Hard work or natural talent? That's the time-old question asked by many, but which is most important depends on who you ask, or where you look. Even children's animated film studio DreamWorks has their own answer within their many films, a number of them stating that hard work is the more important quality.
Throughout DreamWork's films are a large number of characters who had to do the impossible with little resources, research, and, yes, talent. The odds were up against these underdog characters, but they found their own way by pushing them past their limits and making the impossible possible with some quality hard work.
10 Madagascar: Mary's Honed Survival Skills Beat Alex's Talent As An Entertainer
Four zoo animals are taken on an unexpected adventure in the wild in Madagascar. Marty the Zebra takes the surprise trip in strides, preparing shelter and food, and maintaining an upbeat attitude. On the other hand, Alex the lion, and the star of the Central Park Zoo, doesn't handle it too well.
While Alex was panicking about being away from the comforts of home, Marty worked hard to ensure that he and his friends would survive. Perhaps Marty had a little preparation in advance given how he'd been wanting to travel for so long, while Alex was too busy being pampered as an entertainer.
9 Antz: Together The Colony members Saved Themselves From Death
At first glance, the film Antz is about a character who doesn't fit in and causes a lot of trouble fighting against his forced role in society. Under the surface, however, there is a much sinister plot going on. The story tells the everyday regimented lives of a colony of ants. Everyone has their role, the workers, the royalty, and the soldiers.
While the main character, Z, runs away with the Colony's Princess to escape their forced roles, the army plans to destroy what they deem as the weaker part of society by flooding the colony. At the end of the film, Z and the rest of the workers and royalty are trapped with the tide growing higher and higher. They come up with a clever plan to form a ladder to make it up to the surface, where it is safe.
8 El Dorado: Miguel & Tulio Aren't The Brightest Adventurers But Their Diligence Led Them To Gold
The only two things Miguel and Tulio had going for them were a talent in scams and charisma to distract who they were scamming. They weren't skilled navigators, but they were resilient enough to make it to the city of gold, otherwise known as El Dorado.
Even after they declared themselves as Gods and had the people of El Dorado worship them, Miguel and Tulio still had the odds stacked against them. With no real powers or authority, they managed to save the ancient city from the Conquistador leader as well as the dark magic using High Priest Tzekel-Kan.
7 Madagascar 3: It Takes A Group Of Hard Working Animals To Build The Greatest Circus
In the Madagascar saga's final film, the main characters are on the run from the great Animal Control Officer Chantel DuBois. With nowhere else to turn for safety, the gang begs for protection from a traveling circus. They have to lie that they're from the circus themselves in order to be taken in, but from that point, the group needs to play their roles well in order to keep their sanctuary within the circus.
The Penguins come up with the idea to buy out the circus and use them to return to New York, and although they haven't the slightest sense of how a circus should be, they wind up creating the greatest entertainment experience with the wildest ideas.
6 Kung Fu Panda: Po Trained Hard To Earn The Dragon Warrior Name
Even though Po was foretold to be the legendary martial artist the Dragon Warrior, he had a long way to go before he could stand toe-to-toe with the martial arts masters, the Fearsome Five. The dojo warriors were certain that the title would go to Tigress, the strongest of the group, but, as fate would have it, the Grand Master picked Po instead.
It seemed like the choice was a mistake, as Po had no talent towards martial arts, or so it seemed. The dojo's teacher, Master Shifu, had to come up with a new way to draw out Po's latent talents, and even then the panda underwent an extensive amount of training to hone his skills.
5 How To Train Your Dragon: Hiccup Works Hard To Tame The Dragons While Astrid Is The Master Of Killing Them
Atrid's talent of slaying dragons was impressive in How To Train Your Dragon, but over time, the people of Berk came to realize the best way to live with the creatures was to befriend them. At the beginning of the film, Hiccup tried to fit in his dragon-slaying town by joining them. However, when he finally had the opportunity to kill one of the most fearsome dragons, he realized he couldn't do it.
The awkward teen began to study the dragons and found them to be friendly and peaceful creatures, and although it was difficult to convince his people to change their ways, they eventually came to follow in Hiccup's footsteps.
4 Trolls: Poppy's Hard Work Of Having Hope Triumphed Over Branch's Realistic Approach To Life
When a group of the trolls was kidnapped by a villainous Bergen in Trolls, Poppy decides to set out and rescue them from being eaten. On her journey, her hopeful spirit isn't enough to make it to her friends and she's almost killed on the way. If it weren't for Branch and his skills of survival, Poppy wouldn't have made it, but at the end of the day, it was Poppy's never-say-die attitude that really made a difference.
Because she never gave up and kept trying to save her friends, Poppy not only found success, but she also united her people with their enemy, the Bergens. If she had kept to Branch's ways, the film's happy ending never would have happened.
3 Trolls World Tour: The Pop Trolls Perform Their Best In The Uniting Of The Other Tribes
After Poppy and the other pop singing trolls discover five different troll tribes, each dedicated to a different genre of music, the leaders of the Rock tribe decide to destroy all other genres of music. Poppy and the gang set out to unite their tribe with the funk, country, techno, and classical tribes to fight against the oppressive threat and protect the diversity of music, but it proves to be hard to unite such different groups.
To create an alliance with each of the four tribes, the pop singing Trolls do everything they can. As much as they struggle, they find a way together and save music.
2 Megamind: The Villain's Wit Beats The Other Villain's Innate Powers
In the film Megamind, the villain of the story is Megamind. He appears to succeed at destroying his arch-nemesis Metro Man, the hero, and takes over the city of Metropolis. When he finally achieves his life goal of beating the good guy, Megamind is left with an existential crisis of what to do with his life next. He comes to the conclusion that he needs a hero to fight to fulfill his purpose and thus gives ordinary human superhero powers.
Unfortunately, Megamind's plan backfires when his choice of hero, Hal, turns out to be a selfish and bitter person, who was only in it to win over the girl of his dreams. Megamind is given a fight, but not with a hero, but with a super-powered villain of his own creation. With no powers himself, Megamind wins the battle with his wit and advanced technology.
1 Chicken Run: The Flock's Hard Work Saved Their Very Lives
When the flock of chickens in Chicken Run learns that their farm owners, Mrs. and Mr. Tweedy, plan to kill them all to start a chicken pie business, they become desperate to escape. When a stranger appears to fly over the towering fence that's kept them captive for years, the leader of the group, Ginger, is inspired to have him teach the group how to fly.
The plan goes awry when they realize chickens can't fly, but as a last resort means of escape, the flock works together to invent a flying aircraft out of their coops to fly over the fence. Their ingenuity is a success, and although they hit some bumps along the way, they manage to escape Tweedy's Farm and live to tell the tale.