DreamWorks Animation movies are very popular among families, not just now, but since the release of the Shrek movie in 2001. Such movies have gained popularity because they not only provide kids with a source of entertainment but also teach them important life values, such as friendship, teamwork, and courage.
So, if you want to know about famous DreamWorks animation movies that make your movie night charming, then keep reading this blog. Here, we’ll share with you a comprehensive list of such animated movies, along with their corresponding age ratings.
Overview of DreamWorks animation movies
DreamWorks Animation is an American animation studio that provides entertainment for kids and families. It was originally founded in 1994 and was a part of DreamWorks Animation SKG.
The letters SKG in its name were derived from the names of its three founders, including filmmaker Steven Spielberg, former Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, and music executive David Geffen.
Additionally, the name of this studio gained recognition after the release of the Shrek animated movie in 2001. This is because the movie seamlessly blends fairy tales with creativity, laughter, and a fresh perspective. As a result, it has also won the first-ever Academy Award.
Afterwards, it has produced more interesting animated movies, such as Kung Fu Panda. It has lured action or comedy & gives kids important life lessons. Additionally, the famous movie “How to Train Your Dragon” is a DreamWorks creation, which boasts emotional depth in addition to its comedy and action.
For your information, this studio was bought by NBCUniversal (an American entertainment company) in 2016 for $3.8 billion. From its inception to the present, it has consistently strived to entertain its audience.
Are DreamWorks Animation movies child-friendly?
Absolutely yes. DreamWorks animation movies are actually created with kids in mind. However, the key point to note here is that such movies primarily capture the attention of kids, but adults also enjoy them.
This is because the stories of this studio, alongside colorful animation, have a touch of humor and emotional depth. Thus, adults who understand emotions would also enjoy such movies.
However, some movies, such as Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon, are PG-rated. It means that it’s best to watch such movies along with parents or guardians. That’s so because they contain some scary scenes, emotional themes, or even the intense jokes that younger kids might not understand.
So, if any adults are present in a company, they would be better equipped to guide them, ensuring that kids don’t form incorrect concepts in their minds. Overall, it can be said that such movies are suitable for children to watch.
Effortlessly shield your children from inappropriate material
Positive themes in DreamWorks Animation movies
In this digital era, most kids prefer screen media for entertainment, such as watching cartoons or animated movies. You definitely want your kids to watch the stuff that gives them valuable life lessons, right? DreamWorks animation movies have also considered this perspective.
So, let’s dive deeper and explore the positive themes in DreamWorks animation movies with examples!
Friendship
Although kids really love to make new friends. However, just having friends isn’t enough; they have to understand the true meaning of friendship. They have to understand that in friendship, class differences or body colour don’t matter; it’s just about loyalty.
By watching animated movies like Shrek, viewers can form a close bond with characters like Donkey, Shrek, and Princess Fiona, despite their differences in origin.
Teamwork
Similarly, in real life, teamwork is very important as one person is just one. However, if that work is done in coordination with others, it would be greatly appreciated and also accomplished in a short time.
The Kung Fu Panda project from DreamWorks teaches kids the lesson about teamwork, in which Po (the panda), along with the Furious Five, embarks on adventures and saves the World.
Courage
Moreover, How to Train Your Dragon offers an important life lesson to kids: they must be courageous enough to stand for what is right, regardless of the situation.
Importance of family
Additionally, on DreamWorks, family bonds are pivotal, whether through blood relations or just friendships. Kids learn about this in its famous movies like The Croods, in which, just for the sake of their families, they adapt themselves to a new world.
Self-discovery and growth
Lastly, most of the DreamWorks projects focus on self-discovery. For instance, in Kung Fu Panda, Po essentially discovers himself and then performs wonders.
Popular DreamWorks Animation movies for children
Now, let’s dive deeper and discuss the DreamWorks animated movies in detail, which are on the minds of every kid.
Shrek (2001)
- Age Recommendation: Ages 7+ (mild humor, some scary creatures).
- Awards or recognition: Won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature (the very first in this category).
Shrek animated movies usually revolve around a giant green creature (Shrek) living alone in the muddy land. However, one day, many other tiny creatures began to live in its home. So, he signs a deal with Lord Farquaad that he will recuse her princess Fiona, and in turn, he would get his home back.
In this journey, a talkative donkey also joined him, which was so funny. So, together they save the princess from the tall tower, and the furious thing is that a dragon guarded this tower.
Madagascar (2005)
- Age Recommendation: Ages 6+ (silly humor, some cartoon danger).
- Awards or recognition: Became a cultural phenomenon, spawning sequels and spin-offs like Penguins of Madagascar.
The Madagascar movie basically follows the story of four friendly animals. Among them, Alex the lion was a good dancer in the New York Animal Zoo. Here he meets Zebra (named Marty) and two other friends, like Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippo.
Marty is always thinking about how to free himself from the zoo. On his birthday, Marty wishes to be free from the zoo. So, Alex the lion and the other two friends decided to fulfill Marty’s wish. However, they accidentally shipped to Iceland and Madagascar. Here, they start their life afterward, full of challenges. Hence, this movie is named Madagascar.
Kung Fu Panda (2008)
- Age Recommendation: Ages 6+ (some cartoon-style action).
- Awards or recognition: Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and received praise worldwide.
Next, Kung Fu Panda is all about a big, clumsy panda who wants to learn Kung Fu, but because of his high weight and body, everyone makes fun of him. Later on, he was chosen as a dragon warrior, and Master Shifu trained him to save the valley of peace from danger.
When Pu goes there, no one could believe that he learn kung fu, but Pu doesn’t lose hope, and the main thing he identifies is his unique strengths.
Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)
- Age Recommendation: Ages 7+ (sci-fi action, mild peril).
- Awards or recognition: Nominated for several Annie Awards
Monsters vs Aliens is another interesting DreamWorks movie in which a young woman (Susan) on her wedding day was hit by the glowing meteorite. As a result, she became a monster, so the Government decided to keep her in the secret base along with the other monsters.
There she met other creatures with unique special powers. Afterward, Susan, along with other monster friends, saved the World from the aliens.
How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
- Age Recommendation: Ages 7+ (fantasy battles, emotional themes).
- Awards or recognition: Won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film
In this movie, you’ll see that the people of the Viking village take dragons as their worst enemies. However, a boy named Hiccup ( son of the village’s chief) has a unique perspective.
One day, he found a little dragon, but instead of killing it, he hid it. There he trained it and named it Toothless. So, in the end, all the village people see that dragons aren’t their enemies.
The Croods (2013)
- Age Recommendation: Ages 6+ (mild peril, adventurous themes).
- Awards or recognition: Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
The Croods movie actually gives you a historic vibe, as it depicts a family living in caves. A father named Grug was very protective and believed that there was a strange, dangerous world out there, so he never went out. He has made simple rules, such as always fearing and avoiding danger.
However, due to the natural climate, their cave is destroyed, so they have to move to the outside world. Thus, they learns that they have to adapt themselves to the changes in life instead of fearing.
Trolls (2016)
- Age Recommendation: Ages 5+ (very mild peril, lots of singing).
- Awards or recognition: The hit song “Can’t Stop the Feeling” won a Grammy & was also nominated for an Oscar.
In the animated movie Trolls, you will meet the little glittery creatures who love to sing songs, dance, and hug others. On the other hand, the Bergens’ giant, furious creatures live in great sadness, believing that by eating such a troll, they would gain happiness.
One day, the Bergens captured some of the trolls; hence, Poppy, the princess of the trolls, along with her friends, decided to rescue their fellow trolls.
Over the Hedge (2006)
- Age Recommendation: 6+ (silly action and cartoon peril)
- Awards or recognition: Not a big award-winner, just a box office hit.
The Over the Hedge movie revolves around a group of funny animals. This group was led by the clever, greedy raccoon ( named RJ), who provoked their group to steal food from humans.
However, in the end, all animals came to know about this raccoon’s greed and learns important life lessons about trust and friendship.
Megamind (2010)
- Age Recommendation: 8+ (comic book action and mild peril)
- Awards or recognition: Nominated for several Annie Awards.
The Megamind movie essentially tells you that even a person you’ve labeled as bad can turn into a good one. In this movie, a blue, giant-headed supervillain sought to gain control of Metro City. But the town’s superhero, named Metro Man, always defeated him.
One day, the villain defeated the hero, but he got bored because there was nothing adventurous to do. So, he decided to make a new superhero named Titan. Unluckily, the Totan became dangerous and attacked the Hnece, so the megamind decided to save the city on his own.
Bee Movie (2007)
- Age Recommendation: 6+ (light humor and mild peril)
- Awards or recognition: Nominated for several Annie Awards.
In this movie, you’ll meet a young bee who has completed his studies, although he ahs to be happy but you’ll find him upset. The reason behind this was that he didn’t want to get a job in their hive for his whole life.
So, he enters the human world, where he sees that humans consume the honey they have made through so much hard work. He took this issue to the court and raised a voice for this unfairness, and he also won the case.
However, later on, everything becomes disturbed, as bees stop working, and as a result, nature suffers (flowers do not get pollinated). Thus, watching these kids realize that we can’t change nature’s balance.
Therefore, the above discussion should help you find the right movie for your kids’ ages. However, let me clarify one thing: the mentioned age ratings are just the baseline, as they are tagged considering not your individual child but the overall ratio.
Therefore, you must choose the one that suits your kids’ maturity level and their sensitivity.
How to find DreamWorks Animation movies for kids?
Now, if you are wondering where to find DreamWorks animation movies, don’t stress! There are different methods available, like streaming platforms and DVD options. Let’s dive deeper and gain a better understanding of them!
Streaming platforms:
Since kids prefer watching movies on their screen gadgets, it’s great that DreamWorks animation movies are widely available on various streaming platforms, including Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and Peacock.
You just need to access such websites and buy any subscription, if any, and gain access to a wide variety of classic and latest movies. Additionally, one of the benefits of such platforms is that they come with built-in parental control features. They basically allow you to filter out the content according to your kids’ age and preferences. Thus, it enables kids to access only age-appropriate movies.
DVDs and Blu-rays:
On the other hand, if you want your kids to enjoy watching such movies on a big screen, then you can achieve this by using DVDs (physical disks). They essentially contain a lot of data, such as DreamWorks animation movies, which can be inserted into a DVD player and connected to your TV. That’s all!
Moreover, you can easily purchase such DVDs from your nearest retailers or online stores, such as Amazon and Walmart.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, DreamWorks animated movies are very interesting and eye-catching, and they also give you valuable life lessons. Thus making them safe to watch alongside younger kids.
However, if you are a parent, it’s advisable to consider your child’s maturity and sensitivity as well. In this way, you can make your family movie night more memorable by having discussions on various topics and more.
