Who is the best animator of all times?

Ray Harryhausen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Harryhausen
http://www.rayharryhausen.com/index.html

Think of the era he worked. It was all stop motion. The video is a tribute to his work.

Walt Disney

Milt Kahl is generally recognized by animators as the best. He was the Disney animator who did Cruella De Vil in 101 Dalmations and and the evil tiger in Jungle Book, among many others. Also great at Disney: Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston. Chuck Jones at Warner Bros. has a special place as a director/creator. Today's top animators: Glen Keane, Eric Goldberg, Andreas Deja, all currently at Disney.

1) I found a list of famous animators here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animators

Actually, it is not really fair to build a list of best animators of all times. Because some animators of the past, which were very good for their time, cannot compete with the modern animators, who can use a lot of powerful tools, techniques and a whole industry.

Walt Disney was a famous animator back in the 1930's. Today, "The Walt Disney Company" is a gigantic corporation. But they still are doing animation.


2) Top Rated "Animation" Titles:
"Rank Rating Title Votes
1. 8.4 Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001) 63,277
2. 8.2 Mononoke-hime (1997) 42,751
3. 8.2 Ratatouille (2007) 66,541
4. 8.1 Finding Nemo (2003) 101,906
5. 8.1 The Incredibles (2004) 98,303
6. 8.1 Macskafogó (1986) 2,235
7. 8.1 Hotaru no haka (1988) 20,179
8. 8.1 Mimi wo sumaseba (1995) 4,348
9. 8.0 Toy Story (1995) 90,349
10. 8.0 Tonari no Totoro (1988) 15,903
11. 8.0 The Lion King (1994) 79,165
12. 8.0 Toki wo kakeru shôjo (2006) 1,575
13. 8.0 Kaze no tani no Naushika (1984) 11,304
14. 8.0 Hauru no ugoku shiro (2004) 24,478
15. 8.0 Toy Story 2 (1999) 78,041
16. 7.9 The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) 47,841
17. 7.9 Persepolis (2007) 7,876
18. 7.9 Flåklypa Grand Prix (1975) 4,130
19. 7.9 Tenkû no shiro Rapyuta (1986) 12,873
20. 7.9 Shrek (2001) 126,489 "
Source and further information:
http://www.imdb.com/chart/animation

On this list, following movies are written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki:
- (1.) Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (Spirited Away)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sen_to_Chihiro_no_kamikakushi
- (2.) Mononoke-hime (Princess Mononoke)
- (10.) Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro)
He produce and wrote also the screenplay for:
- (8.) Mimi wo sumaseba


3) Hayao Miyazaki is also my personal favorite at the moment.

It'd have to be Walt Disney. He was a pioneer.