There’s nothing quite like seeing your favorite TV show characters make their way onto the big screen. Shows like Scooby-Doo, Alvin and The Chipmunks, and even South Park have all been adapted into feature-length presentations over the years.

These animated movies based on TV shows are special in that they have an unlimited shelf life. For example, if you were in grade school when The Spongebob Squarepants Movie came out, and you enjoyed it then, odds are you watched it again as you got older and found new reasons to love it. TV shows, especially those enjoyed as kids, hold a special place in people’s hearts. They’re nostalgic, comforting, and generally lighthearted, giving people a break from their typical day-to-day.

Adapting animated TV shows into movies is also a successful, profit-driven production strategy. For example, The Simpsons Movie was a box office hit bringing in over $500 million when it premiered in 2007. Similarly, on a smaller scale, The Spongebob Squarepants Movie brought in over $140 million at the box office globally.

It’s clear that making animated TV shows into movies is a moneymaker, and there are even more adaptations on the way. Most notably is The Bob’s Burgers Movie, which has a theatrical release set for May 27, 2022, and is based on the Bob’s Burgers comedy series.

In anticipation of more movie adaptations of favorite animated series, now is as good a time as any to take a trip down memory lane and look at some of the best animated movies based on TV shows.

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6 Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996)

     Paramount Pictures Studios

Beavis and Butt-Head is one of those pieces of pop culture from the 1990s that really represents the decade. The adult animated TV show was created by Mike Judge (King of the Hill) and originally aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 1997. It was later revived in 2011 for an eighth season and is also slated to make a return this year on Paramount+. The second revival of the series is bringing two new seasons and a new movie, Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe.

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The series followed two teenage slackers, both voiced by Judge, who are known for their lowbrow humor and lack of social skills. When the series aired on MTV in the ’90s, it was the network’s highest-rated show. Following the show’s success, Judge co-created the movie Beavis and Butt-Head Do America in 1996.

The movie follows the duo as they set out to find their stolen TV set, and through a series of events, become wanted fugitives with the FBI on their tails. The movie is a perfect blend of funny and stupid. For fans of the show, the movie just feels like one long episode from the series. It carries all the same jokes and mannerisms that penetrated the zeitgeist at the time. The movie was a big success, raking in $63.1 million at the U.S. box office when it premiered.

There are few details on the upcoming movie on Paramount+. The only thing Judge has revealed so far are sketches of the two characters sporting a middle-aged look. The sketches could be suggesting the new movie may take place in real time, decades after Beavis and Butt-Head Do America.

5 Rugrats in Paris (2000)

     Paramount Pictures Studios/Nickelodeon Movies

Nickelodeon’s Rugrats is a slice-of-life comedy and adventure series that follows the lives of a group of toddlers. While their experiences seem rather mundane, everything in the show is through their imaginative, childlike point of view, making even the most basic of days feel larger than life. Altogether, the show ran for 13 years, from 1991 to 2004. Rugrats was wildly successful, receiving critical acclaim and awards like Daytime Emmys and Kids’ Choice Awards over the years. In 2003, Rugrats had a revival with the show All Grown Up!, which continued to tell the stories of the original characters, now as adolescents.

The original series’ success led the cast of toddlers on several movie adventures. There was The Rugrats Movie in 1998, which introduced Tommy Pickles’ baby brother Dil, Rugrats Go Wild in 2003, which was a crossover movie with The Wild Thornberrys, and Rugrats in Paris in 2000.

Rugrats in Paris is one of the most entertaining movie adaptations from the series. In the movie, Tommy’s dad Stu has to travel to EuroReptarland, a Japanese amusement park in Paris, to fix a malfunctioning animatronic Reptar. The entire Rugrats cast travels to Paris where we meet the kid-hating CoCo LaBouche, who runs the amusement park. The movie has a rich plot with adventure, romance, scheming, and fun-loving comedy. It also introduced new characters that appear in later episodes of the series, Kimi Watanabe and her mom Kira. Rugrats in Paris is perfectly executed with great voice acting, an engaging plot, catchy music, and well-developed, dynamic characters. It’s worth a watch even today, more than 20 years after it premiered.

Rugrats, the series, was also recently rebooted on Paramount+. The reboot follows a similar story to the original series, but with more 3D, computer-animated visuals.

RELATED: Best 90s Nickelodeon Cartoons, Ranked

4 A Goofy Movie (1995)

     Walt Disney Pictures

1995’s A Goofy Movie is based on the short-lived animated sitcom Goof Troop that aired in 1992. Goof Troop focused on the lives of Walt Disney’s character Goofy, a single father, and his son Max, along with their neighbors Pete and his son P.J. While the show didn’t have a long runtime, it did lead to two movies: A Goofy Movie in 1995 and An Extremely Goofy Movie in 2000.

A Goofy Movie is a continuation of Goof Troop, with Max now in high school. Goofy is on a mission to bond with his son, so the pair embark on a cross-country fishing trip. It’s a funny movie with significant depth and emotion as it really emphasizes the dynamics of a father-son relationship as kids grow up. It’s also pretty fast-paced and doesn’t waste any time getting to the peaks of the plot, making for an engaging watch. However, when the movie was first released, it didn’t wow at the box office and brought in just about $37.6 million. But, when it was released on VHS for home viewing, it became much more popular, gathering a massive following. The popularity A Goofy Movie picked up led to the sequel in 2000 being a straight-to-video release.

The sequel, An Extremely Goofy Movie, follows a similar plot to the first installment, except now Max is in college. The sequel is just as entertaining and heartfelt as the first movie and features the return of several fan-favorite characters. Plus, it has a great soundtrack.

3 The Simpsons Movie (2007)

     20th Century Studios

The Simpsons is one of the longest running animated TV shows of all time, second to Looney Tunes. Since its premiere in December 1989, The Simpsons has gone on to release over 700 episodes and counting.

Created by Matt Groening, The Simpsons is a comedic sitcom known for its parodies and commentary on American culture and society. The series has had consistent success since it’s original debut and has amassed a cult following that spans generations. The series’ success eventually led to a jump onto the big screen with The Simpsons Movie in 2007.

The movie follows Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta) as he pollutes the lake in their town, causing the EPA to put Springfield under a protective glass dome. Eventually, Homer returns to Springfield to try to redeem himself and save the town from demolition by the EPA. The Simpsons Movie has everything that made the show so well-loved. There’s satire, laughs, and a calculated look at the human condition, and the American family in general. The movie is so well-written that it captivates you from start to finish, even if you weren’t a longtime Simpsons fan before watching the big screen adaptation. Because it’s so polished and well-executed, it serves as a great entry point into The Simpsons universe for new fans.

As of last year, there were still talks happening about a potential sequel to The Simpsons Movie. Though now that The Simpsons is on Disney+, it’s possible that the second movie could be a Disney+ exclusive.

2 The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004)

     Paramount Pictures Studios/Universal Studios

SpongeBob SquarePants is another one of those incredibly popular animated TV shows that never goes out of style. The adventures of SpongeBob and all his friends under the sea have been entertaining audiences since 1999. SpongeBob SquarePants has won a variety of awards over the years, from Annie Awards to Kids’ Choice Awards and even Emmys.

Following a few years of success as a series, the show was adapted into its first movie, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, in 2004. In the movie, Plankton (Mr. Lawrence) hatches an elaborate plan to steal the Krabby Patty Secret Formula - a consistent goal of his - and take over the world by stealing King Neptune’s (Jeffrey Tambor) crown and framing Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown) for the theft. SpongeBob (Tom Kenny) and Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke) then team up to retrieve the crown and save the world from Plankton. They meet a wide array of unique characters throughout their journey and venture to new parts of their underwater world that had never been seen before in the original series.

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie is truly fun for all ages. It has jokes for both kids and their parents, a fun, catchy soundtrack and goofy scenes that stick in your mind for years to come. It’s one of those animated movies that you can enjoy time and time again. It’s just so bright and well-thought-out, it’s hard not to love it. When the movie premiered it grossed over $140 million worldwide, making it one of the highest grossing animated films of 2004.

The success of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie led to two standalone sequels later: The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water in 2015 and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run in 2020. The original show was also recently renewed for a fourteenth season as the SpongeBob universe continues to expand. Recently, spin-off series Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years and The Patrick Star Show launched on Paramount+, and there’s still room for the SpongeBob SquarePants universe to grow.

RELATED: Best Animated Movies From the 2000s, Ranked

1 Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998)

     Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

Few animated series are as massive and expansive as that of Scooby-Doo. The spooky mystery show originally premiered in 1969 and has since been rebooted and revived in a million ways, and still is today. Sccoby-Doo has had a significant presence in pop culture since it debuted. It has been adapted into a variety of spin-offs, video games, media crossovers, and comic books and has garnered a cult following that stands the test of time.

Along with various spin-off series and other pieces of pop culture and merchandise, the Scooby-Doo universe has also yielded several exceptional big screen adventures. One of the best is 1998’s Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. The movie follows the Mystery Inc. gang as they reconnect after a year-long hiatus from solving mysteries and encountering ghosts together. They venture out on the bayou to investigate an island that is rumored to be haunted by pirate Morgan Moonscar. Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island is unique in that it manages to blend the lighthearted goofy nature of Scooby-Doo that fans have grown to love, with a little darkness from the horror genre. It takes the iconic characters from the original series and gives them more depth and personality. Well-written characters coupled with a captivating plot - and a playlist-worthy soundtrack - make for the perfect movie.

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island’s popularity was so strong that it led to a direct sequel, Scooby-Doo: Return to Zombie Island, in 2019. Some animated TV shows transfer better onto the big screen than others, but Scooby-Doo is one that never really misses.