MSN Money is reporting that DreamWorks is partnering with Netflix to bring a new animated series to the site which I hope will continue to bring DreamWorks back into television above and beyond their fare on Nickelodeon. If you remember Dreamworks once had big plans to get into television when they first began and were ultimately thwarted by the rivalry between Eisner and Katzenberg. The only show to make it to tv was a more or less forgotten show called Toonsylvania created by Bill Kopp and Chris Otsuki. It had a star studded animation team and some great designs to boot. Sadly it never really hit the limelight as Disney effectively blocked further forays into television by buying the network ABC who was showing the series. The rest as they say is history. Whether or not it was on purpose, who knows but many insiders claim it was just that.. A block by Eisner to stop Katzenbergs’s success.
Obviously Dreamworks has come back to television in the form of Kung Fu Panda, How To Train Your Dragon and Penguins of Madagascar, but this is a breakaway from the networks and might mean big things for animators down the road.
You can find out more about this deal here.
