DreamWorks Animation

DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc.

Current logo since 2004. Current logo since 2004.
Company type	Public (NYSE: DWA)
Industry	Animated films
Founded	1997
Headquarters	Glendale, California Redwood City, California , United States
Key people	Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chief Executive Officer Roger Enrico, Chairman Lew Coleman, President
Website	dreamworksanimation.com

DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. (NYSE: DWA) is an independent American animation studio, producing primarily feature animated films. It was formed by the merger of the feature animation division of DreamWorks SKG and Pacific Data Images (PDI). Originally formed under the banner of DreamWorks SKG, it was spun-off into a separate public company in 2004.

Some of its most known films include Shrek, Shark Tale, Madagascar and Over the Hedge.

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

History

Early years

In 1980, Pacific Data Images was founded by Carl Rosendahl 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.

In 1997, 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 PDI to form subsidiary PDI, LLC (PDI owned 60% of PDI, LLC while DreamWorks SKG owned 40%). 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.

The 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.

Today

Since 2004, DreamWorks Animation is dedicated solely to producing CG animated films in-house. 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 produciton 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]

Also since 2004, the company has committed itself to make two computer-animated feature films a year.

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.

Board of Directors

The PDI/DreamWorks Studio in Redwood City, California

The following executives 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.
• Paul Allen, Chairman of Vulcan Inc.
• David Geffen, 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
• Howard Schultz, Chairman and Chief Global Strategist of Starbucks Corporation
• Meg Whitman, President and Chief Executive Officer of eBay, Inc.
• Judson Green, President and Chief Executive Officer of NAVTEQ
• Michael Montgomery, President of Montgomery & Co.
• Karl von der Heyden, retired Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer of Pepsico, Inc.

Films and series

Traditionally-animated films

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

Film	Year	[Worldwide Gross]	Metacritic	Rotten Tomatoes	IMDb
The Prince of Egypt	1998	$218,613,188	64	77	6.7
The Road to El Dorado	2000	$76,432,727	51	47	6.3
Joseph: King of Dreams	2000	(direct-to-video)	N/A	70	6.2
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron	2002	$122,563,539	52	68	6.5
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas	2003	$80,767,884	48	46	6.5

Stop-motion films

Note: All stop-motion films were produced by Aardman.

Film	Year	[Worldwide Gross]	Metacritic	Rotten Tomatoes	IMDb
Chicken Run	2000	$224,834,564	88	97	7.4
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit	2005	$192,610,372	87	95	7.9
Flushed Away (computer-animated film co-produced by Aardman)	2006	$176,301,623	74	75	7.1

Computer-animated films

Film	Year	Worldwide Gross	Metacritic	Rotten Tomatoes	IMDb
Antz TV-PG-LV	1998	$171,757,863	72	97	6.9
Shrek TV-PG-DLV	2001	$484,409,218	84	89	8.0
Shrek 2	2004	$919,838,758	75	88	7.6
Shark Tale	2004	$367,275,019	48	34	5.9
Madagascar	2005	$532,680,671	57	55	6.5
Over the Hedge	2006	$335,206,062	67	74	7.1
Shrek the Third	2007	$794,561,223	58	42	6.3
Bee Movie	2007	$281,634,940	54	51	6.5

Upcoming computer animated films

• Kung Fu Panda (June 8, 2008) (Glendale, in production)
• Madagascar: The Crate Escape (November 7, 2008) (part of the Madagascar (film) series)(PDI, in production)
• Monsters vs. Aliens (March 27, 2009) (Glendale, in production)
• How to Train Your Dragon (November 20, 2009) (Glendale, in production)
• Shrek Goes Fourth (May 21, 2010)

Computer Animation Films Distributed By Paramount Pictures

• Over the Hedge (May 19, 2006)
• Flushed Away (November 3, 2006)
• Shrek The Third (May 18, 2007)
• Bee Movie (November 2, 2007)
• Kung Fu Panda (June 8, 2008)
• Madagascar: The Crate Escape (November 7, 2008)
• Monsters vs. Aliens (March 27, 2009)
• Shrek Goes Fourth (May 21, 2010)
• Puss in Boots: The Story of an Ogre Killer (2011)

Films Made From Computers By 20th Century Fox

• Antz (October 2, 1998)
• Chicken Run (June 23, 2000)
• Shrek (May 18, 2001)
• Shrek 2 (May 19, 2004)
• Shark Tale (October 1, 2004)
• Madagascar (May 27, 2005)
• Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (October 7, 2005)
• Over the Hedge (May 19, 2006)
• Madagascar: The Crate Escape (November 7, 2008)
• Shrek Goes Fourth (May 21, 2010)

TV Specials

• Shrek the Halls (2007)
• Shrek or Treat (2009)

Short films

• Shrek 4-D (2003) (PDI, ride film for Universal Studios and Warner Bros. Movie World)
• Far Far Away Idol (2004) (November 5, 2004)
• The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (October 7 2005) (PDI)
• First Flight (May 19 2006) (Glendale)
• Hammy's Boomerang Adventure (October 19 2006) (Glendale)

Traditionally-animated television series

• Toonsylvania (February 7 1998-December 1, 1998)
• Invasion America (June 8, 1998-July 7, 1998)

Computer-animated television series

• Father of the Pride (August 31, 2004-May 27, 2005)
• Kung Fu Panda (TV series) (under development for Nickelodeon [2])
• Penguins! (under development for Nickelodeon [3])

Sources

History

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

External links

• Official site
• Template:Imdb company