Our 20 favorite animated sequels (and prequels!)

As much as we liked 2015’s “The Peanuts Movie,” it wasn’t a sequel to any previous movie, so it doesn’t appear on this list. However, 1972’s “Snoopy, Come Home” is a standalone sequel to “A Boy Named Charlie Brown” (the first "Peanuts" feature film), which was released five years prior. While both were well-received, we actually prefer the sequel for a few reasons, one of which being the fact that “Snoopy, Comes Home” displayed the titular character’s thoughts to the audience via typed letters on the screen for the first time, instead of Snoopy just emitting various emotional noises. 

For those who grew up watching either 1977’s “The Rescuers,” 1990’s “The Rescuers Down Under,” or both, there exists an ongoing debate about which film is better. In fact, they coincidentally both hold the exact same audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. We don’t have to decide which is better here, so we won’t. Whichever one you prefer, we hope we can at least agree that the big-screen return of Bernard (Bob Newhart) and Miss Bianca (Eva Gabor) is a suitable successor to the original, and the addition of John Candy certainly didn’t hurt either. Historically speaking, we also enjoy “The Rescuers Down Under” because it was the first film ever to be created completely digitally without the use of cameras.

Don’t get us wrong: 2010’s “Toy Story 3” was also fantastic. But “Toy Story 2” was released just four years after the 1995 original and, like its predecessor, also earned a perfect 100 percent freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Many critics and fans alike were skeptical that “Toy Story 2” could match the perfection of Woody and Buzz’s first adventure, but with the addition of Jessie (Joan Cusack) as a co-lead, some interesting backstory and a fresh new plot line, the first sequel did just that. It also earned nearly $500 million and worked its way into the conversation for the best animated film of all time. Needless to say, we’re infinitely (and beyond) excited for “Toy Story 4,” which is slated for a June 21, 2019 release.

It took 59 years, but in 1999 we finally got a sequel to “Fantasia.” Messing with a Mickey Mouse masterpiece is often a recipe for disaster, but after enlisting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for the score and combining computer graphics with traditional animation, Disney found the magic once again. Thanks to the likes of Steve Martin, Bette Midler, Quincy Jones, Angela Lansbury and James Earl Jones handling the introductions — as well as a hefty dose of nostalgia — “Fantasia 2000” earned critical praise, three Annie Awards and even a Grammy nomination for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.

We loved the 1994 Disney classic “The Lion King” as kids, but even as youngsters we knew 1998’s “The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride” was going to get trampled by critics despite most of the cast returning. (It couldn’t even manage a theatrical release, which is never a good sign.) When the studio announced another direct-to-video release for 2004, the world collectively groaned over the film that would oddly be called both “Lion King 1 1/2” and “Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata.” However, both we and the world were wrong. In a creative retelling that broke the fourth wall in its very first scene, the third “Lion King” movie was delightfully entertaining. It focused on the backstory of Timon and Pumba and included all of the core characters and their original voice actors as well as a new song by Sir Elton John. “The Lion King 1 1/2” earned both the praise of critics and an Annie Award for Best Home Entertainment Production.

When “Shrek” was released in 2001, it was a revelation. Parents everywhere finally found an animated movie where they laughed just as much as their kids, thanks to the film’s ability to blend silly fairy tale characters with various references, allusions and double entendres. (It also featured the familiar voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and John Lithgow, among others.) Once this recipe was deemed a success, the franchise really hit its stride in the sequel, 2004’s “Shrek 2.” This installment was basically one giant parody, with the kids enjoying their favorite ogre and donkey spoofing their favorite fairy tales. And the adults could laugh at the references from “The Seven Year Itch,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “Frankenstein,” “Alien,” “Cops” and the O.J. Simpson car chase. Add in the voices of Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews and John Cleese, and it’s easy to see why “Shrek 2” was arguably even better than the original (and definitely better than 2007’s “Shrek the Third” and 2010’s “Shrek Forever After”) and why it garnered two Academy Award nominations.

With every new release of an “Ice Age” movie, the franchise continues its march toward extinction, culminating with 2016’s “Ice Age: Collision Course,” the sixth installment, which only received a pathetic 17 percent freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The franchise has strayed far from its roots, the critically acclaimed 2002 original, but the second film, 2006’s “Ice Age: The Meltdown,” was still enjoyable. We enjoyed the return of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo and Denis Leary, but the real strength of “The Meltdown” (and the franchise as a whole) is Scrat, the deranged saber-toothed squirrel voiced by Chris Wedge.

Unlike most franchises (like the aforementioned “Ice Age” films), the “Madagascar” movies actually got better with each new installment. For an easy barometer, just look at the Rotten Tomatoes scores: 55 percent for the 2005 original, 64 percent for its 2008 sequel and 79 percent for 2012’s “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted.” In the third, Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen and Cedric the Entertainer all reprised their roles, but in a brilliant change, Oscar-nominated screenwriter Noah Baumbach (a frequent collaborator with Stiller and a longtime writing partner of Wes Anderson) was brought on to pen the script. The result was a smart screenplay to accompany the zany characters and dazzling visuals.

Full disclosure: We loved the book “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” and we loved its 2009 big-screen animated adaptation starring Bill Hader and Anna Faris...so we also loved its 2013 sequel. Although many critics said the sequel lost some momentum, it gained something the first never did: a Golden Globe nomination for Best Animated Feature Film as well as four Annie Award nods. And on a personal level, we still laugh every time Hader’s character shouts, “There’s a leek in the boat!” in panic, followed by the shot panning to an equally terrified anthropomorphic leek.

Billy Crystal, John Goodman and Steve Buscemi returned to helm the first “Monsters, Inc.” sequel in 2013, a dozen years after the release of the debut film. Although, to be more accurate, “Monsters University” was actually a prequel that showed how Mike and Sulley got into scaring, met and became friends. Helen Mirren, Alfred Molina, Nathan Fillion, Charlie Day and a host of other familiar voices played various campus residents in the prequel, which scared away the box-office competition while amassing a staggering $744 million. 

Of course, “How to Train Your Dragon 2” would make this list — if we didn’t like the second film, we wouldn’t be so excited for the third! Inspired by the writings of Cressida Cowell, 2010’s “How to Train Your Dragon” stars Jay Baruchel as Hiccup, an awkward young Viking who captures his first dragon, prepares to kill it as a right of passage but instead befriends the mythical beast. Four years later, the critically praised sequel earned a Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature and a nomination in the same category at the Oscars while also nabbing six Annie Awards and $621 million at the box office.

Eleven years elapsed between the release of “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie” and its 2015 sequel, “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water,” but the franchise didn’t miss a beat during that time. The combination live-action and animated film flung the jokes, jabs and gags at audiences nonstop and surprisingly earned the praise of critics...even more so than the original. “Sponge Out of Water” also soaked up more money at the box office, earning $325 million to its predecessor’s $140 million. And get ready (I’m ready!), because the franchise will become a trilogy in 2020 with the summer release of “The SpongeBob Movie: It's a Wonderful Sponge.”

To be honest, both “Kung Fu Panda” sequels were worthy successors and just as enjoyable as the first installment. Part of this success is due to the franchise’s ability to maintain a stellar cast of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, David Cross and James Hong throughout all three films while adding a few famous names in each new installment as well. If we had to choose one sequel (and we do), it would be 2016’s “Kung Fu Panda 3,” as the storyline was a bit more refreshing than 2011’s “Kung Fu Panda 2,” which was a bit too similar to the first.

How could Disney and Pixar possibly top — or even match — the shocking success of 2003’s “Finding Nemo”? Not only did the film become an obsession of kids worldwide to the tune of nearly $1 billion at the box office (making it the third-highest-grossing animated movie ever at the time) and win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but where else could the undersea adventure go? Nemo getting lost again would just be frustrating. Instead, the movie studio capitalized on the popularity of Ellen DeGeneres’ Dory character, making her the protagonist of the 2016 sequel “Finding Dory.” Although it didn’t win an Oscar, “Finding Dory” was acclaimed by kids, parents and critics alike, and it smashed the box-office record of its predecessor, earning more than $1 billion worldwide. And it was darn funny, with Ed O’Neill’s octopus becoming our new favorite character.

“The Lego Batman Movie” is technically a spin-off, but we loved the original “Lego Movie” so much. Plus, we’re so excited for the upcoming release of “The Lego Movie 2” that we had to include it. Plus, “The Lego Batman Movie” was a well-made flick. Will Arnett reprised his role as Batman and became the star of the sequel, which boasted a veritable who’s who of famous names, including Zach Galifianakis, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, Ralph Fiennes, Jenny Slate, Eddie Izzard, Seth Green, Kate Micucci, Channing Tatum and Ellie Kemper, among many, many others. Packed with pop culture references, “The Lego Batman Movie” owns a 90 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and earned $312 million worldwide.

Some might argue the sequel “Despicable Me 2” is better than “Despicable Me 3,” but not us. The latter was released seven years after the original, and in that time, the core characters really defined themselves. Gru (Steve Carell) no longer had any temptation to be evil. Lucy (Kristen Wiig) was a strong female character who was adjusting to suddenly becoming a mother to three kids, who consisted of the smart one, the mischievous one and the impossibly adorable one. In 2017, audiences knew what they were getting and could sit back and enjoy the shenanigans of Gru doing the “Odd Couple” bit with his long-lost twin brother, Dru. Oh, and as much as we loved Jason Segel and Benjamin Bratt as the villains in the first two films, there’s no beating the voice-acting skills of “South Park” mastermind Trey Parker, who played super-villain Balthazar Bratt in the third.

After 2011’s “Cars 2” earned nearly $200 million in theaters but was a critical flop, we didn’t know what to expect upon the 2017 release of “Cars 3.” But thanks to an even larger voice cast, featuring Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, Bonnie Hunt, Nathan Fillion, Armie Hammer, Chris Cooper and Cristela Alonzo, the third installment rebounded to the tune of a 60 percent freshness rating to go with its $383 million box-office haul. 

If you enjoyed the first two “Hotel Transylvania” films, you likely enjoyed seeing Dracula (Adam Sandler), Mavis (Selena Gomez), Frankenstein (Kevin James), Wayne the Werewolf (Steve Buscemi) and the other ghouls (as well as Andy Samberg as the human Johnny) out of their element and out to sea on a cruise ship in 2018’s “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation.” We know we sure did, and Rotten Tomatoes agrees! Plus, instead of the typical September releases of the first two, the third got us to start celebrating Halloween early thanks to its July 13 release date.

By the time 2004’s “The Incredibles” released a sequel, many of the kids who watched the first movie had grown up and had kids of their own. After all, a full 14 years elapsed before we were gifted a sequel in 2018. But thankfully the original voice cast (including Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell and Samuel L. Jackson) returned to reprise their roles, and it actually stood up to the original. While matching the level of critical acclaim, “Incredibles 2” performed even better at the box office, going from $633 million the first time around to more than $1.2 billion for the second film.

“Ralph Breaks the Internet” basically just came out yesterday, but it was still good enough to make our list. In fact, it earned a Best Animated Feature Film Golden Globe nomination and still has a shot at 10 Annie Awards, in addition to garnering general acclaim and nearly $500 million at the worldwide box office. Add to the 2012 original’s voice cast of  John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch and Ed O’Neill are newcomers Gal Gadot, Taraji P. Henson and Alfred Molina, who help keep the franchise from breaking down and becoming obsolete.