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DreamWorks Animation LLC
Formerly
DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. (NYSE DWA, 2004–2009/NASDAQ DWA, 2009–2016)
Division (1994–2004)
Public (2004–2016)
Subsidiary (2016–present)
Industry Animated films
Predecessor Amblimation
Pacific Data Images
Founded
  • October 12, 1994; 29 years ago (October 12, 1994) (as a division of DreamWorks Pictures)
  • October 27, 2004; 19 years ago (October 27, 2004) (as DreamWorks Animation SKG)
Founders
Headquarters 1000 Flower Street, ,
U.S.
Number of locations
2 facilities
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
  • Margie Cohn (president)
  • Randy Lake (COO)
  • Peter Gal (CCO, DWA TV)
  • Kristin Lowe (CCO, features)
Products
  • Television animated series
  • Theatrical animated feature films
  • Theatrical animated short films
Owner
(2016–present)
Number of employees
1,400 (2022)
Parent
Divisions
  • DreamWorks Animation Television
  • DreamWorks Channel
  • DreamWorks Press
  • DreamWorks Theatricals
  • DreamWorks New Media
Subsidiaries

DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios and simply known as DreamWorks) is an American animation studio that produces animated films and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a division of Comcast. The studio has released 44 feature films as of December 2022, including several of the highest-grossing animated films of all time, with Shrek 2 (2004) having been the highest at the time of its release. The studio's first film, Antz, was released on October 2, 1998, and its latest film was Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, which was released on December 21, 2022; their upcoming slate of films includes Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken on June 30, 2023, Trolls Band Together on November 17, 2023, and Kung Fu Panda 4 on March 8, 2024. Additionally, an untitled film is scheduled to be released on February 9, 2024.

Formed as a division of DreamWorks Pictures in 1994 with alumni from Amblin Entertainment's former animation branch Amblimation, it was spun off into a separate company in 2004. NBCUniversal acquired DreamWorks Animation at a cost of $3.8 billion in 2016. The studio originally made some traditionally animated films, as well as two stop-motion co-productions with Aardman Animations, but now exclusively relies on computer animation. Its productions, including The Prince of Egypt, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and the Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon franchises, have received various accolades, including three Academy Awards, 41 Emmy Awards, numerous Annie Awards, and multiple Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations.

Films produced by DreamWorks Animation were originally distributed by DreamWorks Pictures until 2005. Paramount Pictures distributed its releases from 2006 through 2012, and 20th Century Fox (currently known as 20th Century Studios) did the same from 2013 through 2017. All DWA films from 2019 onward have been released through Universal Pictures, which also owns most of the rights to its back catalogue.

DreamWorks Animation is known for its logo, which is a boy fishing on the moon. The logo originated from DreamWorks Pictures, debuting in 1997. It was later used as the standard logo for DreamWorks Animation from Antz (1998) to Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003).

In 2004, DreamWorks unveiled its own logo, in which the boy flies up to the moon via balloons. It originally had music adapted from the track "Fairytale" for the film Shrek (2001), the logo was composed by Harry Gregson-Williams, one of the co-composers of Shrek and the composer of the whole Shrek franchise as well as other DreamWorks films. The logo was used from Shrek 2 (2004) to Monsters vs. Aliens (2009).

In 2010, DreamWorks unveiled a new logo, this time with the boy fishing on the moon in space. An updated version of the fanfare accompanied this logo, and the logo would be used from How to Train Your Dragon (2010) to Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017).

Two years after its acquisition by Universal Pictures in 2016, a new logo was introduced. It is said that it pays homage to the evolution of animation. It received a new fanfare composed by John Powell, the other composer of the first Shrek and other DreamWorks films, adapting some cues from Shrek 2 and tones from John Williams' DreamWorks Pictures fanfare to create the music for the logo. The logo debuted on the first trailer of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019) in 2018, but the full animated version and the new fanfare debuted on February 22, 2019, with the release of the film, for which Powell also composed the score.

On November 25, 2022, a new logo was announced. The boy on the moon was redubbed as the Moon Child to relate to anyone. The logo showcases the Moon Child flying on the crescent moon, interacting with several DreamWorks characters before settling on the moon. It features characters from The Bad Guys, How to Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda, The Boss Baby, Trolls, and Shrek, and a rearranged score by Harry Gregson-Williams, finally returning after making the fanfare for the 2010 logo, with elements of the previous fanfare by John Powell. The logo was created by production designer Kendal Cronkhite (the Trolls films), Suzanne Buirgy (Home and Abominable) and a team of 10–40 people, taking eight months to complete. The characters that appear in the logo also have different designs to better fit in the continuity, and character appearance is expected to vary with each film by 2023. It made its debut on November 22, 2022, as an unlisted video on DreamWorks' YouTube channel and made its on-screen debut on Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

Animation process

Many of DreamWorks Animation's films are animated internally at their Glendale campus, but some of their films were animated by Pacific Data Images, a subsidiary of DreamWorks, until its closure in 2015, in a somewhat similar fashion to Illumination, which has most of its films animated by Illumination Mac Guff. Films include Shrek and its two sequels, the Madagascar film series, and Megamind. Puss in Boots and Penguins of Madagascar were partially animated at its Bangalore campus.

Additionally, DreamWorks occasionally outsources its animation production to other studios. For example, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie was animated by Mikros Image alongside Technicolor Animation Productions and Spirit Untamed, and production assets for The Boss Baby: Family Business and The Bad Guys were provided by Jellyfish Pictures, which also did the marketing custom animation for Trolls World Tour alongside Minimo VFX, which provided rigging for Spirit Untamed.

Most of DreamWorks' films tend to cost between $125–165 million, but Monsters vs. Aliens is the studio's most expensive film to date, with a budget of $175 million. After the release of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, DreamWorks films started to have much lower costs in the $65–100 million range, similar to its sister studio, Illumination.

Partnerships

DreamWorks Animation has an ongoing partnership with Hewlett-Packard that has been active since 2002, and the studio exclusively uses HP workstations and servers. In 2005, DWA partnered with HP to introduce HP Halo Telepresence Solutions, technologies that allow people in different locations to communicate in a face-to-face environment in real time.

In 2005, AMD signed a three-year deal to provide Opteron processors to the studio. This relationship ended in 2008, and DreamWorks announced that they would use Intel Xeon processors for all future productions. The same year, both companies announced a technology called InTru3D that allows DreamWorks to produce all of their future films in 3D, beginning with Monsters vs. Aliens.

DreamWorks also has a partnership with NetApp in order to supply cloud-based storage that allows the company to complete its films.

The DreamWorks Experience: Royal Caribbean Cruiseline

The DreamWorks Experience is a package of character interactions and experiences, including shows: Ice shows, Aqua shows, Sailaway parties, parades, wow moments, meet and greets, and character dining, featuring from the Shrek franchise: Shrek, Princess Fiona, Puss in Boots, Kitty Softpaws. The Kung Fu Panda Franchise: Po the Panda, Tigress the Tiger. The Madagascar franchise: Alex the Lion, Gloria the Hippo, King Julien the Ringtail Lemur, Mort the goodman Lemur, The Penguins: Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, Private. How to Train your Dragon franchise: Toothless, Meatlug, Stoick, Valka, Gobber, and other DreamWorks Animation characters.

The DreamWorks Experience was announced for Royal Caribbean cruise ships, including ships of the Freedom Class : Freedom and Liberty, Voyager Class : Voyager of the Seas Oasis Class: Oasis, Allure, Harmony, and Quantum Class: Quantum, Anthem, Ovation, in June 2010. On April 11, 2019, the DreamWorks program was removed from all ships due to DreamWorks and Royal Caribbean not renewing their contract.

The DreamWorks Experience: Gaylord Hotels (2011–2015)

In April 2011, the DreamWorks Experience was announced for resorts owned by Gaylord Entertainment in Nashville, Orlando, Dallas, and Washington, D.C. for a four-year contract ending January 1, 2015. After Gaylord was bought out by Marriott, Marriott owners did not renew the contract.

DreamPlay by DreamWorks: City of Dreams Manila

The world's first indoor interactive play and creativity center theme park located within City of Dreams Manila opened on June 12, 2015.

DreamWorks Water Park

On July 11, 2012, then CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg announced it would build the DreamWorks Water Park, an indoor water park at American Dream in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The park would have attractions from Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda and How To Train Your Dragon franchises. On November 21, 2019, days before the planned opening, it was delayed to March 19, 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the park officially opened on October 1, 2020.

Filmography

Franchises

Title Films Short films TV Seasons Release dates
The Prince of Egypt 2 0 0 1998–2000
Shrek 6 8 6 2001–present
Spirit 2 2 13 2002–present
Madagascar 4 4 16 2005–present
Kung Fu Panda 3 5 5 2008–present
Monsters vs. Aliens 1 3 1 2009–2014
How to Train Your Dragon 3 6 18 2010–present
Megamind 1 1 1 2010–present
The Croods 2 3 9 2013–present
Turbo 1 0 3 2013–2016
Rocky and Bullwinkle 1 1 5 2014–2019
Home 1 1 4 2015–2018
Trolls 2 5 15 2016–present
Tales of Arcadia 1 0 6 2016–2021
The Boss Baby 2 2 5 2017–present
Captain Underpants 1 0 4 2017–2020
Abominable 1 1 1 2019–present
The Bad Guys 1 1 0 2022–present

Notable people

  • Chris Meledandri, Senior Advisor
  • Alessandro Pepe, FX Animator

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: DreamWorks Animation para niños

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