Megamind
This week sees Megamind hit the big screen as Dreamworks Animation continues to have a great year at the box office.
How To Train Your Dragon has already been a hit for the movie but this week Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill and Tina Fey all join forces for this great family movie.
So to celebrate the release of Megamind we take a look at the top five most successful Dreamworks Animation movies.
- Shrek Franchise - $2.9 billion
Who would have know that Shrek would go on to be such a hugely successful franchise, one of the best of all time when the miserable ogre was introduced to us for the first time back in 2001.
But successful it has been as Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy have returned to their role of Shrek, Fiona and Donkey on three movie occasions, the most recent being this summer.
Shrek is a fearsome green ogre living in isolation in his own cozy little swamp. He is not receptive to visitors, and fends off the occasional party of torch-wielding villagers with ease.
But when the power-hungry Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) turns Shrek's swamp into a relocation camp for dozens of banished fairy-tale characters (including some pesky dwarves, wolves, and fairies) Shrek's quiet, introverted life is ruined.
Joined by the talkative Donkey, Shrek makes his way to Farquaad's realm of Duloc, where the Lord promises makes Shrek and offer: He will rid Shrek's land of the unwanted visitors if Shrek will go on a simple quest to free Princess Fiona from her remote, dragon-guarded castle and convince her to marry Farquaad.
On their quest, Shrek and Donkey run into a number of bizarre situations, and Shrek finds himself realizing that he isn't quite the fearsome monster he has always made himself out to be.
Shrek kicked off Dreamworks' serious competition for Pixar who had dominated the animation market.
It grossed over $484 million at the global box office and began a franchise of movies Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third that together have grossed nearly $3 billion at the global box office.
- Kung Fu Panda - $631 million
Away from the Shrek movies Kung Fu Panda, which was releases back in 2008 is the most successful movie for the animation studio.
"Kung Fu Panda" features Jack Black as Po the Panda, a lowly waiter in a noodle restaurant, who is a kung fu fanatic but whose shape doesn't exactly lend itself to kung fu fighting.
In fact, Po's defining characteristic appears to be that he is the laziest of all the animals in ancient China. That's a problem because powerful enemies are at the gates, and all hopes have been pinned on a prophesy naming Po as the "Chosen One" to save the day.
A group of martial arts masters are going to need a black belt in patience if they are going to turn this slacker panda into a kung fu fighter before it's too late.
When a movie take $631 million at the box office it's inevitable that a sequel will follow - and it's due out in the spring.
- Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - $603 million
It's fair to say that when the sequel to Madagascar was announced it did raise a few eyebrows - while the first movie did take over $532 million at the box office it didn't really set the world alight.
But in 2008 all of the loveable characters were back -- Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippo, King Julien, Maurice and the penguins.
Left marooned on the distant shores of Madagascar, the New Yorkers have hatched a plan so crazy it just might work. With military precision, the penguins have repaired an old crashed plane -- sort of.
Once aloft, this unlikely crew stays airborne just long enough to make it to the wildest place of all -- the vast plains of Africa itself -- where our zoo-raised crew encounters species of their own kind for the very first time.
While discovering their roots, they quickly realize the differences between the concrete jungle and the heart of Africa.
And a third movie is in the pipeline and it is expected to hit the big screen in spring 2012.
- How To Train Your Dragon - $492 million
Dreamworks have already tasted success in 2010 as How to Train Your Dragon was a hit earlier this year.
The film did not do well in it's opening weekend and was considered a bit of a disappointment. However word of mouth saw the movie begin to do well and it went on to be one of the most successful for the studio.
A Viking teenager named Hiccup lives on the island of Berk, where fighting dragons is a way of life.
The teen's smarts and offbeat sense of humour don't sit too well with his tribe or its chief... who just happens to be Hiccup's father.
However, when Hiccup is included in Dragon Training with the other Viking teens, he sees his chance to prove he has what it takes to be a fighter.
But when he encounters (and ultimately befriends) an injured dragon, his world is flipped upside down, and what started out as Hiccup's one shot to prove himself turns into an opportunity to set a new course for the future of the entire tribe.
- Monsters vs Aliens - $381 million
Monsters vs Aliens was released back in 2009 and was the first to be directly produced in a stereoscopic 3-D format instead of being converted into 3-D.
The movie boasted an impressive voice cast of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Conrad Vernon, Rainn Wilson and Kiefer Sutherland.
When California girl Susan Murphy is unexpectedly clobbered by a meteor full of outer space gunk, she mysteriously grows to 49-feet-11-inches tall and is instantly labeled a "monster" named Ginormica.
The military jumps into action, and she is captured and held in a secret government compound. The world learns that the military has been quietly rounding up other monsters over the years.
This ragtag group consists of the brilliant but insect-headed Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D.; the macho half-ape, half-fish The Missing Link; the gelatinous and indestructible B.O.B.; and the 350-foot grub called Insectosaurus.
Their confinement time is cut short however, when a mysterious alien robot lands on Earth and begins storming the country.
As a last resort, under the guidance of General W.R. Monger (on a desperate order from The President), the motley crew of Monsters is called into action to combat the aliens and save the world from imminent destruction.
Megamind is released 3rd December.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
This week sees Megamind hit the big screen as Dreamworks Animation continues to have a great year at the box office.
How To Train Your Dragon has already been a hit for the movie but this week Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill and Tina Fey all join forces for this great family movie.
So to celebrate the release of Megamind we take a look at the top five most successful Dreamworks Animation movies.
- Shrek Franchise - $2.9 billion
Who would have know that Shrek would go on to be such a hugely successful franchise, one of the best of all time when the miserable ogre was introduced to us for the first time back in 2001.
But successful it has been as Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy have returned to their role of Shrek, Fiona and Donkey on three movie occasions, the most recent being this summer.
Shrek is a fearsome green ogre living in isolation in his own cozy little swamp. He is not receptive to visitors, and fends off the occasional party of torch-wielding villagers with ease.
But when the power-hungry Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) turns Shrek's swamp into a relocation camp for dozens of banished fairy-tale characters (including some pesky dwarves, wolves, and fairies) Shrek's quiet, introverted life is ruined.
Joined by the talkative Donkey, Shrek makes his way to Farquaad's realm of Duloc, where the Lord promises makes Shrek and offer: He will rid Shrek's land of the unwanted visitors if Shrek will go on a simple quest to free Princess Fiona from her remote, dragon-guarded castle and convince her to marry Farquaad.
On their quest, Shrek and Donkey run into a number of bizarre situations, and Shrek finds himself realizing that he isn't quite the fearsome monster he has always made himself out to be.
Shrek kicked off Dreamworks' serious competition for Pixar who had dominated the animation market.
It grossed over $484 million at the global box office and began a franchise of movies Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third that together have grossed nearly $3 billion at the global box office.
- Kung Fu Panda - $631 million
Away from the Shrek movies Kung Fu Panda, which was releases back in 2008 is the most successful movie for the animation studio.
"Kung Fu Panda" features Jack Black as Po the Panda, a lowly waiter in a noodle restaurant, who is a kung fu fanatic but whose shape doesn't exactly lend itself to kung fu fighting.
In fact, Po's defining characteristic appears to be that he is the laziest of all the animals in ancient China. That's a problem because powerful enemies are at the gates, and all hopes have been pinned on a prophesy naming Po as the "Chosen One" to save the day.
A group of martial arts masters are going to need a black belt in patience if they are going to turn this slacker panda into a kung fu fighter before it's too late.
When a movie take $631 million at the box office it's inevitable that a sequel will follow - and it's due out in the spring.
- Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - $603 million
It's fair to say that when the sequel to Madagascar was announced it did raise a few eyebrows - while the first movie did take over $532 million at the box office it didn't really set the world alight.
But in 2008 all of the loveable characters were back -- Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippo, King Julien, Maurice and the penguins.
Left marooned on the distant shores of Madagascar, the New Yorkers have hatched a plan so crazy it just might work. With military precision, the penguins have repaired an old crashed plane -- sort of.
Once aloft, this unlikely crew stays airborne just long enough to make it to the wildest place of all -- the vast plains of Africa itself -- where our zoo-raised crew encounters species of their own kind for the very first time.
While discovering their roots, they quickly realize the differences between the concrete jungle and the heart of Africa.
And a third movie is in the pipeline and it is expected to hit the big screen in spring 2012.
- How To Train Your Dragon - $492 million
Tagged in Shrek