'Croods' Adventure Travels a Bland, Prehistoric Road

Rebellious cave teen Eep (Emma Stone) ventures out beyond the protection of her cave.

It's been quite a few years since DreamWorks last stumbled along with one of their family-friendly animated features.  Having found out-of-the-blue success with How to Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda, DreamWorks Animation was certainly giving Pixar a run for its money as the undisputed king of animated superiority. That is, until now.

Their latest animated feature, The Croods might lack the signature charm and wholesome value seen in DreamWorks previous cartoony flicks, but there's no denying that this escape to this prehistoric world has a few tricks up its sleeve. The Croods are one of the last remaining caveman families that have survived thanks to their overprotective father Grug (Nicholas Cage), believing that anything beyond their humble cave dwelling is dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. Their plastic bubble is shaken when his teenage daughter Eep (Emma Stone) ventures out beyond the cave.

Ready 'Guardians' Blu-Ray for Those Easter Baskets

The greatest gift is seeing all these mythological characters sharing the same screen.

Somebody in the Dreamworks Animation marketing department is an absolute genius. Release Rise of the Guardians in theaters right before the Christmas rush and likewise, its Blu-ray release just in nick of time for Easter. Coincidence? Hardly.

Rise of the Guardians is best summed up as the Avengers of mythological beings - the best of the best joining forces to rid the world of evil in the form of Pitch Black (Jude Law) and his deathly steeds. A thickly Russian accented Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin) and a boomerang-wielding Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackson) are givens to protect the children of the world from the Boogeyman. Joining them in this eternal struggle are the lesser known (or ones without holidays) Tooth Fairy and Sandman. And collectively, they stand united as Earth's Mightiest Heroes...sorry Guardians.

'Madagascar' Transforms European Escapade into Delightful Finale

Still trying to find a way home, Alex (Ben Stiller) and company join a travel circus in style.

Everything leading up to this latest installment in the Madagascar franchise has been centered around Marty the Zebra’s “Afro Circus,” a catchy circus song that stands in for the series’ theme “I Like to Move It, Move It.” But is the Madagascar series once again relying too much on a gimmicky song at the expense of delivering energetic storytelling? 

Fortunately, that’s not the case. This time around in Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, Alex (Ben Stiller), Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith), Marty (Chris Rock) and Melman (David Schwimmer) are still stranded in Africa with little chance of returning home to New York until they embark on a journey to Monte Carlo to find the fan-favorite Penguins who can fly them home. A few detours later and Monaco Animal Control on their tail (literally), the gang moves across Europe with a failing circus troupe, looking for their big break and golden ticket across the pond.