With each passing year, animated feature cinema gets closer and closer to turning 90 years old. Despite being a relatively young medium, though, some of the greatest works of art in modern human history are animated films. While many of them are original ideas, others are based on or inspired by other great works of art: books.

, whether it's a Disney movie based on a folktale or a modern masterwork based on a more recent children's book. Whichever kind of story they're based on, these ten films show that animation is the perfect medium to allow filmmakers to let their imagination fly when adapting a pre-existing work for the big screen.

One of the highest-rated animated films on IMDb and Letterboxd, is easily one of the best non-Disney and non-DreamWorks animated movies of modern times. This beloved sci-fi movie is based on , , but still packs enough sci-fi wonder to charm the little ones.

took this good-but-not-great book and turned it into one of . Greatly expanding on the themes of grief and Cold War-related analogies of the source material, Bird placed beautiful animation and some deeply endearing characters as the cherry on top. Few animated movie endings are as emotional as The Iron Giant's, and it's only because the rest of it is so compelling that it has so much emotional punch.

Master of anime filmmaking and the poster boy of Studio Ghibli, is by far one of the best Japanese filmmakers of all time. As prolific in the 21st century as he was in the 20th, he has made some of his best movies over the past 25 years, including . It's based on a fantasy novel by Welsh author , which kicked off a successful trilogy.

Howl's is one of , , while also adding some thought-provoking anti-war commentary product of Miyazaki's strong opposition to the United States' invasion of Iraq. It's a gorgeously animated, epic in scope and tone, deeply endearing gem that should enamor kids and grown-ups alike.

Disney was still an up-and-coming company by the time 1940 rolled around. Their second-ever feature was the acclaimed , one of the few critic approval on Rotten Tomatoes. It was based on the international bestseller by Italian author , originally published as a serial in a weekly children's magazine.

By the time took on the story and turned it into a movie, it was already a massively acclaimed, canonical piece of children's fiction, translated to hundreds upon hundreds of languages. It's then no coincidence that . The songs are great, the animation is stunning even today, the story is a delight that goes from adventurous to funny to scary in rapid succession, and the narrative's messages are timeless.

The great is, of course, best known for his live-action comedy movies, but he has also directed a couple of animated features. The first one was , a delightful adaptation of the novel of the same name. It's a fun, surprisingly mature children's book, which Anderson successfully turned into a fun, surprisingly mature children's movie.

Mr. Fox has incredible voice performances by the likes of and , some unbelievably good stop-motion animation, and some of the most vibrant characters of any animated film of the 2000s. Almost a couple of decades later, it's still considered a groundbreaking animated masterpiece and one of the best animated comedies ever, proving just how timeless it is.

The winner of the first-ever Best Animated Feature Oscar, was the movie that cemented DreamWorks Animation as one of the best animation studios in Hollywood. Its satirical and parodical take on the fairytale stories that a certain mouse-related animation studio had made popular greatly resonated with audiences. Today, .

The film kicked off one of the , and many would argue that its sequel is even better, but the one where it all started has its own inimitable charm. Perhaps a lot of that charm comes from its adaptation of cartoonist 's , an exquisitely funny comedy picture book with an important message for kids. The book is only 30 pages long, making it even more admirable that it provided enough material for such a beloved movie franchise.

Contrary to popular belief, Disney Animation's first feature (that honor would fall upon the German adventure movie ), but it's generally accepted that it was the second — and it was most certainly the first cel-animated feature. took a fairy tale by and and turned it into a groundbreaking animated movie that changed the film industry forever.

It's very fair to call Snow White the single ; . Its musical numbers are magical, its animation is gorgeous considering that it was the very first of its kind, and its story and characters are a perfect translation of the magic of the Grimms' tale.

Yet another one of the greatest anime features ever made, . A cult classic, it has long been acclaimed for its terrifying surrealism and . It was somewhat inspired by the light novel , and though it improved on it greatly, the source material is still very much worth reading.

The movie is a flawless portrait of artistic obsession and star culture, blending thriller elements and even some bits of horror (without actually being a horror movie) in ways that are constantly surprising. The mystery at the core of the narrative never stops being engrossing, and it invites multiple rewatches; the protagonist is a complex, nuanced, fascinating protagonist; and the high quality of the enrapturing tone captured by Kon cannot be overstated.

Based on the eponymous first installment of 's beloved trilogy of sci-fi children's books, surprised everyone last year by proving to be . Whether that's an exaggeration or not, what's undeniable is that the movie proved to be just as enchanting and profound as the book it was based on.

The animation is jaw-dropping, the story is a blast, the themes of motherhood and nature are meaningful and deeply moving, and Roz is simply one of . It's only once every few years that an animated film as acclaimed and beloved as The Wild Robot comes along, so it's no shocker to see just how much it resonated with viewers the world over.

It's probably no surprise that Disney was the studio that achieved the feat of the first animated movie nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. It's probably also no surprise that the movie that received such an honor was Beauty and the Beast, one of the studio's most enchanting pictures. It's based on an 18th-century fairytale by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, which has been adapted multiple times throughout history in all sorts of media.

One can make the argument that this is the best adaptation, though, which is no small achievement. It's one of the best romantic fantasy movies ever made, flawlessly capturing the timelessness of the source material while still adding plenty of Disney's signature spice. Belle and the Beast are a delightful pair of lead characters, the music is wonderful, the animation is a real treat, and the overarching narrative can never age a day.

How to Train Your Dragon is what many would call the best DreamWorks Animation feature film ever, and no one would blame them. It is, after all, one of the most wonderful fantasy movies of the 21st century, and the beginning of one of the few movie trilogies that are perfect from beginning to end. It was based on the successful series of children's books by Cressida Cowell, changing several details but keeping the style and soul of the books very much intact.

How to Train Your Dragon is a masterpiece, there's no getting around it. As entertaining for children as it is magical for adults, it's a heartfelt love letter to forbidden friendship and one of the most imaginative films in its genre. The characters and their dynamics are great, the animation has aged phenomenally well, and John Powell's score is a masterwork in and of itself. There are very few animated movies more irresistibly enrapturing than this one — certainly none that are based on a book.

NEXT:The Best Animated Movies of the Last 25 Years, Ranked