In recent years, DreamWorks has been keen to take on the ever-growing Disney empire by producing higher-quality animation that can compete with the likes of Pixar and Disney’s signature animation studios in quantities to be just as profitable.

Sometimes, it strikes gold (e.g. “Madagascar,” “How to Train Your Dragon” and “Kung Fu Panda”). But, it also has the danger of tanking badly (e.g. “Antz” and “Shark Tale”). So, when the studio announced arguably its most ambitious year ever for 2013, there were a lot of folks who wondered if it was going to be able to pull it off.

In addition to its latest release, “The Croods” — more on that in a moment — DreamWorks is set to release two more potential blockbusters this year: “Turbo” and a feature film based on the old “Mr. Peabody & Sherman” skits. And, expect three animated features a year from the studio for the foreseeable future.