In the “movie” portion of TIME magazine’s “The Top 10 Everything of 2009” list, Disney’s The Princess and the Frog occupies the number one spot — followed in succession by Disney-Pixar’s Up and Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Top 10 Movies

1. The Princess and the Frog
   
2. Up
3. Fantastic Mr. Fox
4. The Hurt Locker
5. Up in the Air
6. The White Ribbon
7. A Single Man
8. Of Time and the City
9. District 9
10. Thirst

Animation is thought of as a cash cow for the studios and a niche category for the Oscars. Yet a straight-faced argument could be made — and is, here — that 2009 boasted a richer crop of animated features than of live-action movies. We acknowledge the cartoonucopia with our top three selections, each in a different format.