Movie mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg honored by Hollywood
American film producer Jeffrey Katzenberg sank his hands and feet into the cement at Hollywood's Chinese Theatre on Thursday to mark a 40-year career as a pioneering movie maker.
A former studio boss at Disney, the 65-year-old is best known as the head of DreamWorks Animation, which made the money-spinning "Shrek," "Kung Fu Panda" and "Madagascar" franchises.
"That's what all these handprints and footprints are really all about -- the dreams we, in Hollywood, have delivered," Katzenberg said before plunging his hands into the cement.
"Movies are made by passionate artists who are dedicated to one goal -- creating worlds of imagination that come to life on a giant screen in a beautiful darkened theater like this one."
Seen as one of Tinseltown's most influential kingmakers, Katzenberg has a personal wealth estimated at $880 million.
The host of glitzy political fundraisers attended by Oliver Stone, Ted Danson and others, he is said to have convinced Hollywood figures to contribute around $15 million to President Barack Obama's 2012 election campaign and has given more than $1 million of his own money to the Democratic Party.
As head of Walt Disney Studios, he oversaw hits including "The Little Mermaid" and "The Lion King" before leaving acrimoniously in 1994.
He sued the company for a reported $250 million, an unpaid bonus amounting to two percent of the profits "in perpetuity" on all movies and television shows produced during his tenure as division chief.
Soon after his Disney departure, Katzenberg, music mogul David Geffen and Oscar-winning director and producer Steven Spielberg, put together a reported $2 billion to start DreamWorks SKG.
DreamWorks Animation separated from its parent company in 2004 to become an autonomous studio focused exclusively on animated films.
In 22 years it has produced 32 features, which have in all made $13.5 billion at the global box office.
The mogul recently netted more than $300 million after Comcast -- the biggest cable television operator in the US -- completed a $3.8 billion buyout of the studio.