CHICAGO – With the animated films “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” and “Bolt” being released this month, Jeff Bayer’s The Scorecard Review – a partner with HollywoodChicago.com – has published its top seven animal characters (either real or animated) in film.

The Scorecard Review writer Morrow McLaughlin says she aimed to capture a blend of the “classics” (i.e. those unknown to anyone born after 1980) as well as modern characters in an effort to please both the kiddies and the fogies.

The rules: The character has to be a real animal (i.e. Shrek is not allowed). Also, the character has to either achieve a level of distinct uniqueness or has to be a dominating force in popular culture. Finally, the character has to have been a named protagonist or antagonist.