DreamWorks Animation

***DreamWorks Animation, L.L.C.*** (more commonly known as ***DreamWorks Animation*** or simply ***DreamWorks***) is an American animation studio owned by The Coca-Cola Company under its Dragons Conglomerates Corporation business entertainment segment via the newly-formed Universal Group conglomerate, and based in Glendale, California.

Operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Universal Pictures, DreamWorks Animation produces animated feature films, television programs and online virtual games. The studio has currently released a total of 39 feature films, including the franchises *Shrek*, *Madagascar*, *Kung Fu Panda*, *How to Train Your Dragon*, *The Croods* and *Trolls*. Originally formed under the banner of its main DreamWorks studio in 1997 by the 250-people crew of Amblin Entertainment's former British animation branch Amblimation, 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 (predecessor to Universal Group) acquired **DreamWorks Animation** for $3.8 billion, making it a division of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group. Its friendly competitor is DisneyWarner's Marvel Studios, who created the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), including varying films like *Avengers: Infinity War* and *Avengers: Endgame*

As of October 2017, 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, and fourteen of the films are among the 50 highest-grossing animated films, with Shrek 2 being the ninth all-time highest. 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 received three Academy Awards, as well as 41 Emmy Awards and numerous Annie Awards, and multiple Golden Globe & 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.

Films produced by DreamWorks Animation were formerly distributed worldwide by DreamWorks Pictures from 1998 to 2005, Paramount Pictures from 2006 to 2012, and 20th Century Studios from 2013 to 2017. Universal Pictures now distributes subsequent DreamWorks Animation films, starting on February 22, 2019, with the release of *How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World*. Universal also now owns the rights to DreamWorks' back catalogue.

## History

The story of DreamWorks Animation in Cokeverse dates back to October 12, 1994, as three men: American film director and producer Steven Spielberg, former Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, and music executive David Geffen have come together to form DreamWorks SKG (along with the Disneyverse version), a media entertainment company that functions as the "greatest, most talented entertainment venue of all time."

In late Christmas 1994, PDI, LLC, the US media conglomerate that owns CGI animation studio Pacific Data Images, announced a 5-year agreement with Spielberg, Katzenberg and Geffen, to retain 60% interest in DreamWorks SKG, with among additional 3% interest. PDI, LLC purchases the additional 10.5% interest in the company, and Katzenberg manages the additional 10% interest. PDI, LLC announced that it will transition into entertainment at the start of its television and film projects, as well as computer animation, through its DreamWorks brand.

To build DreanWorks Animation, Spielberg brought in artists from Amblin Entertainment-owned London-based studio Amblimation, while Katzenberg recruited some of the top animation staff from the weakened [[Walt Disney Animation Studios|Walt Disney Feature Animation] . In 1997, Amblimation closed in 1997 after only eight years of operation and its office building was converted into a self-storage facility called Access Self-Storage. All 250 members of the Amblimation team have joined DreamWorks Animation, and special things are being released today. Amblimation's trio of three triple features are *An American Tail: Fievel Goes West* (1991), *We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story* (1993) and *Balto* (1995), distributed by Universal Pictures, with sheet music composed by James Horner.

In 1995, DreamWorks entered into a co-production agreement with media company Pacific Data Images to form PDI/DreamWorks (PDI owned 60% of PDI, LLC while DreamWorks SKG owned 40%) . This new unit would produce computer-generated feature films, starting with *Antz* in 1998. In the same year, DreamWorks SKG produced *The Prince of Egypt*, which used CGI technology and techniques. traditional animation.

In 1997, DreamWorks partnered with Aardman Animations, a British stop-motion animation studio (as well as one of Cokeverse's supporting companies), to co-produce and distribute Aardman's first feature film, *Chicken Run*, a stop-motion film already in pre-production. Two years later, they extended the deal for four more movies. With Aardman doing stop-motion, they covered all three main styles, plus traditional and computer animation. This partnership got DreamWorks involved in the production of stop-motion films in Bristol, and also got Aardman involved in some of the CGI films made in the United States.

In 2000, DreamWorks SKG created the first DreamWorks Animation entity, a new business division that would regularly produce both types of animated feature films. The same year, DreamWorks Animation acquired a 90% majority interest in PDI/DreamWorks, the Northern California branch of its new business division. On May 18, 2001, *Shrek* was released and won the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Due to the success of CGI animated films, DreamWorks Animation decided that same year to exit the hand-drawn animation business after the next two out of a total of four hand-drawn films. Beginning with Shrek 2 (2004), all released films, except for some co-produced with Aardman, were expected to be produced using CGI. The releases of *Shrek 2* and *Shark Tale* also made DreamWorks Animation the first studio to produce two CGI animated feature films in a single year.

*Shark Tale* was the top-grossing film and feature films, grossing more than $162.1 million in the United States and Canada and $234.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $396.4 million. dollars, although it is a commercial box. office bombshell "Shark Tale" was meant to be the most recent entertaining movie in the Cokeverse until "Captain Marvel" in 2019.