Which was it: DreamWorks or Disney Edition

Okay, Toy Story is under the Disney umbrella today, but it was a Pixar production back in 1995. Disney purchased Pixar in 2006, and Toy Story 3 was the first film created by Pixar after that acquisition. The original Toy Story pioneered a huge trend—it was the first feature-length computer-animated movie ever created.

DreamWorks released Shrek in 2001. Who knew that people of all ages would fall in love with a grumpy green ogre who just wanted to be left alone? And who knew that a donkey could find true love with a dragon? Shrek and Donkey’s lives changed forever when they met Princess Fiona and Dragon. Did you know that Mike Myers originally voiced Shrek with a Canadian accent?

DreamWorks brought Madagascar to the big screen in 2005, with Ben Stiller as Alex the lion, Chris Rock as Marty the zebra, David Schwimmer as Melman the giraffe, Jada Pinkett Smith as Gloria the hippo, and Sacha Baron Cohen as King Julien the ring-tailed lemur. The character of Melman was originally an okapi, but the creators decided to make him a more familiar giraffe instead.

DreamWorks produced How to Train Your Dragon. Toothless the dinosaur is one of the most charming characters in this 2010 film. His appearance was inspired by a black panther, a bird of prey, and a bat, and some of his movements were inspired by an animators’ cat. The two theatrical follow-ups to this film were released in 2014 and 2019.

Disney/Pixar owns the Cars franchise. The first movie, Cars, was the final film for actor Paul Newman, who voiced Doc Hudson, a former racing legend who later became a physician. He was a 1951 Hudson Hornet. Believe it or not, Cars was Newman’s highest-grossing film.

Monsters, Inc. was a 2001 Pixar release, later acquired by Disney. At one point, Bill Murray was considered for the voice of Sulley, the cyan and magenta monster, before the role went to John Goodman. Monsters vs. Aliens was released by DreamWorks in 2009.

DreamWorks released Shark Tale in 2004. The original title for this movie was Sharkslayer, but smart people decided that might sound too scary. DreamWorks never created a sequel for this or Monsters vs. Aliens.

Pixar produced Onward for Disney in 2020, and it was one of the last movies to open in theaters in March of that year. It was available digitally only two weeks after its theatrical release. In the movie, two elf boys try to bring their deceased father back to life for just one day, but only his bottom half appears. Given the crazy premise, this movie is surprisingly touching. Onward and upward from 2020, right?

In 2019, DreamWorks released Abominable, a sweet movie about a young Yeti with big blue eyes. A teenager named Yi finds this creature and names him Everest. Yi and her friends, Jin and Peng, protect Everest from adults who want to capture him, and they journey to reunite him with his family. Some countries have banned this one because it shows a map with the nine-dash line, which involves a border dispute between China and other countries.

DreamWorks released Over the Hedge, a movie based on a comic strip. The story takes place in Chesterton, Indiana. RJ the raccoon, voiced by Bruce Willis, is a tricky con artist who is eager to manipulate other animals into going … over the hedge to scavenge for food.

Disney owns WALL-E, released in 2008, since it was created by Pixar. A pair of binoculars inspired part of the design for the robot WALL-E, whose full name is Waste Allocation Load Lifter: Earth Class. Did you know that the actor who created WALL-E’s sounds also voiced R2-D2 of Star Wars fame?

Ratatouille is a Disney/Pixar production. Every plate of food in the movie was first created by actual chefs—and, of course, animators had to eat it in order to illustrate it properly. Incidentally, ratatouille is a French dish that includes onions, zucchini, eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes. The name roughly means “to stir up.”

Disney released the 2015 movie The Good Dinosaur. Arlo, the good dinosaur who is justifiably afraid of storms, befriends an orphaned caveboy. The caveboy is resourceful but somehow puppylike, so Arlo charmingly calls him Spot.

DreamWorks created this wuxia film. What is wuxia? It’s a Chinese genre that features martial arts heroes. Jack Black voiced Po the panda, and many of his best lines were ad-libbed. First, however, Black always recorded a version straight from the script, just in case.

Turbo was released by DreamWorks in 2013. Turbo is actually Theo the garden snail, who wishes he could be the fastest racer in the world. Much like Spider-Man, Turbo gains superpowers during a freak accident, and he’s suddenly able to go really fast!

Big Hero 6, released in 2014, came from the animators at Disney—not Pixar. It was inspired by Marvel’s Big Hero 6 comic books. Baymax, the giant inflatable medical robot, was animated to move much like a baby penguin. He’s pretty amusing when he’s running low on battery power.

Both of these movies live under the DreamWorks banner. Antz, featuring the voice of Woody Allen, came out in 1998. The Bee Movie, featuring the voice of Jerry Seinfeld, was released in 2007. Pixar’s entry in the world of insects was A Bug’s Life, released a month after Antz.

Coco is a Disney/Pixar production, beautifully animated to showcase the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos. It won an Oscar in 2018 for best animated film, and it is the highest-grossing film in Mexico. The movie was renamed for release in Brazil because in that country "cocô" means "poop."

DreamWorks made 2000’s Chicken Run, in partnership with Aardman Animations. Unlike any other movie on this list, Chicken Run was created with stop-motion animation. Clay characters were photographed frame by frame, with animators adjusting the characters’ positions ever so slightly for each frame. The folks at Aardman previously created Wallace and Gromit, and this movie features characters with similar faces.

Pixar made Finding Nemo in 2003, and it is now a Disney property. Pixar laced this film with references to other Pixar classics. For example, the dentist’s waiting room has a Buzz Lightyear toy from Toy Story and a Mr. Incredible comic book. Also, Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc. snorkels in the closing credits.