Prizefight: Dreamworks Vs Disney

This may seem like a done deal, however it is actually much closer than i would like to admit. I have not been the biggest fan of Dreamworks over the years, and their history is much shorter than Disneys, so for fairness i will only be counting films released since 2000, as in this time they have made similar types of films, and they have both had a similar creative output quantitatively, and they both have had successes and failures in this period. I will compare these studios based on their critical success, the franchises they have set up and their box office returns, in addition to looking at the number of true 'hits' they have had in this time.

Critically it is not as clear cut as it would seem. Dreamworks started out the century well, releasing two critically acclaimed films in succession, then they stumbled a little, recovering with Shrek 2. After this they stumbled some more, finally releasing Over the Hedge and Kung Fu Panda in 2006 and 2008 respectively, both of which were mild critical hits. Dreamworks would wait until 2010 for their next hit with How To Train Your Dragon, finally releasing it's next critically acclaimed film 4 years later, a sequel to Dragon. Although Dreamworks have had their critical successes, they lack consistency, their films are too erratic.

Disney manages to be more consistent, though they started the millenium fairly well releasing Fantasia 2000 and The Emperors New Groove, both of which were fairly well recieved, however they soon fell into a slump that they would take the rest of the decade trying to claw themselves out of. They would not have another hit until 2009's The Princess and The Frog, which would launch an era known as the Disney revival, a string of five critically acclaimed films that continues to this day, rising to a zenith with Frozen, which was proclaimed to be the greatest Disney musical since Beauty and the Beast.

Dreamworks has had significantly more success than Disney in creating franchises. Dreamworks has successfully launched the Shrek, Madagascar, Dragons and Kung Fu Panda franchises. Disney, on the other hand has struggled, their franchises have mainly continued through direct to DVD releases, merchandise, television series', attractions in the parks and stage productions. Disney have only released two sequels theatrically, during their whole 80 year history. However despite their merchandise sales and DVD's making the executives in Cinderellas castle very rich, this is a cinematic comparison, and on that level Dreamworks is clearly superior.

In recent years, Dreamworks have stumbled at producing consistent hits. They have released two films a year for the last three years, and in each one of these years, one of the films was a success while the other was a failure. Only one Dreamworks film has ever grossed over $800 million, and while films within their Shrek, Madagascar and Dragons franchises regularly gross well over $500 million, their only original commercial success outside of these franchises is The Croods. Disney, howere is considerably more successful, while their films, mostly being originals, don't always gross as much as Dreamworks films do, they are relatively consistent, and despite the failure of Winnie the Pooh (which was critically acclaimed), they haven't had a commercial disappointment since 2006's Meet the Robinsons.

Disney have produced considerably more 'hits' than Dreamworks have, the first example is Frozen. The highest grossing animated film of all time, a huge critical success, and has been credited with breathing life back into Disney animation. Tangled was also a huge commercial hit, as was Lilo and Stitch. Outside of their previously mentioned franchises, Dreamworks have had few hits. The last true 'hit' they produced that wasn't a sequel or spin off was Over The Hedge, released in 2006. So despite Disney having less franchises, they don't rely on franchises and sequels for commercial or critical success.

This prizefight is a great deal closer than i expected it to be, i knew that it would be close, however despite Dreamworks' films being less acclaimed than Disneys, they are far better at establishing franchises from a commercial standpoint, and they have produced quite a few franchises over the years. Their struggles come from creating original films outside of these films and in setting up new franchises, Dreamworks latest franchise was Dragons, which launched in 2010. Since then their only real original hit was The Croods, which was met with mixed review and was a reasonable commercial success. Disney have shown themselves to be much more consistent, whilst their transition to digital filmmaking was laboured and difficult, they nonetheless have had a recent string of critical and commercial successes, cementing their place as the best animation studio making films today.