Pacific Data Images

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Pacific Data Images was a computer animation production company that was bought by DreamWorks SKG. It is now known as PDI/DreamWorks and is half of DreamWorks Animation SKG, the public company formed by merging PDI and the feature animation division of DreamWorks SKG.

Contents 1 History 2 Short films 3 Other notable short projects 4 Feature-length films 5 References

[edit] History

PDI was founded in 1980 by Carl Rosendahl with a small loan from his father. In 1982, he was joined by Richard Chuang and Glenn Entis, who wrote the foundation of the in-house computer animation software that was to be used for the next two decades. Most of the 1980s were spent creating broadcast graphics for most television networks around the world.

In the early-1990s, Thaddeus Beier and Shawn Neely developed a method for morphing that resulted in a much more natural and expressive morph. PDI used this technology to create various well-known sequences, including the Exxon car-into-tiger morph and the extended morph at the end of the "Black or White" music video from Michael Jackson.

In the mid-1990s, PDI created The Simpsons episode "Homer³", which eventually led to a movie deal with DreamWorks SKG to make the movie Antz. PDI was later bought by DreamWorks and is now known as PDI/DreamWorks.

[edit] Short films

These shorts films were made for as side-projects and were primarily shown at various animation festivals. They were done inbetween the paying jobs.

• Teddy Bear Maelstrom (1983, Glen Entis)
• Chromosaurus (1984, Don Venhaus)
• Max's Place (1984, Adam Chin)
• Cosmic Zoom (1985, PDI Staff)
• Burning Love (1987, PDI Staff)
• Opera Inustriel (1987, Adam Chin, Rich Cohen)
• Locomotion (1989, Steve Goldberg)
• Slide Show (1991, Glen McQueen)
• Frankie & Johnny (1991, PDI Staff)
• Happy Dog (1992, PDI Character Animation Group)
• Gas Planet (1992, Eric Darnell)
• Big Smoke (1993, Eric Darnell)
• Sleepy Guy (1994, Raman Hui)
• Bric-a-Brac (1995, Cassidy Curtis)
• Gabola The Great (1997, Tim Cheung)
• Basic Insect (1998, Marty Sixkiller)
• Millennium Bug (1998, Lee Lainer)
• Fat Cat On a Diet (1999, Raman Hui)
• Fishing (1999, David Gainey)
• Metropopular (2000, Jonah Hall)
• Sprout (2002, Scott Peterson)

[edit] Other notable short projects

• Homer³ (1996, for The Simpson's Treehouse of Horror VI)
• Shrek 4D (2002, Theme park 3D film, which also includes various practical effects in the theatre)

[edit] Feature-length films

Films made at PDI before the merger to form DreamWorks Animation:

• Antz (1998)
• Shrek (2001)
• Shrek 2 (2004)

Since the merger, these are the DreamWorks Animation films which have been made entirely or primarily at PDI:

• Madagascar (2005)
• Shrek the Third (In Production) (2007)
• Madagascar 2 (working title) (2008)

PDI animators also work on films made primarily at DreamWorks' Glendale campus. See DreamWorks Animation for a complete list.

[edit] References

• Feature-Based Image Metamorphosis