It's not as though all of these movies are the same, Katzenberg told analysts and investors at a media conference in New York. It's not like they're all James Bond movies ... they couldn't be more distinctive.

DreamWorks, best known for its blockbuster Shrek, is hoping for another hit with the upcoming Madagascar, an animated film about four urban-dwelling animals who escape from a New York zoo and end up having misadventures in the wilds of Madagascar.

The film, featuring voice performances by Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith, is set for release in late May.

Industry analysts have said that DreamWorks, which went public in October 2004, faces heightened competition next year from as many as eight major animated features due out from rival studios.

Katzenberg said he does not think many companies besides DreamWorks and rival Pixar Animation Studios Inc. have the wherewithal to come out with high-quality offerings. He called Pixar, producer of The Incredibles and Finding Nemo, the gold standard, which we are envious of.

He said he expects more budget-oriented players to try to come into the animated film market, but they are just not relevant, he said.

It takes a huge amount of capital and a tremendous amount of time and resources, to create these films, he said. The ability of companies to put all of those elements together are fairly few and far between.

He said DreamWorks spends roughly $125 million and three to four years in production time on each of its animated features.

Katzenberg declined comment on recent changes at big media companies, such as the appointment of Bob Iger as the new head of Walt Disney Co., replacing Michael Eisner.

Katzenberg, formerly head of Disney's film unit, won a bitter legal battle against Disney in 1999 over unpaid bonuses.

He said DreamWorks was focused internally and that its game plan right now was to stick to our knitting.