The film was directed by Pierre Perifel from a screenplay by Etan Cohen, and stars 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 as a new villain has his own plans.

Wolf convinces them to steal the Golden Dolphin award, which will be presented to guinea pig philanthropist Professor Rupert Marmalade IV, who has helped rebuild the city from damage by a meteorite.

At Marmalade's charity gala, the gang execute another heist to steal the award, but Wolf, having fallen in love with Foxington, is unable to do it and decides to actually go good.

In prison, Wolf explains that he believes a better life is possible, leading to a fight with Snake, who is convinced that society will always treat them as dangerous monsters.

Wolf agrees to help Foxington stop Marmalade from using the meteorite as a hypnotic power source, but the others return to their hideout only to discover their loot is gone.

Wolf and Foxington realize Marmalade is using the meteorite to control an army of guinea pigs, which he sends to rob his own charity funds throughout the city.

On July 22, 2017, Australia's The Daily Telegraph reported that several studios had expressed interest in adapting Aaron Blabey's book series The Bad Guys into a feature film.

[12] In March 2018, DreamWorks Animation announced the development of a film based on the book series, with Etan Cohen writing the screenplay.

[16] Winston was only credited for Additional screenplay material with Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs writer Yoni Brenner while the film was executive produced by Cohen, Blabey, and Foundation Media's Patrick Hughes.

Character designs took inspiration from a mix of styles from directors such as Luc Besson's The Fifth Element, Michael Mann’s Heat, Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven, and Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, and Pulp Fiction.

[19] While most of the animation for the film was provided by DWA Glendale, Jellyfish Pictures, who previously worked with DreamWorks on How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming, Spirit Untamed and The Boss Baby: Family Business, handled the additional asset production services using proprietary softwares like Premo and Moonray, along with a new tool called Doodle – created for the 2D effects and for allowing the animators to move the lines around the character rigs.

[23] A song "Good Tonight" written by Pemberton and Gary Go was made and released on March 18 by Back Lot Music, performed by Anthony Ramos, who does the additional lyrics with Will Wells.

[22] Director Pierre Perifel, producer Damon Ross and composer Daniel Pemberton recorded backup vocals on Brand New Day.

All music is composed by Daniel Pemberton, except as notedThe film's marketing campaign began on December 14, 2021, with the release of the first trailer, one first-look photo, and a cast table read.

The Bad Guys also had a tie-in with the 2022 March Madness tournament, featuring a virtual bracket for the film's characters and commercials during pre and post-game coverage on TNT and TBS.

A Snapchat AR lens of Mr. Wolf and a TikTok trend set to Billie Eilish's "Bad Guy" were used to promote the film.

[16] In December 2020, the film was delayed with The Boss Baby: Family Business taking its original slot, though it was confirmed that it would get a new date "within the coming weeks" due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[4][5] In the United States and Canada, The Bad Guys was released alongside The Northman and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, and was projected to gross $13–20 million from 4,008 theaters in its opening weekend.

The website's consensus reads: "Fast-paced, funny, and full of colorful visual appeal, The Bad Guys is good news for audiences seeking options the whole family can enjoy.

"[60] IGN's Ryan Leston gave a rating of 8 out of 10 and wrote: The Bad Guys is a slick, hilarious heist movie with buckets of laughs and a lot of heart.

It's Ocean's Eleven meets Little Red Riding Hood with Sam Rockwell's Wolf going on a charm offensive to stay out of jail... and he might just win you over in the process.

Richard Ayoade has a blast as the sanctimonious Professor Marmalade and the entire voice cast brings their A-game with some stellar gags that will get you roaring with laughter.

"[61] Chicago Sun-Times's Richard Roeper gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, and commented that "The animation combines computer-generated 2D and 3D with a look that will remind you of a Saturday-morning cartoon—only much crisper and more dazzling.

There's nothing photorealistic about the animation; it's stylized and has very specific definition of Heist Movie Los Angeles, with the sky so bright it's almost overexposed, and yet somehow creating a bit of a noir vibe.

"[62] The Guardian's Wendy Ide gave 3 stars out of 5 and said: "Like Roger Rabbit, the pacing owes a debt to the demented frenzy of classic Looney Tunes animations, but the film also nods to heist movies, notably the Oceans series.

[77] The special takes place before the events of the film and features the titular Bad Guys reluctantly restoring holiday cheer to Los Angeles after Christmas was unexpectedly canceled.