DreamWorks Classics facts for kids
Logo for DreamWorks Classics
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Trade name
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Classic Media/DreamWorks Classics |
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| Industry | Intellectual property |
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| Founded | May 2000 |
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United States
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| Revenue | US$82 million (2012) |
| US$19 million (2012) | |
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Number of employees
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80 (2012) |
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DreamWorks Classics is an American entertainment company. It is owned by DreamWorks Animation, which is a part of Universal Pictures. Universal Pictures belongs to NBCUniversal, and that company is a subsidiary of Comcast.
The company started in 2000 as Classic Media. It was founded by Eric Ellenbogen and John Engelman. This studio collects and manages many famous cartoon characters and stories. It also handles the rights for various popular shows and movies. In 2012, Boomerang Media sold Classic Media to DreamWorks Animation. DreamWorks Animation then renamed the company DreamWorks Classics. The official legal name is still Classic Media, LLC. DreamWorks Animation itself became part of NBCUniversal in 2016.
Contents
History of DreamWorks Classics
Classic Media was started by Eric Ellenbogen and John Engelman in May 2000. They began by buying the collection of cartoons from United Productions of America (UPA). This included characters like Mr. Magoo. Soon after, they bought the Harvey Films collection in 2001. This added characters like Casper the Friendly Ghost and Richie Rich to their library.
In 2001, Classic Media and Random House worked together. They bought the entertainment parts of Golden Books. This included old comic book libraries like Dell Comics. Classic Media also bought rights to characters created by Jay Ward in 2002. These characters include Rocky and Bullwinkle and George of the Jungle. They even formed a special company called Bullwinkle Studios with Jay Ward Productions.
In 2003, Classic Media bought the collection of shows from Big Idea Entertainment. This added popular Christian animated series like VeggieTales.
Growing the Company
In 2005, a group of investors helped Classic Media grow. They put more money into the company. This allowed Classic Media to keep expanding its collection of shows and characters.
In 2006, Classic Media teamed up with other companies. These included ION Media Networks and NBCUniversal. They launched Qubo, a TV channel for kids.
Later in 2006, a UK company called Entertainment Rights announced it would buy Classic Media. This deal was completed in 2007.
However, Entertainment Rights faced problems in 2009. Eric Ellenbogen and John Engelman then formed a new company called Boomerang Media. Boomerang Media bought back Classic Media and Big Idea Entertainment. They decided to run them as one big company called Classic Media again.
Classic Media continued to buy more brands. In 2010, they bought the rights to the TV series My Life Me. In 2012, they bought the popular Noddy and Olivia brands from another company.
Becoming DreamWorks Classics
On July 23, 2012, DreamWorks Animation announced a big purchase. They would buy Classic Media for $155 million. The deal was finished in September of that year. After this, Classic Media started to be known as DreamWorks Classics. This helped connect it with its new parent company, DreamWorks Animation.
After joining DreamWorks, Classic Media continued to add new content. In 2012, they got the rights to distribute The Owl & Co outside of France. In 2013, DreamWorks Animation bought the library of a British animation studio called Chapman Entertainment. This added shows like Fifi and the Flowertots to the DreamWorks Classics collection.
In 2014, DreamWorks Animation bought the famous Felix the Cat brand. This classic cartoon character became part of the DreamWorks Classics family.
In 2016, NBCUniversal bought DreamWorks Animation. This meant that DreamWorks Classics also became part of the NBCUniversal family.
More recently, in 2020, Classic Media made deals for some of its shows. They sold streaming rights for Lassie, George of the Jungle, and Mr. Magoo to a streaming service called CBS All Access (now Paramount+).
Libraries and Characters
DreamWorks Classics manages a huge collection of animated shows, movies, and characters. These come from many different companies they have bought over the years.
Catalogs of Shows
- The United Productions of America (UPA) library: This includes classic cartoons like Mr. Magoo and Gerald McBoing-Boing. It also has rights to several Godzilla films.
- The Harvey Films library: Home to beloved characters such as Casper the Friendly Ghost, Little Audrey, and Richie Rich.
- The Western Publishing/Golden Books library: This collection includes Pat the Bunny and old comic book characters. It also has many classic TV shows like Lassie and The Lone Ranger.
- It also includes the pre-1974 Rankin/Bass Productions library. This means holiday specials like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman.
- The Total Television library: This features cartoon heroes like Underdog and Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales.
- The Big Idea Entertainment library: This is where you find VeggieTales and 3-2-1 Penguins!.
- The Entertainment Rights library: This large collection includes many different shows.
- The Filmation library: This has cartoons like The Archie Show, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
- The Woodland Animations library: This includes popular British shows like Postman Pat.
- The Tell-Tale Productions library: This features shows like Boo!.
- The Sleepy Kids library: This includes Budgie the Little Helicopter.
- The Chapman Entertainment library: This adds shows like Fifi and the Flowertots and Roary the Racing Car.
Famous Character Brands
DreamWorks Classics also manages the rights to many well-known characters:
- Noddy
- Olivia
- Felix the Cat
- Where's Waldo?
- Masters of the Universe characters (like He-Man)
- Roger Ramjet
- The Mighty Hercules
Joint Projects
- Bullwinkle Studios: This was a partnership with Jay Ward Productions. It helped manage characters like The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, and George of the Jungle. This partnership ended in 2022, but DreamWorks still owns shows they made together.
Other Rights and Shows
DreamWorks Classics also holds rights to other popular content:
- My Life Me
- OOglies (for distribution outside the UK)
- Theodore Tugboat
- Tracy Beaker Returns (for distribution outside the UK)
- The Tribune Content Agency catalog: This includes comic strip characters like Dick Tracy.
- Voltron (under a special agreement)
- The Owl & Co (for distribution outside France)
See also
In Spanish: DreamWorks Classics para niños
