BY: Alexis Eichelberger

Animated music videos are having a moment. The coronavirus pandemic is keeping everyone out of the studios, so animators have risen to the occasion. 

But cartoon music videos aren’t new. They’ve been around since the mid-1980s when pop artists like Peter Gabriel, Dire Straits and the Swedish group A-HA made some of the first cartoons for their singles. Although they weren’t popular until many years later, they’re a medium musicians have been exploring for a while.

In honor of the many phenomenal animated music videos, we decided to make a list of our current and past favorites. Here are ten essential animated music videos for your viewing pleasure:

5 BLASTS FROM THE PAST

Kanye West’s “Heartless”

Kanye West became an influential force in animated music videos when he released “Heartless” in 2008. Director Hype Williams paid homage to the Ralph Bakshi film American Pop by using a method called rotoscope. The images are created by filming live people, then tracing and drawing over their movements.

 

Daft Punk’s “One More Time”

But before there was “Heartless,” there was Daft Punk. The faceless EDM duo’s iconic hit “One More Time” came out in 2000 and it has an equally memorable music video. Directed by Kazuhisa Takenouchi, it’s a trippy otherworldly anime masterpiece and the footage was also included in the full-length film set to Daft Punk’s completed album.

 

Gorillaz’ “Feel Good Inc.”

The members of Gorillaz took the music video to the next level by making animated characters their only persona. The virtual band’s most successful single “Feel Good Inc.” shows the cartoon gang performing the song in a dystopian environment typical of the group’s visuals.

 

Childish Gambino’s “Feels Like Summer”

The music video for this Grammy-nominated track is a rose-tinted vignette of life in a community full of Black icons. As Childish Gambino strolls down the street, the cartoon figures of various stars make appearances. Faces include Will Smith, Oprah, Michael Jackson, Michelle Obama and Beyonce, among dozens more.

 

Bring Me the Horizon’s “Medicine”

The video for this metalcore hit isn’t a classic, but it’s still one of our favorites. Bring Me the Horizon released “Medicine” in 2019, along with this fascinating, unsettling visual. The singing severed heads spew a lot of black sludge, among other things and look just a little too realistic for comfort.

 

5 NEW FAVORITES

Dua Lipa’s “Hallucinate”

Animator The Mill may have created the most adorable animation of the year for “Hallucinate.” Dua Lipa’s cute character is dressed to kill while she performs her song for a crowd of smiling robots and dances alongside various foods and animals snapping along to the beat.

 

Juice WRLD’s “Wishing Well”

Juice WRLD’s posthumously released music is a unique, emotional delight, as is the video for “Wishing Well.” The animation, done by KDC Visions, has a video game-like quality. It shows a cartoon-style Juice floating through the night while he sings the weighty lyrics for which he’s known.

 

The Weeknd’s “In Your Eyes (feat. Doja Cat)”

The violent video for the original cut of “In Your Eyes” can hardly be compared to this dreamy, technicolor animation. The neon cityscape shown in the video made for the Doja Cat remix seems to leap off the screen as the Weeknd’s cartoon likeness cruises through a town made of rainbows.

 

Travis Scott and Kid Cudi’s “THE SCOTTS”

We’re not sure if the visual for “THE SCOTTS” is technically a music video, but we thought it was a necessary inclusion. Travis Scott and Kid Cudi debuted this track in April via Fortnite. Scott’s live takeover of the virtual world would become the music video for the song, one of the biggest hip-hop tracks of the summer.

 

J Balvin’s “Azul”

Reggaeton artist J Balvin’s fifth album Colores has been praised since its release in March. The music video for the single “Azul” tells a strange tale of a romance gone wrong, but the visuals (especially the adorable puppy) are well worth the watch.