Guillermo del Toro may have won his first Oscar(s) for The Shape of Water, but I'm of the opinion that his best work still lies ahead of him, and it might just be in the medium of animation. One studio that's betting big on this prediction is DreamWorks Animation, a production house that's been in the GDT business since at least 2010 when their partnership included development of feature films and TV series. The deal lead to del Toro acting as creative consultant for Kung Fu Panda 2 and Megamind with executive producer credits on Rise of the GuardiansPuss in Boots, and Kung Fu Panda 3More recently, and on the DreamWorks TV side of things, del Toro is the creator and executive producer of the fantastic Netflix series, Trollhunters, which has two spin-off series set to debut soon. But that's just the beginning.

As THR reports, "del Toro has signed a multi-year exclusive deal with DreamWorks Animation to write, produce and direct animated family films for the studio." This contractual move also has del Toro literally moving into the studio's Glendale campus where he'll occupy some office space, though it's not as if he's been a stranger there. Announced earlier today, DreamWorks Animation clarified that del Toro’s involvement with the film division is also expected to include working with president Chris deFaria and the studio’s many artists and technologists “on some of the company’s innovative pilot programs that are developing groundbreaking techniques for advancing storytelling on multiple content platforms," in addition to developing movie projects.

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Image via Fox Searchlight

Here's what del Toro had to say:

“Animation is an art form that has influenced my work greatly since childhood. To me, it’s the perfect medium to bring to life any and all ideas, no matter how outlandish or wild.  I am eager to work with Chris and the talented artists at DreamWorks – some of the most talented people in the business – to make these images a reality.  I have worked with DreamWorks for about a decade and the horizon just keeps getting wider.”

Earlier this month, del Toro also signed an overall deal with Fox Searchlight, it of The Shape of Water fame, to write, produce and direct live-action feature projects. In other words, one of the world's busiest creatives has no plans to slow down now.

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Image via DreamWorks, Netflix