If we’re being honest, Dreamworks is right up there with Pixar when it comes to the number
of ‘buddy movies’ they have.
Heck, the studio’s first big hit was all about an unlikely friendship between an ogre
and a donkey - and they’ve certainly had plenty of other enjoyable friendships since
then.
But which friendships are seen as the best of the best?
I’m Kyle with WickedBinge, and this is Dreamworks Hero Friendships: Healthy to Healthiest.
In our opinion, there aren’t really any truly toxic hero friendships in the Dreamworks
canon.
As such, we’re going to start with the so-called ‘least healthy’ relationships and the
ones that could arguably be in the high end of the Grey Tier before working our way up
to the strongest and most wholesome.
These relationships are the Healthy.
Starting at the very end of our list, we have Shark Tale’s Oscar and Lenny.
If we’re being honest, Shark Tale doesn’t have very many great examples of healthy relationships
in general, and many people consider this attempt at trying to recapture the dynamic
of Shrek and Donkey to be a total favor.
Still, we’re able to find a few bright spots.
Although their relationship originally starts off as a sort of business partnership, Oscar
and Lenny quickly start to bond with each other.
While he may struggle not to laugh at Lenny being a vegetarian, Oscar still does what
he can to help Lenny find a new life.
Lenny, meanwhile, isn’t afraid to call out Oscar’s bad choices, despite usually being
willing to go along with them.
Their friendship may be a bit on the shallow side, but they still have each other’s backs
and do in fact support each other, even if the friendship itself still feels like it’s
on the somewhat shallow side of things.
Moving on up, it’s everyone’s favorite pair of con-men ‘gods’, Miguel and Tulio.
These two are just an all around fun duo with an impeccable dynamic.
Whether they’re running a con or thinking on their feet, they bounce off each other
well and truly care about each other, even when they’re bickering like an old married
couple.
Occasionally, they both tend to lean on the selfish side of things - with Miguel wanting
to stay in El Dorado once he starts to care about the people there, and Tulio briefly
dismissing his friendship with Miguel in order to focus on both the gold and his relationship
with Chel.
Thankfully, the two of them work things out eventually, being willing to sacrifice for
each other in order to help one another.
Even if it’s not flawless, you completely understand why these guys keep drifting back
towards each other, even with all the trouble they tend to get into together.
From El Dorado to the jungles of Madagascar, next is Alex and Marty.
Similar to
Miguel and Tulio, these two may argue and bicker quite a bit, but when the chips are
down they are absolutely ride or die for each other.
Despite all the chaos they bring into each other’s lives - whether it’s Marty running
away from New York or Alex trying to bring water back to the African reserve - they’re
willing to set personal conflicts aside in order to help each other.
Heck, Marty was willing to put himself in danger of being eaten by Foosa just so he
could help Alex work through his whole ‘wanting to eat his friends’ thing.
Additionally, while Alex can sometimes be a bit self-centered, it’s obvious just by
how he talks about Marty when he picks him out of a crowd of zebras in the second movie
that Alex cares about Marty deeply, truly seeing him as his best friend.
It’s incredibly sweet, and it’s really no wonder that this relationship - alongside
Melman and Gloria’s relationship - is seen as the heart of the Madagascar movies.
Following them is the alien friendship from “Home”, Tip and Oh.
Although their relationship was quite rocky at the beginning - with Tip especially only
seeing Oh as one of the aliens who forced her and her mom to be separated and Oh immediately
trying to lie to Tip in order to save his own skin - it’s clear by the end of the
film they’re almost like siblings.
There are plenty of cute scenes between them, like when they’re traveling in the car or
when Tip gives Oh a ‘makeover’.
There is a bit of conflict that arises when Oh tries to trick Tip into getting on a ship
in order to escape the Gorgs, but we can understand that he was just trying to save his only friend,
even if he was still in the wrong.
It’s also their friendship that prompts Oh into becoming more brave, and the climax
is all about the two of them trying to save each other from the incoming Gorg threat.
As unlikely as it might have been, their arc of becoming friends feels both natural and
very wholesome.
Next up are partners in crime, Wolf and Snake from “The Bad Guys”.
From the moment this film starts, you can just tell that Wolf and Snake have a pretty
deep relationship.
From the way they banter and tease each other, to the way they support each other during
heists, to the genuine care they show each other whenever one of them is in danger - it’s
just an incredibly sweet and fun relationship to watch, to the point where many consider
it to be a highlight of the film.
Even when they’re fighting, the climax of the movie shows just how much they still care
about each other - with Snake secretly helping out with Wolf’s plan, and Wolf being willing
to go back for Snake despite the serpent’s so-called betrayal.
Unfortunately, there are a couple small flaws with this otherwise great friendship.
For one, both of them tend to lash out when tempers and emotions are flaring, as seen
by their big blow up at the prison.
Additionally, while Snake is a bit more willing to be honest and communicate, Wolf is shown
to either lie out of fear of losing his best friend or try to brush conflicts under the
rug - as seen when they’re at the beach and the team briefly separates.
These flaws aren’t enough to break these buddies up for good, but there’s certainly
room for improvement.
Funnily enough, we have another pair of former criminal buddies - Megamind and Minion.
Despite these two technically being a boss and a servant, there’s no real power dynamic
to speak of.
If anything, they act more like brothers, with Minion trying his best to look after
Megamind, all while Megamind sees him as a confidant and as his closest friend.
You could argue that Minion was essentially enabling Megamind’s villainous behavior,
but given that he was Megamind’s only companion, we could see why he’d think that him giving
his support was for the best.
Additionally, Minion is no pushover.
He’s willing to call Megamind out for his lies and awful plans, and he waits until he
gets a proper apology to free Megamind from jail.
Speaking of the big-headed genius, although he can sometimes hyper-focus on his own goals,
prompting him to ignore Minion’s advice or push him around, he still clearly cares
a ton about his fishy friend and the two are shown to work together incredibly well when
they’re on the same page.
It’s no wonder the transition into superhero and sidekick was so easy for them!
Next up, we have Po and Tigress.
Out of all the members of the Furious Five, you maybe wouldn’t have expected Po to be
the closest with Tigress.
After all, Tigress seemed like she hated him in the first movie, seeing him as a fool who
was undeserving of the Dragon Warrior title.
Once Po proved himself to be brave and hard-working, however, Tigress gave him both her respect
and her friendship.
In the following movies, we see them grow even closer.
Tigress allows Po to vent to her in the second movie, and later tries to protect him when
she sees how much facing Lord Shen is affecting him.
The two of them are also frequently seen sparing together and pulling off team moves, showing
just how great their coordination and trust in each other is.
Even when Po is frustrated with Tigress, as seen in the third movie, he still respects
her skills and understands that she’s just trying to look out for him.
While there is still occasional friction between the two of them, their relationship is still
clearly built on a strong foundation of mutual respect and loyalty that’s just really wholesome
to see after all these years.
While they may not be the most memorable friendship, we’d like to give a shoutout to racing buddies
Tito and Turbo.
Some may see these two as a Ratatouille rip-off, but we still think their relationship warrants
a fairly high placing, even if Turbo isn’t the most popular Dreamworks film out there.
Being a fan of snail racing, Tito captures both Turbo and his brother Chet one night
in order to use him in his race.
Of course, this gives Turbo a chance to show off his new speedy powers, and from there
Tito tries to help Turbo reach his racing dreams, doing all he can to try and get the
snail into the Indy 500.
While it may seem a bit one-sided on the surface, in that Tito is the one providing Turbo with
the means to race, Turbo still helps Tito out by bringing attention and customers to
Tito’s restaurant.
Additionally, Tito is shown to care enough about Turbo’s safety that he’s willing
to pull Turbo out of the big race when Turbo damages his shell, even if it means he essentially
wasted all the money he spent getting Turbo into the Indy 500 in the first place.
It may not be the deepest Dreamworks friendship around, but it’s still sweet how much these
two relate to one another and try to help each other out.
Entering our top half of the list, it’s time to talk about the duo that started it
all - Shrek and Donkey.
Ah yes, it really doesn’t get any more classic than this.
As anti-social as Shrek started off as, it didn’t take Donkey that long to start breaking
some of Shrek’s walls, all thanks to the fact that Donkey was the first person who
wasn’t completely terrified of Shrek.
Through his talkative nature, he’s eventually able to get Shrek to open up, allowing the
ogre to be more emotionally vulnerable.
Donkey, meanwhile, is just happy to have a friend who’s willing to tolerate his chattiness,
even if Shrek is still annoyed by it.
By the end of the movie, the two of them have truly bonded, becoming a duo that supports
and looks out for each other - with Donkey essentially being Shrek’s biggest confidant
and strongest means of support.
Though the two still fight or struggle to see eye-to-eye at times, they’re usually
able to work things out - with Donkey being more willing to listen instead of just talk,
and Shrek being more willing to apologize and not lose his temper as often.
Simply put, these two are iconic for a reason, and while they aren’t the best Dreamworks
friendship around, it’s still one we love to see.
Next, we have our most recent pair of Dreamworks BFFs - Puss and Perrito.
These two are absolutely adorable, and while they may have similar vibes to Shrek and Donkey,
they definitely have their own dynamic.
Although Puss starts out just using Perrito as a sidekick of sorts, repeatedly insisting
that they “aren’t friends”.
But even this argument doesn’t stick for very long, as Puss quickly starts sympathizing
with the pup once he learns Perrito’s backstory.
They continue bonding as their adventure continues, with Perrito helping Puss out with his emotions
and giving him advice, two things that Puss is shown to be very grateful for.
The fact that he respects Perrito’s perspective and actually listens to him also signifies
just how much Puss had grown to care about Perrito at that point.
They’re protective of each other, and tend to lean on each other when things start to
get dangerous.
Despite Puss obviously being the most physically active of the two of them, Perrito isn’t
afraid to jump into the action as well in order to protect his friend.
Though it may start off as a somewhat one-sided relationship, it certainly doesn’t stay
that way - and hopefully we can see the friendship between these two grow even stronger in future
Shrek films.
Just outside our top 3 friendships, it’s Spirit and Little Creek.
Essentially being a reflection of each other and of the harsh experiences faced by Native
Americans during that time period, Spirit and Little Creek make for an incredibly wholesome
partnership that shows just how well man and nature can work together.
Even when Spirit was hostile towards Little Creek, seeing him as just another human, Little
Creek was always patient, kind and respectful towards Spirit, taking the horse’s attitude
with a good sense of humor.
Whenever the two of them need to escape somewhere or face danger together, the two work together
very well, caring about each other enough to do whatever it takes to save the other’s
life.
It’s this slow-burn bond that makes Spirit respect Little Creek enough to let him actually
ride him, something he refused to let any other human do.
It’s worth noting that while these two aren’t able to really communicate verbally, they
still understand each other almost perfectly.
Earning our Bronze Medal of Healthiness is Ginger and Mac from “Chicken Run”.
For all her farm-escape attempts, it often seemed like Ginger was alone in her efforts.
The other chickens would either berate her for believing that there was a chance or,
in the case of Babs, be too naive to fully understand the danger.
The only exception to this was Mac, the farm’s resident engineer and, essentially, Ginger’s
second-in-command.
Although Mac wasn’t as passionate about escaping as Ginger was, she was always willing
to at least try to help put Ginger’s plans into action.
Mac was also encouraging in her own way, and even went out of her way to try and figure
out solutions when certain plans - like their attempts to fly - weren’t working.
She’s also shown to be sympathetic, asking Ginger if she wants to postpone their meeting
after one of their fellow hens gets sent to the chop.
Ginger, meanwhile, seems to respect Mac the most out of all the other chickens there,
resulting in the two of them working together incredibly well.
While Ginger and Rocky are certainly the heart of “Chicken Run”, it’d be a shame to
dismiss Ginger and Mac’s incredibly admirable friendship.
For our Silver Medal of Healthiness, we’re giving it to Captain Underpants’ George
and Harold.
When it comes to childhood BFFs, these two creative kids take that to the next level.
They create comics together, they prank people together, and they try to support each other
when things at school are particularly rough.
Each of these connections just adds more to their bond, allowing them to work together
flawlessly - even when separated.
Speaking of which, we feel that the sign of any good friendship is when it’s able to
withstand outside circumstances - like being put in separate classrooms.
Despite originally thinking that it would doom their friendship, the relationship is
stronger than ever by the end of the film, and the boys promise to always be friends
no matter what happens or what gets in the way.
And honestly?
We have no doubts that George and Harold are going to be able to keep this promise.
Finally, our Gold Medal of Healthiness is going to none other than Hiccup and Toothless.
Come on, did you guys really expect any other friendship to take this top spot?
These two are iconic with a capital I, and we really couldn’t think of any other pair
that could outrank them.
Simply put, Hiccup and Toothless manage to both work together and rely on each other
for support without becoming codependent on one another.
Their friendship is based entirely on trust and loyalty, and they’ll protect each other
with all that they have.
They’re able to communicate perfectly, and even during the roughest of times, their friendship
has been shown to withstand it all - from Toothless briefly being mind controlled and
killing Hiccup’s father, to Hiccup and Toothless needing to say goodbye to each other.
Seeing their friendship grow throughout three films and even withstand years of separation
is something that we’ll never be able to forget.
All these things and more is why we feel Hiccup and Toothless more than earn the title of
Healthiest Dreamworks Hero Friendship.
But let us know in the comment section if you agree with our ranking, or if there are
any iconic Dreamworks friendships that we missed, and tell us what we should cover next!
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But most importantly, stay wicked!