add to the warm, comforting, wholesome graphic novel.

'The Moth Keeper' isn't quite as memorable as O'Neill's other works, and bizarrely there doesn't appear to be any nonbinary representation (Anya the protagonist could have fit the bill, with pronouns other than she/her, or have been genderqueer, easily). But it is still strongly K. O'Neill, so of course I recommend it. Not everything is resolved at the end, and that's okay. The book - the winsome, wistful fantasy - is about getting lost, and being found again, and how having others to love you, support you, and guide you through anything life throws at you is always a light to the darkness, both internally and externally.

No one has to be alone.



'In time, other folks who were enchanted by the stories of life beneath the stars came from across the land to join the nocturnal community.

From that night on, the folks of the desert were entrusted with the care and protection of the Moon-Moths.'


'We all have days when we can't quite remember the ratio of things. Or times when we feel unsure of our skill.

No matter how long you study, knowing when to ask for help is a form of wisdom.'


'If you look through the eyes of the stars, I'm really nothing more than a Moth myself...

If my lantern went out now...would I even exist anymore?'


'My lantern is only a tiny speck in this vast, cold desert.

But out here, I can be alone with my thoughts...free to imagine how it might feel to live beneath the sun.'


'How would life feel if I didn't have to always hold on tight against the darkness?

Who would I be if I could live in the light?'


'If I can't do the job I promised I would do, what good am I to anyone?'


'Sometimes when a plant is hurt, it grows even stronger.'



Final Score: 4.5/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation' by Ari Folman (Adaptor), David Polonsky (Artist), Anne Frank (Writer)

A beautiful adaptation of one of the most important books ever.

I had my reservations about reading a graphic novel adaptation of Anne Frank's diary (how could that even be done?), but I had just recently seen Ari Folman's animated film, 'Where Is Anne Frank', and I wanted to look up his other work, which happened to include 'Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation', published a few years earlier. I'm pleased that they have a similar drawing style.

Like the film, this was conceived and executed tastefully and respectfully, managing to capture the spirit of young Anne's mind, heart, life, humanity, whole person, introspections, history, and time in WWII.

Talk about art imitating life.

The artwork is lovely, soft, expressive and suitable. The style and format are wonderful and creative.

As it turns out, the world's most famous diary can be told this way; 149 pages is just enough.

'Anne Frank's Diary (The Diary of a Young Girl)' - Always heartbreaking, always touching.

Always to be remembered, no matter what.

Read my review of the original diary for more.

Final Score: 4.5/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Neverlanders' by Tom Taylor (Writer), Jon Sommariva (Artist)

Wow. What a fresh, colourful, action-packed, dynamic, magical, and heartfelt comic! I'm surprised I'd never heard of it until the day I happened to see it on the very small comics shelf in the children's section in my local bookshop - this deserves to be a universal, well known success!

'Neverlanders' reimagines and expands on the classic 'Peter Pan' story, and subverts many expectations. How it crafts its twists and characters - and its twists on the characters and the 'Pan' elements - is awesome and awe-inspiring. Because of its violence and light swearing - and swearing that's censored, via Tinker Bell - I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to children. Maybe twelve years and older.

'Neverlanders' contains some great, wonderful and unforgettable characters, like the "lost ones" on earth, who are big city homeless kids in a found family, initially living in a junkyard before being magicked away to Neverland by a Lost Boy to fight in a war (yup). My absolute favourite has to be Bee, the "mom" of the group and the most disadvantaged in society - a Black girl in poverty - who becomes the main hero. Her growth and interactions with familiar - and surprise - characters are poignant, made more apparent as the comic progresses. No doubt she's a badass, and the right amount of protective of her family. Then there's Justin, the "dad" who is an overprotective and stubborn white boy who becomes a loose cannon; Luz the ladybug girl and healer (makes sense when you read the comic); Felix the joker and shadow (ditto); and my second fave lost girl, Gracie, the cutest, most adorable little girl ever. This darling (no relation to the Darlings) is awesome in her being simultaneously innocent and action-oriented. Her ultimate ambition is to be a lizard. Enough said.

Tink as a bald, swordfighting, foulmouthed fairy is amazing. It makes sense, actually, since she's always been vicious, temperamental and unorthodox. The mysterious old man mentor, Robb, is similarly fantastic, once his identity is revealed.

In the spirit of following the original 'Peter Pan' tale while adding updated twists, there are also pirates, mermaids, goblins, dragon myths, a talking female crocodile named Agatha, a healing tree, a lost shadow, and loads of imaginative and colourful settings in Neverland (yet no Indians, or any indigenous tribes, which, historically, is most likely for the best). There's no end of adventures for these kids, and the reader doesn't have to be made privy to them in great detail, only in single panels at most, when they are not part of the main (pirate war) plot. That the magical areas are present, and any adventures had in them are left to our imaginations, is enough.

I recommend 'Neverlanders' with vigour. It is really that good. Prepare for fun, action and heart!

Final Score: 4.5/5

Non-Fiction Book Review - 'Fix the System, Not the Women' by Laura Bates

Just read it. Everyone should read this, and Laura Bates's other works, as they are extremely important. She's a pioneer, and brave, like all women. That's all I can say right now, as I'm still processing everything. All I know is that, for self-care reasons, I won't be reading another feminist nonfiction text, not for a long time anyway. Not until things truly get better, in this truly fucked up system we live in. It's rotten, twisted, and evil.

Things will get better. With support, understanding, care, and action, it has to.

Final Score: 5/5

Happy International Women's Day. Never forget 👯👩👵👧🛊♀⚢⚤⚧