DreamWorks Classics

**Classic Media, LLC**, doing business as **DreamWorks Classics**, is an American entertainment company owned by DreamWorks Animation, which is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures through Comcast's NBCUniversal. 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.

## History

### Classic Media (2000–2012; first incarnation)

Classic Media was founded by Eric Ellenbogen and John Engelman in 2000 and acquired the UPA catalog from Henry Saperstein's estate. Frank Biondi, the former head of Universal Studios, and movie producer Steve Tisch invested in the company. Classic Media then bought the Harvey Entertainment catalog on March 11, 2001. On August 16, 2001, Classic Media and Random House won a joint bid for the assets of Golden Books, with Random House, and Classic Media acquiring Golden Books' entertainment division (including the Dell Comics and Gold Key Comics libraries) and Random House acquiring Golden Books' book publishing properties. On October 31, 2003, Classic Media purchased the assets of the bankrupt Big Idea Entertainment. By 2007, Classic had formed Bullwinkle Studios, a joint venture with Jay Ward Productions, to manage the Jay Ward characters.

On April 7, 2005, the company was recapitalized by a group of investors consisting of Spectrum Equity Investors plus existing investors led by Pegasus Capital Advisors. A $100 million senior debt facility was also arranged from JP Morgan Chase Bank-led bank group. With the deal, Spectrum became a majority owner over the existing investors, with a representative on the company board of directors.

In August 2006, Classic Media announced a joint venture with ION Media Networks, NBCUniversal, Corus Entertainment and Scholastic Corporation to launch Qubo, a kids' entertainment network. In the next month, Classic Media also joint venture with CBS Corporation and DIC Entertainment to launch an animation-focused cable channel, UltraToons.

On December 14, 2006, it was announced that Classic Media would be acquired by UK-based rival Entertainment Rights for $210.0 million. Before the acquisition was completed, both companies announced distribution and production agreements with Genius Products, LLC, replacing the Sony Wonder deal.

Entertainment Rights fell in to administration on April 1, 2009. On the same day, Boomerang Media LLC, formed by Ellenbogen and Engelman in 2008 with equity funding from GTCR, announced that it would acquire Entertainment Rights' principal UK and American subsidiaries, including Classic Media, Inc. and Big Idea Entertainment, from its administrators. On May 11, 2009, Boomerang Media announced that the former UK and American subsidiaries of Entertainment Rights would operate as a unified business under the name Classic Media, while Big Idea would operate under its own name. On March 7, 2012, Classic Media brought the *Noddy* brand from Chorion and later brought the *Olivia* brand from them on March 19.

### DreamWorks Classics (2012–present)

On July 23, 2012, DreamWorks Animation acquired Classic Media from Boomerang Media for $155 million; the company became a unit of DreamWorks Animation and was renamed DreamWorks Classics. In the same month, DreamWorks added Tayler Studios library to its unit. On June 18, 2014, DreamWorks Animation bought the *Felix the Cat* brand and added it to the DreamWorks Classics portfolio. On April 28, 2016, NBCUniversal announced it would be acquiring DreamWorks Animation for $3.8 billion. The acquisition was completed on August 22. However, this led DreamWorks sold back its roughly 10% stake in UltraToons in favor of GlobeBox and Universal Kids.

### Classic Media (2019–present; second incarnation)

NBCUniversal had the unit revert to its prior name of Classic Media and appointed Ellenbogen as co-president in August 2019. Three series, *Lassie*, *George of the Jungle* and *Mr. Magoo*, were picked up from Classic Media's library by CBS All Access (Paramount Global's streaming service, now known as Paramount+) in January 2020.

## Libraries

### Catalogs

* The UPA catalog (including *Mr. Magoo* and *Gerald McBoing-Boing*) including:
	+ Several *Godzilla* films under license from Toho
* The Harvey Films catalog (including *Casper the Friendly Ghost*, *Little Audrey*, *Richie Rich*, and *Baby Huey*)
* The Western Publishing/Golden Books/Gold Key Comics/Golden Book Video catalog (including *Pat the Bunny*, *Magnus, Robot Fighter*, *Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom*, *Turok, Son of Stone*, and *Little Lulu*), including:
	+ Broadway Video's former family entertainment catalog (including *Lassie*, *The Lone Ranger*, and *Sergeant Preston of the Yukon*) including:
		- The pre-1974 Rankin/Bass Productions catalog (including *Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer*, *The Little Drummer Boy*, *Frosty the Snowman*, and *Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town*)
		- The Total Television catalog (including *Underdog* and *Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales*)
	+ Shari Lewis' two PBS series (*Lamb Chop's Play Along* and *Charlie Horse Music Pizza*)
* The Big Idea Entertainment catalog (*VeggieTales*, *3-2-1 Penguins!*, *Larryboy: The Cartoon Adventures*)
* The Entertainment Rights catalog, including
	+ The Filmation catalog (*The Archie Show*, *Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids*, *He-Man and the Masters of the Universe*, and *BraveStarr*), excluding properties owned by other companies and licensed to Filmation
	+ The Woodland Animations catalog (*Postman Pat*, *Gran*, *Bertha* and *Charlie Chalk*)
	+ The Tell-Tale Productions catalog (including *Boo!* but excluding the rights to *Tweenies*)
* The Chapman Entertainment catalog (including *Fifi and the Flowertots*, *Roary the Racing Car* and *Raa Raa the Noisy Lion*)
* The Taylor Studios catalog

### Character brands

* *Noddy*
* *Olivia*
* *Felix the Cat*
* *Where's Waldo?*
* *She-Ra* (via the Filmation catalog; co-ownership with Mattel)

### Joint ventures

* Bullwinkle Studios, a joint venture with Jay Ward Productions to produce and manage the Jay Ward catalog (including *The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show*, *Mr. Peabody & Sherman*, and *George of the Jungle*) DreamWorks' partnership with Bullwinkle Studios ended in February 2022, when the Ward estate partnered with WildBrain. DreamWorks will continue to own its co-productions with Bullwinkle Studios.

### Other rights

* *My Life Me*
* *Voltron* (under license from World Events Productions)
* The Tribune Content Agency catalog (including *Dick Tracy*, *Brenda Starr, Reporter*, *Gasoline Alley*, and *Broom-Hilda*)