Note: This is not meant to be a DreamWorks Animation hate thread so please be respectful with your opinions in the comments section.
Yahoo! Movies has released a very interesting analysis of the big Pixar versus DreamWorks Animation debate. You may remember this very goal was attempted earlier in 2009 through an… interestingly accurate cartoon.
Anyway, the findings show that as a studio, Pixar has performed considerably better overall than DreamWorks Animation over the span of their respective careers. But that’s a widely known fact. The specifics, though, may surprise you.
For example, although Pixar Animation Studios has made more money in the US than DreamWorks Animation, DWA has performed a tad bit better worldwide. This probably has a lot to do with the money bag we call the Shrek franchise, after all its first sequel is the highest grossing animated movie of all time. This tally is a bit uneven considering DreamWorks has had 11 movies (as opposed to 10) and started their run in 1998. So with inflation, per-film averages and merchandise added, the numbers may be a bit skewed.
When it comes to box office, Pixar and DreamWorks Animation are clearly head to head rivals but it is important to note that, as studios, the two co-exist and form friendships in the tight knit animation community. Although it’s clear Pixar has the upper hand with critics and audiences because of their unending string of hits (30 Oscar Noms, 7 Wins) both studios deserve respect for their efforts.
I know Pixar vs. DreamWorks is a hot debate, so check out the full results here and judge for yourselves. Please let us know what you think below!
Last modified: November 3, 2009
Pixar has consistency on their side, however DreamWorks does produce the rare gem. I love the original Shrek film and Kung Fu Panda is probably my favorite DreamWorks movie.
This is interesting. Thanks for sharing.
There are several Dreamworks movies I havne’t even seen because they didn’t even look interesting. However, Kung Fu Panda and Monsters vs. Aliens provided some very fun moments. I’m hoping their quality is improving.
I’m reminded why I never look at user comments on movies anymore. Everybody just says “other side is stupid!” or has no idea what they’re talking about. xD
Anyways, I’m on the Pixar side, but I gotta admit How To Train Your Dragon looks like it could be interesting. headtilt
-I posted this on yahoo, but it didn’t post the whole thing.. so I’ll just post it here.
Pixar is better. Dreamworks of course has made good movies, movies that I would add to my collection of DVDs in a heartbeat, but their problem is orginality (and countless sequels and tv spin offs). Sinbad, The Prince of Egypt, The Road To El Dorado (even though that’s my favorite),Shrek, How To Train Your Dragon etc are either based off of books or a movie that was already made in the past. Pixar on the other hand… all of their movies are original, no remakes, not based off of some book… original. Dreamworks also needs to take a few lessons from Pixar when it comes to making good sequels. They have made going on 4 Shrek Movies. Pixar is working on their second sequel with TS3 and their third with CARS. Each one of Pixar’s films has become an instant classic and a must to own on Blu Ray or DVD for any movie lover, Dreamworks only has a handful of movies that are good.
Dreamworks use to give Pixar a run for their money IMO, but ever since they’ve made Shrek 3 it seems as if they have fallen over the years. Dreamworks really needs to get out of their grave and show us their full potential. Dreamworks may be “edgier” or have the “new hot and now” actors, but Pixar has the emotion that a film needs to keep you interested. They get actors whose voices fit their characters, they go through their movies with a fine tooth comb, they don’t stop until they make their movies the best that they can be; Dreamworks seems to half ass it nowadays.
Now sorry if this seems offensive to anyone. I do love Dreamworks, but at the same time they annoy me. They definitely make good movies, but only a few of their movies are what some would consider hits. Shrek 1 and 2, Spirit, and The Road To El Dorado. Those movies have given Pixar a run for their money due to the emotion and great stories that they came up with. Nowadays… they need to catch up. Pixar takes the lead in this little battle, Dreamworks needs to bump up their game.
Dreamworks makes more movies, it should be a given that they make more money. But the average per film (with or without inflation) is another story…
The issue I think isn’t so much who makes more money or gets more respect, but rather who makes better movies and who deserves more respect. The other big problem people have with DreamWorks (which luckily has subsided a bit over the years) is their tendency to release a very similar-seeming film around the time of a Pixar hit (Shark Tale, Antz, etc.) And while DreamWorks did indeed start to approach Pixar greatness with Kung Fu Panda, they took that good will and squandered it on another fart-joke-laden kiddie movie in Monsters vs. Aliens. So while I’m technically rooting for DreamWorks in that I’m rooting for them to make a film that is at least as good or surpasses Kung Fu Panda, I’m also not gonna be placing any bets on it happening any time soon.
http://www.memedepot.com/uploads/500/568_pixar_vs_dreamworks.gif
Joking aside, Dreamworks makes good movies every once in a while. I actually preferred Kung Fu Panda to Wall-E (and Coraline to UP). It’s just that Pixar overall a better studio.
Also, Brad Bird. :3
– Chao
Kung Fu Panda versus WALL-E = instant failure if you prefer Kung Fu Panda. DreamWorks best is still about a million light years off of the quality of Pixar and especially WALL-E (which by the way is now once again the top ranking animated film on the IMDb Top 250, while Up continues to drop).
I am going to say it while I get the chance that Dreamworks films lack heart and imagination.
I’m sick of people going “I like DW betterz, they makes the mature adult movies and pixar just makes the kiddie films!!1”. So, mature content like sexual innuendo and other things not suitable for children make a film “mature”? No! They make it IMmature! Pixar stays away from these not just so that they can keep their films family friendly, but because they don’t want to!! To me, Dreamworks just makes up for a lot of their mediocre storylines by using overly-famous actors to play cute little cartoon animals reciting lines from The Godfather in a squeaky voice. That’s not to say Dreamworks hasn’t made a decent share of good films; Kung Fu Panda ended up surpassing my expectations, Over the Hedge isn’t bad, and any of the 2-D films (aka, the “non-destroyed-by-Katzenberg films”) are quite good. But Pixar keeps up Disney tradition by keeping things family friendly so they can appeal to all crowds, and keep kids and adults entertained, and the movies are truly artistic in their own right.
Dreamworks goes only for laughs, not for great storytelling, lovable characters, or anything like that. I’m sorry if I look like a flamer, because I’m not, Dreamworks is just trying to entertain their watchers, and there isn’t a thing wrong with that. But if someone brings the Pixar vs. DW debate up, I’m always going to have to let out my opinions.
~=Lei
Hopefully I got the point across in this article. Although Pixar makes better films (no doubt about that) and have more merits towards them like superior quality in everything from story to execution, DreamWorks also has their accomplishments here and there. I wanted to be fair to both studios by doing this post. Now, I’m a die-hard Pixar fan (as if you haven’t noticed) and prefer anything Pixar over DreamWorks anyday, some things by DWA I can’t even stand, but as a studio (ignoring JKatz and the suits) the people there are artists too. Pixarians tend to have tight relationships with animators over at PDI/DW and it’s not for just any reason.
I think that comparing box-office totals is not an accurate comparison given the fact that DreamWorks has made more computer animated movies (the article also left out the DreamWorks/Aardman production “Flushed Away”, which looks like the typical Aardman stop-motion film, but is actually computer animated). The box-office average of the DreamWorks films is about 201 million, while the average of the Pixar movies (according to boxofficemojo.com) is 242.4 million. In spite of the gargantuan Shrek films, the Pixar movies are still, on average, the box-office champs. That having been said, I think DreamWorks has been improving over the past two years. I loved Kung Fu Panda and Monsters Vs. Aliens. My heart still belongs to Pixar though. 🙂
I’m sorry, but I find the Andrew Stanton Pixar films to be overrated. If that’s a crime, then I don’t want to be a law-abiding citizen.
And instant fail? What an original comeback. >_>
– Chao
Pixar has made TONS more money (and better and more mature films) than Dreamworks. Don’t see too many Shrek, Prince of Egypt, Over the Hedge, Madagascar, or Kung Fu Panda toys out there. It’s not just about the films, in terms of business…
I think that comparing the two studios creatively is sort of silly. It’s like comparing any other two studios. I agree with Brad Bird’s assertion that animation is a form of film, not a genre. The fact of the matter is that DreamWorks focuses on making broad comedies. As such, they’ve made some pretty darn funny movies. Pixar makes well-rounded films, which aren’t trying to fit into a genre, but just telling a story using all the dramatic tools at their disposal, including humor. Truthfully, I think both studios achieve what they intend to do with their movies.
stanton’s films are amaaaaazing, chao. H-how could you….
~=Lei
There are definitely some DreamWorks films that I could watch any day (my favourites include Kung Fu Panda, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Shrek 1 & 2) I was really impressed by Dreamworks Kung Fu Panda (loved the story, beautiful animation and great character development) and best of all it appealed to a worldwide audience.
DreamWorks really exceeded their expectations with Kung Fu Panda and thought they would only get better after that, but next came “Monsters vs Aliens” and I thought that was a downright awful movie, just appealing to the toilet humour, and some of the characters just irritated me, like the USA president…
However, Pixar films often show a lot more heart and seem to care more about making a character memorable than DreamWorks does. There are some DreamWorks movies I enjoy and I don’t, but then there are also some PIXAR movies I enjoy and I don’t! Everyone has their own separate tastes.
PIXAR just seems to really put more effort into making animated features with originality and heart than DreamWorks does, and they deserve every penny they earn, so Pixar is top on my list 🙂 DreamWorks in one way or another, has adapted a story from somewhere that sometimes feels like it has been used before, but they produce a great film every once in a while…