Pixar vs. DreamWorks

Remember when computer-generated cartoon movies first came out? Between DreamWorks and Pixar, a new movie would come out at least every year. In the very beginning in the year of 1995, when this technology was so new, DreamWorks and Pixar competed for who could make the best of the best computer-generated cartoons; this is only typical for the aggressive movie business. However, what made the competition really intriguing was the similarity of the movies being released by the different companies around the same time.

Pixar made the first move in 1995 after teaming up with Disney to create the Academy Award winning movie Toy Story. DreamWorks realized they too had to become a part of the computer-generated movies era, and so created the movie Antz, which released in October 1998. Antz follows the life of a whiny, outcast ant named Z who goes through life-changing conflicts while living in his ant colony along with those he faced in the outside world after leaving the colony. Long story short, the movie ends with a happily ever after, boy ant marries royal princess ant, and is followed by the credits of a star-studded cast.

Soon after the release of Antz, just over a month later in fact, Disney and Pixar teamed up yet again to release A Bug’s Life. This movie follows the life of yet another outcast ant who leaves his home getting involved in life-changing conflicts in and out of the ant colony. The movie, yet again, ends with a happily ever after, boy ant marries royal princess ant yet again, and a star studded credit cast list.


Continuing on with the competition, Pixar released the famous fish film Finding Nemo in 2003 followed a year later by the release of DreamWorks fish tale Shark Tale in 2004. Every year, there would be two new computer-generated movies out with similar story lines and characters. Pixar’s Ratatouille and DreamWorks’ Over the Hedge came out within a year of each other showing how cute little animals interact with dangerous, killing humans. DreamWorks’ Shrek and Pixar’s Monsters Inc. taught audiences not to judge by outward appearances in the same year.

And so goes the continuous competition between DreamWorks and Pixar’s computer-animated films. But no matter how similar the movies may be, they keep the audiences coming back, making millions of dollars, and getting some of the best reviews in cartoon history.