DreamWorks 30th Anniversary Exhibition at London Film Festival 2024

DreamWorks as an animation studio is ever-changing and constantly innovating, whether it’s in the stories their films tell or the styles of animation they implement. But one common thread throughout their features is this aspect of found family. As one walks through the exhibition celebrating 30 years of DreamWorks animation and storytelling, they’ll start to recognise this familiar DNA in their work of diverse characters and fantastical worlds – from aliens and dragons to Vikings and robots. It’s a theme strongly evident in their most popular franchises, like How to Train Your Dragon and Kung-Fu Panda, to even their older and lesser-known films the likes of Spirit: Stallion of Cimarron. Their newest addition, The Wild Robot, written and directed by one-half of the duo responsible for the first How to Train Your Dragon film, Chris Sanders, also capitalises on this same idea.

The DreamWorks 30th Anniversary Exhibition is a gallery showcase held at this year’s London Film Festival to celebrate 30 years of the studio’s animated features and highlight the upcoming release of The Wild Robot. This latest film is front and centre of the exhibition, being the first thing one sees as they enter through the wide glass doors of gallery@oxo. Four walls are adorned with murals of scene concepts from the picture, storyboard and early character designs. There are excerpts from interviews with the cast and production crew, describing character personalities and the thought process behind specific designs and production choices made within the film – from the use of weather and colours throughout the piece. It’s a very nature-focused film so seeing the evolution of how nature is presented from the initial designs to the final product is very fascinating to witness as one walks through the maze of the exhibition.

Other featured works include How to Train Your Dragon, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and Kung-Fu Panda – arguably the most recognised pieces of media within DreamWorks’ animated wheelhouse. However, the biggest highlight of the entire exhibition is the big mural at the back with all of DreamWorks’ animated characters. It’s a fun game to play with a friend trying to find favourite characters and figuring out which of those on display are from specific films. It’s a combination of old and new DreamWorks media from their 2D animation days of Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas and The Prince of Egypt, to commercially successful CGI features such as Rise of the Guardians and The Bad Guys.

Aside from that, the exhibition is rather bare. There are a lot of white empty walls that disrupt the colourful ambience of some of the gallery displays. There is no other in-depth exploration of the studio’s body of work apart from The Wild Robot, which is a shame as it doesn’t embrace the found family aspect that is thematically present in works by the studio. This is especially unfortunate for the likes of Shrek and the How to Train Your Dragon franchises as these are some of DreamWorks’ most recognisable pieces of filmography.

DreamWorks 30^th Anniversary Exhibition is a fun exploration of the animated films that many will have seen and loved in their formative childhood years. It’s also a wonderful glimpse into The Wild Robot for anyone who has yet to see this latest release. Sadly, it’s just a little bit empty and doesn’t fully highlight the depth and breadth of DreamWorks’ work as an animated studio.

Mae Trumata
Image: Mae Trumata

DreamWorks 30^th Anniversary Exhibition is at gallery@oxo from 7^th until 20^th October 2024. For further information or to book visit the exhibition’s website here.