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Culture > Entertainment

5 of the Best Animated Movie Franchises

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Lancaster chapter.

Whether you’re craving some nostalgia or you’re still a big kid, nothing beats sitting down to a feel-good movie with a guaranteed happy ending. Enter: five of the best animated movie franchises you should watch ASAP.

How to Train your Dragon

One of the highest rated franchises of all time, How to Train your Dragon is a favourite amongst film fans. It’s exciting, funny and heart-warming all at the same time. And its one of the only movie series where you can find people genuinely debating over which movie is the best – they’re all that good.

Kung Fu Panda

With a soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and an all-star cast including the likes of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman and Angelina Jolie, how could you not love this franchise? Uncontroversial opinion: Po is one of the most wholesome animated characters of all time.

Shrek

Hey now, you’re an all-star, get your game on. It’s a classic. Most of us would recognize the iconic voices of Mike Myers (Shrek), Cameron Diaz (Fiona) and Eddie Murphy (Donkey) anywhere. And with storylines that will make you laugh out loud and enough movies to satisfy your nostalgia needs, the Shrek franchise is a winner.

Frozen

A more recent contender, the two Frozen films were both a huge success, and for good reason (90% because Olaf is one of the best characters ever). Although they may not give you nostalgia (they’re a bit beyond our childhood era), they’ll definitely leave you feeling like a big kid. And if you’re a fan of a good singalong, this is the perfect go-to franchise.

Despicable Me

I’m not personally a fan of the minions (call me old and boring), but Despicable Me is nonetheless an undeniably great movie franchise. In this case again, the first movie is the best of the series, and Gru is guaranteed to warm even the coldest of hearts.

Emily Watson

Lancaster '20

Linguistics and English Language 👩🏼‍🎓