DreamWorks Animation

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DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc.

Type	Public (NASDAQ: DWA)
Founded	1994 (founding of DreamWorks SKG) 2004 (spin-off of DreamWorks Animation)
Headquarters	Glendale, California Redwood City, California, United States
Key people	Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chief Executive Officer Roger Enrico, Chairman Lew Coleman, President
Industry	Animated films
Website	dreamworksanimation.com

DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. (NASDAQ: DWA) is an American animation studio which primarily produce a series of commercially successful computer animated films, including Shrek, Shark Tale, Madagascar, Over the Hedge, Bee Movie, Kung Fu Panda, Monsters vs Aliens, and How to Train Your Dragon. Although the studio had made traditionally animated films about serious subjects, most of their computer-generated films have now gained the studio a reputation for being more centered around popular culture and satire in their storylines. The studio was formed by the merger of the feature animation division of DreamWorks and Pacific Data Images (PDI). Originally formed under the banner of DreamWorks SKG, it was spun-off into a separate public company in 2004.

They are currently distributed only through Paramount Pictures (in turn owned by Viacom) who acquired the rest of DreamWorks SKG in February 2006. DreamWorks Animation maintains two studios: the original DreamWorks feature animation studio in Glendale, California and the PDI studio in Redwood City, California.

Contents 1 History 1.1 1994–2003 1.2 2004–2008 1.3 2009–present 2 Partnerships 3 Board of Directors 4 Films and series 4.1 Traditionally-animated films 4.2 Stop-motion films 4.3 Computer-animated films 4.4 Upcoming computer Animated Films 4.5 TV specials 4.6 Short films 4.7 Traditionally-animated television series 4.8 Computer-animated television series 5 Sources 6 References 7 External links

[edit] History

[edit] 1994–2003

On October 12, 1994, DreamWorks SKG was formed and founded by a trio of entertainment players, director and producer Steven Spielberg, music executive David Geffen, and former Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenberg. DreamWorks signed a co-production deal with Pacific Data Images to form subsidiary PDI, LLC (PDI owned 60% of PDI, LLC while DreamWorks SKG owned 40%). Pacific Data Images was founded by Carl Rosendahl in 1980 with a small loan from his father. In 1982, he was joined by Richard Chuang and Glenn Entis, who wrote the foundation of the in-house computer animation software that was to be used for the next two decades. During the 1980s, PDI created many animated logos and commercials for television for companies like NBC and Sky Movies. They shifted into motion picture visual effects beginning in 1991 with a contribution to Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The new unit would produce computer-generated feature films beginning with Antz in 1998. In the same year DreamWorks SKG produced The Prince of Egypt using traditional animation techniques.

In 2000, DreamWorks SKG created a new business division, DreamWorks Animation, that would regularly produce both types of animated feature films. All four traditionally animated feature films were produced by the division's Southern California branch. DreamWorks SKG acquired majority interest (90%) in PDI, reforming it into PDI/DreamWorks, the Northern California branch of its new business division. The business division separated from its parent in 2004, forming DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. and purchasing the remaining interest in PDI as well as its subsidiary PDI, LLC.

[edit] 2004–2008

From 2004 to 2008, the studio is dedicated solely to producing CG animated films in-house and has committed itself to make 2 computer-animated feature films a year. No more traditional 2D animation is expected.

DreamWorks Animation also had a partnership with Aardman Animations, a stop-motion animation company in Bristol, England. This partnership had DreamWorks participating in the production of stop-motion films in Bristol, and also had Aardman participating in some of the CG films made in the US. This partnership ended after the release of Flushed Away in November 2006; the announcement was made before the film's release, on October 3, citing "creative differences" as the reason.^[1]

The logo, adapted from the parent studio's logo, consists of a boy fishing on the moon, against a backdrop of the daytime sky albeit with more colorful lettering. The soundtrack of this logo was originally an adaptation of the DreamWorks theme; however, following the global success of Shrek in 2001, this became a shortened adaptation of True Love's First Kiss (the Love Theme from the Shrek soundtrack), composed by John Powell.

Employees at DreamWorks get to enjoy breakfast and lunch for free, a perk not found at many other companies.^[2] In 2009, the studio made the list of Fortune Magazine's best 100 companies to work for, at number 47. This is its first year on the list.^[2][3]

[edit] 2009–present

Starting with Monsters vs. Aliens released on March 27, 2009, DreamWorks Animation is now making 3-D animated films, with the help of InTru3D.

On May 22, 2009, DreamWorks Animation announced that 9 feature films will be released over the next 3 years:

• 2010
  • How to Train Your Dragon
  • Shrek Forever After
  • Oobermind
• 2011
  • Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom
  • Puss in Boots: The Story of an Ogre Killer
• 2012
  • The Croods
  • Madagascar 3
  • The Guardians of Childhood

[edit] Partnerships

DreamWorks Animation has an on-going partnership with HP, and the studio exclusively uses HP workstations and servers. In 2005, AMD signed a 3 year deal to provide processors to the studio. This relationship ended in 2008, and Dreamworks announced that they will use Intel processors for future productions.^[4]

see also InTru3D

[edit] Board of Directors

The following executives^[5] are on the DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. Board of Directors:

• Roger Enrico, Chairman of DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.
• Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chief Executive Officer of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc./Co-Founder of DreamWorks.
• Lew Coleman, President of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc.
• Mellody Hobson, President of Ariel Capital Management
• Nathan Myhrvold, Chief Executive Officer of Intellectual Ventures
• Richard Sherman, CEO of The David Geffen Company
• Karl von der Heyden, retired Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer of Pepsico, Inc.
• Judson Green, President and Chief Executive Officer of NAVTEQ
• Michael Montgomery, President of Montgomery & Co.
• Thomas E. Freston, former CEO of Viacom
• Harry (Skip) Brittenham, Director

[edit] Films and series

[edit] Traditionally-animated films

Note: All traditionally animated films were made at the Glendale studio.

Film	Year	Budget	Worldwide Gross
The Prince of Egypt	1998	$70,000,000	$218,613,188
The Road to El Dorado	2000	$95,000,000	$76,432,727
Joseph: King of Dreams	2000	N/A	(direct-to-video)
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron	2002	$80,000,000	$122,563,539
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas	2003	$60,000,000	$80,767,884

[edit] Stop-motion films

Note: Both stop-motion animated films were produced by Aardman Animations.

Film	Year	Worldwide Gross
Chicken Run	2000	$224,834,564
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit	2005	$192,610,372

[edit] Computer-animated films

Note: Only one computer-animated film was produced by Aardman.

Film	Year	Budget	Worldwide Gross
Antz	1998	$105,000,000	$171,757,863
Shrek	2001	$60,000,000	$484,409,218
Shrek 2	2004	$150,000,000	$919,838,758
Shark Tale	2004	$75,000,000	$367,275,019
Madagascar	2005	$75,000,000	$532,680,671
Over the Hedge	2006	$100,000,000	$335,206,062
Flushed Away	2006	$149,000,000	$175,319,242
Shrek the Third	2007	$160,000,000	$794,561,223
Bee Movie	2007	$150,000,000	$287,076,833
Kung Fu Panda	2008	$130,000,000	$631,908,951
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa	2008	$150,000,000	$602,308,178
Monsters vs. Aliens	2009	$175,000,000	$379,882,019

[edit] Upcoming computer Animated Films

• How to Train Your Dragon 3D (March 26, 2010)
• Shrek Forever After (May 21, 2010)
• Oobermind (November 5, 2010)
• Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom (June 3, 2011) ^[6]
• Puss in Boots: The Story of an Ogre Killer (working title, November 4, 2011)
• The Croods (working title, March 30th 2012)
• Madagascar 3 (May 25, 2012)
• The Guardians (November 2, 2012)

[edit] TV specials

• Shrek the Halls (2007)
• Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space (2009)
• Merry Madagascar (2009)^[7]
• Scared Shrekless (2010)

[edit] Short films

• Shrek 4-D (2003) (PDI, ride film for Universal Studios and Warner Bros. Movie World)
• Sinbad and The Cyclops Island (December 12, 2003)
• Far Far Away Idol (November 5, 2004)
• The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (October 30, 2005) (PDI)
• First Flight (May 19, 2006) (Glendale)
• Hammy's Boomerang Adventure (October 19, 2006) (Glendale)
• Secrets of the Furious Five (November 9, 2008) (PDI)
• B.O.B.'s Big Break (September 29, 2009) (Glendale)

[edit] Traditionally-animated television series

• Toonsylvania (February 14, 1998 - December 21, 1998)
• Invasion America (June 8, 1998 - July 7, 1998)
• Alienators: Evolution Continues (September 15, 2001 - May 18, 2002) (co-production with Sony Pictures Television and DiC Entertainment)

[edit] Computer-animated television series

• Father of the Pride (August 31, 2004 - May 27, 2005)
• The Penguins of Madagascar (March 28, 2009 - present)
• Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness (2010)^[8]
• Monsters vs. Aliens: The Series (2011)^[9]

[edit] Sources

• History of Pacific Data Images
• DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. 2004 Annual Report (PDF file)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official site
• DreamWorks Animation at the Internet Movie Database

v • d • e DreamWorks Animation Computer-animated films Antz (1998) · Shrek (2001) · Shrek 2 (2004) · Shark Tale (2004) · Madagascar (2005) · Over the Hedge (2006) · Shrek the Third (2007) · Bee Movie (2007) · Kung Fu Panda (2008) · Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008) · Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) 2D-animated films The Prince of Egypt (1998) · The Road to El Dorado (2000) · Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) · Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003) Films produced with Aardman Animations Chicken Run (2000) · Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) · Flushed Away (2006) Future films How to Train Your Dragon (2010) · Shrek Forever After (2010) · Oobermind (2010) · Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom (2011) · Madagascar 3 (2012)  • The Guardians of Childhood (2012) Computer-animated TV series Father of the Pride (2004-2005) · The Penguins of Madagascar (2008-present) 2D-animated TV series Toonsylvania (1998) · Invasion America (1998) · Alienators: Evolution Continues (2001) Television specials Shrek the Halls (2007) · Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space (2009) · Merry Madagascar (2009) · Scared Shrekless (2010) Direct-to-video Joseph: King of Dreams (2000) Shorts Shrek 4-D (2003) · The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (2005) · Hammy's Boomerang Adventure (2006) · First Flight (2006) · Secrets of the Furious Five (2008)