DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios and simply known as DreamWorks) is an American animation studio that produces animated films and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a division of Comcast. The studio has released 44 feature films , including several of the highest-grossing animated films of all time, with Shrek 2 (2004) having been the highest at the time of its release. The studio's first film, Antz, was released on October 2, 1998, and its latest film was Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, which was released on December 21, 2022; their upcoming slate of films includes Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kracken in the summer of 2023, Trolls Band Together on November 17, 2023, and Kung Fu Panda 4 on March 8, 2024. Additionally, two untitled films are scheduled to be released on February 9, 2024, and September 27, 2024. Formed as a division of DreamWorks Pictures in 1994 with alumni from Amblin Entertainment's former animation branch Amblimation, it was spun off into a separate company in 2004. NBCUniversal acquired DreamWorks Animation at a cost of $3.8 billion in 2016. The studio originally made some traditionally animated films, as well as two stop-motion co-productions with Aardman Animations, but now exclusively relies on computer animation. Its productions, including The Prince of Egypt, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and the Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon franchises, have received several accolades, including three Academy Awards, 41 Emmy Awards, numerous Annie Awards, and multiple Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations. Films produced by DreamWorks Animation were originally distributed by DreamWorks Pictures until 2005. Paramount Pictures distributed its releases from 2006 through 2012, and 20th Century Fox (currently known as 20th Century Studios) did the same from 2013 through 2017. All DWA films from 2019 onward have been released through Universal Pictures, which also owns most of the rights to its back catalogue. History DreamWorks SKG era (1994–2004) On October 12, 1994, a trio of entertainment players, film director and producer Steven Spielberg, former Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, and music executive David Geffen, founded DreamWorks SKG (the three letters taken from the surnames of the founders). To build the talent base, Spielberg brought over artists from his London-based studio, Amblimation, while Katzenberg recruited some of the top animation staff from Disney. Some of