Guillermo del Toro Renews DreamWorks Animation Contract

Guillermo del Toro is having quite the year. His recent feature The Shape Of Water won him Best Picture and Best Director awards at the Oscars, and he recently signed a first-look deal with Fox Searchlight. For some time now, GDT has also had a presence in the animation industry. We now know that is set to continue, as the master director has just signed a new deal with DreamWorks Animation.

The deal is being reported as a "multi-year exclusive deal with DreamWorks Animation to write, produce and direct animated family films for the studio." The deal will also include offices at the studio's campus in Glendale, California.

While some outlets are reporting this as a whole new deal, del Toro has been with the studio for some time. He has previously been credited as creative consultant on Kung Fu Panda 2 and Megamind, as well as having executive producer roles on films including Kung Fu Panda 3 and Rise Of The Guardians. With DWA's TV arm, he has created TrollHunters and the rest of the related Tales of Arcadia franchise. It would, however, be very exciting to see him actually write and direct an animated feature. Del Toro issued the following statement on the new deal:

Animation is an art form that has influenced my work greatly since childhood. To me, it’s the perfect medium to bring to life any and all ideas, no matter how outlandish or wild. I am eager to work with Chris [deFaria, DWA President] and the talented artists at DreamWorks – some of the most talented people in the business – to make these images a reality. I have worked with DreamWorks for about a decade and the horizon just keeps getting wider.

This is an exciting development that promises good things for DreamWork's future. Things have been a little up in the air for the studio since they were acquired by Comcast, and many wondered what their future held. With one of the most visionary talents of our time on their side, things at DWA are starting to look very rosy indeed.

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