The best animated movies on Peacock: 'Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,' 'Despicable Me' & more

There’s a lot of great things to watch on Peacock, from Rian Johnson’s new murder-of-the-week series Poker Face, to the exploits of Alan Tudyk’s extraterrestrial character Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle on Resident Alien.

If you’re in the mood for something of the animated persuasion rather than live-action, however, Peacock still has you covered. Here is a list of the streaming platform’s best animated movies to watch, either on your own or with your friends and family.

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(from left) Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas), Papa Bear (Ray Winstone), Goldi (Florence Pugh), Mama Bear (Olivia Colman) and Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek Pinault) in DreamWorks Animation’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, directed by Joel Crawford. Photo: DreamWorks Animation

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

From the innovative animation style to the mature themes, the Oscar-nominated Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a perfect example of how animated films can appeal to both children and adults. After years of reckless behavior, Puss (Antonio Banderas) comes down to the last of his nine lives. The only thing capable of restoring the other eight is a fabled wishing star. Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) and a happy-go-lucky dog named Perrito (Harvey" Guillén) join him on the quest, which involves run-ins with Big Jack Horner (John Mulaney), Goldilocks (Florence Pugh), the Three Bears (Ray Winstone, Olivia Colman, Samson Kayo), and the Big Bad Wolf (Wagner Moura).

Watch Puss in Boots: The Last Wish here. 

Despicable Me (2010) Photo: Despicable Me - Theatrical Trailer/Universal Pictures YouTube

Despicable Me (2010)

The first movie that kicked off the universe of the Steve Carell-voiced supervillain and his yellow, banana-loving Minions remains one of the best in the franchise. In this tale, Carell’s Gru wants to steal the Moon, and is thwarted by another supervillain named Vector, voiced by Jason Segel. What makes Despicable Me so wonderful, however, is the relationship Gru unexpectedly develops with three orphan girls who steal his heart while he works to steal the Moon.

Watch Despicable Me here. 

Despicable Me 2 (2013) Photo: Despicable Me 2 (9/10) Movie CLIP - The Purple Minion Attacks (2013) HD/Movieclips YouTube

Despicable Me 2 (2013)

If you’re looking for a double-header, you could do worse than to watch Despicable Me and its sequel, accurately titled Despicable Me 2. The second film featuring Steve Carell’s Gru and his Minions is full of surprisingly funny fart jokes, and picks up where the first movie ended. Gru has since put his supervillain efforts to the wayside to raise the girls, and gets tapped by the Anti-Villain League to track down the perpetrator who pulled off a big heist. It’s arguably even funnier than the first movie, and worth watching more than once.

Watch Despicable Me 2 here. 

Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014) Photo: Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014) - You Used the Wayback! Scene (7/10) | Movieclips YouTube

Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014)

This film, based on the characters from the 1960s series The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends, features Mr. Peabody (Ty Burrell), a talking beagle with glasses who lives with his adopted human son, Sherman (Max Charles) in New York City. The two travel through time using their WABAC machine, and time travel-related shenanigans ensue. You couldn’t ask for a better time travel movie that features George Washington (except, maybe, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure).

Watch Mr. Peabody & Sherman here. 

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) Photo: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) - Wallace Transforms Scene (5/10) | Movieclips YouTube

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)

The Curse of the Were-Rabbit remains one of the best homages to classic monster movies out there. The stop-animation feature has Wallace and his dog Gromit running a pest control business (adorably called Anti-Pesto, of course), where they keep “pests” (aka rabbits) out of their town’s vegetable gardens by trapping them in their basement. The two attempt to brainwash the bunnies to not like vegetables using Wallace’s new invention, the Mind-O-Matic. Things go awry, however, and a were-rabbit is unleashed on the town, with Gromit being the one who has to sort everything out.

Watch Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit here. 

The Croods (2013)

Courtesy of DreamWorks Animation

Renfield star Nicolas Cage voices Grug, the patriarch of a cave-dwelling family learning to adapt to a changing world at the dawn of time. The supporting cast is just as impressive with the inclusion of Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Cloris Leachman, and Clark Duke. The film spawned a theatrical sequel (The Croods: A New Age) and a pair television spinoffs (Netflix's Dawn of the Croods and Peacock's The Croods: Family Tree).

Watch The Croods here.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) Photo: How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) - Toothless vs. The Bewilderbeast Scene (10/10) | Movieclips YouTube

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)

Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and his dragon, Toothless (Randy Thom), are back in this sequel film. The feature starts out five years after the events of the first, with dragons and humans now living in peace with one another. There are dragon trappers, however, that Hiccup and Toothless come across, leading to some big surprises for them both and unexpected physical and emotional battles, making it a movie that some would say surpasses the first.

Watch How to Train Your Dragon 2 here. 

Spirit (2002) Photo: Spirit (2002) - Spirit Grows Up Scene (1/10) | Movieclips YouTube

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)

If you’re looking for a horse movie, you can’t do much better than Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. The feature takes place in the 19th-century and follows a young stallion named Spirit (Matt Damon) who finds himself trapped by the U.S. Cavalry, where a man named The Colonel (James Cromwell) attempts to break him. At the same fort, a Lakota man named Little Creek (Daniel Studi) is held captive, and the two escape, only for The Colonel to chase after them as they try to remain free.

Watch Spirt: Stallion of the Cimarron here.

Shrek (2001) Photo: Shrek (2001) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers YouTube

Shrek (2001)

The first Shrek film, starring Mike Myers as the titular ogre who wants nothing more than to be left alone in his swamp, is a classic for a reason. In it, Shrek finds himself on a mission from the not-so-nice Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) to find Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) so the Lord can marry her. Shrek gets more than he expected when he does find Fiona, however, and gets his own happily ever after.   

Watch Shrek here. 

Shrek 2 (2004) Photo: Shrek 2 (2004) - I Need a Hero Scene (7/10) | Movieclips YouTube

Shrek 2 (2004)

Shrek 2 finds Shrek and Fiona happily together (along with with Eddie Murphy’s Donkey, of course) and on their way to the Kingdom of Far Far Away, where Fiona’s parents live. Fiona’s parents, however, are less than thrilled to meet their new son-in-law, and hire the aforementioned Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) to assassinate him so Fiona can marry Prince Charming. Things turn around all right in the end, and the journey to get there is certainly an entertaining one.

Watch Shrek 2 here. 

Chicken Run (2000) Photo: Chicken Run (2000) - The Pie Machine Scene (6/10) | Movieclips YouTube

Chicken Run (2000)

This stop-animation feature from the creative minds behind Wallace & Gromit holds up incredibly well over 20 years since its release. The film takes place in the 1950s and follows a rooster (Mel Gibson) and a hen (Julia Sawalha) trying to escape a prison-like egg farm run by the sinister Mrs. Tweedy (Miranda Richardson). The chickens try to learn how to fly to escape (just like the rooster, Rocky, can) and ultimately pull together an actual plane to do so. Entertainment at its finest!

Watch Chicken Run here.

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