DreamWorks Animation, the boutique studio run by Jeffrey Katzenberg, is selling itself to Comcast, putting an end to an independent creative endeavor that brought “Shrek,” “Kung Fu Panda” and “Madagascar” to the big screen — but also had its share of flops. (Box office figures have not been adjusted for inflation.)
Photo
Credit
Dreamworks Pictures
HIT
‘Shrek’
2001
This tale of a slobby green ogre on a quest for love, based on the 1990 children’s book by William Steig, grossed $484 million worldwide and became a cultural phenomenon — comparing yourself to an onion, “makin’ waffles” in the morning and the phrase “that is a nice boulder” are still with us.
Shrek would go on to become a good-as-gold franchise with two sequels, one spinoff series and a 2007 TV special “Shrek the Halls.” “Shrek 2,” released in 2004, is the studio’s highest grossing film yet, having pulled in $919.8 million worldwide.
Photo
Credit
DreamWorks Animation
HIT
‘Madagascar’
2005
Audiences fell hard for this tale of animals who escape from the Central Park Zoo. Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith gave voice to the streetwise band of escapees, and viewers were very amused.
The film was one of the first made after DreamWorks’ animation unit was spun off from the DreamWorks SKG, founded in 1994 by Steven Spielberg, the music executive David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg, who became chief executive of the unit.
The movie grossed $532.7 million worldwide and had four follow-ups, a spinoff series and two television specials. The series lost some luster in 2014 with “Penguins of Madagascar,” which brought in only $373 million, about half what “Madagascar 3” grossed.
Photo
Credit
DreamWorks Animation and Paramount Pictures
HIT
‘Kung Fu Panda’
2008
Critically acclaimed for its story and its animation, this tale of a roly-poly panda called Po, voiced by Jack Black, and his passion for kung fu, grossed $631.7 million worldwide and spun off two sequels, a TV special and two shorts.
Photo
Credit
Paramount Pictures
HIT
‘How to Train Your Dragon’
2010
Another hit for DreamWorks that expanded into a series — a third installment is in the works for 2018 — this 3D feature of a young Viking who betrays his tribe grossed $494.9 million. The New York Times critic A.O. Scott praised the film’s airborne sequences, writing, “when Hiccup first climbs on Toothless’s back and urges the dragon to take wing, the hearts of the audience soar with a primitive and durable delight. The techniques that enabled this feeling may be dauntingly complicated, but the feeling could not be simpler.”
Photo
Credit
DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures
MISS
‘Rise of the Guardians’
2012
Expected to be a no-brainer blockbuster and a franchise starter for DreamWorks Animation, this tale of Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and other childhood fantasy figures teaming up against a bad guy became one of the biggest flops in the company’s history. The company reported a hefty write-down related to the film, which cost more than $250 million to make and market, and took in less than $307 million at the global box office.
Photo
Credit
DreamWorks Animation/20th Century Fox
MISS
‘Turbo’
2013
The 3D tale of a snail who wanted to race was criticized for its lack of originality — its themes were explored in “Ratatouille” and “Happy Feet” before it — and finished slow at the box office, bringing in $282.6 million worldwide. DreamWorks ended up writing off $13.5 million in “Turbo” costs.
Photo
Credit
DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures
MISS
‘Flushed Away’
2006
This romp through the London sewer, brought to the screen by Aardman Animations, of Wallace and Gromit fame, was critically acclaimed but failed to find an audience, and took in only $178.1 million worldwide.