It’s Christmas in late July as DreamWorks Animation acquires Classic Media’s assortment of characters

Paul Perrello

12 years ago

You may have already heard that — this November — DreamWorks Animation is releasing "Rise of the Guardians," an action-adventure film which stars Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Jack Frost, the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman. Which would be quite enough Claus for your typical entertainment company.

But those folks at DWA, they're really serious about getting into the Santa business. Which is why — just last week — DreamWorks Animation announced that it would be acquiring
Classic Media, the company that owns the Golden Books library as well as
legendary characters like Casper
the Friendly Ghost, George of the Jungle, Lassie, the Lone Ranger, Rocky and
Bullwinkle as well as holiday classics such as "Frosty the Snowman," "Rudolph the
Red-Nosed Reindeer," and "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town."

If the deal is approved on all sides, Shrek, Fiona and
Donkey could be sharing their DreamWorks holiday table with iconic characters
such as Archie, Gumby, and Fat Albert — to name just a few of the properties
included in the purchase.

Like the candy-cane on the Christmas tree, DreamWorks Chief
Executive Officer Jeffrey Katzenberg is welcoming the new stable of characters
to his company. In a statement released
by Katzenberg, the CEO touted
Classic Media's large and diverse collection of characters as being "extremely
complementary to DreamWorks Animation's franchise business," with plans to
leverage it across the company's film, television, home entertainment, consumer
products, digital, theme park and live entertainment channels.

Classic Media's properties also include other well
established figures like Underdog, Dick Tracy, Veggie Tales, Where's Waldo? and
Godzilla. Classic Media's library
focuses on family characters and brands and features a vast collection of
filmed entertainment with over 450 titles and more than 6,100 episodes of
animated and live-action programming.
The company also owns one of the world's largest comic book archives and
media rights to the titles in the Golden Books library.

Under the deal, DreamWorks will be able to tap into some of
the more recognizable animated characters thanks in part to Classic Media's
joint venture with Jay Ward Productions.
Under a previously negotiated deal, Classic manages the rights to the
entire Jay Ward catalog. Which includes Rocky and Bullwinkle, Fractured
Fairy Tales and Mr. Peabody & Sherman.

If a "Mr. Peabody and Sherman" animated film is on your
holiday wish list you will have to wait a bit.
Fans of the bespectacled brainy canine and his trusty "boy" side-kick
will see the duo return to the big screen in a 3D feature film on December 25, 2013
under a previous arrangement with DreamWorks Animation.

But just like the Grinch who stole Christmas, both sides can
walk away from the deal if all the T's aren't crossed and the I's dotted by
October 20. The deal is reportedly worth $155 million.