Jeffrey Katzenberg was in New York Thursday to announce Dreamworks Animation’s upcoming slate to investors, and what a packed slate it is. The studio will not only be ramping up its output to five films every two years, but all of its movies will now be shot in 3D. They kick things off with two brand new properties as well as a fourth Shrek film in 2010. The two original properties are titled How to Train Your Dragon and Oobermind. The first stars Jay Baruchel as an awkward Viking teen who befriends an injured dragon. Gerard Butler, America Ferrara, and Jonah Hill also lend their voice talents.

The second will have Robert Downey, Jr. and Tina Fey in starring roles, and will center on a super-villain (Downey) who grows bored with life after vanquishing his archnemesis, Metro Man (what a, erhm…macho name). Shrek Forever After will hit theaters between those two movies and be helmed by Sky High director Mike Mitchell.

2011 will see the release of Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom, the sequel to the excellent 2008 flick. Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman will reprise their roles, and longtime story exec Jennifer Yuh Nelson will direct. Hopefully she can do as good a job as Mark Osborne and John Stevenson. The second DWA flick that year will be an original film, titled The Guardians and centering on renditions of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and other mythical characters who band together to fight a Bogeyman-like villain.

Which brings us right along to 2012, when the project count will be bumped back up to three. Shrek spinoff Puss in Boots, about the Antonio Banderas-voiced character before his introduction in Shrek 2, will see theaters that year. A third Madagascar film is also set for release, and will follow the escaped zoo animals as they tour Europe in a traveling circus. The last film has yet to be chosen, but will pick from three original properties currently in development. The most interesting of the bunch is Truckers, based on Terry Pratchett’s “The Bromeiad Trilogy” and written by Simon Beaufoy. The story follows miniature creatures who are stuck living in a department store.

So it looks like DWA has some big things in store for audiences over the next few years. Hopefully the increased output doesn’t result in a decline in quality (they already trail Pixar in that department). But thus far, I like the sound of several of their original movies, so I have high hopes for the studio in the coming years.

Tags: America Ferrara, Dreamworks Animation, Gerard Butler, How to Train Your Dragon, Jay Baruchel, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Jonah Hill, Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom, Madagascar 3, Mike Mitchell, Oobermind, Puss In Boots, Robert Downey Jr., Shrek Forever After, Simon Beaufoy, Terry Pratchett, The Guardians, Tina Fey, Truckers