Many people think that DreamWorks Animation is in a constant battle against Pixar. That’s because they are. However, the near-total domination from Disney’s arm means that DreamWorks gets a bit of leeway as the underdog, and they’ve capitalized on that standing with some offbeat and clever choices for production. It’s that mentality that must have given them license to bring Alma to life. The beautiful, unnerving short film from Pixar animator Rodrigo Blaas (which we featured on the site back in September) is going to grow into a feature length film under the tutelage of Guillermo del Toro and the team over at DreamWorks. With any luck, they’ll maintain the crawling sensibility featured prominently in the story of a young girl in a toy store. To that point, there’s an odds on chance that the feature will feel a lot like the short simply because DreamWorks has the brass buttons to do it. So is this reason to celebrate? Absolutely. Why? Watch the short for yourself and you tell me:

DreamWorks Animation has been making animated features that are then distributed by Paramount Pictures for a while now. It’s been a good model that’s, for the most part, worked out well. Heck, when they put out How to Train Your Dragon, people even started to talk about how they were approaching or meeting Pixar levels of success. But this partnership between companies appears to now be over, and the future of animated movies is looking a bit uncertain. What happened? Well, despite the fact that the DreamWorks/Paramount relationship has been making money and achieving more and more critical success, Dreamworks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg hasn’t been happy with his end of the deal, and has started shopping around the rights to distribute Dreamworks films to other companies. As a matter of fact, Katzenberg is reportedly looking for someone to agree to purchase Dreamworks Animation as a part of a new distribution deal.

If there’s one family movie franchise I wouldn’t mind seeing more of it’s the epic tale of Po the Kung Fu Panda and his merry band of fighting creature friends, the Furious Five. This sequel to the 2008 hit resurrects and expands upon the original’s blend of creatively filmed action, appealingly broad comedy and classic Chinese motifs interspersed with that age-old animation standard: cute animals. This time, Po the Dragon Warrior (Jack Black) and his team are called upon to protect China from Lord Shen (Gary Oldman), a peacock with a devious plan to right a past wrong and heavy machinery to back it up. The kung fu masters must face immense obstacles, not the least of which is Po’s sudden, shocking realization that his noodle-shop owning goose father (James Hong) isn’t his biological paterfamilias.

For those among you who are cool, you will remember the best days of Seth Rogen were his short-lived days spent among the cast of Freaks & Geeks. Sure, he’s grown up and gone on to do bigger things, but there was something so honest about those performances. They were untainted by all of the baggage that now accompanies Rogen from project to project. That said, Rogen is getting back into the school yard vibe with DreamWorks Animation’s Boo U. The story follows a ghost who must return to “ghost school” in an attempt to become a better spook. If director Anthony Leondis (Igor) plays it right, the reason the main character will need remedial work will have something to do with his silly, almost non-stop chuckle. It’s a perfect fit for Rogen, as anyone whose ever been to one of his Comic-Con panels can tell you. It all sounds very Casper the Friendly Ghost meets Monsters Inc. I say that despite the knowledge that by comparing a Dreamworks project to a Pixar movie will earn me some guff in the comments section. That’s okay, I’ll just imagine all of the comments coming complete with that Seth Rogen chuckle. [Heat Vision]

This is what happens when movie marketing goes wrong. This week, McDonald’s will recall about 12 million Shrek drinking glasses because federal regulators found they contain the toxic metal cadmium, which poses some potentially serious health risks.

It’s clear from this first full trailer for Dreamworks’ upcoming animated superhero film Megamind that the similarities to Pixar’s The Incredibles are on purpose. That said, it isn’t exactly a bad thing.

Here we take a one dimensional view on the latest 3D film from Dreamworks Animation of which we saw only in two dimensions. The major lesson learned is that you apparently don’t need polarized glasses to tame a reptile.

Dreamworks Animation has released the first teaser trailer for their upcoming film Megamind, which will release on November 5, 2010. The film — like so many Dreamworks releases — sports a pretty big name voice cast. Will Ferrell will voice the title character, an evil mastermind bent on world destruction.

Dreamworks Animation announced today that Leonardo DiCaprio has joined his first animated feature film, their upcoming release The Guardians.

There’s a pun here somewhere. I just can’t find it. Perhaps it is something along the lines of, “perhaps Dreamworks Animation should learn how to make a good animated movie” before they tackle the dragon training…

Oh Zombies. Either they are becoming popular again or no one in Hollywood has any creativity. Or they all collectively get together and decide what fads they want to propel. Luckily, the latest adaptation comes from some cool source material that originated right here! On the internet!

We’ve already laid waste to Tokyo and kidnapped bikini babes off beaches, so it was definitely time to enlist with the Monster Army to fight Aliens. But did we enjoy the experience?

The other day we brought you the 2D version of SoBe Lifewater’s Superbowl commercial, which features characters from the upcoming Dreamworks Animation feature Monsters vs. Aliens. And today they have released the 3D version of the trailer online for all to see — or at least those of us nerdy enough to have a pair of 3D glasses laying around the house.

Dreamworks’ upcoming animated film Monsters vs. Aliens is shaping up to be their funniest release yet. Sure it’s directed by Rob Letterman, the writer/director of the abysmal Shark Tale, but the man seems to have learned a lot since then.

This weekend we have two special editions of the Blu-ray Patrol, one that features a Kung Fu-fighting Panda and another that features everyone’s favorite suave spy. We begin today with a look at Kung Fu Panda’s Blu-ray release…

Hey kids, take note of this — $626 million dollars worldwide box office gross is going to guarantee that you get a sequel.

A small, CGI-animated bird from Dreamworks recently dropped a present into Cinema Blend’s inbox with potential news on Shrek Goes Fourth.

Robert Downey Jr. and Tina Fey may seem like a relatively unlikely pair for an animated movie. Then again, they are two stars at the top of their game. It could very well work.

I spent yesterday touring the halls of DreamWorks Animation, and being shown some footage from their next film Monsters Vs. Aliens.

I’m reporting from DreamWorks at the moment, and I am trying to soak in everything that I have seen. We were taken around for an inside look at the studio’s next animated feature Monsters Vs. Aliens.