All 50 DreamWorks Animation Movies, Ranked

For a while there, it seemed like a crudely drawn webcomic had DreamWorks Animation’s number. In an unflattering contrast to the imaginative movies that Pixar was making in the ‘00s, the graphic argued that DreamWorks movies were nothing more than “Talking animals. And they do things animals normally don’t do. And they all make this face,” accompanied by a collage of characters from DreamWorks movies arching their eyebrows with a smirk.

This webcomic, which helped create the “DreamWorks Face” meme, was wildly unfair to Dreamworks and overly generous to Pixar, but it caught on as a shorthand comparison between the two studios, which had been rivals since the start. Founded in 1994, DreamWorks Animation released its first movie, Antz, in 1998 — the very same year Pixar released A Bug’s Life. Since then, DreamWorks has often been in the shadow of Pixar (never mind that with this weekend’s release of Dog Man, the studio’s 50th film, DreamWorks Animation has made nearly double the number of films as the now-Disney-owned Pixar).

To be fair, several of those movies lend themselves to criticism of the sort found in the infamous webcomic. At their worst, DreamWorks movies are crass, hyperactive, reference-heavy, and reliant on CGI that hasn’t aged well, if it ever even looked good. That’s only part of the story, though. Look at the studio’s second-ever movie: The Prince of Egypt, a traditionally animated biblical epic that’s still regarded as one of the great animated films. Or at its stop-motion collaborations with one of Britain’s most beloved studios. Or at acclaimed franchises like Kung Fu Panda or How to Train Your Dragon that began a mini-renaissance in the ‘10s, to say nothing of the full-blown renaissance the studio is enjoying as this decade nears its halfway point.

This list includes only the films that were released by DreamWorks Animation proper, meaning DreamWorks Animation Television pictures like Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans and Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate aren’t included, nor are the Chicken Run or Wallace and Gromit sequels that Aardman Animations made without DreamWorks as a partner. Spinoff television shows or specials, of which there are many, are also not included. That still leaves us with more than four dozen films that tell DreamWorks Animation’s story across more than a quarter-century. Together, these movies represent some of the cringeworthy lows and inspiring highs that American artistry and capitalism have to offer.

50. Spirit Untamed (2021)

Compared to DreamWorks’ most baffling movies, there’s nothing offensive about the substance of this Wild West Horse Girl adventure. The problem is that Spirit Untamed barely qualifies as a film. A feature-length, theatrically released redo of a 2017 Netflix TV show that was itself a decades-later spinoff of DreamWorks’ traditionally animated 2002 movie Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Spirit Untamed’s derivative pedigree can’t help but make it feel lesser than the other movies on this list. The plot, which follows young Lucky as she moves to the West and bonds with the identical-looking son of the original film’s titular stallion, seems more like that of an extended pilot than a proper film. The animation is basic, paling in comparison to the boundary-pushing artistry of other releases at the time, and upgrading the voice talent from the show by having stars like Jake Gyllenhaal and Julianne Moore step into a recording booth for what must’ve been a busy day can’t free Spirit Untamed from the shackles of feeling like “content.”

Where to stream: Peacock.

49. Joseph: King of Dreams (2000)

The distinction of being a direct-to-video release is a little muddled now that streaming has normalized skipping movie theaters, but Joseph: King of Dreams is very much a direct-to-video release in the obvious, derogatory sense. A prequel to The Prince of Egypt, Joseph adopts the title character’s story from The Book of Genesis. Whereas The Prince of Egypt was a sweeping, lavishly animated epic that could elicit a spiritual response from even nonreligious viewers with its grandeur, Joseph feels very much like Sunday school bonus content. Ben Affleck sounds jarringly out of place voicing Joseph, the animation is cheaper (and looks like it), and the biblical story ultimately doesn’t lend itself to adaptation the way The Prince of Egypt did. This was the end of DreamWorks Animation’s biblical adaptations, before the company began to worship new gods like Shrek, Trolls, and the Penguins of Madagascar.

Where to stream: On demand.

48. The Boss Baby (2017)

A phrase I found myself muttering a lot while watching or rewatching 50 DreamWorks Animation movies in preparation for this list was, “DreamWorks, I am begging you to make a normal movie.” The infantile abomination that is The Boss Baby is the most unhinged example of the studio’s manic folly. You’d think it would be simple: What if a baby were a boss, and were voiced by Alec Baldwin? But nooo, instead the Boss Baby is from a mythical corporation called Baby Corp and he’s been inserted into the family of 7-year-old Tim Templeton to foil a plot to replace babies with puppies that never grow up. The unrelenting insanity of the lore is almost awe-inspiring at the start; then the movie keeps going for another hour, exhausting the premise many times over yet still finding more ways to expand until it all becomes an incoherent headache.

Where to stream: Netflix.

47. Shark Tale (2004)

Many DreamWorks Animation movies, especially in the early years, distinguished themselves from their Pixar and House of Mouse competitors by embracing references to other pop culture — including things that would go right over their target audience’s little kiddie heads. Sometimes this worked, but Shark Tale didn’t. A surprisingly complex riff on GoodFellas that had a fish voiced by and uncannily modeled after Will Smith trying to escape a debt he owes a loan shark (and, soon, literal sharks), Shark Tale is a watery mash-up that can’t swim on its own without a constant parade of hamfisted shout-outs and allusions to other, exponentially better films that don’t feature a fish femme fatale. Martin Scorsese voices a pufferfish in a highlight of the film and a lowlight for the great director’s career.

Where to stream: On demand.

46. Shrek the Third (2007)

The Shrek movies achieved tremendous heights by sardonically ripping off Disney, so when I say Shrek the Third is where the parody-based franchise ran out of ideas, that’s saying something truly damning. Deciding he doesn’t want to be the king of Far Far Away nor does he want to be a father with (or, frankly, a good husband to) Fiona, Shrek and Donkey head out to find a replacement heir in Justin Timberlake’s Arthur “Artie” Pendragon. It’s a dud that lacks any trace of wit or spark of the first two films, feeling just as obligatory as the obligations Shrek’s trying to get out of. Thankfully, Shrek’s next outing would fare better, to say nothing of the two great Puss in Boots spinoffs.

Where to stream: Peacock.

45. Trolls (2016)

It’s well-intended but perhaps egotistically high-minded to attempt to dictate what children do or don’t “deserve” from their entertainment. Do they deserve better than Trolls, DreamWorks’ hyperactive, colorful attempt to turn an established IP into their own Minions? I’m inclined to think so; perhaps it’s not for me to say. What I will say is that parents deserve better than this jukebox musical from sugary hell. Hey, Mom and Dad! Wouldn’t it be cool if your kids got exposed to a variety of popular music, old and new? The only catch is that it’s going to be repackaged in the most annoying way possible, and you’ll hate it.

Where to stream: On demand.

44. The Boss Baby: Family Business (2021)

An unconscionable 107 minutes long, The Boss Baby: Family Business is horrendous on just about every level. It is also a marked improvement over the first Boss Baby, largely putting aside the mind-numbing Baby Corp lore and letting a de-aged Ted and Boss Baby (don’t ask) go on a mission against another super-smart baby who wants to eliminate parents. The high jinks, which at multiple points involve a gang of ninja babies (because of course they do), aren’t great, but at least they’re vaguely followable.

Where to stream: Paramount+.

43. Trolls Band Together (2023)

The Trolls flicks are, frustratingly, some of DreamWorks Animation’s most vivid and visually inventive movies. Trolls Band Together, the most recent installment, benefits from all the technological and stylistic advances that have been made in recent years, and it is a wonder to behold. The textures, sparkles, and bright colors are hypnotizing, and the movie’s willingness to blend different art styles — both subtly, as with the Gumby-esque wannabe pop-star villains, and explicitly, as with the Yellow Submarine–style trips — is energizing. There’s just not much to Trolls Band Together aside from in-jokes about Justin Timberlake’s boy-band heritage and some more head-scrambling covers of songs you used to like. Also? A surprising number of sex jokes, as if hearing Zooey Deschanel’s character make an S&M reference will make it all worthwhile for the parents.

Where to stream: Netflix.

42. Turbo (2013)

Making 1:1 comparisons between DreamWorks Animation and Pixar quickly becomes reductive, but it’s useful when discussing Turbo, which shares some basic similarities with Ratatouille. The latter is about a rat who wants to be a chef, the former is about a snail (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) who wants to be a racecar. Where things diverge is how they execute on those premises. Ratatouille’s a lovely story about the universality of the drive to create; Turbo has its heart in the right place only to bury it under a distracting gaggle of heavily modded snail-racing sidekicks, a time-sucking human plot about a struggling taco-truck owner, and magic gastropod-juicing nitrous oxide. With all that said, if we are making Pixar comparisons, Turbo is probably better than at least one of the Cars movies.

Where to stream: On demand.

41. Madagascar (2005)

When you count the two sequels, Penguins spinoff, and the various shorts and TV shows it spawned, Madagascar is arguably DreamWorks’ most prolific franchise. That makes a certain amount of sense, as at its core Madagascar is pretty basic, following a group of escaped zoo animals doing things that animals don’t normally do — and you better believe they’re making “the DreamWorks Face.” None of the three main movies is especially bad, though none of them is especially good, either, and it’s telling that Madagascar’s most enduring legacy is a lemur voiced by Sacha Baron Cohen singing “I Like to Move It.” Years later, Penguins of Madagascar made a joke about how sick everyone was of that damn song.

Where to stream: Peacock.

40. Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (2012)

Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer), and Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) end up buying and successfully running a traveling circus in Madagascar’s third entry, an escalation that obliterates whatever thin sense of internal logic these movies had to start with. What Europe’s Most Wanted has going for it is Frances McDormand voicing Morocco’s maniacal animal-control head, a fun bit of targeted absurdity amid a style of humor that frequently gets away from Madagascar.

Where to stream: On demand.

39. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)

Bold of DreamWorks Animation to invite comparisons with The Lion King, and yet here’s Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, which has Alex the Lion return to his Savannah homeland, where he must defend his ostensible throne against Alec Baldwin, doing his take on Scar. Escape 2 Africa is nominally the best of the three Madagascar movies because it’s the most contained, telling a story about family and what happens when captive animals return to nature, in doing so more fully living up to the promise of the first movie, which didn’t actually have Alex & Co. return to their homeland because they got waylaid at the lemur hot spot that gives this franchise its name. It’s not much better, though, and together the Madagascar movies represent some of DreamWorks’ most middling work, for better or worse.

Where to stream: Peacock.

38. Antz (1998)

Antz was DreamWorks Animation’s first movie, thanks to a switch in the release schedule that had placed it before The Prince of Egypt and — crucially — Pixar’s A Bug’s Life, which DreamWorks’ Jeffrey Katzenberg is alleged to have ripped off. It is a wild debut that’s adult-oriented to an arguable fault, as in later movies the studio would get better at its trademark winks at parents while still making films whose plot and humor were more accessible to kids than Antz’s neurotic protagonist, violent horrors of war, and fascism. The animation hasn’t aged well, at all, but it was generally regarded as being impressive at the time. Another thing that hasn’t aged well? The Woody Allen of it all.

Where to stream: On demand.

37. Trolls World Tour (2020)

Because Trolls is partially a jukebox musical, there are plenty of earworms, though most of the time they feel more like a type of parasite that bores into your brain, eats holes in your gray matter, and turns you insane. The middle Trolls movie at least makes the best use of its vast discography, sending Poppy (Anna Kendrick) and Branch (Justin Timberlake) on a quest that has them visit Hard Rock, Techno, Funk, Hip-Hop, Classical, and Country Trolls; a fun, classic sort of adventure that mixes things up from the bubblegum pop of the first movie.

Where to stream: On demand.

36. The Croods: A New Age (2020)

In their first outing, the Croods managed to carve out a niche for themselves that distinguished these cavemen from everybody’s favorite modern Stone Age family. The natural evolution for the sequel, naturally, had them encounter more evolved people — Cro-Magnons like Ryan Reynolds’s Guy rather than Neanderthals like Emma Stone’s Eep and her family. The beats are as predictable as the premise, including an especially jarring 180 when Grug Crood (Nicolas Cage) and Phil Betterman (Peter Dinklage) become fast friends on a time after hating each other for every prior second of the film. There’s nothing terribly wrong with A New Age, it’s just a bit old-fashioned despite the outlandish, fantastical prehistorical setting.

Where to stream: On demand.

35. Shrek: Forever After (2010)

Having scraped the bottom of the barrel with Shrek the Third, the fourth installment relied on a trope beloved by fan-fiction authors to mix things up: the AU, or alternative universe. Exhausted by the demands of parenting three ogre toddlers, Shrek makes a deal with Rumpelstiltskin that lets him see what it would be like if he’d never been born, It’s a Wonderful Life style. This is an excuse for “new” versions of familiar characters, like a badass ogre warrior Fiona, or an obese Puss in Boots. It’s an effective enough if very familiar trick, and it’s just enough for Shrek: Forever After to justify its existence. The series can’t return to this well for the recently announced Shrek 5, though, so hopefully they figured out a way to actually find new ground in Shrek’s narrative swamp.

Where to stream: Max.

34. Home (2015)

The unlikely duo of Rihanna and The Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons is fitting, given how tonally mismatched this alien-invasion flick is. It’s among DreamWorks’ most earnest movies, following RiRi’s Tip as she attempts to find her family after being separated from them when the entire human population was forced to relocate to Australia by the colonizing Boov. The aliens, including Parson’s character, an outcast who forms an unlikely bond with Tip, are a smidge too silly and slapstick — especially considering how fundamentally upsetting Home’s premise is. Aliens forcing humanity to relocate Down Under is a plot point in The Three-Body Problem sequel, and it’s pretty horrifying in that context. Home doesn’t feature cannibalism, thankfully, but Home’s ambitious, heartfelt sci-fi can’t quite figure out the gravity of its stakes.

Where to stream: On demand.

33. Penguins of Madagascar (2014)

Should the supporting comic-relief Madagascar characters have gotten their own movie? Probably not. Can they support a movie on their own? Eh, not really. But, at least the comedy in this spinoff, which has the black-and-white foursome on a mission to stop an evil octopus supervillain in a kooky James Bond pastiche, works. Especially the smash cuts, like when Kowalski says there’s only one way to find out if he can fly a plane. You’d expect airborne mayhem; instead, there’s a hard cut to him browsing an instruction manual before saying “Nope, still don’t know how to read.” Penguins of Madagascar knows it exists to be silly, and it does its job without trying too hard to saddle much of an emotional storyline on the penguins’ backs.

Where to stream: Peacock.

32. Mr. Peabody and Sherman (2014)

The time-traveling antics in this adaptation of the Rocky & Bullwinkle segment are lavishly animated and energetic. The relationship between genius dog Mr. Peabody and his adopted human child, Sherman, is sweetly earnest. The only problem is that the “Peabody’s Improbable History” segments were none of those things. Forcing this saccharine message about familial bonds and outlandish action onto an IP that was famous for its dry wit feels like something has gone wrong, somewhere, in the timeline.

Where to stream: Netflix.

31. The Croods (2013)

Comparisons between The Flintstones are a given when making a movie about a Stone Age family. Rather than a dishwasher that’s also a woolly mammoth (“It’s a living!”), The Croods’s big invention was eschewing the sense of normalcy and comfort Fred & Co. had. Grug (Nicholas Cage), Eep (Emma Stone), and the rest of the family live in a fantastical past where they are not on the top of the food chain by any measure, and there’s some parental emotional resonance in the way Grug wants to maintain his pre-pre-pre-nuclear family. It’s a bit forgettable but not bad; The Croods, perhaps ironically, won’t go down in DreamWorks Animation history.

Where to stream: On demand.

30. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)

You have to respect what DreamWorks Animation was trying to do with Spirit, a beautiful traditionally animated movie that told a tale of the Wild West in a decidedly nontraditional way. The titular stallion doesn’t talk, but he narrates the film in a voiceover provided by Matt Damon, who unfortunately sounds like he spent one, maybe even two hours in a recording studio for the gig. The people who try to tame the wild horse talk, as does the Lakota Indian who escapes captivity with him, and the result is a story that plays with your preconceptions of what Americana and an animal adventure can be. In practice, it falls into a bit of an uncanny valley, one that’s not as gorgeous as the lushly animated landscapes Spirit runs through. Even with these flaws, Stallion of the Cimarron might be one of the studio’s most audacious efforts.

Where to stream: Peacock.

29. Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)

Monsters vs. Aliens does for old sci-fi and monster movies what Shrek did for fairy tales, but while Shrek had a certain edge in its parody of the classic tropes Disney had long since codified, Monsters vs. Aliens is a much more loving homage. Reese Witherspoon voices a woman who grows gigantic after a chance encounter with a meteor, and her now monster-size Susan is paired with some other B-movie pastiches in a battle against invading aliens. Monsters vs. Aliens largely plays the old tropes straight with just a slight zag (like the 49-foot, 11-inch Susan being an inch shy of the 50-foot-woman), meaning there’s not too much room for innovation. Still, it’s nice to see a fun genre adventure.

Where to stream: On demand.

28. Rise of the Guardians (2012)

Rise of the Guardians brought Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and Sandman together for some fantastical action. Coming out a couple of months after The Avengers brought together Marvel’s greatest heroes, Rise of the Guardians was clearly intended to kick off a franchise, having assembled its folklore heroes to do battle against whatever evil force might threaten children next. Unfortunately, Rise of the Guardians wasn’t a big enough hit, perhaps because its heroes were too kiddie despite the tweenage aspirations of the action. Nevertheless, while a proper sequel never happened, Rise of the Guardians lives on in the heart of every Tumblr kid who fell in love with Chris Pine’s Jack Frost.

Where to stream: On demand.

27. Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024)

The Kung Fu Panda series is one of DreamWorks Animation’s strongest franchises, but some of the chi is missing in the fourth installment. Po’s supporting cast, the Furious Five, are relegated to a dialogue-free post-credits stinger because Angelina Jolie & Co. were too costly, so instead Jack Black is opposite a new character, a fox voiced by Awkwafina, as they try to find Po’s successor as the Dragon Warrior. In theory, this pushes the franchise forward. In practice, Kung Fu Panda feels like adventure cobbled together from scraps, and the fight sequences and animation aren’t as stunning as the previous films. You could still do a lot worse than a Kung Fu Panda movie, though.

Where to stream: Netflix.

26. Abominable (2019)

If DreamWorks Animation frequently trips on its own feet by making movies that are overly complicated and hyperactive, 2019’s Abominable represents what happens when the studio makes an adventure that’s straight down the middle. Yi, a young Chinese girl, finds an escaped baby yeti and helps it get back to its family in the Himalayas with her friends while a poacher hunts them all down. While pretty, nothing about Abominable is too memorable, and as a result, Abominable doesn’t feel especially DreamWorks-y, for better and worse.

Where to stream: On demand.

25. Bee Movie (2007)

Do ya like jazz? Arguably DreamWorks Animation’s most infamous (and most memed) movie, Bee Movie is far from the worst or most insane film the studio has ever produced — something that’s as much a testament to how much trash DreamWorks has made as much as it’s a celebration of Bee Movie’s strengths. And yet the Jerry Seinfeld vehicle — astoundingly the comedian’s first real big swing after the end of Seinfeld — isn’t without its charm and legitimate (if dumb) humor. Following Seinfeld’s Barry B. Benson as a bee who leaves the hive to uncover a honey-stealing conspiracy that he fights in court while also falling in love with a human woman (Renée Zellweger), Bee Movie might not be the type of movie that can be appreciated without at least some sense of irony-poisoning, but it’s still a good time — even if, according to all known laws of cinema, there is no way Bee Movie should work.

Where to stream: On demand.

24. The Road to El Dorado (2000)

The Road to El Dorado is a fun semi-historical adventure romp, following Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh as two Spanish con artists who stumble their way into finding the legendary city of gold on a voyage to the New World. A cult classic that holds a high place in many millennial viewers’ hearts, The Road to El Dorado is truthfully flawed, with a somewhat muddled story and fairly racist elements that make it harder to point to as an example of what we lost when DreamWorks moved away from traditional, Disney-coded 2-D animation in favor of reference-heavy CGI.

Where to stream: Netflix.

23. Flushed Away (2006)

A version of Flushed Away, which stars Hugh Jackman as a pampered pet rat who gets flushed down the toilet and introduced to the hardscrabble world of city-livin’ sewer rats like Kate Winslet’s Rita, that was just an early DreamWorks Animation could easily have been insufferable, but the distinct Britishness that co-producers Aardman Features brought to it makes the film quite amusing — even if the CGI imitation of the Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit’s aesthetic lacks the charm of stop-motion. Based on a brief survey of popular Letterboxd reviews of Flushed Away, the rats were sexual icons for a microgeneration of impressionable viewers. Listen — I don’t not get it.

Where to stream: On demand.

22. Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken (2024)

Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken is DreamWorks Animation’s second-biggest box-office failure behind only Spirit: Untamed, and to be fair it’s not too hard to see why audiences didn’t respond to it. Like so many DreamWorks movies, it is decidedly not normal, starting with the still-confounding choice to make Ruby and her Kraken family obviously blue and squidlike in the human forms they use to live unnoticed on dry land. Ruby Gillman also suffered, unfairly, from not being based on a preexisting IP and for existing in some watery nether realm between “girl-coded” and “boy-coded” entertainment. Despite the kinks, it’s a pretty fun, vividly animated coming-of-age story with an Aquaman-esque twist.

Where to stream: Peacock.

21. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)

This Ray Harryhausen–styled epic had the terrible misfortune of coming out at exactly the moment it became clear that traditional, 2-D animation no longer had a place in mainstream American cinema. Even worse, it arrived one week before Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl monopolized swashbuckling on the big screen. Sinbad was such a bomb that it nearly ruined DreamWorks Animation, and from that perspective, it’s easy to understand why the studio banished traditional animation to Davy Jones’ Locker. A shame, because it’s a thrilling, layered adventure that boasts Brad Pitt in the lead role and animation that objectively looks better than any of the nascent CGI efforts of the era.

Where to stream: On demand.

20. Over the Hedge (2006)

Over the Hedge was one of the films pilloried in the “DreamWorks Face” webcomic, but rather than being a phoned-in story about sassy animals doing things animals don’t normally do, Over the Hedge distinguishes itself by being a surprisingly cutting indictment of American suburbia. Bruce Willis voices a fast-talking raccoon who tries to lead a band of woodland critters, including a turtle voiced by the late great Garry Shandling, into stealing delicious processed foods from a housing development. Over the Hedge isn’t trying to tear down the system, but there’s a clear sense of venom in its take on the American way of life in the mid-’00s that makes it refreshing, and the Looney Tunes–esque comedy and exaggerated consequences are a hoot.

Where to stream: Netflix.

19. Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017)

The archly juvenile, “throw it all at the wall” comedy stylings of author Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants series were a natural fit for DreamWorks Animation, and Captain Underpants’s ambitiously subtitled movie adaptation makes tremendous use of all the silliness that’s to be found. On occasion, The First Epic Movie, which combines aspects of the first three Captain Underpants books as elementary schoolers George and Harold (Kevin Hart and Thomas Middleditch) accidentally hypnotize their grumpy principal into thinking he’s the briefs-clad superhero from the comics they write, occasionally verges on being a bit too proud of its own cleverness. But, even that can be viewed as a feature, not a bug, as George and Harold’s artistic hubris is essential to the mania and meta-humor that ensues.

Where to stream: Netflix.

18. Orion and the Dark (2024)

This Netflix release threatens to go off the rails in its third act in a way that has terrifying shades of The Boss Baby, but writer Charlie Kaufman knows what he’s doing in this unique exploration of childhood fears, neuroses, and the nature of storytelling. Jacob Tremblay stars as Orion, a kid who is afraid of pretty much everything — especially the dark, prompting a visit from the entity personified (Paul Walter Hauser). The warm if somewhat familiar bedtime story takes on a different dimension when it’s revealed to be a bedtime story, and the adult Orion (Colin Hanks) soon becomes a co-author and a character when his daughter begins her own yarn. Orion and the Dark is unassuming considering how unorthodox its storytelling is, and it’s one of the more intriguing offerings you’ll find in DreamWorks Animation’s filmography or Netflix’s catalog.

Where to stream: Netflix.

17. Dog Man (2025)

Although Dog Man is a spinoff of the Captain Underpants books, the movie adaptation doesn’t have any connection between it and DreamWorks’ 2017 Captain Underpants movie. What they do share is the same irreverent, proudly silly, and immature ethos that justifies the breakneck zaniness that has been the downfall of many DreamWorks movies. Using an animation style that makes everything look like Weebles come to life and crude handwriting in place of all text, Dog Man has the vibe of something a bunch of kids would invent while playing, and that makes the plot — a cop and his dog are fused, RoboCop style, into a hybrid crime-fighter who must battle an evil cat with a cute clone and daddy issues — a goofy delight to swallow.

Where to watch: In theaters now.

16. The Bad Guys (2022)

The floor can only be so low for a movie that’s basically asking the question “What if we just did Ocean’s Eleven?” The Bad Guys certainly doesn’t feel as effortless as Ocean’s — the slick reverse-heist breaks down a bit once a meteor-powered army of mind-controlled Guinea pigs enters the climax — but it’s still a stylish, enjoyable crime caper with slick action, animation that expanded our conception of what a DreamWorks movie can look like, and stellar voice acting from the likes of Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, and Zazie Beetz.

Where to stream: Peacock.

15. Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)

Kung Fu Panda 3 is not unlike another third installment in a trilogy, The Return of the Jedi. Both films introduce some of the most complex themes their respective franchises have seen thus far. In this case, Po is attempting to reconcile the return of his biological father with the love he has for his adoptive duck dad, Ping, while also seeking spiritual self-actualization under immense pressure. Meanwhile, they’re also engaging in new levels of flippantly silly action, as the panda villagers’ struggle against General Kai (J.K. Simmons) feels very Ewok coded. That is by no means disqualifying — never forget that Kung Fu Panda is a movie series for children — but this third film doesn’t quite find a harmony between martial-arts stakes and animal slapstick the way 1 and 2 did.

Where to stream: Peacock.

14. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019)

Taken as a film, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is less successful than the two tremendous movies that preceded it. The plot, which sees Chief Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) trying to find a new, safe space for the people and dragons of Berk, is oddly shaggy and weirdly paced, with perhaps a bit too much time spent on wordless dragon-mating rituals. Yet as a trilogy-capper, The Hidden World is a phenomenal and downright brave conclusion to a series that lets its characters grow and ends with a sense of somber finality that isn’t seen much in children’s entertainment — or most entertainment, frankly, especially when you compare how The Hidden World finished its series compared to some other highly anticipated capstones that came out in 2019. (*Cough* Rise of Skywalker *Cough* Games of Thrones.)

Where to stream: On demand.

13. Puss in Boots (2011)

The second Puss in Boots movie, The Last Wish, got all the flowers, but the first spinoff ain’t too far off purrfection. While the Shrek movies spoofed fairy-tale stories and tropes as they chopped and screwed everything the Brothers Grimm had to offer into a reference-heavy pastiche, Puss in Boots instead uses that same fairy-tale sandbox to tell an adventure story that earnestly plays the world while putting a bit of a western shine on the action. Puss (Antonio Banderas) makes for a legitimate hero, Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) a worthy romantic foil, and Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis) a surprisingly complex villain. While still full of jokes, Puss in Boots isn’t interested in laughing at itself, and although the animation isn’t the boundary-pushing revelation like The Last Wish’s, it’s more than good enough to get you engaged in the fiction of Shrek on a different level than the ogre-focused films ever dreamed.

Where to stream: On demand.

12. Megamind (2010)

It’s been several entries since this list directly compared a DreamWorks Animation movie and a film from the House of Mouse, but let’s now happily revisit that framing to pit Megamind against The Incredibles. Pixar’s 2004 film, which predated the MCU and modern superhero boom, is quite possibly the best superhero movie ever. Megamind can’t compete on that level, but it’s fantastic as a Shrek-esque reflection of the superhero genre, starring Will Ferrell as a hyper-smart alien who could’ve been a superhero but was nudged into a path of supervillainy when Brad Pitt’s Metro Man bumped him out of the classic Superman origin story. One of DreamWorks’ funnier comedies, Megamind finds new ways to invert and spoof the then-not-totally-exhausted superhero-film landscape while also telling a marvelous villain-to-hero tale in its own right.

Where to stream: Max.

11. Shrek 2 (2004)

Even though the first Shrek was premised on taking the piss out of fairy tales, Shrek and Fiona still got a happily-ever-after ending. But, when a movie is as much of a sensation as Shrek was, that can’t be the end of the story, and the sequel, released three years later, had everyone’s favorite ogre meet his disapproving in-laws in the Hollywood-esque kingdom of Far Far Away. Shrek 2 proved that there were more tales to be found in Shrek’s swamp, especially when it introduced Antonio Banderas’s Puss in Boots, who would headline two great spinoffs. Shrek 2 didn’t win an Oscar like the original, which is kind of baffling because you’d expect the Academy to throw every award at the screen during the climactic sequence where the Fairy Godmother sings “I Need a Hero.”

Where to stream: Peacock.

10. Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)

While DreamWorks Animation movies like Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and The Wild Robot are getting praised for pushing the boundaries of what CGI animation can look like, it’s important to remember that the studio has spent its existence developing CGI as an art form. Sure, a lot of the ones from the ’00s aged like milk from the Uncanny Valley, but there’s beauty and ambition to be found. Kung Fu Panda 2 came more than a decade before The Last Wish, and it is gorgeous. The animation subtly plays with different visual styles — like the vaguely 2-D look of the evil Lord Shen in an otherwise 3-D world — elevating an already-impressive sequel that took Po forward on his path as the Dragon Warrior while also revisiting his past. It’s an honest-to-goodness epic that looks the part while also boasting a wise-cracking cast of animals doing martial arts as its stars.

Where to stream: Peacock.

9. How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)

Dean DeBlois, who co-directed the first How to Train Your Dragon and helmed the next two on his own, set out to emulate The Empire Strikes Back for the middle installment of what would become the HTTYD trilogy. That’s a lofty goal, so it’s perhaps fitting that a movie about riding on the backs of dragons — and 2 especially has some of the most awe-inspiring flight sequences of the franchise — soared to heights that might not exactly be on Star Wars’s level but are certainly close. How to Train Your Dragon 2 does everything you would want in a sequel, taking big risks that advance both the world and the characters forward rather than just replaying the hits of the original.

Where to stream: On demand.

8. Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)

Perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that the first feature-length Wallace and Gromit (and the only one DreamWorks co-produced) holds the distinction of being one of the only three DreamWorks Animation movies to win an Academy Award. (Shrek also has a Best Animated Feature Oscar, and The Prince of Egypt, which came out before the Animated Feature category’s creation, has one for Best Original Song.) The Academy had previously given two Best Animated Short wins and an additional nomination to Aardman’s original shorts, so they were already fans. Still, it’s somewhat amusing because, with the expanded length and production budget, Wallace and Gromit are as humble as ever, and The Curse of the Were-Rabbit draws heavily and lovingly from old monster movies like 1941’s The Wolf Man, plus some decent dollops of Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It’s likely due to Aardman and Wallace and Gromit’s preexisting pedigree that The Curse of the Were-Rabbit feels very different from most of DreamWorks’ other genre spoofs, and it’s all the more charming for it.

Where to stream: On demand.

7. Shrek (2001)

It’s very, very hard to separate Shrek, the 2001 movie that put a snarky spin on Disney and fairy tales, from everything Shrek has wrought. Sure, now we think of the memes, many sequels and spiritual successors, and, uh, porn, but when Shrek first came out, it was a much-needed bit of counterprogramming. Shrek, which amazingly competed against Mulholland Drive at Cannes, was a clever inversion of tropes that were familiar to the point of becoming stale. Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, and Eddie Murphy brought enough life to their characters that audiences could get invested in their “Once upon a time …” tale despite the movie opening with Shrek wiping his ass with the very concept of true love. Furthermore, Shrek was — and still is, dammit — funny! The problem lies with Shrek’s success, as once this brand of irreverent spoofing became DreamWorks’ (and culture’s) norm, it got grating, quickly. That shouldn’t be held against Shrek. There are layers to this thing … like an onion.

Where to stream: Peacock.

6. The Prince of Egypt (1998)

The contrast between Antz and The Prince of Egypt — released the same year as the first- and second-ever DreamWorks Animation movies, respectively — is staggering, to say nothing of Shrek a few years later. The Prince of Egypt’s gorgeous, traditionally animated take on one of the most traditional stories there is, The Old Testament, is a sweeping epic that borrowed as much from classic Disney musicals as it did from an outmoded tradition of biblical epics for general audiences. There’s immense beauty in The Prince of Egypt and a willingness to look into the darkness of the story of Exodus and let those disquieting moments linger. Eventually, DreamWorks Animation would begin to earnestly tackle heavier themes rather than just razzing audiences with references, though even after emerging from this creative desert, nothing in the filmography compares to The Prince of Egypt. It feels very much like a path not taken, not only for DreamWorks Animation but for all of Western animation.

Where to stream: YouTube TV.

5. The Wild Robot (2024)

The Wild Robot cracks the top five not because of recency bias or because of the way it emotionally manipulates any parents who watch it (though oh my gosh, does it ever), but because it’s a profound work of art that feels like a mission statement for what DreamWorks Animation can be. Building off of the stylistic innovations that Puss in Boots: The Last Wish showcased, The Wild Robot comes very close to bridging the gap between CGI and the hand-drawn animation the studio once deployed for a beautiful, painterly take on wilderness and the lost automaton (an exceptional Lupita Nyong’o) who becomes an unlikely mother to a little duck — and, eventually, an honorary member of the animal kingdom. Watching The Wild Robot instills you with a new sense of respect for DreamWorks Animation’s potential, and even if you had some laughs watching Trolls or Madagascar, it’s movies like The Wild Robot that the studio should strive for because, clearly, they can do it.

Where to stream: Peacock.

4. Chicken Run (2000)

The first of DreamWorks Animation’s three co-productions with Aardman Animations is one of the best movies either studio has ever made — and if you squint a bit, it’s also one of the best World War II movies, too. A spoof on The Great Escape that swaps a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp for a Yorkshire egg farm, Chicken Run is quietly quirky and fittingly British (except for the Mel Gibson–voiced Yankee rooster who claims to be the egg-layers’ ticket to freedom). It is also, at times, pretty dark, leaning into the genre pastiche with admirable gusto. Sometimes, the best way to parody something is to play it surprisingly straight.

Where to stream: On demand.

3. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

Did DreamWorks Animation actually find a magical wishing star, like the fairy-tale mainstay that Puss and a cast of other folk characters are searching for in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish? Because it seems miraculous that the second spinoff of a series known for being sarcastic could be this sincere and this sincerely great. Building off of the revelations in CGI animation that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse pioneered a few years earlier, The Last Wish astounded audiences with both its look and its story, which saw Antonio Banderas’s roguish kitty suffering a crisis of confidence upon realizing he was down to the last of his nine lives. Full of heartfelt emotion, dazzling action set pieces, and, yes, plenty of jokes both clever and silly, The Last Wish suggested that, just like Puss, we haven’t seen the last of what DreamWorks can do.

Where to stream: Prime Video.

2. How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

Accusations that DreamWorks is copying Disney tend to be overblown, but the studio definitely saw how much money its rival’s live-action remakes of classic animated movies were making and decided to get in on the action. There was really only one place to start: How to Train Your Dragon. No other movie in the DreamWorks Animation filmography boasts the same level of widespread acclaim and adoration (while also featuring human protagonists rather than animals, avoiding the need to animate every character in a supposed “live-action” remake).

An adaptation of a children’s novel series, How to Train Your Dragon might also just be the most straightforwardly great film DreamWorks has ever produced. Starring Jay Baruchel as Hiccup, the awkward son of a Viking chieftain, HTTYD is a masterclass in the hero’s journey. Hiccup isn’t a chosen one, he just has the empathy and the drive to do what nobody else in the village of Berk thought possible: befriend a dragon, the adorable yet fiercely catlike Toothless. The forthcoming live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon can’t help but feel somewhat pointless — the great cinematographer Roger Deakins already consulted on the original to make its animation as sweepingly realistic as possible. It’s frankly hard to imagine what could be improved upon.

Where to stream: Max and Hulu.

1. Kung Fu Panda (2008)

How to Train Your Dragon might be the best movie DreamWorks Animation has made, but is it the best DreamWorks Animation movie? The distinction might seem meaningless, or even unfair to How to Train Your Dragon, which is as much a product of the studio as every other film. And yet Kung Fu Panda feels like the best possible distillation of DreamWorks’ creative ethos, taking the criticisms of that infamous “DreamWorks Face” webcomic and spitting back a martial-arts epic that’s star-studded, emotionally rich, and deeply, joyously silly. Jack Black’s Po, an obese panda who is named the mythical “Dragon Warrior” in the most unlikely of circumstances, can raise his eyebrow with a smirk without invalidating the artistry and importance of the story.

Deftly avoiding body-shaming that could’ve made Kung Fu Panda’s premise into a parade of fat jokes, the film instead weaves a striking tale of self-worth and positivity, wrapped in an aesthetic that’s very respectful and faithful to the history of martial-arts films and Chinese culture. The action scenes can compete with the best of them, taking full advantage of animation as a medium and the animal nature of the characters to choreograph fights in dazzling new ways. The cast, whose ranks include Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Jackie Chan, and Dustin Hoffman, is among the finest assembled by DreamWorks. (No small feat!) Kung Fu Panda is DreamWorks at its most DreamWorks — and also its best.

Where to stream: Peacock.

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