DreamWorks Animation Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted related superlatives. This week, I'm ranking the DreamWorks Animation filmography in honor of the release of their latest project "Forgotten Island"-which hits theaters today. 

DreamWorks Animation's Filmography Ranked:

27.Shark Tale (F)

26.Antz (D)

25.Monsters vs. Aliens (C-)

24.The Prince of Egypt (C)

23.The Road to El Dorado (C+)

22.Home (C+)

21.Dog Man (B-)

20.The Croods: A New Age (B-)

19.Madagascar (B-)

18.Kung Fu Panda 4 (B-)

17.Megamind (B-)

16.The Croods (B-)

15.Kung Fu Panda 3 (B-)

14.Shrek 2 (B-)

13.Puss in Boots (B)

12.Chicken Run (B)

11.Kung Fu Panda 2 (B)

10.Over the Hedge (B)

9.Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (B)

8.Rise of the Guardians (B)

7.The Bad Guys 2 (B)

6.How to Train Your Dragon (B)

5.The Bad Guys (B)

4.Kung Fu Panda (B)

3.The Wild Robot (B+)

2.Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (B+)

1.Shrek (B+)

Top Dog: Shrek (2001)

Shrek is one of the last animated movies that really hit for me as a kid. It was definitely the VHS tape that played the most at my house for the next couple of years after its initial release (Donkey was pretty much the pinnacle of comedy for me at that time) and the enthusiasm for the green ogre and co. remained high in my household until Shrek 2 was released and neither me nor my brother was overly impressed by it. As you can see from the above list, I didn't even bother to watch another Shrek-related movie until 2011's Puss in Boots and still haven't seen either of the latter two sequels in the main series. If I were to rewatch Shrek now, I'm confident that I'd be more appreciative of how it goes about satirizing and subverting traditional fairy tale tropes and go into a bit of a nostalgia haze watching something that brought me so much joy during a few years of my childhood. 

Bottom Feeder: Shark Tale (2004)

On Columbus Day weekend in 2004, I successfully convinced my friend to accompany his dad and 4-year-old sister to a showing of Shark Tale over going to see Ladder 49 by ourselves as I was concerned that the trailer for Seed of Chucky could play ahead of the PG-13-rated firefighter drama and didn't want to freak the fuck out in the theater. This proved to be a costly decision on my part as sitting through Shark Tale was one of the most miserable experiences I've ever had in a movie theater. In a shocking development, the whole application of mob movie tropes went clean over my head at the time, but that didn't stop me from finding the whole movie to be deeply grating, dull and unfunny. While it's certainly possible that I would view it more favorably today, my eagerness to give it another shot is very low. 

Most Underrated: The Bad Guys (2022)

Honestly, either installment of this franchise could be placed here. The animation is vivid, the titular band of bank robbing animals that pretend to become "good guys" for a gig, only for their leader (Sam Rockwell) to earnestly begin to experience a change of heart in the process of pulling off the con are a funny bunch with an entertaining buddy dynamic and above all, it unironically serves as a good introduction to the fun of heist/crime movies for younger audiences. 

Most Overrated: Madagascar (2005)

To be clear, there's nothing wrong with Madagascar. It's really as simple as Madagascar is burdened by the existence of so many talking animal movies existing in the American animated movie space and it doesn't have enough personality, laughs or heart to stand out from the pack.