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I'm assuming the Wildshape feature from the Druid and Shifter classes isn't fitting your vision???
You are stepping into a bit of a minefield here: The Wildshaping Druid was the poster child for power issues in D&D3.0 as they were powerful melee combatants with full spellcasting as well, which made players wonder why they should bother playing a martial character at all. Polymorphs aren't as strong as they were back then, but they are still powerful and complicated so you're aren't likely to get anything 'more flexible' than Wildahape without a full caster build like the one you mention.
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If you're looking for most powerful melee build, I agree with Taja above: you can't go wrong with wildshaping druid. Get up to wildshape and then throw some barbarian levels on top for flavor. I played a Druid (bear shaman) 6/ Barbarian 10 for Kingmaker and it was a blast.
But it sounds like you want the flexibility of lots of shapechanges for whatever the situation calls for. As a druid, you'll only get a few wildshapes at best, so you'll be limited to the number of changes/forms you can take. Your sorcerer/eldritch knight sounds like it would be a fun build. Can't say I've tried it personally, but I'd be very curious how it turns out.
Cheers!
One suggestion: For a melee-focused arcane caster, taking four levels in dragon disciple before transitioning to eldritch knight can often make a lot of sense (+4 to Strength and extra natural armor). Losing an additional level of caster progression can be mitigated with the Favored Prestige Class and Prestigious Spellcaster feats.
Two other possible characters, with a wider selection of possible forms (by being able to learn all the polymorph spells, instead of a limited selection in spells known):
Ganzi (Weaponplay oddity [proficiency with all martial weapons without dipping in another class]) arcanist (brown fur or school savant [Transmutation/Shapechange] probably) 6/eldritch knight is probably the most straightforward option, only giving up one level of casting progression. Alternately, you can go skald (spell warrior for Enhance Weapons and take the Lingering Performance feat) 1/arcanist 3/dragon disciple (note the requirement is "without preparation," so arcanist doesn't qualify RAW) 4 (advance arcanist casting; which is allowed RAW)/eldritch knight with any race and take Favored Prestige Class/Prestigious Spellcaster to still gain 9th-level spells.
If you prefer a wizard, then skald (spell warrior) 1/wizard (bonded wizard with the Transmutation/Shapechange school; or exploiter wizard with the School Understanding [Transmutation/Shapechange] exploit) 2/dragon disciple 4 (advance wizard casting)/eldritch knight can qualify for eldritch knight one character level faster than skald/arcanist/dragon disciple. Still gains 9th-level spells at 20th character level without Favored Prestige Class/Prestigious Spellcaster.