"DreamWorks Animation SKG" isn't the type of studio name that suggests the sort of mystery and wonder we expect from our cartoon features -- in fact, but for the "animation" part, it reads like something you might expect to see written on the wall of an especially groovy German chemical factory. Appearances can be deceiving, however; over the last 11 years, DreamWorks' animation division has provided filmgoers with some of the most offbeat, adventurous, and critically well-received family-friendly fare around -- a streak the studio hopes to continue with their latest release, this week's technologically groundbreaking 3-D feature Monsters vs. Aliens.

We knew just what to do to celebrate the occasion: Dedicate this week's Total Recall to revisiting the DreamWorks Animation filmography, from 1998's Antz straight through to last year's Kung Fu Panda. Like any studio, DreamWorks has had its ups and downs over the years, and not everything has found its way to a Fresh certification -- but more often than not, they've hit the critical bulls-eye (and made buckets of cash in the process). How do your favorites stack up with the critics'? Read on to find out! -- and then play our DreamWorks Cartoon Challenge!

34%

Rotten

17. Shark Tale

For the second time, DreamWorks found itself pushing a project with a lot of superficial similarities to a Pixar picture -- and once again, Pixar ended up on top. After the Antz vs. A Bug's Life throwdown, DreamWorks could at least console itself with some terrific reviews; Shark Tale, however, has the dubious distinction of being the studio's worst-reviewed release -- despite a star-studded voice cast that includes Will Smith, Jack Black, Robert De Niro, and Angelina Jolie. Though audiences clearly hadn't tired of CGI fish -- Shark Tale grossed $367 million worldwide -- critics weren't impressed with its endless string of pop culture gags and Godfather-inspired plot; Roger Ebert spoke for most of his peers when he wrote, "It's strange that a kid-oriented film would be based on parody of a 1972 gangster movie for adults."

41%

Rotten

16. Shrek the Third

The third time was definitely the charm for the big green animated ogre at the box office -- Shrek the Third racked up nearly $800 million in worldwide grosses -- but critically, the second sequel in the Shrek franchise suffered an ignominous fate, earning a 41 percent Tomatometer and scores of scornful reviews from the likes of Newsweek's David Ansen, who halfheartedly complimented it as "skillfully made corporate product" before saying "I wonder who, exactly, will be fully satisfied.

46%

Rotten

15. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas

Though most of DreamWorks Animation's releases have turned a profit, every studio suffers the occasional commercial misfortune. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas was a whopper, earning the lowest total for any film shown at more than 3,000 screens in all of 2003 and prompting DreamWorks honcho Jeffrey Katzenberg to proclaim the death of traditional animation in general. Not what you would have expected from a movie featuring the voices of Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Michelle Pfeiffer -- but then, you also wouldn't expect it to be, in the words of Mark Halverson of the Sacramento News & Review, "as routine as many live-action adventure films, right down to the competent but fairly undistinguished art and animation."