DreamWorks Animation launches YouTube channel

What do Shrek, Puss in Boots and the Kung Fu Panda have in common? Each one now has a vlog (video blog) on YouTube. Today marks the official launch of DreamWorksTV, a family oriented YouTube channel from the animation studio. The channel combines short-form content from the familiar faces of the DreamWorks movies with new reality and animated programming.

Last year, DreamWorks Animation bought AwesomenessTV, a teenage-focused YouTube channel, in a deal valued at up to $117 million. The studio targeted the short -form expertise of Brian Robbins, the former producer of Nickolodeon's All That and founder of AwesomenessTV, to oversee its efforts on YouTube.

"At the time of the acquisition, (DreamWorks Animation CEO) Jeffrey Katzenberg and I were having a lot of discussions about DreamWorks possibly launching a cable channel," Robbins said. "But, we felt like more and more kids are consuming their content online ... so it felt like if we're going to do it, we should do it online," he added.

While the YouTube channel features a few familiar DreamWorks faces, such as Shrek and Kung Fu Panda, the majority of the content is new and tailored to kids with rapidly shrinking attention spans. The content lineup features three reality series and five original animated series, including Record Setter Kids, a show where kids attempt to break world records hosted by YouTube star JennXPenn, Prank My Parents, a hidden-camera show where kids play pranks on their parents, and Jimmy Blue Shorts, an animated sketch comedy show hosted by talking jean shorts.

All of the content is short-form, or in the words of Robbins, "snackable." But, DreamWorks is hoping for some of its digital series to advance to longer run-times and larger screens.

"Hopefully we'll invent a new DreamWorks movie franchise character out of this format," Robbins said. "That would be cool."

The YouTube channel officially launches today with episodes of Record Setter Kids and Gorillaville, an animated comedy about three talking gorillas in a wildlife preserve.