Netflix and Dreamworks confirmed today that the internet television network will soon be home to three new original series aimed at kids, based off of characters from popular films including Shrek, Madagascar, and Veggie Tales. The series will debut in late 2014, according to the announcement. In addition, the companies also said that new episodes from the first season of Turbo FAST, based on Dreamworks’ feature film “Turbo”, will arrive starting April 4th.
Dreamworks had previously launched Turbo FAST on Netflix in December, but it didn’t make the whole season available at once, as Netflix usually does with its original series, like House of Cards, for example. The network said at the time that production constraints were to blame.
The new shows arriving later this year include the following: King Julien (a Madagascar spin-off), Puss in Boots (from Shrek) and Veggie Tales in the House (a reboot of the faith-based cartoon series).
The two companies first announced their partnership, Netflix’s largest original content deal to date at the time, back in June 2013. Though the financial terms of the deal were undisclosed, the agreement involved Netflix getting first dibs on some of DreamWorks Animation’s characters moving into TV, in a branded collection of shows that was said comprise more than 300 hours of new programming.
Netflix had, in 2011, outbid HBO for rights to DreamWorks’ TV shows and movies, which was estimated to cost the network $30 million per DreamWorks movie, versus the $20 million per movie that HBO had bid. That deal went into effect in 2013.