Shrek sequel, two originals coming soon

USA Today

When a huge green ogre brings in more than $150 million at North American box offices and shows no signs of ending his rampage of comedy, you'd better have an encore.

While plot ideas for "Shrek 2" are still being developed, expect Shrek and the donkey to return. DreamWorks also is producing "Tusker" and "Madagascar." DreamWorks Pictures

The other two films are originals, well along in development, though details are scarce. Katzenberg revealed this much:

• "Tusker": This "is an action-adventure story set in Southeast Asia about a herd of elephants," he says. "And it is very much an homage to the classic World War II films such as 'The Dirty Dozen' or 'The Guns of Navarone,' in which a band of screw-ups have to go on an impossible mission in order to save the rest of the herd." Morgan Freeman, Jodie Foster, Garry Shandling and Dana Carvey have signed on to do voices. Tim Johnson (DreamWorks/PDI's "Antz") will co-direct.

• "Madagascar": " 'Madagascar' is about a lion, a zebra, a giraffe and a hippo who are born and raised and have spent their entire lives as New Yorkers in the Central Park Zoo," Katzenberg says. " Then a bunch of do-gooders decide they should be sent into the wild and, en route, they're shipwrecked on Madagascar, in the Indian Ocean." "Shrek 2," "Tusker" and "Madagascar" are not DreamWorks' only upcoming projects. The company's traditional animation division ("The Prince of Egypt") is making "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron," an epic period piece told from the viewpoint of a Spanish stallion. DreamWorks and its British partner, Aardman, which created last summer's hit "Chicken Run," are hard at work on the tentatively titled "Tortoise vs. Hare," an update of the Aesop fable "The Tortoise and the Hare."