Today, Dreamworks has announced their full animated slate up to 2012, and boy, is it exactly what we all expected. Sequels, sequels, sequels...Thanks to /Film for the heads up...
- March 26th 2010: How To Train Your Dragon -
“Meet Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, heir of the Viking chiefdom, but a boy with one very big problem: a hero he is not. “How to Train Your Dragon’ is the riotous story of Hiccup’s quest to hunt down the fiercest dragon, bring it into submission, and—hopefully—pass his initiation. Instead, he ends up with the smallest, most ornery dragon—it’s even toothless! Thus begins the hijinx of the world’s most lovable, unlikely hero and a most reluctant “beast.” Packed with energetic drawings and plenty of action, this boisterous tale is just right for fantasy fans or anyone with a spirit of adventure. Based on the book by Cressida Cowell.” Directed by Chris Sanders, and featuring the voices of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse.
- May 21st 2010: Shrek Forever After (retitled from Shrek Goes Fourth) —
Directed by Mike Mitchell (Duce Bigelow, Surviving Christmas, Sky High).
November 5th 2010: Oobermind (formerly titled Master Mind) -
Written by Alan J. Schoolcraft and Brent Simons, Oobermind is a satirical take on superhero movies (think The Incredibles), in which a notorious villain (Robert Downey Jr) who finds life a little bit boring after he accidentally kills his nemesis, good guy superhero Metro Man. Ben Stiller and Tina Fey are also proving voices.
- June 3rd 2011: Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom (formerly titled Kung Fu Panda 2) —
Longtime story exec Jennifer Yuh Nelson makes her feature directorial debut, in a story following continuing adventures of Po, the Kung Fu panda.
- November 4th 2011: The Guardians —
Based on an upcoming book series by William Joyce, whose work inspired Disney’s Meet The Robinsons. Described as “a contemporary fairytale based on existing fairytale characters,” Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Jack Frost and the Sandman team up to defend the world from a Bogeyman-like villain. Of course, the characters have been “somewhat renamed and massively reimagined”. The first book has a tenative release of Christmas 2010. Visual effects artist and animator Jeff Lynch makes his feature directorial debut.
- March 20th 2012: Puss in Boots —
Shrek the Third director Chris Smith directs this prequel spin-off to Shrek 2, telling the story of Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas). Salma Hayek will voice the female love interest named Kitty.
- May 27th 2012: Madagascar 3 —
Directed by Eric Darnell (Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa), the new story will follow the animals as they travel to Europe as part of a traveling circus. Tom McGrath previously said that the would like to see the characters return to their home, the Central Park Zoo, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen any time soon..
- November 12th 2012: A Yet-to-be-chosen Original Feature from the following three options –
Chris Sanders and Kirk DeMicco’s caveman comedy The Croods (formerly titled Crood Awakenings) which was once set up with Aardman Animation. Set in the prehistoric era, a man’s position as Leader of the Hunt is threatened by the arrival of a prehistoric genius who comes up with revolutionary new inventions … like fire. Sanders has described the project as: “The idea of having all the modern conveniences and social structures that we’re familiar with gone and being left with just a pure form of people was really fun to imagine working with.”
Truckers — based on the first of the thee books in Terry Pratchett’s best-selling The Bromeliad Trilogy, which tells the story of the Nomes, a race of tiny people from another world who now struggle to survive in the world hidden among humans. They find an artifact known as “The Thing” which teaches them about their secret history and make plans to return home. Screenplay is being written by Slumdog scribe Simon Beaufoy. The film has been in development at the studio since at least 2001, originally with Shrek director Andrew Adamson attached to write and direct, but went on to helm Shrek 2 instead before moving on to the Chronicles of Narnia films.
Super Secret Ghost Project (tenative working title) — A story which asks what ghosts think about humans. I imagine this will be DreamWorks’ attempt at copying Pixar’s Monsters, Inc.
So we have sequels, a film based off source material that inspired Meet The Robinsons, a spin off about cats with a main character named Kitty, and a rip off of Monster's Inc. Dreamworks is like the brainless kid at school who copies off the kid in front of him, but doesn't quite read the other kids handwritting, so still gets it wrong.
Go see something good!
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