DreamWorks Animation (2024)

DreamWorks Animation was rriginally formed under the banner of DreamWorks Pictures (DreamWorks SKG), it was spun-off into a separate public company in 2004. Starting with Over the Hedge, their movies were distributed through Paramount Pictures (in turn owned by Viacom), who acquired the rest of DreamWorks Pictures in February 2006. However, in August 2012, DreamWorks Animation signed a five-year distribution deal with 20th Century Fox, a subsidiary of 21st Century Fox Inc. (now owned by The Walt Disney Company, which began after the release of Rise of the Guardians, whilst in China, the company formed Oriental DreamWorks (now Pearl Studios). On August 22, 2016, DreamWorks Animation was acquired by Comcast, and became a unit of NBCUniversal. Universal Pictures took over distribution rights of DreamWorks Animation's films starting in 2018; they would release their first theatrical DWA film, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, on February 22, 2019.

2004-2009[]

Nicknames: "The Rainbow Balloon Kid", "Little Boy Fishing On the Moon", "Fishing Boy", "Daytime DreamWorks", "DreamWorks Fishing Boy"

Logo: We pan up through a cloudy blue sky in the morning daytime as we see the familiar DreamWorks crescent moon. A boy flies up onto the moon holding a bunch of balloons, and as he takes his place, he takes out his fishing rod and casts it, while letting go of the balloons. The camera pans up further into the clouds from the Live action Studio's logo, as the balloons fly up and then pop into the rainbow-colored letters "DREAMWORKS", in its corporate DreamWorks logo's font. The text slightly eases in as "ANIMATION SKG", underneath a blue line, fades in underneath.

Variant:

• On Shrek 2 and home media releases until Over the Hedge, there is an early version where only "ANIMATION" is underneath the line.
• On Over the Hedge, "ANIMATION" and "SKG" are both absent below the movie company's name, plus it still uses the two cumulus clouds from the logo's first two years as well.
• Starting in 2006 with Flushed Away, the kid and the moon appear above the text, replacing the two cumulus clouds in in the far middle of the logo, with "SKG" in smaller text between the lines, similar to that of the 1997 DreamWorks Pictures logo. Starting with Shrek the Third, the text reverted back to "ANIMATION SKG" (though the "SKG" text was still used at the end of Kung Fu Panda).
• On Monsters vs. Aliens, there are more clouds (so much they surround the kid on the moon) and when the kid releases the balloons, the camera doesn't pan up, it stays on the kid on the moon. The text appears below.
• On a teaser for Over the Hedge, the moon is white, the kid doesn't move his legs and the logo is slightly streched from top to bottom.
• The print version is used on handheld versions of DWA video games.
• A still version of the logo exists at the end of DWA films.

FX/SFX: This logo was designed by Pacific Data Images (PDI).

Music/Sounds: A majestic and peaceful orchestrated piece, composed by Harry-Gregson Williams. which is adapted from the track "Fairytale" from Shrek. For the still version, none. On some movies, the opening theme is heard.

Availability: Common. Seen on all DreamWorks Animation films from the time, such as Shark Tale, Over the Hedge (the only film to still use the 2004/2005 version so far for confirmed unusual reasons), and Flushed Away; it was first seen on Shrek 2 and last seen on Monsters vs. Aliens. It was also used as a placeholder home video logo until Over the Hedge. Strangely, it was seen on The Ghost of Lord Farquaad, not on the Shrek's Thrilling Tales DVD, but on a Shrek DVD sampler on General Mills packages of Cookie Crisp. Also appears on some video games based on DreamWorks Animation films, except Shrek 2 and Shark Tale, is using 1997 DreamWorks Pictures logo.

2010-2017[]

Nicknames: "Little Boy Fishing On the Moon II", "Fishing Boy II", "Nighttime DreamWorks", "DreamWorks Fishing Boy II", "Fishing for Dreams", "Pre-Comcast DreamWorks"

Logo: In a starry nighttime sky, we see a full violet moon. A shadow appears on it as it turns into a crescent moon, revealing the boy (now in violet) from the last logo sitting on it. He takes out his fishing rod and casts it, swinging it around the fuchsia clouds as the camera pans out. Then, the words "DREAMWORKS" in violet zoom out and spread one-by-one below the moon, ending with "ANIMATION SKG" appearing between two lines in violet.

Variants:

• On the Super Bowl trailer for Monsters vs. Aliens, the name underneath reads "SKG", much like the normal DreamWorks Pictures logo.
• There is a 20th anniversary variant of this logo created in 2014. The moon is pushed to the right more to accommodate room for the "2" on the left (with the moon taking the place of the "0" to form the "20") as the word "YEARS" appears underneath. Also, the logo is still and is silent. This can be seen on How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Penguins of Madagascar.
  • On the aforementioned anniversary brand campaign, it starts as normal, but when the boy's fishing hook swings by the screen, it sweeps up letters that form the word "YEARS" which then settle underneath the moon. From there, the number "2" appears to the left of the moon (with the moon taking the place of the "0" to form the "20") and the words "OF DREAMS" and "AND LAUGHTER" fade in below "YEARS" in columns. The DreamWorks text (without the line and "ANIMATION SKG") then fades in above the "20", as copyright information appears underneath the logo.
• On the season 2 trailer for Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, the line and "ANIMATION SKG" are replaced with the Comcast byline.
• A still version exists at the end of their films and most of their shorts.
• Starting with Puss in Boots, the "®" symbol is removed.

FX/SFX: a boy swinging fishing rod animation, a nice CGI by DreamWorks Animation Glendale

Music/Sounds: A dreamy flute/piano/string piece that leads into a re-orchestrated rendition of the last logo's theme. This theme debuted in Shrek Forever After. Unfortunately, this theme was rarely used (the opening theme of films were often used instead), only being present on that film and a couple of others, such as Shrek the Musical, as well as the Penguins of Madagascar game. This was again composed by Harry Gregson-Williams.

Music/Sounds/Variant:

• The still version is silent or uses the film's ending theme.
• On Shrek 3-D re-releases under the name of The Ghost of Lord Farquaad, it has the end of the theme from the previous logo.
• On Puss in Boots, a flamenco theme is heard.
• Megamind, Trolls and both The Boss Baby movies use different versions of the theme with their custom variants. the Megamind custom variant was redone by the film composer, Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe. Trolls version redone by Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell. and The Bossy Baby version redone by Hans Zimmer (same person who composed the Megamind variant) and Steve Mazzaro.
• On Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, George Beard (voiced by Kevin Hart) and Harold Hutchins (voiced by Thomas Middleditch) hum the last part of the theme.

Availability: Common.

• It was first seen on the Super Bowl trailer of Monsters vs. Aliens (the actual film has the previous logo), and later debuted officially on How to Train Your Dragon, and appeared on all DreamWorks Animation films from 2010 to 2017. Also seen on some licensed games from the company during this era.
  • The last film to use this logo was Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie.
  • Despite the logo's retirement in 2017, this has been used sporadically on later productions here and there, such as the trailer for the second season of Jurassic Park: Camp Cretaceous as well as the The Boss Baby: Family Business, due to using the original Boss Baby variant.

2018-2022[]

Nicknames: "Little Boy Fishing On the Moon III", "Fishing Boy III", "Nighttime DreamWorks II", "The Evolution of Animation", "The Day & Night Cycle", "Comcast DreamWorks", "DreamWorks Fishing Boy III", "Fishing for Dreams II"

Logo: On a black background, some blue streaks fill onto the screen, as some painted clouds start appearing, creating a daytime scene. The scene then fizzles with a sunset setting, growing in size from the top-right, as more and more clouds appear, slowly becoming 3D. As we zoom through the clouds, they take on a blue tint as the scenery turns to nighttime. A blue energy forms a white sphere in the center, and the boy on the moon carves onto the sphere, forming the inverted print logo. Clouds blow in from the left and from the right, as the word "DREAMWORKS" forms from light streaks under the logo, followed by the Comcast byline wiping in, as some clouds disappear from the background while some remaining ones slowly move upwards.Variants:

• An alternate version exists where it has the print logo on a blue background, which was seen on the 2018 animated short Bird Karma. An inverted version appeared on Trolls Holiday (where this logo debuted).
• In Trolls World Tour a shortened version of the previous logo's fanfare, accompanied by Guy sneezing.
• A still version exists.
• On some current prints of Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (plastering the 2004-2009 logo), it is bylineless and fades out early.

FX/SFX: a brilliant CGI, mixing 2-D and 3-D animation, this time, not having the boy on the moon actually animate. None for the still and print versions (however in Bird Karma, the alternate print logo is wiggling). In Trolls World Tour the logo was designed by Shine Studios.

Music/Sounds: It opens with a string/flute melody, sounding similar to the previous two logos' music, which then builds into a different triumphant fanfare, adapting some cues from Shrek 2 and tones from the DreamWorks Pictures fanfare by John Williams, ending with a choir, similar to the choir from the 2nd Jim Henson Pictures logo. This was composed by John Powell, a shortened version was used in Trolls World Tour.

Music/Sounds/Variant:

• On some current prints of Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, the opening theme from the 2004-2009 logo on the aforementioned film plays over it.
• On The Bad Guys (2022), a different theme by Daniel Pemberton is used, continuing from the Universal Pictures logo. Oddly enough, that track isn't in the film's soundtrack.

Availability: Current.

• First seen on Trolls Holiday, albeit in a print version; the inverted version of this was seen on the shorts Bird Karma and Bilby (though online prints of the latter onward replaced it with a still version of the standard logo).
• The standard version was first revealed on the trailer for How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, with the fully animated version debuting on the film itself, and also appeared on Abominable, Spirit Untamed, and as variants on Trolls World Tour and The Croods: A New Age, with the former being shown after the Dreamworks Animation 25 Years logo.
• This logo is also found at the end of The Boss Baby: Family Business, due to that film having the previous logo (albeit using a custom variant) at the beginning.
• It also plastered the 2004-2009 logo on some current prints of Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and may possibly plaster some other films in the future as of this writing.
• This logo is currently in the process of being phased out in favor of the next logo. It was most recently seen on trailers for Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, with the film itself using the next logo.

2022-Present[]

Nicknames: "Little Boy Fishing On the Moon IV", "Fishing Boy IV", "Nighttime DreamWorks III", "Comcast DreamWorks II", "DreamWorks Fishing Boy IV", "Fishing for Dreams III", "The Moon Child", "Fishing Boy's Adventure", "The Moon Child's Adventure", "DreamWorks Universe"

Logo: The original logo begins as such: over a clear night sky, the Moon Child from the 3rd logo stands up from their crescent, grabs it, and starts flying while the moon vanishes into light. As the camera then pans throughout the sky, they pass by various DreamWorks characters from various franchises and films; in order, the Bad Guys (from their self-titled film, all inside a car, with Mr. Wolf pointing a finger gun at the Moon Child, which they do back), Toothless (from How to Train Your Dragon, who flies out of a constellation and towards the camera), Po (from Kung Fu Panda, on an island with a temple, performing a gesture), Ted Templeton Jr. (from The Boss Baby, on the other side of the island, surrounded by toy blocks and a baby bottle), and Poppy (from Trolls, inside a bubble). The Moon Child high-fives her, causing the bubble to burst and the scene to transition into a sunny atmosphere, with some hills and a riverbank. The Moon Child then passes by Shrek, Princess Fiona, and Donkey (all from Shrek), the former two of whom they wave goodbye to. The Moon Child then flies above the clouds into the cloud background from the 3rd logo (with more defined clouds this time). As they stop in front of the moon, the Moon Child casts their rod, forming the print logo design. As this happens, the text from the 3rd logo fades in under the moon.Trivia:

• The logo sequence lasts 32 seconds and took eight months to create.
• The child's silhouette is more ambiguous and gender-neutral, to appeal to more viewers.
• The child's crescent was a moon before, but now the logo is inside a full moon, rather than a crescent.
• The background of 2D art is meant to represent the matter that connects all life and makes up dreams.
• The DreamWorks characters shown will differ throughout every upcoming film. For example, if a character represented in the logo also appears in the following film, it will be replaced with another one from an unrelated franchise.
  • The first time the roster of characters changed was in Trolls Band Together, where the logo replaces Po, Ted Templeton and Poppy respectively with Alex and Marty from Madagascar (Marty rides Alex like a horse), Eep Crood from The Croods swinging on a tree and Puss in Boots (ripping open the screen, revealing the Moon Boy and the scene with Shrek).
• The characters are also redesigned, like Po having less fur texture and Shrek's face being simplified. This was done so the characters would feel like they could exist within the same universe.

FX/SFX: Advanced CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: A re-orchestrated and more majestic rendition of the 2nd logo's theme, with brass instruments being more prominent. This was once again composed by Harry Gregson-Williams. None for the still version.

Availability: Brand new. It first debuted on Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, released on December 21, 2022 (although it was sneak-previewed on November 26), and later appeared on Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken and Trolls Band Together. Currently, it is being used in tandem with the previous logo.