Portal:DreamWorks Animation
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Introduction
DreamWorks Animation LLC (more commonly known as DreamWorks Animation and DreamWorks Animation SKG or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio that is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division of Comcast through its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. It is based in Glendale, California and produces animated feature films, television programs and online virtual games. The studio has currently released a total of 35 feature films, including the franchises Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, The Croods, Trolls and The Boss Baby. Originally formed under the banner of its main DreamWorks studio in 1997 by some of Amblin Entertainment's former animation branch Amblimation alumni, it was spun off into a separate public company in 2004. DreamWorks Animation currently maintains its Glendale campus, as well as satellite studios in India and China. On August 22, 2016, NBCUniversal acquired DreamWorks Animation for $3.8 billion, making it a division of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group as an acquisition for the animation studio.
, its feature films have grossed $14.457 billion worldwide, with a $417.8 million average gross per film. Shrek 2 (2004) is among the 50 highest-grossing films of all time, being the eleventh, and fourteen of the other films produced by the studio are also among the 50 highest-grossing animated films. Although the studio also made traditionally animated films in the past, as well as stop-motion co-production with Aardman Animations, all of their films now use computer animation. The studio has earned three Academy Awards, as well as 41 Emmy Awards and numerous Annie Awards, and multiple Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations. In recent years, the animation studio has acquired and created new divisions in an effort to diversify beyond the high-risk movie business.
Selected general articles
- How to Train Your Dragon is a 2010 American 3D computer-animated action fantasy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Loosely based on the 2003 book by Cressida Cowell, the film was directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, the duo who wrote and directed Walt Disney Animation Studios' 2002 film Lilo & Stitch. It stars the voices of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, T. J. Miller, Kristen Wiig, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse.
The story takes place in a mythical Viking world where a young Viking teenager named Hiccup aspires to follow his tribe's tradition of becoming a dragon slayer. After finally capturing his first dragon, and with his chance at last of gaining the tribe's acceptance, he finds that he no longer wants to kill the dragon and instead befriends it. Read more...
The Kung Fu Panda franchise from DreamWorks Animation consists of three films: Kung Fu Panda (2008), Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) and Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016). The first two were distributed by Paramount Pictures, while the third film was distributed by 20th Century Fox. Three shorts, Secrets of the Furious Five (2008), Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special (2010) and Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters (2011), were also released. A television series for Nickelodeon television network, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, premiered in the fall of 2011. A second series, entitled Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny, was released on Amazon Prime on November 16th 2018.
The franchise, set in a fantasy wuxia genre version of ancient China populated by humanoid animals, features the adventures of Po Ping, a giant panda, who was improbably chosen as the prophesied Dragon Warrior. Although his status is initially doubted, Po proves himself worthy as he strives to fulfill his destiny and learn about his past with his new friends. Read more...
DreamWorks Pictures (also known as DreamWorks SKG or DreamWorks Studios, commonly referred to as DreamWorks) is an American film production label of Amblin Partners. It was founded in 1994 as a film studio by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen (together, SKG), of which they owned 72%. The studio was formerly distributing its own and third-party films by itself. It has produced or distributed more than ten films with box-office grosses of more than $100 million each.
In December 2005, the founders agreed to sell the studio to Viacom, parent of Paramount Pictures. The sale was completed in February 2006 (this version is now named DW Studios). In 2008, DreamWorks announced its intention to end its partnership with Paramount and signed a $1.5 billion deal to produce films with India's Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, recreating DreamWorks Pictures into an independent entity. The following year, DreamWorks entered into a distribution agreement with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, wherein Disney would distribute DreamWorks films through Touchstone Pictures; the deal continued until 2016. As of October 2016, DreamWorks' films are marketed and distributed by Universal Pictures. Currently, DreamWorks operates out of offices at Universal Studios. Read more...- VeggieTales in the House is an American computer animated Christian preschool television series produced by Big Idea Entertainment and DreamWorks Animation Television. It takes place outside of VeggieTales, a Christian-themed video and film series, featuring anthropomorphic vegetables. The series was executive produced by Doug TenNapel, creator of Earthworm Jim. The series premiered on Netflix on November 26, 2014. Three seasons of the series have been ordered, consisting of a total of 75 22-minute episodes. A fourth season was released on September 23, 2016. A follow-up series, titled VeggieTales in the City, premiered on February 24, 2017, on Netflix.
The two creators of the traditional VeggieTales series from 1993, reprise their voices of the characters: Phil Vischer reprises the voices of Bob the Tomato, Archibald Asparagus, Jimmy Gourd, Phillipe Pea, Mr. Lunt, and Pa Grape and Mike Nawrocki reprises the voices of Larry the Cucumber, Jerry Gourd, and Jean-Claude Pea. Other characters on the show (including the rest of the original characters brought over from the original VeggieTales series) are voiced by Tress MacNeille as Petunia Rhubarb, Madame Blueberry, Laura Carrot, and Junior Asparagus, Rob Paulsen, who provides the voice of Ichabeezer and two new characters named Bacon Bill, and Motato, Maurice LaMarche, and Kel Mitchell, among others. Read more...
Shrek 4-D (also known as Shrek 3-D for the DVD release, and The Ghost of Lord Farquaad for the Netflix release) is a 4D film at various theme parks around the world. It is currently shown at Universal Parks & Resorts in Florida, Japan, and Singapore, and formerly in Hollywood, where it closed on August 13, 2017 to make way for the DreamWorks Theatre attraction. Outside the Universal parks, the movie was shown at Movie Park Germany in Germany from May 2008 until July 2011, and Warner Bros. Movie World in Australia from September 2005 until August 2010. A spin-off attraction titled Donkey's Photo Finish is located at the Florida venue while Meet Shrek and Donkey is located at the Hollywood venue. In Universal Studios Japan, the attraction is shown in the same theater as Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic, with the Shrek 4-D film shown for the first half of the day, and the Sesame Street film shown for the second half of the day. Read more...- Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Scroll is an animated short film in the Kung Fu Panda film series. It was included on the 2015 Digital HD and 2016 Blu-ray, and DVD re-release of Kung Fu Panda and Kung Fu Panda 2.
Jack Black, James Hong, Dustin Hoffman, Seth Rogen, David Cross, Randall Duk Kim and Lucy Liu reprise their roles from the movies, while Kari Wahlgren and James Sie replace Angelina Jolie and Jackie Chan as Tigress and Monkey, respectively. Read more... - Shrek the Third (also known as Shrek 3) is a 2007 American computer-animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is the sequel to 2001's Shrek and 2004's Shrek 2 and the third installment in the Shrek film franchise. The film was directed by Chris Miller and co-directed by Raman Hui from a screenplay by Jeffrey Price, Peter S. Seaman, Miller, and Aron Warner. Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Rupert Everett, Julie Andrews, and John Cleese reprise their voice roles from the previous film, along with new additions Justin Timberlake as Arthur Pendragon and Eric Idle as Merlin. In Shrek the Third, Prince Charming is plotting to overthrow Shrek and Fiona, who have inherited the throne following King Harold's death. Shrek, who realizes an ogre is not fit to be king, attempts to convince Fiona's underachieving, 16-year-old cousin Artie to take the reigns.
The film premiered at the Mann Village Theatre, Westwood in Los Angeles on May 6, 2007, and was released in the United States on May 18, 2007, exactly six years after the first film was released. The film grossed $799 million on a $160 million budget, becoming the fourth highest-grossing film of 2007. The Rotten Tomatoes critical consensus says that it lacks the "heart, charm, and wit" of previous films. It was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film at the 61st British Academy Film Awards. Shrek the Third was the final film in the Shrek franchise to be produced by Pacific Data Images, before its closure in 2015. It was followed by a fourth film, Shrek Forever After, in 2010. Read more... - Megamind is a 2010 American 3D computer-animated superhero comedy film directed by Tom McGrath, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film premiered on October 28, 2010, in Russia, while it was released in the United States in Digital 3D, IMAX 3D and 2D on November 5, 2010. It features the voices of Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, David Cross, and Brad Pitt.
The film tells the story of a super-intelligent alien supervillain, Megamind, who after a long-lasting battle one day actually destroys his foe, the much-loved superhero Metro Man. Having Metro City for himself, Megamind finds out that his villainy has no purpose and thus creates a new superhero to serve as his nemesis. His plan backfires, as he ends up creating instead a new super-villain. With Metro City spiraling out of control, Megamind attempts to set things right and discovers his newfound purpose—as a superhero. Read more...
Illumination, known until 2017 as Illumination Entertainment, is an American film and animation studio founded by Chris Meledandri in 2007 and owned by Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a division of Comcast. Meledandri produces the movies while Universal finances and distributes all the films. The studio is best known for the Despicable Me franchise, and has also produced the films The Secret Life of Pets and Sing. The Minions, characters from the Despicable Me films, are the studio's official mascots.
Illumination's highest-grossing films are Minions (2015), which has grossed $1.159 billion worldwide, Despicable Me 3 (2017), $1.034 billion and Despicable Me 2 (2013), $970.8 million. All three are among the 50 highest-grossing films of all time, and six of the films are among the 50 highest-grossing animated films, with Minions being the third all-time highest. Read more...
Damaschke in 2012 at the Rise of the Guardians premiere
Bill Damaschke is the President of Animation and Family Entertainment for Skydance Media, where he serves as the key architect setting the overall creative direction and strategy for Skydance. In conjunction with the company's feature film and television division, he curates and oversees a team dedicated to producing a bold and original slate of both animated and hybrid family programming. Previously, he spent 20 years at DreamWorks Animation, most recently as Chief Creative Officer, where he was involved in the creative, artistic, and operational direction of the company. His tenure oversaw the release of some of the company's big franchise films, including Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, and The Croods. He also oversaw all of DreamWorks Animation's live theatrical productions, including the award-winning Shrek The Musical. Bill's other current projects as a producer are the new Broadway musical The Prom, directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, which begins previews at the Longacre Theatre in NY on Oct. 23, 2018, with an official opening date of Nov. 15, 2018, and the Broadway-bound musical Half Time, directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, which was presented at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Spring of 2018, and the stage adaptation of Moulin Rouge, directed by Alex Timers, on which Bill serves as Executive Producer. Read more...- Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia is an American computer-animated fantasy television series created for Netflix by Guillermo del Toro and produced by DreamWorks Animation and Double Dare You Productions. It follows the story of James Lake Jr., a teenage boy who finds a mysterious amulet and stumbles across a secret realm inhabited by trolls and other magical creatures. Soon afterward, he and his friends are charged with protecting our world from the dangerous monsters that lurk in the shadows of their small suburban town.
The first two episodes of the series premiered on October 8, 2016, at the New York Comic Con. The first season was released worldwide on Netflix on December 23, 2016. The second season premiered on December 15, 2017, and the third and final season premiered on May 25, 2018. Read more... - Mr. Peabody & Sherman is a 2014 American 3D computer-animated science fiction comedy film based on characters from the Peabody's Improbable History segments of the animated television series The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film was directed by Rob Minkoff from a script by Craig Wright, with Alex Schwartz and Denise Nolan Cascino serving as producers and Tiffany Ward, daughter of series co-creator Jay Ward, serving as executive producer. Mr. Peabody & Sherman features the voices of Ty Burrell, Max Charles, Ariel Winter, Stephen Colbert, Leslie Mann, and Allison Janney.
It is the first DreamWorks animated feature to feature characters from the Classic Media library since DreamWorks Animation's 2012 acquisition of Classic Media, the first animated adaptation of a Jay Ward property, and Rob Minkoff's first animated film after having co-directed The Lion King for Disney in 1994. The film premiered on February 7, 2014 in the United Kingdom, and was released on March 7, 2014 in the United States. Grossing a worldwide total of $275 million on its $145 million budget, the film underperformed at the box office, forcing a writedown of $57 million. A TV series based on the film, titled The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show, premiered on Netflix on October 9, 2015. Read more...
Illumination Mac Guff is a French animated feature production company owned by Illumination, a division of Universal Pictures. Based in Paris, France, the company was created in 2011 as part of Universal's purchase deal of the animation arm of French animation and VFX company Mac Guff. It is responsible for Illumination's feature-length animated films and associated short films, most notably the Despicable Me franchise. Read more...- The Adventures of Puss in Boots is an American computer-animated web television series. It stars the character Puss in Boots from the DreamWorks Animation Shrek franchise and its 2011 spin-off film, voiced by Eric Bauza. The series premiered with its first five episodes on Netflix on January 16, 2015; the sixth and final season was released on January 26, 2018.
It also premiered on Boomerang UK on September 3, 2018. Read more... - Secrets of the Furious Five (also known as Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five) is an American animated short produced by DreamWorks Animation, which serves as a semi-sequel or spin-off to the animated feature film Kung Fu Panda and appears on a companion disc of the original film's deluxe DVD release. It was later broadcast on NBC on February 26, 2009 and is now available as a separate DVD as of March 24, 2009.
The film has a framing story of Po the Dragon Warrior (in computer animation) telling the stories of his comrades in arms, the Furious Five, which are depicted in 2D cel animation, similar to the opening and end credits of the original film. Read more... - On May 25, 2017, Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation announced a sequel is set to be released on March 26, 2021, with Alec Baldwin reprising his role. Read more...
- Universal Animation Studios, formerly known as Universal Cartoon Studios, is an American animation studio which is a division of Universal Studios. It has produced sequels to Universal-released feature films, such as The Land Before Time, An American Tail, Balto, as well as other films and television series.
The actual animation production is done overseas, usually by either Wang Film Productions or Rough Draft Studios, while pre-production and post-production is United States-based. Read more... - Shrek 2 is a 2004 American computer-animated, comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon. It is the sequel to 2001's Shrek and the second installment in the Shrek film franchise. The film stars Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz, who reprise their respective voice roles of Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona. They are joined by new characters voiced by Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Rupert Everett, and Jennifer Saunders. Shrek 2 takes place following the events of the first film, with Shrek and Donkey meeting Fiona's parents as her zealous Fairy Godmother, who wants Fiona to marry her son Prince Charming, plots to destroy Shrek and Fiona's marriage. Shrek and Donkey team up with a swashbuckling cat named Puss in Boots to foil her plans.
Development began in 2001, and following disagreements with producers, the screenwriters from the first film were replaced with Adamson. The story was inspired by Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), and new animation tools were utilized to improve the visual appearance of each character, particularly Puss in Boots. The lead actors also received a significant bump in salary to $10 million, which at the time was among the highest contracts in their respective careers. Read more... - The Boss Baby is a 2017 American 3D computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 2010 picture book of the same name by Marla Frazee and produced by DreamWorks Animation. Directed by Tom McGrath and written by Michael McCullers, the film stars the voices of Alec Baldwin as the title character, along with Miles Bakshi, Steve Buscemi, Jimmy Kimmel, Lisa Kudrow, and Tobey Maguire. The plot follows a baby who is a secret agent in the war for adults' love between babies and puppies.
The Boss Baby premiered at the Miami International Film Festival on March 12, 2017, and was released by 20th Century Fox on March 31, 2017. Upon release, the film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $528 million worldwide against its $125 million budget. The film received Best Animated Feature nominations at both the Academy Awards and Golden Globes (losing both to Disney/Pixar’s Coco). Read more... - Monsters vs. Aliens is a 2009 American 3D computer-animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was DreamWorks Animation's first feature film to be directly produced in a stereoscopic 3-D format instead of being converted into 3-D after completion, which added $15 million to the film's budget. The film was directed by Conrad Vernon and Rob Letterman, and features the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Kiefer Sutherland, Rainn Wilson, Paul Rudd, and Stephen Colbert.
The film was released on March 27, 2009 in the United States, grossing over $381 million worldwide on a $175 million budget. Although not successful enough to be followed by a sequel, the film started a franchise consisting of a short film, B.O.B.'s Big Break, two television specials, Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space and Night of the Living Carrots, and a television series with the same name. Read more... - By April 2013, DreamWorks Animation had started developing a sequel to the film, with Sanders and DeMicco returning to direct it. According to DeMicco, the sequel would focus on Ugga and motherhood, making it "the first chapter of society," expanding on the first film, which is about "the last chapter of the caveman."
In September 2013, it had been confirmed that Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, and Ryan Reynolds would reprise their roles in the sequel. On June 12, 2014, it was announced that the sequel would be released on November 3, 2017. Two months later, it was pushed back from its original release date of November 3, 2017 to December 22, 2017. By May 21, 2015, Leslie Mann and Kat Dennings had joined the voice cast. Mann would lend her voice to an upscale mother of a rival family, while Dennings would voice her daughter. Catherine Keener and Clark Duke would also reprise their roles. On August 9, 2016, nearing NBCUniversal/Comcast's impending acquisition of DreamWorks Animation, 20th Century Fox removed the film from its planned December 22, 2017 release schedule. The film would be instead released by Universal Pictures sometime in 2018. Two weeks later, it was reported that The Lego Movie and Hotel Transylvania co writers Kevin and Dan Hageman had been hired to rewrite the script. Read more... - The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle is an American animated web television series produced by DreamWorks Animation Television which is a reboot of the original Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends. It debuted on May 11, 2018 on Amazon Video — being DreamWorks Animation Television's first series to air on a streaming service other than Netflix. Like its preceding spin-off The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show, animation was outsourced by DHX Media's 2D animation studio in Vancouver, Canada. Read more...
- Neighbors from Hell is a satirical American adult animated sitcom that ran on TBS from June 7 to July 26, 2010. The executive producer of the series is Pam Brady. The series consisted of 10 episodes.
The series is owned by 20th Century Fox Film Corporation. It is produced by Fox Television Animation and MoonBoy Animation, a division of DreamWorks Animation. The majority of the animation is produced by Bardel Entertainment in Vancouver, and a team of animators in Los Angeles, Bento Box Entertainment did some of the animation and retakes. Read more... - Turbo Fast is an American flash-animated web television series based on the 2013 computer-animated film Turbo. Produced by DreamWorks Animation Television and animated by Titmouse, it is being exclusively released on Netflix in United States and in the 40 countries where Netflix offers its services. It is the first Netflix original series for children, and the first DreamWorks Animation series produced for Netflix.
The first five episodes of the first 26-episode season were released on December 24, 2013, with subsequent batches of five to six episodes following around holidays throughout 2014. Each episode consists of two 11-minutes segments, except for few double-length episodes. Season 2 was released on Netflix on July 31, 2015. The third and final season was released on Netflix on February 5, 2016. Read more... - Trolls: The Beat Goes On! is a 2018 American animated television series produced by DreamWorks Animation that is based on the 3D computer-animated romantic comedy musical film Trolls. The series premiered on Netflix on January 19, 2018 exclusively in the United States, Canada, Latin America, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, the Nordics, Benelux, and France. Amanda Leighton, Skylar Astin, Kari Wahlgren, Sam Lerner, David Kaye, David Fynn, Sean T. Krishnan, Kevin Michael Richardson, and Fryda Wolff provide the new voices for Poppy, Branch, Bridget, King Gristle, King Peppy, Biggie, Guy Diamond, Smidge, and DJ Suki and Satin & Chenille for this series respectively; only Ron Funches and Walt Dohrn reprise their roles as Cooper and Cloud Guy, also respectively. Matt Lowe also voices Creek in the series, who returns in "Creek Week".
Matthew Beans developed the series, with music from Alex Geringas and original songs by Alana Da Fonseca. 52 11-minute segments have been made, according to the promotional poster. James Zahn of The Rock Father confirmed that there would be a second season. It was streamed on March 9 and consists of seven episodes. Read more... - Kung Fu Panda 2 is a 2011 American 3D computer-animated comedy-drama martial arts film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The sequel to 2008's Kung Fu Panda, it is the second installment in the Kung Fu Panda franchise, and was directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson in her directorial debut. The film stars Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, James Hong, and Jackie Chan reprising their character roles from the first film, with Gary Oldman, Michelle Yeoh, Danny McBride, Dennis Haysbert, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Victor Garber voicing new characters. In the film, Po and the Furious Five battle an evil peacock named Lord Shen who has a powerful weapon that he plans to conquer China with. Meanwhile, Po discovers a terrifying secret about his past, and discovers that Shen has something to do with it.
The film was released in theaters May 26, 2011 in Real D 3D and Digital 3D. Like its predecessor, Kung Fu Panda 2 received generally positive reviews, with critics praising its animation, voice acting, action scenes, musical score and character development and grossed $665 million worldwide against its $150 million budget. The film was the highest-grossing animated feature film of the year and was nominated for the 2011 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 84th Academy Awards. It was followed by Kung Fu Panda 3, in 2016. Read more... - Kung Fu Panda 3 is a 2016 3D computer-animated martial arts comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is the third installment in the Kung Fu Panda franchise, and the sequel to 2011's Kung Fu Panda 2. In the film, Po enters the panda village and re-unites with his birth father and other pandas, but problems arise when a villainous spirit warrior, named Kai, returns to the mortal realm and steals chi from the kung fu masters. To prevent Kai from taking chi from all kung fu masters and pandas, Po forms the army of pandas to battle Kai's jade minions and Po must become a master of chi to defeat him and save his friends.
The film was directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni and written by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger. Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogen, David Cross, James Hong and Jackie Chan reprise their roles from the previous films with Randall Duk Kim reprising his role of Oogway from the first film. They are joined by Bryan Cranston, J. K. Simmons and Kate Hudson in the roles of Li Shan, Kai, and Mei Mei, respectively. Read more... - How to Train Your Dragon 2 is a 2014 American 3D computer-animated action fantasy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox, loosely based on the British book series of the same name by Cressida Cowell. It is the sequel to the 2010 computer-animated film How to Train Your Dragon and the second installment in the trilogy. The film is written and directed by Dean DeBlois, and stars the voices of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T. J. Miller, and Kristen Wiig, with the addition of Cate Blanchett, Djimon Hounsou, and Kit Harington. The film takes place five years after the first film, featuring Hiccup and his friends as young adults as they meet Valka, Hiccup's long-lost mother, and Drago Bludvist, a madman who wants to conquer the world.
DeBlois, who co-directed the first film, agreed to return to direct the second film on the condition that he would be allowed to turn it into a trilogy. He cited The Empire Strikes Back and My Neighbor Totoro as his main inspirations, with the expanded scope of The Empire Strikes Back being particularly influential. The entire voice cast from the first film returned, and Cate Blanchett and Djimon Hounsou signed on to voice Valka and Drago, respectively. DeBlois and his creative team visited Norway and Svalbard to give them ideas for the setting. Composer John Powell returned to score the film. How to Train Your Dragon 2 benefited from advances in animation technology and was DreamWorks' first film to use scalable multicore processing and the studio's new animation and lighting software. Read more... - Merry Madagascar is a Christmas special first broadcast on the NBC network on November 17, 2009, which starred the characters from the Madagascar film series. The story appears to take place sometime between the first and second movies.
It features many of the same voices from the film (except Sacha Baron Cohen, who was replaced by Danny Jacobs, who voices Julien in The Penguins of Madagascar television series), including Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, and Jada Pinkett Smith. Carl Reiner provided the voice of Santa Claus. Read more...
DreamWorks Classics (formerly Classic Media) is an American entertainment company owned by DreamWorks Animation. It was founded as Classic Media in 2000 by Eric Ellenbogen and John Engelman. The studio's library consists of acquired intellectual property catalogs and character brands as well as the licensing rights for various third-party properties. In 2012, DreamWorks Animation acquired Classic Media from its then-owner, Boomerang Media. Read more...- The Prince of Egypt is a 1998 American animated musical drama film and the first traditional animated film produced and released by DreamWorks. The film is an adaptation of the Book of Exodus and follows the life of Moses from being a prince of Egypt to his ultimate destiny to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. Directed by Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, and Simon Wells, the film features songs written by Stephen Schwartz and a score composed by Hans Zimmer. The voice cast consists of Val Kilmer in a dual role, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover, Patrick Stewart, Helen Mirren, Steve Martin, and Martin Short.
Jeffrey Katzenberg had frequently suggested an animated adaptation of the 1956 film The Ten Commandments while working for The Walt Disney Company, and he decided to put the idea into production after founding DreamWorks in 1994. To make this inaugural project, DreamWorks employed artists who had worked for Walt Disney Feature Animation and the recently disbanded Amblimation, totaling a crew of 350 people from 34 different nations. The film has a blend of traditional animation and computer-generated imagery, created using software from Toon Boom Animation and Silicon Graphics. Read more... - Trolls is a 2016 American computer-animated musical film based on the Troll dolls created by Thomas Dam. The film was directed by Mike Mitchell and co-directed by Walt Dohrn, written by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger and based on a story by Erica Rivinoja. The film features the voices of Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Zooey Deschanel, Russell Brand, James Corden and Gwen Stefani. The film follows two trolls who go on a quest to save their village from destruction by the Bergens, creatures who eat Trolls to be happy.
The 33rd animated feature film produced by DreamWorks Animation, the film premiered on October 8, 2016, at the BFI London Film Festival and was theatrically released in the United States on November 4, 2016, by 20th Century Fox. The film grossed $346 million worldwide against its $125 million budget and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for "Can't Stop the Feeling!". A sequel, Trolls World Tour, is scheduled to be released on April 17, 2020. Read more... - Night of the Living Carrots is a 2011 Halloween short animated film, based on Monsters vs. Aliens and produced by DreamWorks Animation. Following the 2009 short, Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space, a mutated carrot has spawned hundreds of zombie carrots taking control of the subject's mind. Dr. Cockroach determines that the only way to defeat them and free their victims is for B.O.B. to eat all of the carrots.
The short premiered in two parts exclusively on Nintendo 3DS video service - the first was released on October 13, 2011, and the second five days later. To a general audience it was released on August 28, 2012, as a part of the Shrek's Thrilling Tales DVD and DreamWorks Spooky Stories Blu-ray. Read more...
Jeffrey Katzenberg (/ˈkætsənbɜːrɡ/; born December 21, 1950) is an American businessman, film studio executive and film producer.
He became well known for his tenure as chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994, during which the studio reinvigorated its live-action and animation divisions, as well as producing some of its biggest hits, including The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and The Lion King (1994). After departing Disney, he was a co-founder and CEO of DreamWorks Animation, where he oversaw the production of such animated franchises as Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, Monsters vs. Aliens and How to Train Your Dragon. He has since founded a new media and technology company called WndrCo. Read more...- Pearl Studio (formerly known as Oriental DreamWorks) is a Chinese film production company owned by CMC Capital Partners. The company was founded as a Chinese-American joint venture in 2012 by DreamWorks Animation and Chinese investment companies. The company will mainly produce Chinese-themed animated and live action films and their derivatives for distribution within China and worldwide. In 2018, CMC (China Media Capital) acquired all the NBCUniversal stake in the studio. Read more...
- Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness is an American computer-animated television series spun off from the Kung Fu Panda films. It takes place after the first film, showing Po's training to becoming a successful Dragon Warrior, where the second film is, according to the series' executive producer Peter Hastings, "not unlike a very long, super-deluxe 3-D version of one of our episodes".
The series was originally set to air on Nickelodeon in 2010, but it was pushed back to 2011 instead. The series premiered with a special preview on September 19, 2011, and began airing regularly on November 7. Three seasons were produced. Airing ceased in the United States partway through season 3. Before finishing up in the United States, all the episodes aired already in other countries, for example on German Nicktoons in Germany from 2014–2015 and then on YTV in Canada from 2015–2016. In 2016 American Nicktoons in the United States began running ads announcing the airing of new episodes; it was subsequently revealed that five of the ten unaired episodes would play from February 15 through February 19. As a result, the final episode aired on June 29, 2016. Read more... - The Croods is a 2013 American 3D computer-animated comedy adventure film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It stars the voices of Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke, and Cloris Leachman. The film is set in a fictional prehistoric Pliocene era known as "The Croodaceous" (a prehistoric period which contains fictional prehistoric creatures) when a caveman's position as a "Leader of the Hunt" is threatened by the arrival of a prehistoric genius who comes up with revolutionary new inventions as they trek through a dangerous but exotic land in search of a new home.
The Croods was written and directed by Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders, and produced by Kristine Belson and Jane Hartwell. The film premiered at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival on February 15, 2013, and was released in the United States on March 22, 2013. As part of the distribution deal, this was the first DreamWorks Animation film to be distributed by 20th Century Fox, since the end of their distribution deal with Paramount Pictures. Read more... - Home is a 2015 American 3D computer-animated science fiction comedy-adventure buddy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is loosely based on Adam Rex's 2007 children's book The True Meaning of Smekday and stars the voices of Jim Parsons, Rihanna, Steve Martin, Jennifer Lopez, and Matt Jones. Tim Johnson is the director of the film, Chris Jenkins and Suzanne Buirgy are its producers, and the screenplay is by Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember. The story takes place on planet Earth, where an alien race called the Boov invade the planet. However, a girl named Tip Tucci manages to avoid capture, and goes on the run with Oh, a fugitive Boov.
The film was released in theaters on March 27, 2015. Home was promoted with the release of a four-minute short film titled Almost Home, which was shown in theaters before DreamWorks Animation's Mr. Peabody & Sherman and Blue Sky Studios' Rio 2 in 2014. It premiered at the Boulder International Film Festival on March 7, 2015. Besides lending her voice to the film, Rihanna also created a concept album of the same name. The soundtrack includes guest vocals from Jennifer Lopez, among others, was supported by two singles, "Towards the Sun" and "Feel the Light". Home received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $386 million worldwide. A Netflix original series was released on July 29, 2016 that takes place after the events of the film and uses hand-drawn animation and none of the original cast (except Matt Jones) reprised their roles. Read more... - Penguins of Madagascar is a 2014 American 3D computer-animated comedy film, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is a spin-off of the Madagascar film series, and takes place right after the events of Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, following the penguins Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private in their own adventure. Apart from the main characters, it is unrelated to the TV series The Penguins of Madagascar.
The film was directed by Simon J. Smith and Eric Darnell, and written by Michael Colton, John Aboud, and Brandon Sawyer. It stars the voices of Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, Conrad Vernon, Christopher Knights, Benedict Cumberbatch, John Malkovich, and Ken Jeong. The film was released on November 26, 2014. It is the only film in the Madagascar franchise that was distributed by 20th Century Fox and was the final film produced by Pacific Data Images before its closure on January 22, 2015. Despite earning $373 million on a $132 million budget, the film forced a write-down for the studio. Read more... - Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space is a 2009 Halloween television special, based on the film Monsters vs. Aliens. It was produced by DreamWorks Animation and directed by Peter Ramsey. The special premiered in Ireland on RTÉ One on October 26, 2009, and aired in the USA on the NBC network on October 28, 2009. Read more...
- Madly Madagascar is a direct-to-DVD Valentine's Day short film starring the characters from the Madagascar film series, and this takes place between Escape 2 Africa and Europe's Most Wanted. Produced by DreamWorks Animation, it was written and directed by David Soren. The special was released on DVD on January 29, 2013. Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith returned to voice the main characters, except for Sacha Baron Cohen, who was replaced by Danny Jacobs.
It was the first DreamWorks Animation DVD release to be distributed by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Read more... - Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is a 2005 stop-motion animated comedy film produced by Aardman Animations in partnership with DreamWorks Animation. United International Pictures distributed the film in the United Kingdom, and it was the last DreamWorks Animation film to be distributed by DreamWorks Pictures in the United States. It was directed by Nick Park and Steve Box as the second feature-length film by Aardman after Chicken Run (2000).
The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is part of the Wallace and Gromit series, created by Park. The film follows eccentric inventor Wallace (voiced by Peter Sallis) and his intelligent mute dog Gromit in their latest venture as pest control agents, as they come to the rescue of a village plagued by rabbits before an annual vegetable competition. Read more...
Noddy, Toyland Detective is a computer animated series featuring the character Noddy created by Enid Blyton. The series was produced by DreamWorks Animation Television and Gaumont Animation. Commissioned by France Télévisions, it premiered on March 26, 2016, on the platform Zouzous, and aired on France 5, on April 2, 2016. Read more...- Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas is a 2003 American animated adventure film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures, using traditional animation with some computer animation. It was directed by Patrick Gilmore and Tim Johnson, and written by John Logan.
It covers the story of Sinbad (voiced by Brad Pitt), a pirate who travels the sea to recover the lost Book of Peace from Eris (voiced by Michelle Pfeiffer) to save his childhood friend, Prince Proteus (voiced by Joseph Fiennes), from accepting Sinbad's death sentence. Read more... - The Shrek franchise from DreamWorks Animation, based on William Steig's picture book Shrek!, consists of four computer-animated films including: Shrek (2001), Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third (2007), and Shrek Forever After (2010), with a reboot currently in the works. A short 4-D film, Shrek 4-D, which originally was a theme park ride, was released in 2003.
Two television specials, the Christmas television special Shrek the Halls (2007) and the Halloween television special Scared Shrekless (2010), have also been produced. A spin-off film titled Puss in Boots was released in October 2011, and a 2008 Broadway musical adaption was produced for two years. Read more... - The Penguins of Madagascar is an American CGI animated television series that had aired on Nickelodeon. It stars nine characters from the DreamWorks Animation animated film Madagascar: The penguins Skipper (Tom McGrath), Rico (John DiMaggio), Kowalski (Jeff Bennett), and Private (James Patrick Stuart); the lemurs King Julien (Danny Jacobs), Maurice (Kevin Michael Richardson), and Mort (Andy Richter); and Mason (Conrad Vernon) and Phil the chimpanzees. Characters new to the series include Marlene the otter (Nicole Sullivan) and a zookeeper named Alice (Mary Scheer). It is the first Nicktoon produced with DreamWorks Animation. The series was executive produced by Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle, who were the creators of Disney Channel's Kim Possible.
The pilot episode, "Gone in a Flash", aired as part of "Superstuffed Nicktoons Weekend" on November 29, 2008, and The Penguins of Madagascar became a regular series on March 28, 2009. The series premiere drew 6.1 million viewers, setting a new record as the most-watched premiere. Read more... - Megamind: The Button of Doom is a 2011 computer animated short film released on DVD/Blu-ray with Megamind on February 25, 2011, starring Will Ferrell and David Cross. Read more...
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