Overlooked in Mr. Katzenberg’s expansion frenzy has been an aggressive move into consumer products. The studio, under the guidance of Mr. Francis, who spent his earlier career at Target, ultimately serving as chief marketing officer, has quietly built a hefty merchandising division. Eighteen months ago, the studio had 69 consumer products executives. Now there are roughly 180, and hiring continues.

“It takes boots on the ground and long-term planning that was just not happening before,” Mr. Francis said. “When I was at Target, Jeffrey used to call and ask why DreamWorks wasn’t as effective as its peers with licensing. And I would say, ‘Well, because you want retail to do all the work. You call me up and thump your chest about your latest movie and expect me to spend my money creating a strategy.’ ”

DreamWorks Animation has been able to move quickly in part by capitalizing on upheaval at Disney Consumer Products, which is across the street in this Los Angeles suburb. In 2011, Disney pushed out its merchandising chief, Andrew P. Mooney, who immediately started advising Mr. Katzenberg. (Mr. Mooney is now chief executive of the sports apparel company Quicksilver.)

Mr. Mooney’s replacement at Disney, Bob Chapek, carried out a bold overhaul that left dozens of employees looking for work. Mr. Francis has so far hired at least 70 former Disney employees. One of the most recent was Jim Fielding, former president of Disney Stores Worldwide. Mr. Fielding is now leading a September charge into stores by AwesomenessTV.

DreamWorks Animation’s merchandising onrush comes as Hollywood’s unsexy consumer products business starts to attract more investor attention. “Disney Consumer Products: World’s Most Valuable Afterthought?” read the headline of a March report from Todd Juenger, a Bernstein Research analyst. Mr. Juenger estimated that merchandise would be Disney’s fastest-growing unit through 2018, in part because of Mr. Chapek’s strategies.