Few animated movie series have captured the hearts of kids–big or small–than Pixar's Toy Story movies and DreamWorks' Madagascar movies. Not only do they both effectively serve as the flagship franchises of each studio but they have also maintained an innocent appeal with a very wide audience, making them two rare examples of movies that could genuinely be said to have a universal appeal. But which has fared the best with critics?
To paint a clearer picture of each brand's ranking in the world of movies, let's look at every movie and their score on review aggregate site Metacritic.
Penguins of Madagascar (53)
A spinoff focussing on the beloved penguin side characters within the Madagascar franchise, Penguins of Madagascar wasn't the biggest hit of the franchise but was by no means a flop with audiences or critics, with Rotten Tomatoes calculating a much more enthusiastic score of 73% compared to Metacritics more middling 53.
The titular crew of mischievous penguins has always been of note to film fans not just for their humorous antics but because of their notable voice actors also, with several prominent animation directors voicing the characters including the director of the main Madagascar trilogy, Tom McGrath, voicing the group's leader, Skipper.
Madagascar (57)
The original Madagascar movie was not that big of a hit with critics but quite clearly left an impact on fans of animated movies, in no small part due to the eclectic-but-effective voice cast of stars at the heart of it.
Following on from Shark Tale, which remains DreamWorks Animation's worst-reviewed endeavor to date, the critical reaction was somewhat par for the course but it perhaps helped in making the original movie seem somewhat like a cult movie in comparison to most animated movie successes, similarly to later New York-style comedy oddities from the studio like Bee Movie (which was similarly rated by critics).
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (60)
Both sequels fared much better with critics and the third installment was one of DreamWorks Animation's highest-rated movies ever, surprising audiences with its ability to draw a satisfying conclusion from the continuing story of the displaced zoo animals which brought things full circle.
On the run in Europe, the main characters find themselves caught up in a traveling circus and the adventure produces some of the series' most memorable sequences ever.
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (61)
Just edging out the third installment by Metacritic's calculations, Escape 2 Africa has a fairly self-explanatory title even the plot sees the shipwrecked group of animals ending up in Africa by accident while they attempt to return to New York rather than by some kind of design.
Whilst there though, the lion character of Alex discovers long lost family as each character gets back in touch with their roots.
Toy Story 4 (84)
The most recent Toy Story movie may be at the bottom of the series in terms of critical rankings but that's splitting hairs when considering how successful Pixar movies are in general with critics, let alone this particular franchise.
Released 9 years after the previous installment, Toy Story 4 picks up where Toy Story 3 left off without missing a beat and, even though it was often much of the same as usual from the franchise in terms of story, fans and critics were far from tired of it and the movie added another Best Animated Feature Oscar to the studio's impressive collection.
Toy Story 2 (88)
Expanding the series' main cast of toys and delving into the background of Tom Hanks' character, Woody, Toy Story 2 transformed from what was originally envisaged as a smaller straight-to-video sequel into one of Pixar's most ambitious projects ever, delivering one of the company's most impactfully emotional stories.
Whilst spun around a fun whirlwind adventure, the story of the sequel provoked serious philosophical questions for its predominantly young audience regarding loss and acceptance, developing Pixar's image from a good kids movie studio to a serious force in filmmaking culture.
Toy Story 3 (92)
An enormous success with critics and general audiences, Toy Story 3 won Best Animated Feature at the Oscars, as well as even securing a rare nomination in the overall Best Picture category for an animated movie, and was the highest-grossing movie of 2010.
Following on from themes set up in the previous movie, the toys find themselves contemplating mortality when their owner begins the process of moving on to adulthood, a sentiment which resonated very strongly with the series' colossal fanbase.
Toy Story (95)
Pixar's first feature-length movie remains one of its highest-rated and refined what audiences expected from both computer animation and animated movies in general.
The story of a toy undergoing a midlife crisis struck a chord with audiences the world over and established the company as a studio that could produce kids movies that were as appealing to parents as they were to children.