The Bad Guys

The Bad Guys is a 2022 American animated crime comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation. Loosely based on the children's book series by Aaron Blabey, the film was directed by Pierre Perifel (in his feature directorial debut) and written by Etan Cohen. The ensemble cast features the voices of Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Awkwafina, Craig Robinson, Anthony Ramos, Richard Ayoade, Zazie Beetz, Alex Borstein, and Lilly Singh. It tells the story of a criminal group of anthropomorphic animals who, upon being caught, pretend to attempt to reform themselves as model citizens, only for their leader to find himself genuinely drawn to changing his ways for good.

Work on the film started in March 2018, with Cohen writing the screenplay. The characters and themes drew inspiration from various crime films and anime series such as Pulp Fiction (1994), the Ocean's film trilogy, Lupin the Third, and Sherlock Hound, while the inspiration for the film's animation style came from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). Production began at DreamWorks Animation's Glendale campus, and some additional production assets were borrowed from Jellyfish Pictures, with voice acting being performed remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.