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The DreamWorks Animation Theory
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2014-09-24 21:37:44 UTC
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http://ohilodude.wordpress.com/2014/07/20/the-dreamworks-animation-theory/

An editorial by Avery Hinks.

About a year ago, Jon Negroni came up with a theory that every Pixar movie is connected, and all take place in the same continuity. He called it The Pixar Theory. It is a highly intelligent, well thought-out theory and if you haven’t read it, you should. It will blow your mind.

After reading this theory, it got me thinking. What if the same could be done for the second most popular animation studio: DreamWorks animation? It would be much harder considering the fact that there are more films involved, but I can confidently say that I have figured it out. I have created The DreamWorks Animation Theory.



First, I am going to lay down some ground rules to this theory. I am only including films that are in 3D computer animation, for consistency purposes. This means that The Prince of Egypt, The Road to Eldorado, and Spirit will not be included. I am also not including any collaborations that DreamWorks had with Aardman Animation, the stop motion animation company. This means that Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run, and Flushed Away will not be included either, also for consistency purposes.

After these 2 filters, the following films are left:
◾Antz (1998)
◾Shrek (2001)
◾Skrek 2 (2004)
◾Shark Tale (2004)
◾Madagascar (2005)
◾Over the Hedge (2006)
◾Shrek the Third (2007)
◾Bee Movie (2007)
◾Kung Fu Panda (2008)
◾Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)
◾Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)
◾How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
◾Shrek Forever After (2010)
◾Megamind (2010)
◾Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)
◾Puss in Boots (2011)
◾Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (2012)
◾Rise of the Guardians (2012)
◾The Croods (2013)
◾Turbo (2013)
◾Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014)
◾How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)
◾Penguins of Madagascar (2014)
◾Home (2015)

I have successfully included all these movies in my theory, in one continuity. After much examination, I have discovered a tale of war, evolution, and uprising. It is going to be epic.

*Also, be warned that spoilers do indeed follow.*

So, without any further setup, let’s begin with the film that starts it all:

The Croods



So, The Croods is about the loyal family of cavemen, including the likes of Grug, Eep, Ugga, Gran, Thunk, and Sandy.



At the beginning of The Croods, the cavemen explain that all the other families of cavemen have been killed off by the animals living among them.



However, despite animals being the more intelligent species, it seems that cavemen are more intelligent, considering their ability to create drawings and ideas.

The Croods meet a man named Guy, who seems to be more human-like than the cavemen are.



As you can see in the picture above, Guy has a pet sloth that is not trying to eat him, but instead living in harmony with him. The sloth also interacts with Guy in intelligent ways, and helps him with some of the things he does, such as act as a belt for his pants.

When disaster strikes, and the world starts opening up and reshaping, this trend continues with the rest of the animals as well.



At the end of the movie, when the disaster is done, we see that the other animals are beginning to interact and communicate with humans just like the sloth. They are beginning to become as intelligent as humans in certain ways, because they too are creating things and generating ideas.



At the end of this movie, we can clearly see that a whole new world of possibilities is opening up, and that evolution is inevitable.

From this movie, we can gather that there are three main types of species: Cavemen, humans, and animals. The reason cavemen and humans are separate is because the Croods and Guy are distinctly different in structure.

It is also good to note that the creatures in this movie are very different from the creatures that would exist in the real world prehistoric times, and therefore will evolve into animals that would not have existed in real life. That’s right, I’m bringing science into this.



It’s safe to say that with all these changes going on in both the planet, and the species inhabiting it, that millions of years later, things are going to look a little different. There will be new inventions, new species, and more intelligence among the species, which leads us to the next chapter of this timeline.

Puss in Boots



After millions of years of evolving, animals can now not only communicate with humans, which we saw at the end of The Croods, but some can even speak to them, and to each other.



Humans and animals are now very much living in harmony and are almost treated as equal.

And there are still some strange creatures around as well.



However, it is also still imminent that humans are the more dominant species, considering their attitudes towards some animals.



But if humans have evolved, and animals have evolved, where are the cavemen? The cavemen have probably been somewhat mixed into the more intelligent genes seen in the humans. But, other than that, the evolution of the cavemen species is almost extinct, after much change in their appearance, and attempt to adapt to a creature-filled environment. In fact, there’s one evolved caveman that you probably know very well…



Shrek

Yes, that’s right: Ogres evolved from cavemen. But due to them looking different, and beastly, humans are hunting them, and they are almost extinct.



In Shrek, we also see more animals that can talk. Donkeys can talk, Pigs can talk, Wolves can talk, etc.



But, we also see signs of the animals being abused, since Donkey was being treated badly by his owner before Shrek found him. This is the first sign we can see of the downfall of the animals.

Aside from animals, there are other animals being treated poorly and being held captive.



Dragons are feared by everybody. It would seem that they are all at war with the concept of dragons. But, by the end of the movie, they realize the dragon is just misunderstood, and make friends with her.



The dragon from this moment on decides to help them, and this makes sense considering it is happening at the same time in another part of the world.



How to Train Your Dragon

This part of the world is mostly opposite to where Shrek is. Burke and Far Far Away are on polar opposite sides of the planet. This would explain why the two stories never directly overlap. Except for in the sense that the dragon from Shrek probably once lived in this part of the world, where the rest of the dragons are, but was taken away to be held captive.

The dragon from Shrek also bares a striking resemblance to this type of dragon from How To Train Your Dragon.



The dragon above also looks similar to one of the creatures from The Croods, meaning it probably evolved from it.



Another connection with The Croods is that in The Croods, the only animals they were still afraid of at the end were the flying red birds.



So it makes sense that after all this time, humans are still afraid of anything that can fly and looks deadly.

It’s also good to note that in How To Train Your Dragon, we see sheep, despite their human-like personalities, not being treated equally to humans. This makes sense since it is so isolated from the part of the world Shrek lives in. This is the second sign of the downfall of the animals.



Anyways, buy the end, we see humans and dragons finally getting along. But for now, let’s go back to Shrek’s part of the world, and see what’s happening there.

Shrek 2, Shrek the Third, and Shrek Forever After



Over the course of the Shrek sequels, we can see three things. The first thing being that fairies exist. Keep this in mind because it will be come up again later.



We also find out that time travel does exist and is very much possible in this universe. This is found out through Rumpelstiltskin. Keep this in mind as well.



In the Shrek sequels we also see that there are actually more ogres in the world, and they too are being hunted by humans.



Most of the humans still even hate the dragon and still react offended when they see it because of its otherwise scary appearance.



Humans are definitely becoming the more dominant species. This theme is expanded on in…



How to Train Your Dragon 2

In How to Train Your Dragon 2, we see that despite the people of Burke warming up to dragons, mostly everyone else has not. There are still dragon trappers out there and they want dragons dead once and for all.



We also see sheep being used as soccer balls of sorts in the dragon racing event. This backs up that humans are beginning to look down on animals, and they are becoming less and less socially equal to humans.



Humans are taking over at this point. Anything that is not human is being hunted. Dragons, ogres, they’ll all be extinct soon enough. Humans are a force to be reckoned with. The only thing they aren’t hunting are animals, who are still being looked down upon, despite the planet once being at their dominance. A war is beginning and humans will most definitely come out on top. Leading to the present day that we see a couple thousand years later.



Over the Hedge

It has been a long time since the war, and since then humans have made many advancements in technology, and animals have been living among them as less dominant. Some animals are owned by humans as pets, and some live in the wild, in hope to be as isolated as possible from the humans. It seems all hope is lost, until one day some backyard critters decide to make a plan.



This movie shows that all animals are still able to communicate fluently with each other, but not with humans. This movie is the beginning of the animal uprising. A revolution that will hopefully give them back the power that was once theirs.

Not all animals have developed in peril, however. Other, more isolated, groups of animals have developed their own economic societies similar to humans. They are just not noticed by humans because they are too small.



Antz

Colonies of ants were not directly affected by the war. In fact, within their little anthills they have been developing their own cities, environments, and economic systems in the exact same way humans have been. This is the first sign of hope that intelligence within animals is still out there in this world. Unfortunately though, the ants still sometimes have some bad run-ins with humans.



Aside from ants developing their own society, other types of insects are doing it as well.



Bee Movie

In Bee Movie, bees have developed their own economic societies just like ants and humans have. Bee Movie is also the first time we see animals beginning to communicate with humans again. This is based on the friendship between the main bee, Barry, and the main woman character.



Apart from all this, there is still one part of the world that has been completely isolated from humans for the whole time. We haven’t see a single bit of their part in this world until now.



Shark Tale

Sea creatures have been almost completely isolated and untouched by humans in this world. We actually know more about outer space than we do about the bottom of the ocean. In Shark Tale, sea creatures have developed a society identical to humans. There are good guys, bad guys, houses, stores, car washes, DJ’s, and so much more!



We now know that in this world, animals are still capable of being just as intelligent as humans. They were just faltered during the revolution in the Shrek/How to Train Your Dragon time period. We will see animals make a comeback. The uprising started in Over the Hedge will be continued in the next movie of this timeline.



Madagascar

In Madagascar, a group of zoo animals plots to escape the zoo and find themselves in Madagascar. It is clear that the animals are tired of being looked down upon, and they want to make a change. They can’t do this cooped up in a zoo though.



This movie also backs up that animals are still able to communicate fluently among each other. Lions, zebras, giraffes, hippos, penguins, and lemurs can all talk and understand each other.

It also proves that the animals are still intelligent and able to come up with large scale plans without humans. This quality is particularly seen in the penguins, who figure out how to navigate a plane.



These penguins are very important and it is not the last time you’ll be hearing of them.

Meanwhile, let’s go back to the smaller-scale part of this world.



Turbo

Turbo is about a snail who has a dream to one day be fast. He wants to compete in the Indy 500 and go up against race cars.



He is tired of being look down upon as just a slow snail and he wants to show the world he is better than that.



One day he acquires super speed powers after being sucked into the engine of a car.



So now he gets to live his dream and race in the Indy 500.

This movie brings two new ideas into this movie universe. It gives another example, aside from Bee Movie, that animals are still capable of communicating with humans on an intellectual level. Turbo does more than just communicate with them though. He competes with them. Proving that animals can be just as powerful as humans, which is something this world has not seen for a long time.



The other thing this movie tells us is the fact that super powers are possible in this world. Maybe we’ll see other beings with super powers later on.

But for now, let’s go back to see what those zoo animals are up to.



Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

In Madagascar 2, it is very clear that animals are quickly figuring out that they can be more intelligent. They are doing things like creating technological plans to fix the plane and go somewhere else.



And once again, its all thanks to the penguins who are by the way, also becoming skilled fighters.



This movie is also the first time we see what land animals are doing in wild habitats. We see there are groups of wild lions and hippos that are creating their own social class systems, and walking upright.



The animals are getting ready to take it all back. The question is though, when will they strike? We won’t find out just yet. There is still much more to go through. In the mean time, there is one movie that is the only link to the way the world used to be.



Rise of the Guardians

The guardians are group of very special beings that were chosen a very long time ago to protect the children of the planet. The guardians include Santa Clause (known as North), Tooth Fairy (known as Tooth), Sandman (known as Sandy), The Easter Bunny (known as Bunny), and newcomer Jack Frost.

If the guardians were chosen a long time ago, back when humans and animals lived in harmony, then it makes sense that one of them is a talking bunny, who gets along with the other guardians, and is treated equally by them.



There is also the Tooth Fairy, who also would’ve become a guardian back when humans and other creatures like fairies lived in harmony (remember Shrek 2?).



But these aren’t the only creatures that link back to the old world, there are also yetis and elves, who work for Santa Clause.





There are even giant walking eggs,



which is a creature we also saw in Puss in Boots.



From the way we see Jack become a guardian, we can see that the guardians only become guardians upon their death.



So it’s interesting that North (Santa Clause) also resembles a certain character we saw die in How to Train Your Dragon 2, both personality-wise and physically.





This would also explain why North so quickly warms up to Jack Frost, and treats him like a son, because he reminds him of the son he used to have back before he was a guardian.



Could it also be a coincidence that Sandy, the little girl from The Croods, looks a lot like Sandy, the Sandman from Rise of the Guardians, and is just as temperamental.





Rise of the Guardians perfectly links back to the way this world used to be in every way. I’m sure it put some of them through a great deal of pain seeing the world change so negatively, especially since now it is changing again, as the uprising continues.



Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted

In Madagascar 3, the group of zoo animals go on an adventure once again, and find themselves in Europe.

Throughout their journey, they are hunted by a very determined animal control. This is the first sign we see of the fact that humans may be cluing in to what is going on.



Humans are finally figuring out that animals are trying to break through the shackles, and therefore must be stopped.

A great deal of this movie is also devoted to the circus. We see circus animals, and their sad back stories. Humans have not been nice to them, the animals are mad and want revenge.



By the end of the movie, the humans do not succeed in capturing these witty zoo animals. However, we will not be seeing most of the zoo animals again. Their journey is done for now. The only ones that continue this uprising are the penguins, who we must wait a little longer to see. For now, an extraterrestrial subplot has emerged.



Megamind

This movie will continue to live on the supernatural element that began in Turbo.

At the beginning of Megamind, we see that a few years ago, Megamind and Metro Man were sent to earth from their home planets before they were destroyed, so their alien races could live on, very similar to the story of Superman.



Then years later, both Megamind and Metro Man are living in Metro City. At first they are enemies, but by the end they resolve their differences, and now they both defend only Metro City.





What this movie mainly tells us, is that aliens do exist in this universe. This subplot is not over yet. We will see more aliens soon.



Almost Home and Home

Almost Home is the precursor short film to the DreamWorks animation film, Home, that comes out in 2015. In Almost Home, we see a group of aliens, known as Boovs, searching for a suitable planet to live on because theirs was destroyed by another alien race.



They go from planet to planet, finding each one to be not suitable. Eventually they finally find earth and decide to live there.

The interesting thing is though, they actually came to earth twice. In interstellar travel, thousands of years can go by on earth, but feel like just a few minutes up in the spaceship.

These aliens came to earth once during the Shrek/How to Train Your Dragon time period, saw the dragons, then labelled it as unsuitable. This can be seen when a foot from one of the Nadder dragons in How to Train Your Dragon swoops down and grabs one of the aliens.

6 Hidden Surprises In The New Dreamworks Short "Almost Home"

But then they circle around the galaxy again, and thousands of years later, they find the present day earth, which would seem like an entirely different planet, and decide to live there.



The alien race that destroyed their planet is not far behind them though, they actually come to earth as well in the next movie.



Monsters vs. Aliens

In this movie, we see a team of misfits collected by the government sent out to fight an alien race that comes to earth seeking destruction.



The interesting thing about the leader of the group of aliens, Gallahxar, is that he looks a hell of a lot like Megamind.



What is actually happening here is that Gallaxhar has been all around the universe searching for where Megamind was sent. He has been destroying along his way every planet that did not have Megamind on it. The Boov’s planet was destroyed by Gallaxhar while he was on this search. But now that he has finally found Megamind, he wants Earth to hand him over, because he is the last hope for the survival of their race. This is also similar to the Superman story arc involving General Zod. Gallaxhar even personally talks about his home planet being destroyed.



However, there’s the obvious contradiction that Gallaxhar makes it very clear that he came to earth looking for the Quontonium contained in the meteorite.



Well, this is easy to explain. The meteorite is more than just a meteorite, and it certainly looks to be that way. The meteorite actually is the pod that little baby Megamind was sent in.



Megamind’s parents sent him with the Quontonium as a last chance of hope for the survival of their race. Unfortunately, Gallaxhar took it and pretty much wasted that chance.

If this is the case, it would mean that Megamind actually takes place about 25 years or so AFTER Monsters vs. Aliens. To me this just makes sense because it would also explain why Megamind and Metroman weren’t there fighting along side the monsters.

Luckily the team of monsters defeat Gallaxhar and it’s a happy ending, and so ends the extraterrestrial subplot.

This movie also has a link to the animal uprising, through the character Link.



Link is the missing link between humans and fish. Since the sea creatures have been left alone all these years, and have developed their own society similar to humans, as shown in Shark Tale, it makes sense that at some point, a species of fish would eventually evolve into a human-like creature. And as a result of this, we have Link.

Now that aliens are out of the way, let’s get back to the animals uprising.



Mr. Peabody & Sherman

In this movie we see that a dog, Mr. Peabody, is the smartest being on the planet. He can talk and communicate with humans, and he is a genius inventor. This is further proof that the animals of this world are getting stronger and more intelligent.



Mr. Peabody’s most notable invention is a time machine called “The Way Back”.



Peabody’s owner, Sherman uses The Way Back to impress a girl, but something tells me Peabody had a very different plan in mind involving The Way Back.

I believe that Mr. Peabody wanted to use The Way Back to go back in time to when animals ruled the world, or maybe even go back in time to stop humans from being the more dominant species. Since he’s the most intelligent being on the planet, he probably knows his history very well, so this would make sense.

He wanted to use it as a Way Back to a time when animals had it better.



Okay, now we’ll get back to the penguins.



Penguins of Madagascar

Now, this movie does not actually come out until later this year. But, there is a trailer for it, and it actually tells us a lot.

In the trailer we see that the penguins have formed their own highly-skilled top secret spy organization.



We can also see that there are other top secret animal organizations forming. We see a wolf flying a jet.



It is very clear now from both this and Mr. Peabody that animals are now getting scarcely better than humans fast. They want to take back the power that was once rightfully theirs, and to do this, humans must be eliminated.

Another war is on the way. Animals and humans will put their skills to the test. Insects will join the animals, and sea creatures will probably join as well. It will be a very well-fought battle from both sides, but we know that the animals win. How do we know this? Well, from what comes next, of course, roughly another thousand years later.



Kung Fu Panda and Kung Fu Panda 2

Animals won the war and now many years later, they are the only ones inhabiting the planet.



They can all walk upright, they can all communicate with each other, and they all live in the same way that humans once did. They all have their own houses, their own jobs, their own families, and their own friends.



Insects also survived the war, as seen through the character of Mantis.



And remember the little Tortoise from Over the Hedge, the one who started the first act of the uprising?



Well, being that he was the one who started the uprising, and probably lead a great deal of it, it would make sense for him to become the most respected, most looked up to animal of the new era, as well as a great Kung Fu master. Tortoises can live an extremely long time, so that is why he looks so old now.



The tortoise from Over the Hedge grew up to be the tortoise from Kung Fu Panda.

Humans have been completely forgotten and there is not a trace of them on earth anymore. The only part of the old world that still lives on is once again, in the Guardians, because we can see from these movies that the animals still celebrate Christmas.



Now that it has all been finalized, all that’s left is to map out the official timeline, so here it is in order:
◾The Croods
◾Puss in Boots
◾Shrek
◾How to Train Your Dragon
◾Shrek 2
◾Shrek the Third
◾Shrek Forever After
◾How to Train Your Dragon 2
◾Over the Hedge
◾Antz
◾Almost Home
◾Home
◾Monsters vs. Aliens
◾Bee Movie
◾Shark Tale
◾Madagascar
◾Turbo
◾Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
◾Rise of the Guardians
◾Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted
◾Megamind
◾Mr. Peabody and Sherman
◾Penguins of Madagascar
◾Kung Fu Panda
◾Kung Fu Panda 2

Well, that’s The DreamWorks Animation Theory. A story of war, uprising, and evolution. It will be cool to see what additions will be added to this continuity as there are sequels to The Croods, How to Train Your Dragon, and Kung Fu Panda still in development, as well as other original projects. Go watch all these movies for yourself and see if you can spot some connections that I missed.

If you have anything to add to this theory, please make sure you comment down below.

As always if you like this editorial, make sure you click that like button and follow Fantastic World of Film on WordPress.




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2014-09-25 01:13:55 UTC
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Post by t***@gmail.com
http://ohilodude.wordpress.com/2014/07/20/the-dreamworks-animation-theory/
An editorial by Avery Hinks.
About a year ago, Jon Negroni came up with a theory that every Pixar movie is
connected, and all take place in the same continuity. He called it The Pixar
Theory. It is a highly intelligent, well thought-out theory and if you
haven't read it, you should. It will blow your mind.
<snip>

It doesn't even remotely work. Cars and Wall-E aren't in the same
universe for a start - the first has no humans and the second does.
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