DreamWorks Animation Just Bought Like 30% Of Your Childhood - And Your Parents' And Grandparents' Childhoods, Too

As licensed-properties have taken over Hollywood, consolidating big collections of said properties (the better to avail yourself as partner to production companies) under one umbrella has become a canny investment for companies that once upon a time might've only ever existed to license nostalgiac DVD sets.

For one such umbrella, "Classic Media," the ship has come in: DreamWorks Animation SKG just paid $155 Million for the company (which will now be called "DreamWorks Classics") - or, rather, for the impressive roster of characters, series, franchises and other intellectual-properties that DWA will now be able to leverage into movies, TV shows, video-games, etc.

So, what did they buy? Well, about 450 properties - not necessarily the gargantuan thousands-strong collection of individual characters Disney got when they aquired Marvel, but probably a more diverse and (in some cases) eyebrow-raising set all the same...


Most of the "bigger" stuff Classic Media owned tended toward really oldschool (Lone Ranger, Dick Tracy, Lassie) or near-immortal kiddie fare (Casper, Richie Rich, Baby Huey, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Felix the Cat, Gumby); but they'd also more-recently gotten into the business of Gen-X nostalgia marketing - most notably, they own Filmmation's entire library (though only partial rights to certain productions that had been based on licensed properties) and World Events Productions, which means that DreamWorks now has some kind of claim on "Masters of The Universe" and total rights to "Voltron;" both of which have been eyed for big-screen revival.

This also gives DreamWorks Animation control of Noddy (ask somebody from the UK), the U.S. distribution rights to certain "Godzilla" movies, the VeggieTales franchise and Turok: Dinosaur Hunter. Oh, and if your looking for a reason for your inner-child to cringe; this also nets them the "Little Golden Books" library - so, yes, "The Poky Little Puppy" is now in the hands of the studio behind "Shrek."