It was only a matter of time before Rotoscopers began their DreamWorks countdown. They have previously reviewed all of the feature films of Walt Disney Animation Studios and Studio Ghibli, and now, every Monday and Friday, they plan to do the same for DreamWorks Animation.

There are a total of 35 films for them to review and, unlike the movies of Disney and Ghibli, the quality of each DreamWorks film tends to be unpredictable, which should make this countdown interesting.

The studio wasn’t exactly founded for artistic purposes. In 1994, film director Steven Spielberg, music executive David Geffen, and film executive Jeffrey Katzenberg started the company following his own resignation from Disney. Traditional animators from Spielberg’s Amblimation (Fieval Goes West, We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story, Balto) migrated to DreamWorks but Katzenberg went out of his way to hire away Disney animators. He even courted controversy when he green-lit Antz the same year as Disney/Pixar’s A Bug’s Life in the hopes of taking down his former employer.

You may notice the early DreamWorks films had more diverse animation styles. In the nineties, they partnered with computer animation company Pacific Data Images (Antz, Shrek, Madagascar) and British stop-motion animation company Aardman Animations (Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run), but when Shrek came out in 2001 and made more money than their 2D films (and won an Oscar), and Aardman left DreamWorks in 2006 due to creative differences, the company focused primarily on CGI.

DreamWorks continued along into the new millennium with award-worthy films like Kung Fu Panda, How To Train Your Dragon and The Croods. Unfortunately, success at the box office became fewer and farther between, to the point where in 2015, Pacific Data Images went defunct and DreamWorks struggled to find a distributor.

After trying to make ends meet by teaming up with companies like Netflix and YouTube for more revenue sources, DreamWorks Animation finally has a stable distribution deal with Universal, the distributors of Illumination (Despicable Me). Maybe those minions can teach the studio a thing or two about creating beloved family films again?

That’s the company’s history, but there is plenty more to be said about their films. We look forward to showcasing the artistry and fun films of DreamWorks throughout the Fall and hope you participate in the discussions and share your opinions in the comments.

Let the countdown begin!

Full list of DreamWorks Animation Countdown articles:

1. Antz
2. The Prince of Egypt
3. The Road to El Dorado
4. Chicken Run
5. Shrek
6. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
7. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas
8. Shrek 2
9. Shark Tale
10. Madagascar
11. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
12. Over the Hedge
13. Flushed Away
14. Shrek the Third
15. Bee Movie
16. Kung Fu Panda
17. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
18. Monsters vs. Aliens
19. How to Train Your Dragon
20. Shrek Forever After
21. Megamind
22. Kung Fu Panda 2
23. Puss in Boots
24. Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted
25. Rise of the Guardians
26. The Croods
27. Turbo
28. Mr. Peabody and Sherman
29. How to Train Your Dragon 2
30. Penguins of Madagascar
31. Home
32. Kung Fu Panda 3
33. Trolls
34. The Boss Baby
35. Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie

What is your favorite DreamWorks animated film? What do you appreciate most about the studio’s style? Share with us in the comments below!

Edited by: Morgan Stradling