DreamWorks Animation Reveals Ambitious 12-Film Slate

[Blu-Benny]

DreamWorks Animation, which recently signed a new five-year distribution deal with 20th Century Fox Entertainment, has revealed an ambitious release date slate through the middle of 2016. The studio is planning to release an unprecedented three films per year - with the only exception being 2015, when the studio will have four films.

The new slate of films is the most ambitious one ever announced by a Hollywood animation studio.

Some of the planned for release films include How to Train Your Dragon 3, B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations, and next year's The Croods (March 22) and Turbo (July 19). DreamWorks Animation is also planning to release How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) and King Fu Panda 3 (2016).

Release Slate:
• The Croods" - March 22, 2013
• "Turbo" – July 19, 2013
• "Mr. Peabody & Sherman" - November 1, 2013
• "Me And My Shadow" – March 14, 2014
• "How To Train Your Dragon 2" – June 20, 2014
• "Happy Smekday!" – November 26, 2014
• "The Penguins Of Madagascar" – March 27, 2015
• "Trolls" – June 5, 2015
• "B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations" – November 6, 2015
• "Mumbai Musical" (title not final) – December 19, 2015
• "Kung Fu Panda 3" – March 18, 2016
• "How To Train Your Dragon 3" – June 18, 2016

Source

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Blu-Benny

Source

This was around the same time in their comparative history that they announced the upcoming connected trilogy of Shrek 4, 5 & 6.
(Ie., before the third movie.)

....Dreamworks: the Studio with the Best Laid Plans in the Business.

(And, er, how exactly do you set an "all-time record" for movies you haven't made yet?)

[Shanderson88]

I look forward to more entries into the "How to Train Your Dragon" story. One of my favorite animated films ever, I am one of the few people who prefer it to Toy Story 3 when debating which should have been nominated for Best Picture. (Toy Story 3 is excellent, I just think HTTYD is slightly more excellent.)

[Blu-Benny]

I’m intrigued by TROLLS.

i wanna see what that's about....i'm hoping for a Billy Goat Gruff type story and not the Troll dolls w/the jewel belly buttons.

[SirMontyPython]

Originally Posted by Blu-Benny

I’m intrigued by TROLLS.

i wanna see what that's about....i'm hoping for a Billy Goat Gruff type story and not the Troll dolls w/the jewel belly buttons.

and if it is??

[Blu-Benny]

Originally Posted by SirMontyPython

and if it is??

then

[Jennifer Lawrence Fan]

Originally Posted by Blu-Benny

then

You'll be the first in line huh?

[Monterey Jack]

QUALITY, not quantity.

[Blu-Benny]

Originally Posted by Monterey Jack

QUALITY, not quantity.

personally i think Dreamworks has been doing an awesome job w/their releases as far as quality goes.

[celticmoon]

Originally Posted by Monterey Jack

QUALITY, not quantity.

I'm sure with that many movies on their slate, they will have some sure duds (Turbo looks and sounds atrocious, though we've admittedly seen very little), but DreamWorks has definitely been upping their game lately, so I'm expecting some good ones.

The increase in number of films doesn't necessarily mean that the quality is going to suffer, since I'm sure they have entirely different teams working on them. It's actually probably very good news for animators, as it means there are more employment opportunities available. People rag on DreamWorks a lot, but they apparently have some of the best working conditions for their animators (whereas you don't hear too many good things about Disney and Pixar), so you've got to give them credit where credit is due.

Also surprising is the number original vs. franchise films. I only count 3 sequels and 1 spin-off in that list of 12.

Personally, I'm looking forward to The Croods (Chris Sanders!) and the HTTYD and KFP sequels. Me and My Shadow also sounds like it has some great potential. And some of these other ones, I'm actually only hearing about for the first time, so I look forward to finding out what they're all about.

[Wally Q]

From everything I've read, there's not much confidence in Katzenberg and I honestly give them up to 10 years before they're bought and Jeffrey's out of a job. I'm hoping it's Disney and they just fold it and primarily use their back catalogue. The only franchises I see Disney utilizing are Kung Fu Panda and HTTYD if that were to happen. Either way, JK founded the current CG enterprise of DreamWorks Animation as a joke and a knock against the hand that fed him and I revel in his lack of success and have pity for the real creative talent associated with him.

Only a matter of time.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by celticmoon

It's actually probably very good news for animators, as it means there are more employment opportunities available. People rag on DreamWorks a lot, but they apparently have some of the best working conditions for their animators (whereas you don't hear too many good things about Disney and Pixar), so you've got to give them credit where credit is due.

Okay: "Gee, the designers and story people certainly don't seem to be working too hard!"
(And it shows, I've certainly had that opinion coming out of many of their films...)

[MrFattBill]

Originally Posted by Blu-Benny

I’m intrigued by TROLLS.

i wanna see what that's about....i'm hoping for a Billy Goat Gruff type story and not the Troll dolls w/the jewel belly buttons.

Maybe they will be of the internet variety

Bill

[celticmoon]

Originally Posted by EricJ

Okay: "Gee, the designers and story people certainly don't seem to be working too hard!"
(And it shows, I've certainly had that opinion coming out of many of their films...)

Didn't mean to leave anybody out, but point being, more movies, more employment. And it doesn't mean quality will suffer as a result of that. Whether or not these turn out to be quality movies, I don't think he fact that they are releasing so many in rapid succession will be the primary reason for it.

And I can't say that I think their filmography is a treasure trove of great films, but again, I think they're trying to move in a different direction, and they've been on a generally upward trajectory in terms of quality these last couple of years.

[ScarredLungs]

There are some good looking films and that is a very tall order ahead of them. I hope that they do not under fund/under support a project by being too distracted by another.

[JavaJulien]

Originally Posted by Wally Q

From everything I've read, there's not much confidence in Katzenberg and I honestly give them up to 10 years before they're bought and Jeffrey's out of a job. I'm hoping it's Disney and they just fold it and primarily use their back catalogue. The only franchises I see Disney utilizing are Kung Fu Panda and HTTYD if that were to happen. Either way, JK founded the current CG enterprise of DreamWorks Animation as a joke and a knock against the hand that fed him and I revel in his lack of success and have pity for the real creative talent associated with him.

Only a matter of time.

I'd like to see what you've been reading, because their box office numbers for their films have been saying otherwise.

[pap64]

That's an impressive list of films. As everyone has said already, I am sure that many of them will turn out to be duds, but the list has potential in that many of the movies sound to be genuinely creative. Also, out of the 12 movies listed, seven of them are original movies, only one is based on an existing property (Peabody) and only four are direct sequels or extensions of earlier DreamWorks movies.

Personally, I can't wait for the HTTYD and KFP sequels. I loved the heck out of the first Dragons movie, and the TV series is so far pretty good. KFP is also my favorite DreamWorks franchise ever, with the two movies being my absolute favorites in DW's canon.

[Wally Q]

Originally Posted by JavaJulien

I'd like to see what you've been reading, because their box office numbers for their films have been saying otherwise.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/09/drea...peration-move/

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by celticmoon

And I can't say that I think their filmography is a treasure trove of great films, but again, I think they're trying to move in a different direction, and they've been on a generally upward trajectory in terms of quality these last couple of years.

It's said that if you want to know what's wrong with an animated studio, watch their devoted imitators:
If you want to know what was wrong with post-B&B 90's Disney, watch "Swan Princess".
If you want to know what was wrong with Don Bluth, watch "We're Back".
And if you want to know what's wrong with Dreamworks, watch Fox's "Rio": Must EVERY hero be a Woody-Allen-clone loser? Must EVERY film have a karaoke wrap-party for the characters at the end? Do kids even know who Lionel Ritchie was?...Do most adults still know who Lionel Ritchie was?

(Am I blaming one studio for the sins of its imitators? No...I'm blaming them for giving us something frequently enough and penciled-in enough to imitate. And then bragging about how much more of it they can give on demand.
It's become cliche' to the point that DW tropes have now become adjectives in our film lexicon: We have the "Dreamworks Expression", the "Shrek Party" and the "Kung Fu Panda moment". Thank you SO much, Jeff, for immortalizing overbearing mediocrity in our cultural subconscious and giving it a name.)

[Wally Q]

Originally Posted by EricJ

(Am I blaming one studio for the sins of its imitators? No...I'm blaming them for giving us something frequently enough and penciled-in enough to imitate. And then bragging about how much more of it they can give on demand.
It's become cliche' to the point that DW tropes have now become adjectives in our film lexicon: We have the "Dreamworks Expression", the "Shrek Party" and the "Kung Fu Panda moment". Thank you SO much, Jeff, for immortalizing overbearing mediocrity in our cultural subconscious and giving it a name.)

Thankfull Sanders did his best and really slammed it out of the typical DreamWorks realm and came the closest they've ever gotten to Pixar. I'd even stake claim in the fact Puss in Boots was really well done and surpassed the series it was spun off from (well, I'd put it on par with Shrek 2 which was the only one I not only liked but really loved at the time) but overall, I agree with your assessment.