DreamWorks Animation is known for being prolific, but the studio has just announced a massive 12-picture slate that runs through 2016.  Here’s a brief look:

• The Croods – March 22nd, 2013
• Turbo – July 19th, 2013
• Mr. Peabody & Sherman – November 1st, 2013
• Me and My Shadow – March 14th, 2014
• How to Train Your Dragon 2 – June 20th, 2014
• Happy Smekday! – November 26th, 2014
• The Penguins of Madagascar – March 27th, 2015
• Trolls (working title) – June 5th, 2015
• B.O.O: Bureau of Otherworldy Operations – November 6th, 2015
• Mumbai Musical (working title) – December 19th, 2015
• Kung Fu Panda 3 – March 16th, 2016
• How to Train Your Dragon 3 – June 18th, 2016

Hit the jump for more details on this ambitious line-up of animated films.

Some shakeups in the animation industry are taking place.  We recently learned that Paramount Pictures was ramping up its own animation division with a SpongeBob SquarePants sequel, an animated J.J. Abrams film, and adaptations of Nickelodeon shows like Dora the Explorer and The Legend of Korra.  Since 2006, Paramount has handled the distribution of DreamWorks Animation’s output, but their deal is nearing a close at the end of this year.

DWA made it known that they would be seeking a deal with a different studio after Paramount requested a higher fee for bot theatrical and home video releases, and now it looks like the Shrek studio has found a new home in 20th Century Fox.  Hit the jump for more.

Yesterday I attended a DreamWorks Animation 2011 preview at the DGA in Los Angeles.  With the company getting ready to release Kung Fu Panda 2 and Puss in Boots later this year, CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg took the stage and showed the assembled press the first 45 minutes of Kung Fu Panda 2, and then the first 13 minutes of Puss In Boots.   In between the footage, we got to hear Kung Fu Panda 2 director Jennifer Yuh, Jack Black, Antonio Banderas, Puss In Boots director Chris Miller, and Guillermo del Toro talk about their films.  Did you know del Toro is very involved in Puss In Boots?  He’s also executive producing Rise of the Guardians for the studio and helping out on all their animated movies.  Needless to say, this is very good news.

Anyway, shortly after the presentation ended, I recorded a video blog with Peter from /Film and our thoughts on the footage and what we learned are after the jump.  And if you missed my article detailing all the DreamWorks Animation movies through 2014, you can check it out here.

If you were around in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, you likely saw the re-emergence of Disney animated films. From 1984 to 1994, there was a string of instant classic films, including The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. However, that success was built on the base of one of the roughest times in Disney Animation Studios history. Waking Sleeping Beauty documents the power struggles and infighting that occurred during this golden era of creativity and passion that left us with some of the greatest animated films ever made. Remarkably, no stone seems left unturned in the illuminating and emotional documentary that utilizes archival footage, interviews, and photos to piece together this look behind the scenes of Disney at the time. So hit the jump for my full review of Waking Sleeping Beauty.

One of the year’s best animated films wasn’t a sequel.  It was DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon.  So naturally they’re making lots of sequels.  We already knew that Dragon 2 was greenlit with the original cast returning, but Jeffrey Katzenberg has now explained how far his studio’s sequel-mania extends.  Katzenberg tells Empire that the studio is planning for a total of four Madagascar movies, at least three How to Train Your Dragon films, and six installments in the Kung Fu Panda franchise.

Hit the jump for Katzenberg giving minor details on how these franchises are going to keep their stories going.

Shrek. So thoroughly has the character permeated pop culture and zeitgeist – that no context or explanation is needed with the word. It has an almost pavlovian response on the listener. I say Shrek and images of a green ogre, pop culture references, sight gags, Eddie Murphy and a soon-to-be-eaten ginger bread man pop to mind. This can perhaps be attributed to the character’s ubiquitous nature – from the films to lunch boxes to Halloween costumes to ABC specials to commercial tie ins to action figures, Shrek quite simply is everywhere. DreamWorks will further propel its plan for Shrek domination by releasing all four films in a box set for the very first time December 7th, just in time for the Christmas season. In anticipation of the release of the new digitally remastered Blu-ray, an informal Q&A and discussion was held with the some of the principle visual and audio technicians on the upcoming Shrek box set at DreamWorks headquarters in Los Angeles.  Hit the jump for more:

It’s not often that we get to cite Yahoo Finance for a story here at Collider, but today’s the day!  Amid a report on financial results for the quarter, DreamWorks Animation announced a sequel to How to Train Your Dragon is on the books for 2013.  After a relatively moderate opening weekend of $44 million, Dragon has sustained incredible grosses with week-to-week declines as low as 14%.  In it’s fifth week in release, Dragon even rose to the top of the weekend charts again: movies don’t do that anymore.  The animated Viking tale has totaled $371 million worldwide, and is on pace to top $200 million domestic by the end of its run.

After the jump, you’ll find some remarks from DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg on the announcement.

If you’re a fan of Walt Disney animated movies – specifically the ones made from 1984 to 1994 – you’re going to love the new documentary Waking Sleeping Beauty.  Directed by Don Hahn and produced by Peter Schneider, both key players at Walt Disney Studios Feature Animation department during the mid1980s, the film offers an amazing behind the scenes look at what was really going on at Disney during that era.

What many forget is back in 1984, animated movies were a dying art form. They were expensive.  They were creatively bankrupt.  And they weren’t making nearly enough money to justify the costs.  It wasn’t until a girl named Ariel came along (The Little Mermaid) that Disney remembered what great animated movies can do for the studio.  After Little Mermaid, the studio produced three of the biggest animated hits of all time: Aladdin, The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast.

More after the jump:

Anytime you can talk to the head of a studio you’re going to get a good interview. That’s because while the actors might be the ones that land on magazine covers, the heads of the studios make all the big decisions. So when I got the opportunity to talk with Jeffrey Katzenberg – the head of DreamWorks Animation – last night at the 2009 Saturn Awards, I asked the big question….has he seen any footage from James Cameron’s “Avatar” and what did he think!

After all, Mr. Katzenberg has been one of the industry’s leading proponents of the 3-D revolution and I figure if it’s 3-D, he’ll know about it. Thankfully, he was more than happy to talk about his thoughts and it just makes me more and more excited for the end of the year.

Finally, for fans of DreamWorks animation, he told us what the studio is up to and he said we’d get the first trailer for “Shrek Forever After” (“Shrek 4″) this November. Take a look at the interview after the jump: