One of the constants in that time has been the man heading it up: Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Lets start with The Penguins Of Madagascar.
Id argue that the Madagascar films to date make for about the best comedy trilogy of recent times.
Id take them over The Hangover for a start…
[Laughs] Alright!
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Where does this one leave things then?
Are you looking, as per modern movie parlance, to do an extended universe here?
Are you spinning the penguins off and leaving the main line of Madagascar films in tact?
Well, the answer is yes.
I think every once in a while… remember, were still young.
Our business is young, our movies are young.
Our company is young.
I think thats true of the penguins.
So yes, it is an expanding universe.
I think we imagine and hope that with success, there will be a series of films.
Certainly, this jot down of super-thriller lends itself to multiple chapters.
But theyre great characters, and people love them.
Its as complicated and as simple as that!
Do you foresee a point where DreamWorks characters could intermingle in a shared universe on screen?
Weve talked about it.
They exist in such separate worlds.
Theyre all human worlds, even though theyre not all exactly human characters.
The world itself that theyre in, theyre fundamentally human.
Madagascar, for us, is a human world.Kung Fu Pandais an animal world.Shrekis a fairy tale world.
They just feel very disparate.
What about Monsters Vs Aliens crashing into Over The Hedge?
Well thats at least possible!
This is film number 30, and youve back with the director of your first movie, Antz.
But how have the people developed?
Its the human beings that interest me…
Good, because theyre the ones that count.
Those are the tools.
Nobody talks about that, we talk about their art and their work.
And theyve all grown.
Most of them when they started, their movies with DreamWorks were their first films.
Eric Darnell [director ofAntz,The Penguins Of Madagascar] this is his fourth.
Simon [Smith, co-directorThe Penguins Of Madagascar] has actually done multiple projects, multiple films for us.
He has directed shorts, and many other meaningul contributions in our filmmaking process and our films.
Today, we have this amazing creative leadership in the company.
People who are now knowledgeable and experienced, and I think very, very gifted.
So honestly, it makes my job easier!
In that 20 years, it seems that an invisible divide has come down between live action and animation.
That you have people like Guillermo del Toro and Tim Minchin working with DreamWorks.
Are you finding people of that ilk are coming to you more and more?
Or are you actively seeking them out?
We reach out for them all the time, and from time to time, they found us.
Guillermo del Toro came and found me very specifically.
Bells and whistles and confetti, and well carry you in on our shoulders!
Hes a unique and brilliant talent, and has been great inspiration to many of our filmmakers.
Is Guillermo del Toro still involved with the studio now?
Ive not seen his name on the credits of one of your films for a while?
How do you sense that your audience has changed and developed over the two decades of DreamWorks Animation?
Well, I think it has.
They were for everybody.
We are still very big and very popular.
And they are no longer cartoons.
Thats I think been very exciting.
At the same time, also as you say, its more competitive.
We are competing with live action movies that have become more cartoon.
Well, or Ill go and sayGuardians Of The Galaxyhas a talking raccoon and an animated tree!
[Laughs]
Im a huge fan of your Guardians film, Rise Of The Guardians as it happens.
Is that a natural evolution for you?
Do you see the cinema scren still pivotal to what DreamWorks Animation is about?
How do you want keep splintering things?
I think the wellspring of our company and our creativity is feature films.
So I think thats where these great characters, great stories and great franchises are born.
I dont think it diminishes or importance of the theatrical film.
I actually think thats the locomotive.
You wrote back in 1991 a piece that seemed to call where we are with movies now.
How do you feel now that it seems thateverythingis a Dick Tracy sized project now?
Is this a healthy thing for the industry?
Well, yknow, its a dangerous thing.
Thats the concern and the fear that I have.
It has been really an essential of movies over many generations the diversity of them.
There was a world in which different kinds of movies could exist for different audiences and have success.
There are a lot of those movies being made today.
Theyve been fun movies, the audience loves them, theyve done really well.
Maybe the audience will expand, I hope it does.
But its going to have to to make it be a success for the business.
And Prince Of Egypt and Antz too?
Are there rights issues or anything holding any of those up?
Honestly, I dont have any answers for you, Im sorry!
I wish I did have that answer for you.
Oh, last thing.
Did you really get on your knees to Leonard Nimoy to get the first Star Trek film together?
Oh yes I did!
Jeffrey Katzenberg, thank you very much!
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