Movie characters come in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes some of the best characters are the smaller ones with a lot to say. Animated movies have a long history of introducing quirky sidekicks, often thrown in for comedic effect when the hero finds themselves in a bind. Whether you enjoy the naive goofiness of a character like Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story franchise or laugh at the snarky remarks of a sidekick like Zazu from The Lion King movies, it's hard to argue that these small characters aren't good for a chuckle or two.

Audiences love rooting for an underdog, and it's often physically small characters who find themselves up against the odds. Having a big personality often helps these characters overcome obstacles and stand out as being the highlight of the movie. Over the years, a few characters have stood out as being tiny characters with big personalities, and these are the ones that are the most fun to watch.

10 Kevin McCallister - Home Alone

Another Christmas film that features a tiny character with a big personality is 1990's Home Alone. When Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) causes a fight at a family dinner, he's banished to the attic the night before the family takes a big trip to Paris. The whole family forgets that he's up there, and he ends up getting left behind. With the whole house to himself, Kevin watches R-rated movies, eats as much ice cream as he wants, and causes shenanigans throughout the house.

Kevin's big personality really shines when a pair of robbers try to break into the McCallister home. Kevin sets up traps, taunts them with gunfire, and embarrasses them at every turn. There are so many iconic scenes in Home Alone that make it a fan favorite year after year. Who can forget Kevin slapping aftershave on his face and screaming "AHHH!" at the top of his lungs?

9 Yoda - Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

Yoda is one of the most beloved characters in the Star Wars universe. Puppeteer Frank Oz provides the voice and movements for Yoda in the films, which are consistently included in lists of the best sci-fi movies of the '80s. When Luke goes to Dagobah to train with Yoda in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, the Jedi master trains Luke to harness the power of the Force and to resist the Dark Side.

Yoda is perhaps the only Jedi who is one with the Force, and he shows the viewer that he's a small guy with a big personality. His wise, peaceful, and calm demeanor makes him instantly likable. It's no surprise that Disney created another character of the same species named Grogu for The Mandalorian.

8 Veruca Salt - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 2005 movie directed by Tim Burton based on the popular children's book by Roald Dahl. Tim Burton directs the film that follows Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp), a reclusive chocolatier, as he invites a group of contest winners to tour his mysterious chocolate factory. All the kids are spoiled brats except Charlie Bucket, a modest boy who just wants a chance to meet his idol.

Among the most demanding of the kids is Veruca Salt (Julia Winter), the daughter of a rich business executive. Veruca wants everything now and doesn't care what it takes to get it. She demands that her parents jump at her every request, and she ends up being devoured by trained squirrels because she gets greedy and tries to steal one. Veruca's personality is big, obnoxious, and rude, and in the end, her greed ends up being her downfall.

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7 Zazu - The Lion King

In Disney's 1994 classic The Lion King, a young lion cub named Simba (voiced by Jonathan Taylor Thomas) is mentored by his father Mufasa (James Earl Jones), and told that one day he will be the king of the Pride Lands. But Simba's evil uncle Scar (Jeremy Irons), who is Mufasa's brother, has other plans. Scar causes a stampede that kills Mufasa but blames the death on Simba, and casts him away from the Pride Lands, never to be seen again.

One of the more memorable sidekicks in The Lion King is Zazu (Rowan Atkinson), Mufasa's trusty advisor. He's a wise-cracking, straight-shooting bird who takes his role seriously. After Mufasa's death, he's jailed and taunted by Scar, which makes for some great comedic moments. In the 2019 remake of The Lion King, Zazu is voiced by hilarious late-night talk show host John Oliver. Some fans like Zazu so much that they believe he's one of the Lion King characters who deserves his spin-off.

6 Buzz Lightyear - Toy Story

Toy Story is another beloved Disney franchise that features many tiny characters with big personalities. Woody (Tom Hanks) is the leader of the toys in Andy's Room. The toys come to life when humans are not around, and it's their job to ensure Andy is a happy child. When Andy gets a new toy called Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) for his birthday, it disrupts the chemistry between the toys and leaves Woody with the dilemma of helping Buzz adjust to his new surroundings.

The thing is, Buzz doesn't know he's a toy. He believes he's actually an astronaut, sent on a mission to discover new worlds. His combination of naivety and paranoia is played up for big laughs. Buzz thinks he's out to save the world, but he knows nothing about the real world. His character has helped Toy Story become a worldwide hit, with the four movies in the franchise grossing over $3 billion without even adjusting for inflation.

5 Rocket Raccoon - Guardians of the Galaxy

In the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie from 2014, we're introduced to Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), an outcast who steals a powerful orb and is then hunted by an evil group called the Ravagers who want it back. Peter puts together a skilled but reluctant team of misfits to help him navigate the galaxy. This includes a wise-craking raccoon named Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) who has a mysterious past that he doesn't want to talk about.

By the time 2023's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 came around, the audience couldn't hold their breath any longer. The third installment of the franchise finally addressed Rocket's backstory, explaining that he was a test subject in an animal lab experiment gone wrong. Rocket has the biggest personality of all the Guardians, shooting off jokes whenever possible but always rising to the challenge when his friends need him.

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4 Gimli - The Lord of the Rings trilogy

The Lord of the Rings franchise is known for packing a lot of memorable characters into just three movies. There's Frodo (Elijah Wood), who's tasked with carrying the One Ring to Mordor and casting it away before another great character, the evil Lord Sauron, can hunt him down. Another great character is Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), the dedicated Middle-Earth soldier who fights Sauron's army and helps Frodo on his quest.

One overlooked character from the franchise, however, is Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), a Dwarf of the House of Gurin, who picks up the battle armor and joins Aragorn in the Fellowship of the Ring. Gimli has a lot to say, throwing in pithy one-liners and funny asides whenever he can. He's considered one of the most likable characters in The Lord of the Rings.

3 Miles Finch - Elf

Jon Favreau's 2003 film Elf tells the story of Buddy the Elf (Will Ferell), a human being who grows up in the North Pole believing he is a Christmas elf. When Buddy realizes that he's actually a person, he sets off to New York City to find his biological father Walter (James Caan), and adjust to life in normal society. His dad works as a publishing executive, but the firm is losing money and needs to score a big hit with their next book.

With nothing to lose, the book publisher brings in Miles Finch (Peter Dinklage), a famous author who means business. He's a serious man with a snarky attitude and not a lot of patience for nonsense. Dinklage plays the character perfectly, flipping out when Buddy interrupts a business meeting and makes fun of his appearance.

2 Poppy - Trolls

2016's Trolls is an animated movie produced by Dreamworks that's based on the popular children's toys of the same name. Poppy (Anna Kendrick) lives happily with her troll friends in a colorful village filled with singing and dancing. But when the evil Bergens invade the village, it's up to Poppy to use her big personality to band everyone together to save the day.

Poppy is a physically small character with big ambition. She's constantly optimistic and always trying to look on the bright side of life. She has endless energy and her happy personality is infectious. Even though Poppy is one of her most memorable characters, but Trolls is not considered by Rotten Tomatoes to be one of Anna Kendrick's best movies.

1 Mini-Me - Austin Powers

Mini-Me (Verne Troyer) is a character that appears in the second and third installments of the Austin Powers franchise. He's a clone of Dr. Evil (Mike Myers) and is an exactly double of him in every way, except he's one-eighth his size. Although he doesn't talk much, Mini-Me provides a lot of comedy in the sequels, often passing notes to Foxxy Cleopatra (Beyonce Knowles-Carter), rapping, and using objectionable hand gestures.

Sadly, Troyer passed away at age 49 in 2018. His appearance in the Austin Powers movies is his most notable film credit, and legions of fans who grew up in the 1990s will always remember him as the perfect accompaniment to Myers' chaotic humor.