The iconic moon child in DreamWorks Animation’s opening sequence is getting a major upgrade, featuring many of the company’s signature characters. Whereas the moon child was only seen by itself, the duo now meet and greet characters from popular franchises like Trolls, How To Train Your Dragon, Shrek, and more. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the new DreamWorks Animation opener will be first featured on special November 26th “Caturday” early screenings of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. This marks a new era for DreamWorks Animation and was spearheaded by production designer Kendal Cronkhite.
“We make dreams come to life on screen, so the idea was basically that you go into the dreams of a new child. They are taking you through this dreamscape and reintroducing you to these iconic figures that we’ve created over all these years,” Cronkhite told THR. “The child is surfing, floating and flying through these kinds of galaxies, and bringing all those very different-looking film characters together into one piece.”
Of course, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a spinoff of the Shrek franchise, which makes an appearance in the new DreamWorks Animation opening. Producer Suzanne Buirgy compared Shrek to Disney’s Mickey Mouse, as in the character has become a staple of DreamWorks.
“Shrek started the whole thing with really contemporary stories, a realistic look, contemporary jokes. It wasn’t timeless. It wasn’t classic. It was very there and now. And the use of celebrity voices was not really done in that frequency before DreamWorks came on the scene,” DreamWorks Animation president Margie Cohn said. “But what I love about Shrek is that it’s irreverent and spoke to the outsider. It became a symbol of what could be successful — that you don’t have to play by the rules. To me, that is a great banner for the brand.”
The “moon boy” in the opening has been renamed “moon child,” with “all kinds of genders specific things” being removed” so it’s now non-gender specific.
“We love the idea that we now have a moon child not necessarily a moon boy because we wanted that child to be appealing to everybody,” Buirgy said.
“At the studio, we like to say all dreamers are welcome here and when you think about who is the iconic dreamer, it’s that moonchild,” Cohn added. “People wish upon stars, people look to the sky for inspiration. Having them come off the moon and surf through the sky, visiting new and familiar friends, you set the stage for the entertainment to come.”