Magical world of animation

GO behind the scenes into the making of popular family animation movies, including Shrek, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda at the DreamWorks Animation exhibition which opened on April 10 at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) at Federation Square.

DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg attended the official opening of the exhibition, which features more than 400 concept drawings, models, artwork and screen displays from the studio’s films.

Katzenberg established DreamWorks Animation 20 years ago with Hollywood heavyweights Steven Spielberg and David Geffen, and has produced almost 30 films ranging from Prince of Egypt, the 1998 biblical musical based on the Ten Commandments and the 2007 Bee Movie to the mammoth box office successes of the Shrek series.

The DreamWorks Animation exhibition took three years of work to come to fruition, and after its premiere season in Melbourne it will tour overseas.

“The exhibition is the best anniversary present I could possibly imagine,” said Katzenberg. “It shows the method, madness and magic of the world of animation.”

A highlight of the exhibition is Dragon Flight, a wide-screen movie clip that gives the viewer the sensation of riding on Toothless, the flying dragon from 2010’s hit film, How to Train Your Dragon.

One of the installations re-creates, through projections and video and storyboards, artist Conrad Vernon’s pitch from the original Shrek movie of the Gingerbread Man scene.

The exhibition features a large variety of photos, drawings with creative notes by artists, multimedia displays, storyboard sketches and interviews with studio directors.

DreamWorks Animation: The Exhibition is at ACMI, Federation Square, Melbourne until October 5. Bookings: www.acmi.net.au/dreamworks.

REPORT by Danny Gocs

PHOTO of Kung Fu Panda, a major hit for the DreamWorks studio.

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