17 Years Ago Today, This Underrated Animated Sci-Fi Movie Released & It’s Surprising a Sequel Never Happened

Ever since debuting in 1998 with Antz, DreamWorks Animation has shown itself to be a rival to Pixar. That said, it always favored star-studded, fast-moving narratives more than the exceedingly thoughtful Pixar movies that appealed to adults just as much as children (often more so, e.g. Up and WALL-E). But DreamWorks really is just as capable of crafting moving, theme-heavy works just as its Disney-based rival, and more often than not when they do that a long-running franchise is born. For instance, Shrek and How to Train Your Dragon, either of which could be considered the studio’s highpoint.

But DreamWorks also has a few underrated movies under its belt. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Over the Hedge, Bee Movie, these are all solid animated films that seem to have been somewhat forgotten over time. But if there is a clear underrated DreamWorks adventure it’s Monsters vs. Aliens, which opened in theaters 17 years ago today.

How Did Monsters vs. Aliens Do & What Makes It So Effective?

First off, while we never got a feature-length sequel to Monsters vs. Aliens, we did get a few consolation prizes of sorts. First there was the 2009 TV special Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space, which aired on NBC seven months after the movie and had Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Will Arnett, Hugh Laurie, Kiefer Sutherland, and Rainn Wilson all returning to their roles (though Wilson played a new villainous character).

Two years later another short, Night of the Living Carrots, was released, with only Rogen and Sutherland reprising their roles. Lastly, fans got a Nickelodeon TV series adaptation in 2013, though it only ran for 26 episodes and didn’t feature any of the cast members.

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Even still, it’s surprising a genuine follow-up was never released. The movie pulled in over $380 million against (and admittedly sizable) $175 million. That’s not jaw-dropping but still in the realm of profitability.

And, thanks to its clear love for ’50s sci-fi and horror movies as well as poignant themes about embracing one’s own unique qualities and loving others for theirs, it’s better than some other DreamWorks movies that did sequel. For instance, The Croods, Trolls, and, frankly, Madagascar. It’s certainly a far sight superior to The Boss Baby.

But, alas, it seems the time has passed for Monsters vs. Aliens 2. But at least it made good use of some of the funniest people in the business, e.g. Paul Rudd as an ego-centric weatherman and the fiancé to Witherspoon’s Susan. Stephen Colbert is also great as the President of the United States. There’s also much to be said about how Witherspoon, Rogen, Laurie, and Arnett’s unique personalities and voices bounce off one another as the main ensemble.

If you’ve ever watched a silly retro midnight movie like It Came from Outer Space, The Blob, The Thing from Another World, or any of the Shōwa era Godzilla movies, this is one “kids” movie to check out. Or perhaps you want to get your kids into such enjoyable fare. This is a great starting point for that task.

Did you watch Monsters vs. Aliens in theaters? If you could have a sequel to any one-off DreamWorks movie, which would it be? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!