The 10 best animated music videos

15 April 2022, 09:00 | Updated: 21 February 2023, 14:43

From Gorillaz to Radiohead via Sledgehammer, let's get animated.

By Radio X

@RadioX

1. Radiohead - Paranoid Android

   If Radiohead's six-minute single wasn't enough of a risk, its animation was about to push the boundaries even further. Interestingly, Swedish animator Magnus Carlsson, who was commissioned to create an animation based on his Robin character, came up for the video's concept when he'd heard it without any lyrics.

   

   Radiohead - Paranoid Android

2. The White Stripes - Fell In Love With A Girl

   The second track to come from the duo's White Blood Cells album certainly grabbed your attention with its simple-yet-effective frame-by-frame Lego animation. Fun fact: the kid building lego blocks at the very start of the video is actually the director Michel Gondry's son.

   

   The White Stripes-Fell In Love With A Girl

3. Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer

   No best music videos list (let alone best animated videos list) would be complete without without Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer. The clip features every technique in the book - stop motion, puppet animation, pixellation and even a bit of treated live-action to add a bit of spice. The visuals were created by Aaardman Animations and the Brothers Quay and went on to provide the benchmark for music videos artistry in the future.

   

   Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer (HD version)

4. Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc.

   Gorillaz weren't the first animated band to come around, but they were probably the best drawn, thanks to the work of Jamie "Tank Girl" Hewlett. Feel Good Inc. was pretty impressive when it came out in 2015, but now it's been re-released with a new and improved HD version, it looks better than ever.

   

   Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc. (Official Video)

5. Daft Punk - One More Time

   If the Japanese-style superhero animation looks authentic, that's because it is - the clip was produced by the legendary Toei Animation studios, under the direction of Kazuhisa Takenouchi. The footage was part of a feature film called Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, which served as a visual companion to Daft Punk's second album Discovery.

   

   Daft Punk - One More Time (Official Video)

6. Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)

   The third single to come from the Canadian outfit was made even more powerful by its visuals courtesy of Plates Animation, which sees hooded rebels take to the streets.

   

   Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) (Official Video)

7. Dire Straits - Money For Nothing

   It might look nowadays like someone's just had a go on MS Paint, but at the time of its release in the mid 80s, Money For Nothing was considered groundbreaking. Unbelievably, the Steve Barron-directed video almost never happened; frontman Mark Knopfler was against the video concept, but MTV insisted they do it.

   

   Dire Straits - Money For Nothing

8. The Killers - Miss Atomic Bomb

   Warren Fu, who had directed the clip for Runaways, helmed the video for this single from Battle Born. Miss Atomic Bomb is designed to continue the story told in the Killers classic Mr Brightside, and features Izabella Miko and Eric Roberts, who appeared in the previous video.

   

   The Killers - Miss Atomic Bomb

9. The Wombats - Your Body Is A Weapon

   A quirky cartoon accompanies this single from Murph and co's 2013 single, taken from their album Glitterburg,

   

   The Wombats - Your Body Is A Weapon (Official Video)

10. Bjork - I Miss You

    This 1997 single was accompanied by a cartoon video directed by John Kricfalusi, who was then best known for his anarchic series Ren & Stimpy. It's a typically bizarre and edgy combination of animation and live-action.

    

    björk : i miss you (HD)