Dreamworks have produced some popular animated films like Antz, Madagascar, Chicken Run and of course the Shrek series. These are strong films in their own right and have achieved massive commercial success. Naturally, if Frozen was produced by Dreamworks the animation would be different in style. That is what gives a film studio its' signature. . I remember reading that the The Rescuers Down Under that was released in 1992 inspired the style of animation of The Lion King in 1995. As you see with Disney, according to it's era each film has it's characteristics and attributes. Pinnochio, Dumbo and Bambi were similar in it's style. Going 50 years or so forward we had the computerized animation with the advent of Pixar and it's release of Toy Story. What followed was A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2 and The Incredibles.
I suspect though different in some ways, it would still have been overwhelmingly popular. Dreamworks are pretty much hitting at the same quality as Disney a lot of the time now, which is great news for those of us who really enjoy animated films.
Personally I was massively disappointed by Frozen. I felt it was severely lacking and not a patch on Disney's previous fairy tale, Tangled. But it wasn't a bad film and understandably popular among younger viewers.
Most younger people (and by that I mean kids, teens and most young adults that truly grew up with the output of both animation studios) have pretty much accepted both Disney and Dreamworks side by side now, even more since their films now have a lot in common. Frozen is part of the 'Big Five'- something a lot of younger people are aware of and in the realms of Tumblr, Twitter and so on occasionally refer to. Namely Disney's Tangled and Frozen, Disney Pixar's Brave and Dreamworks' How to Train Your Dragon and Rise of the Guardians all share a tremendous amount of thematic similarities between each other. Their respective protagonists - Rapunzel, Elsa, Merida, Hiccup and Jack Frost all have relatable traits and character journeys, whilst their films are often similar in tone and are the result of an apparent revival of a particular kind of fairy tale. It's undeniable that the films are all very similar in their own ways, and (although I'd argue against Brave) also of a fairly similar quality - to a kid I feel they're somewhat indistinguishable between Disney and Dreamworks whereas if I went back in time I could tell you which out of A Bugs Life and Antz that Disney was involved in, or out of Finding Nemo and Shark Tale. I think that dividing line has somewhat disappeared, in a good way, and so if either studio was behind the others films - Frozen included - aside from some creative differences I feel that both would produce high quality stuff that would be quite revered.
Saying all that, I think Disney's only advantage right now is brand familiarity. The big Dreamworks films I mentioned though well received, have not been as successful commercially... particularly in cinemas. They've turned profits and been successful but not to a Disney level... Maybe it's my personal preferences or maybe it's just how it is, but I don't think quality has anything to do with that success any more. Disney is a safe option bound to pull in ticket and home media sales, Dreamworks not so much yet. But both are producing consistently good films of this particular variety I think
Impossible to know, of course, but almost certainly nowhere near as popular with the young female demographic as it is. That's not to say they couldn't or wouldn't have made a very good film from the same source material, but it would have been markedly different. Probably more talking animals for one thing.
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Personally I was massively disappointed by Frozen. I felt it was severely lacking and not a patch on Disney's previous fairy tale, Tangled. But it wasn't a bad film and understandably popular among younger viewers.
Most younger people (and by that I mean kids, teens and most young adults that truly grew up with the output of both animation studios) have pretty much accepted both Disney and Dreamworks side by side now, even more since their films now have a lot in common. Frozen is part of the 'Big Five'- something a lot of younger people are aware of and in the realms of Tumblr, Twitter and so on occasionally refer to. Namely Disney's Tangled and Frozen, Disney Pixar's Brave and Dreamworks' How to Train Your Dragon and Rise of the Guardians all share a tremendous amount of thematic similarities between each other. Their respective protagonists - Rapunzel, Elsa, Merida, Hiccup and Jack Frost all have relatable traits and character journeys, whilst their films are often similar in tone and are the result of an apparent revival of a particular kind of fairy tale. It's undeniable that the films are all very similar in their own ways, and (although I'd argue against Brave) also of a fairly similar quality - to a kid I feel they're somewhat indistinguishable between Disney and Dreamworks whereas if I went back in time I could tell you which out of A Bugs Life and Antz that Disney was involved in, or out of Finding Nemo and Shark Tale. I think that dividing line has somewhat disappeared, in a good way, and so if either studio was behind the others films - Frozen included - aside from some creative differences I feel that both would produce high quality stuff that would be quite revered.
Saying all that, I think Disney's only advantage right now is brand familiarity. The big Dreamworks films I mentioned though well received, have not been as successful commercially... particularly in cinemas. They've turned profits and been successful but not to a Disney level... Maybe it's my personal preferences or maybe it's just how it is, but I don't think quality has anything to do with that success any more. Disney is a safe option bound to pull in ticket and home media sales, Dreamworks not so much yet. But both are producing consistently good films of this particular variety I think