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All 50 DreamWorks Animation Movies Ranked, Including The Bad Guys 2

From Shrek to The Bad Guys 2, here’s an editorial ranking of 50 DreamWorks Animation features, judged by story, craft, emotional impact, originality, influence, and rewatchability.
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DreamWorks Animation has made far more than a handful of family favorites—but there is no official studio ranking of its films. This is an editorial ranking of 50 DreamWorks Animation-produced feature films, with The Bad Guys 2 included among the newest entries. It applies the same criteria across the list: storytelling and characters, visual craft, emotional impact, originality, cultural staying power, and rewatchability. Box-office reach may offer context, but it does not decide artistic merit.

The studio describes its output as “over 50” animated feature films in 30 years, without publishing an exact total under a defined counting rule. The 50 below are therefore this list’s chosen set, not a certified studio total. Co-productions, direct-to-streaming releases, and catalog re-releases are excluded; the cutoff is films released through 2025. See DreamWorks Animation’s About page for the studio’s description of its output.

How this ranking works

This is a critical, subjective order—not a studio-issued canon. Films are judged by the same six considerations: story and character writing, animation and visual invention, emotional resonance, originality, cultural footprint, and rewatchability. The position of a film reflects the balance of those qualities, not a vote count or a gross-revenue formula.

DreamWorks’ history offers useful context, but scale is not a ranking. NBCUniversal notes that Shrek won the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. Its 2024 anniversary article reported worldwide franchise totals of $3.98 billion for Shrek, $2.26 billion for Madagascar, and $2.36 billion for Kung Fu Panda; those figures reflect that article’s publication context and can change. NBCUniversal’s 30-year DreamWorks feature provides the background, not a verdict on which films are best.

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The 50 DreamWorks Animation movies, ranked

  1. How to Train Your Dragon (2010) — A remarkably complete adventure: its soaring flight sequences serve an intimate story about trust, family expectations, and choosing empathy over inherited fear.
  2. Shrek (2001) — A sharp, affectionate fairy-tale dismantling that became a cultural touchstone without losing the odd-couple warmth at its center.
  3. The Prince of Egypt (1998) — Monumental in scale and unusually serious in tone, with striking visual set pieces and a powerful focus on faith, freedom, and brotherhood.
  4. Kung Fu Panda (2008) — A lively martial-arts comedy whose underdog story is made richer by precise action, expressive animation, and a generous idea of what makes a hero.
  5. The Wild Robot (2024) — A visually distinctive, tender story of adaptation and care, balancing a broad natural world with a close, moving parent-child bond.
  6. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) — A daringly stylized adventure that gives its charming rogue genuine vulnerability and makes mortality part of the fun rather than a detour from it.
  7. Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) — A confident sequel that deepens Po’s personal history while delivering some of the series’ most memorable action and visual compositions.
  8. How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) — A larger, more elegiac return to Berk, with impressive flight and a willingness to let its characters face lasting consequences.
  9. Shrek 2 (2004) — A brisk, inventive follow-up that expands the fairy-tale world and adds some of the franchise’s most enduring comic characters.
  10. Chicken Run (2000) — A tactile, meticulously staged escape comedy whose resourceful ensemble and suspenseful caper structure make its craft feel inseparable from its charm.
  11. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) — A lovingly made stop-motion mystery with immaculate comic timing and an irresistibly eccentric English village.
  12. Megamind (2010) — A clever superhero send-up that turns the villain’s point of view into a surprisingly heartfelt story about identity and second chances.
  13. Madagascar (2005) — A distinctive comic ensemble and energetic, offbeat humor give this zoo-break adventure a personality all its own.
  14. The Bad Guys (2022) — A stylish heist comedy whose slippery characters, fast pace, and lively visual language make its redemption arc entertaining rather than dutiful.
  15. Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016) — A colorful continuation that broadens Po’s world and finds warmth in the challenge of becoming both a teacher and a son.
  16. Antz (1998) — An unusually sardonic early feature, driven by adult anxieties about conformity and individual agency as much as by its insect adventure.
  17. Abominable (2019) — A heartfelt journey through striking landscapes, powered by a gentle friendship and a strong sense of place.
  18. Rise of the Guardians (2012) — A visually rich fantasy team-up that imagines childhood icons as a coherent band of guardians, even when its story is less distinctive than its world.
  19. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) — A bold, nearly wordless approach gives this horse story an expressive visual voice and a strong feeling of freedom.
  20. The Bad Guys 2 (2025) — A globe-trotting heist brings the reformed animal-outlaw crew into conflict—and uneasy cooperation—with a new team, the Bad Girls. Its place here reflects the same storytelling and craft criteria as the older films, rather than novelty or franchise momentum.
  21. Over the Hedge (2006) — A nimble suburban-animal comedy with a sharp premise and an appealingly mismatched group of characters.
  22. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008) — The sequel makes good use of its expanded setting and character backstories, while retaining the original’s playful ensemble energy.
  23. Flushed Away (2006) — A fast, inventive comic adventure that turns an underground rodent society into a miniature action-comedy playground.
  24. The Croods (2013) — A colorful prehistoric family adventure whose strongest moments come from the friction between caution and curiosity.
  25. Trolls (2016) — Bright, musical, and unabashedly upbeat, it works best when its cheerful surface gives way to the characters’ contrasting temperaments.
  26. Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) — A spirited monster-movie pastiche with a likable central team and a strong visual sense of scale.
  27. Shrek the Third (2007) — It has amusing characters and moments, but its succession storyline lacks the emotional and comic precision of the first two films.
  28. Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (2012) — The circus setting brings vivid spectacle and momentum, though the series’ familiar character rhythms do much of the work.
  29. Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017) — A lively adaptation that understands the appeal of its juvenile source material and translates its playful spirit into animation.
  30. Bee Movie (2007) — An eccentric premise and an unmistakably odd comic voice make it memorable, even when the story’s digressions work against it.
  31. Turbo (2013) — A simple wish-fulfillment race story, carried by bright energy and an earnest underdog at its center.
  32. Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014) — Its time-travel conceit supplies brisk comic detours, while the adoptive-family relationship gives the adventure its emotional anchor.
  33. Home (2015) — A mismatched friendship and a warm performance-driven center make this colorful science-fiction comedy more affecting than its broad plotting suggests.
  34. Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024) — A lively new chapter with appealing action and comic energy, though it does not reach the character depth of the strongest earlier entries.
  35. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019) — A visually impressive farewell to the trilogy, with a graceful sense of closure that sometimes moves faster than its emotional turns.
  36. The Boss Baby (2017) — A high-concept sibling comedy with a committed comic premise, though its gag-driven structure can crowd out the family story.
  37. Trolls World Tour (2020) — An energetic musical expansion that turns its genre-spanning concept into colorful spectacle, with a familiar sequel-shaped narrative.
  38. The Road to El Dorado (2000) — A charming buddy adventure with a strong central double act and a distinctive sense of comic mischief.
  39. Shrek Forever After (2010) — Its alternate-world premise gives the series a useful new angle on contentment and family, if less surprise than the original films.
  40. Spirit Untamed (2021) — A sincere story of friendship and independence, though it lacks the visual and narrative distinctiveness of the earlier Spirit.
  41. The Croods: A New Age (2020) — A colorful family-versus-family comedy that finds lively contrasts in its cast, even as its conflicts feel familiar.
  42. Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023) — A likable coming-of-age premise and an appealing heroine make for an enjoyable fantasy, though its ideas are more familiar than its sea-monster setup.
  43. Trolls Band Together (2023) — A buoyant pop-music sequel that leans on its ensemble and musical set pieces more than on narrative surprise.
  44. Shark Tale (2004) — Its undersea city and star-heavy comic style are memorable, but the story is less coherent than the films that surround it here.
  45. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003) — A swashbuckling adventure with striking moments and a promising mythic world, held back by uneven storytelling.
  46. Spirit Riding Free: The Spirit of Christmas (2019) — A modest, seasonal animated feature whose straightforward approach favors a gentle holiday story over the scale of the theatrical films.
  47. The Boss Baby: Family Business (2021) — The grown-up premise offers room for family humor, but the sequel’s many moving parts dilute its strongest character beats.
  48. Penguins of Madagascar (2014) — The comic penguins are capable leads, though their feature-length spy mission stretches a gag-driven appeal into a less focused story.
  49. Trolls Holiday (2017) — A short, cheerful seasonal story that delivers the franchise’s familiar musical spirit in a smaller-scale package.
  50. Trolls: Holiday in Harmony (2021) — Another brief holiday outing, pleasant and colorful but less substantial than the feature films.
  51. Joseph: King of Dreams (2000) — A direct-to-video musical biblical drama with a sincere tone, but less visual and dramatic force than DreamWorks’ strongest features.

Where The Bad Guys 2 fits

The Bad Guys 2 is a 2025 animated family comedy based on Aaron Blabey’s book series. DreamWorks’ official synopsis sends the reformed crew into a globe-trotting heist involving the Bad Girls: Kitty Kat, Pigtail, and Doom. Returning characters include Mr. Wolf, Mr. Snake, Mr. Shark, Mr. Piranha, Ms. Tarantula, Governor Diane Foxington, Professor Marmalade, Commissioner Misty Luggins, and reporter Tiffany Fluffit. The official credits name Pierre Perifel as director, JP Sans as co-director, Damon Ross as producer, and Daniel Pemberton as composer. Its credited cast includes Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Awkwafina, Danielle Brooks, Natasha Lyonne, Maria Bakalova, Zazie Beetz, Richard Ayoade, Lilly Singh, and Alex Borstein. DreamWorks’ film page has the synopsis and credits.

Universal lists the film at 1 hour 44 minutes and rates it PG for action/mild violence, rude humor, and language. Those details can help families decide whether it suits their household; the rating is not a substitute for a family’s own judgment. Universal Pictures at Home lists the classification and home-media options.

Rank #2
David (DVD)
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How many DreamWorks Animation movies are there?

DreamWorks Animation’s About page says the studio has created “over 50” animated feature films in the last 30 years. That statement does not establish an exact count, and the studio’s dynamic library is a catalog rather than a numbered, scope-defined filmography. The answer depends on what someone counts: theatrical features, co-productions, direct-to-streaming films, and re-releases do not all belong to the same list. This ranking uses its own defined set of 50 and should not be read as the studio’s official total.

Box Office Mojo’s DreamWorks brand page includes re-releases and brand entries, so its ranking position is not a count of unique DreamWorks Animation features. Box Office Mojo’s brand listing is useful for box-office records, not for settling the studio’s film count.

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Is The Bad Guys 2 based on a book?

Yes. DreamWorks identifies it as based on Aaron Blabey’s The Bad Guys book series, published by Scholastic. The studio says the series grew from 8 million copies sold to more than 30 million since the first film’s release in 2022. That is a studio-published figure, not a separately dated or independently audited current sales total. Scholastic’s series page introduces the books.

Where can you watch or buy The Bad Guys 2?

DreamWorks and Universal list digital access and physical editions including 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD; Universal also lists a two-movie DVD collection. DreamWorks names Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Gruv among retailers. Availability can vary by retailer and date, so check the official listings for current options. The digital offer is described as a limited license to access the content, rather than ownership of a physical copy. DreamWorks’ home-media page and Universal’s home-media listing provide the formats and retailer information.

Quick Recap

Bestseller No. 1
Bestseller No. 2
David (DVD)
David (DVD)
DVD; Bonus Content
$14.32
Bestseller No. 5

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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