DreamWorks Classics

**DreamWorks Classics** (formerly **Classic Media**) is an American entertainment company owned by DreamWorks Animation, which is a subsidiary of Universal Studios. 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 (2000-2009)

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. From 2001 to 2009, Classic Media is best known for collaborations with Cartoonverse Television for *Tyrone's News* (2006-2008) and Splashinis Television apparently for five television series. On August 16, 2001, Classic Media and Random House won a joint bid for the assets of Golden Books, with Classic Media acquiring Golden Book's entertainment division (including the Dell Comics and Gold Key libraries) and Random House acquiring Golden Books's 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.

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 U.K. and U.S. subsidiaries, including Classic Media, Inc. and Big Idea Entertainment, from its administrators. On May 11, 2009, Boomerang Media announced that the former U.K. and U.S. subsidiaries of Entertainment Rights, including Cartoonverse Television and its Cartoonverse Television International unit 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. 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.

## Libraries

### Catalogs

* The UPA catalog (*Mr. Magoo*, *Gerald McBoing-Boing*, etc.) including:
	+ Several *Godzilla* films under license from Toho
* The Harvey Entertainment catalog (*Casper the Friendly Ghost*, *Richie Rich*, *Baby Huey*, etc.), including:
	+ The Famous Studios catalog, excluding properties owned by other companies and licensed to Famous Studios.
* The Golden Books/Gold Key Comics catalog (*Magnus, Robot Fighter*, *Doctor Solar*, *Turok*, *Little Lulu*, etc.), including:
	+ The Broadway Video catalog (*Lassie*, the *Lone Ranger*, *Sergeant Preston of the Yukon*, *Underdog*, *Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales*, *Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer*, *Frosty the Snowman*, *Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town*, etc.)
	+ 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 (*He-Man and the Masters of the Universe*, *BraveStarr*, *Transformers Academy*, etc.), excluding properties owned by other companies and licensed to Filmation.
	+ The Woodland Animations catalog (*Postman Pat*, *Charlie Chalk*)
	+ The Tell-Tale Productions catalog (*Tweenies*, *Boo!*, etc.)
* The Cartoonverse Television catalog (*Tyrone's News*)
* The Chapman Entertainment catalog (*Fifi and the Flowertots*, *Roary the Racing Car*)
* The Splashinis Television catalog (*Follow that Feather*, *LEGO Vehicles: Delivery Adventure*, *Match on Mt. Olympius*, *The Adventures of Cuddles and Toothy, Play with Melina and Sevaltia)*

### Character brands

* *Noddy*
* *Olivia*
* *Felix the Cat*
* *Toys*
* *Where's Waldo?*

### Joint ventures

* Bullwinkle Studios, a joint venture with Jay Ward Productions to produce and manage the Jay Ward catalog (*The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show*, *Mr. Peabody & Sherman*, *George of the Jungle*, etc.)

### Other rights

* *Voltron*
* The Tribune Content Agency catalog (*Dick Tracy*, *Brenda Starr, Reporter*, *Gasoline Alley*, *Broom-Hilda*, etc.)

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Classic Media Acquires Harvey Entertainment. Animation World Network (August 25, 2000). Retrieved on August 4, 2014.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `latimes`
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 DreamWorks Studios Buys Classic Media For $155m. *Business Insider* (July 23, 2012). Retrieved on November 2, 2014.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Harvey Sells Out. ICv2 (March 11, 2001). Retrieved on February 14, 2014.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Harvey Sells All Of Its Classic Characters. Animation World Network (March 9, 2001). Retrieved on June 27, 2014.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Classic Media Gets Monetary Backing. Animation World Network. Retrieved on October 24, 2014.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 DeMott, Rick (August 24, 2001). Random House, Classic Media Buy Bankrupt Golden Books. Animation World Network. Retrieved on September 29, 2013.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 CNN.com – Golden Books sold for poky little $84M. Edition.cnn.com (August 16, 2001). Retrieved on August 8, 2014.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 `VeggieTales' goes for $19.3 million – Chicago Tribune. Articles.chicagotribune.com (October 31, 2003). Retrieved on June 27, 2014.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `nyt`
11. ↑ Hampp, Andrew (August 24, 2006). NBC Debuts Kids Programming Brand Qubo. Ad Age. Retrieved on August 28, 2013.
12. ↑ Lodderhose, Diana (December 14, 2006). Kids’ programming specialists join hands. Variety. Retrieved on August 28, 2013.
13. ↑ Entertainment Rights is sold off (April 1, 2009). Retrieved on August 28, 2013.
14. ↑ Daswani, Mansha. Boomerang Media Buys ER. WorldScreen.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2009. Retrieved on August 31, 2013.
15. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `homemedia`
16. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `awn`
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Sweney, Mark (March 7, 2012). Chorion sells rights to Noddy. The Guardian. Retrieved on August 28, 2013.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Arrant, Chris (March 19, 2012). Classic Media Acquires "Olivia" Rights from Chorion. Cartoon Brew. Retrieved on August 28, 2013.
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 DreamWorks Picks Up Felix the Cat. License! Global (June 18, 2014). Retrieved on June 20, 2014.
20. ↑ Comcast's NBCUniversal buys DreamWorks Animation in $3.8-billion deal (April 28, 2016). Retrieved on April 28, 2016.
21. ↑ Dave McNary (August 22, 2016). Comcast Completes $3.8 Billion DreamWorks Animation Purchase. Variety. Retrieved on August 27, 2016.
22. ↑ Classic Media Reissues the Original GODZILLA on DVD « SciFi Japan. Scifijapan.com (May 13, 2014). Retrieved on August 10, 2014.
23. ↑ Paramount Cartoons 1958–59. Cartoon Research.
24. ↑ Dick Tracy, Brenda Starr Ink With Classic Media. Billboard (June 14, 2005). Retrieved on August 28, 2013.
25. ↑ Paskin, Willa (June 13, 2005). Tribune, Classic in cartoon venture. Variety. Retrieved on August 28, 2013.