Pixar versus DreamWorks

Animated films are a billion dollar industry.  The two biggest producers of animated films are DreamWorks and Pixar.  The two have been going head to head for more than ten years now. So how do they stack up to each other?  Which company is making more money on their films?  According to critics, which company makes the better films?

Conflict is created as students have to decide which animated movie company, DreamWorks or Pixar, has been more successful.  Depending on grade level, students might compare the two companies using box plots or bar graphs (this is a golden opportunity to get into box plots). For example, middle and high school students can use the data to compare movie ratings, box office profits or box office gross earnings with box plots.  Elementary students can compare top movies from each company using bar graphs.  In the solution materials you can find several different box plots and bar graphs that students might create to compare DreamWorks and Pixar.  Students may also come up with other ideas for comparing the two companies. 

Consider launching this activity with a few of these Pixar movie trailers and these Dreamworks movie trailers.