DreamWorks Animation LLC (also simply known as DreamWorks) is an American animation studio and a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, itself a subsidiary of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It is based in Glendale, California, and produces animated feature films, television programs, and online virtual games. The studio has currently released a total of 39 feature films, beginning with Antz (1998); its most recent film was The Croods: A New Age (2020), with their next release being Spirit Untamed on June 4, 2021. Originally formed as a division of DreamWorks Pictures in 1994 by some alumni from Amblin Entertainment's former animation branch Amblimation, it was spun off into a separate public company in 2004. DreamWorks Animation currently maintains its Glendale campus, as well as satellite studios in India and China. On August 22, 2016, NBCUniversal acquired DreamWorks Animation for $3.8 billion, making it a division of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group as an acquisition for the animation studio. As of May 2019, its feature films have grossed $15.019 billion worldwide, with a $417.2 million average gross per film. Fifteen of their films produced by the studio are among the 50 highest-grossing animated films, with Shrek 2 being the eleventh all-time highest. Although the studio also made traditionally animated films in the past, as well as two stop-motion co-productions with Aardman Animations, all of their films now use computer animation. The studio has earned three Academy Awards, as well as 41 Emmy Awards and numerous Annie Awards, and multiple Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations. In recent years, the animation studio has acquired and created new divisions in an effort to diversify beyond the high-risk movie business. Films produced by DreamWorks Animation were originally distributed worldwide by DreamWorks Pictures from 1998 to 2006, then by Paramount Pictures from 2006 to 2012 and 20th Century Fox from 2013 to 2017. Universal Pictures currently distributes DWA's films from 2019 onward, as well as owning the rights to DWA's back catalogue.
