The Walt Disney Company has opened other animated studios besides the main studio, Walt Disney Animation Studios, that arose out of its original primary operations of animated shorts. Some originated from within the company as they expanded the range of distribution for its animated productions; others were by acquisition.
Studio Ghibli, dispute not being owned by them have had theirt films dubbed and distributed by Disney, with the company distributing in Japan (Home Media), France, and Taiwan (some releases).
History[]
After the Disney animated features department, the next animated division was its TV animated unit, Walt Disney Television Animation, formed in November 1984. Three overseas animation studios (Australia, Japan, and Canada) were set up to produce the company's animated television series.
Walt Disney Feature Animation would open up a studio in Florida in 1989, and co-produced various animated movies with Feature Animation.
A sub-unit, titled Disney MovieToons was formed by Walt Disney Television Animation in 1990, with its first feature production was DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp (1990), based upon the syndicated Disney TV show, DuckTales, with animation from Walt Disney Animation France.
In 1994, Disney began to produce Direct-to-video sequels to their animated movies, and so another division of Walt Disney Television Animation was formed, called Disney Video Premieres (or Walt Disney Video Premiere), which was part of Disney MovieToons. The first of these releases was the Aladdin sequel The Return of Jafar in 1994.
With Disney acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC in 1995, it also included DIC Productions L.P., a limited partnership between Andy Heyward and CC/ABC.
On February 29, 1996, Disney purchased Jumbo Pictures, Inc., Inc. With this, their popular Nickelodeon hit series Doug was transitioned over to Disney. In April 1996, Disney purchased Dream Quest Images to replace Buena Vista Visual Effects. In August 1996, Disney and Tokuma Shoten Publishing agreed that Disney would distribute Studio Ghibli animated films internationally, starting with Princess Mononoke.
In October 1999, Dream Quest Images merged with Walt Disney Feature Animation;'s computer-graphics operation to form The Secret Lab, which made only one film, Dinosaur (2000).
In Spring 2000, due to weak financial performance, Walt Disney Animation Canada was closed down with their current project, Peter and Jane being moved to the Australia and Japan units and would eventually be released as Return to Never Land. On November 17, 2000, Andy Heyward through Bain Capital re-purchased DIC Entertainment L.P. from Disney, and would eventually be renamed to DIC Entertainment Corporation a year later. DIC still maintained a partnership with Disney afterwards.
Disney purchased Fox Family Worldwide on October 24, 2001, which not only included the Fox Family Channel, it also included ownership of several units owned by the company, including Saban Entertainment, Saban International, a 75% stake in Fox Kids Europe N.V., Saban International Paris, and other assets. The US Fox Kids block was not included as part of this purchase (Retained by Fox) and nether was the Australian Fox Kids channel (was fully owned by Foxtel, a subsidiary of News Corporation at the time). The main company was renamed to ABC Family Worldwide, while the Saban Entertainment subsidiaries were renamed to BVS Entertainment, Inc. and BVS International N.V. respectively. Saban International Paris however, was split off to become an independent animation studio later that year. Disney followed up the Fox Family purchase with the acquisition of The Baby Einstein Company on November 6.
A year after being sold off by ABC Family Worldwide, Disney purchased a 49% minority stake in Saban International Paris, but since they weren't part of BVS Entertainment (Saban Entertainment) anymore, the company could no longer use the “Saban” corporate bug in their company name and so they were renamed to SIP Animation on October 1st 2002.
In January 2003, Disney initiated a reorganization of its theatrical and animation units to improve resource usage and continued focus on new characters and franchise development. Walt Disney Television Animation was transferred over to Disney Channels Worldwide while Disney MovieToons/Disney Video Premieres was transferred from Television Animation to Feature Animation and renamed Disneytoon Studios in June. Additionally, Feature Animation was transferred to The Walt Disney Studios. Summer 2003, saw the closing of Disney Animation France. Additionally, Disney signed a four animated film deal with Vanguard Animation, which only one film was released as part of the deal. In September 2003, Disney Animation Japan was closed.
On January 12, 2004, Disney shut down Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida.
Pixar and Disney had a seven feature agreement that allowed Disney to have the Pixar character rights. With the success of Toy Story 2 in 1999, then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner and Pixar CEO Steve Jobs began to disagree on how Pixar should be run and the terms of a continued relationship. Eisner claimed that Toy Story 2 would not count towards the "original" film count of the agreement. Jobs announced in January 2004 — after 10 months of bargaining — that Pixar would not renew their agreement with Disney and would seek out other distributors for releases starting in 2006. In 2004, Disney Circle 7 Animation was formed as a CG animation studio to create sequels to the Disney-owned Pixar properties. In Late January 2006, new Disney CEO Bob Iger and Jobs agreed to have Disney purchase Pixar which lead to Disney closing Circle 7.
In February 2007, Disney formed a joint venture with ImageMovers, titled ImageMovers Digital, which would produce motion captured movies.
In December 2008, Disney announced that they would be purchasing the remains of Jetix Europe they didn't own and have it delisted from the Euronext. Afterwards, the company went dormant as all the Jetix channels owned by them were rebranded as Disney XD or Disney Channel.
SIP Animation was subject to liquidation on May 11, 2009 after falling into dormancy after Disney fully purchased their main client Jetix Europe, and eventually closed down later on. With Disney's 2009 purchase of Marvel Entertainment, Disney acquired Marvel Animation, which remains apart of Marvel Entertainment.
ImageMovers Digital closed operations by January 2011, after the production was completed on Mars Needs Moms.
Lucasfilm Animation was purchased as a unit of Lucasfilm in 2012.
The Baby Einstein Company would be purchased by Kids II, Inc. in 2013 after they stopped producing animation.
On June 30, 2018, Disneytoon Studios was closed down.
Full list[]
| company | year | description |
|---|---|---|
| Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio | 1923-1926 | Original name for Walt Disney Productions |
| Walt Disney Studios | 1926-1929 | 2nd name for Walt Disney Productions |
| Walt Disney Productions | 1929-1986 | 3rd & original incorporation name |
| Disney Enterprises | 1986 | corporate name for all pre-Capital Cities/ABC merger divisions of Disney |
| The Walt Disney Company | 1986-now | conglomerate parent company |
| Walt Disney Feature Animation | 1986-2007 | previous name for feature theatrical animation division |
| Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida | 1989-2004 | |
| Walt Disney Animation Studios | 2007-now | current name for feature theatrical animation division |
| Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation Group | 1984-1987 | original name for the TV animation unit |
| Disney Television Animation | 1987-now | TV animation unit |
| Disney MovieToons | 1990-2003 | TV Animation sequel unit |
| Disney Video Premieres | 1991 | Direct-to-video unit attached to MovieToons |
| DIC Entertainment L.P. | 1995-2000 | CC/ABC animated unit at merger. Limited Partnership between Disney and Andy Hayward. Purchased by its management in November 2000 |
| Jumbo Pictures, Inc. | 1996 | makers of Doug, acquisition |
| The Secret Lab | 1999-2001 | VFX & animated unit |
| Jetix Animation Concepts | 2004-2009 | Brand label of Walt Disney Television Animation for shows airing on Jetix |
| Sensation Animation | 2002-2003 | Division of BVS formed to dub Digimon episodes |
| SIP Animation | 2002-2009 | acquired in Fox Family Worldwide buyout, split from Saban and sold off to become independent in the same year. 49% minority stake purchased by Disney in Late 2002. Filed for liquidation and closed in 2009 |
| The Baby Einstein Company | 2001-2013 | Acquired. Sold to Kids II in 2013 |
| Disneytoon Studios | 2003-2018 | renamed MovieToons/Video Premieres unit after transfer to Feature Animation |
| Pixar | 2006 | Acquired |
| Disney Circle 7 Animation | 2004-2006 | Pixar film sequel unit |
| Disney Animation Australia | 1988-2006 | |
| Disneytoon Studios Australia | Disney Animation Australia alternative name | |
| Walt Disney Animation Canada | 1996-2000 | |
| Walt Disney Animation France | 1989-2003 | Brizzi Films acquired |
| Walt Disney Animation Japan | 1989-2004 | |
| ImageMovers Digital | 2007-2011 | Joint-venture with ImageMovers. |
| Marvel Animation | 2009 | Acquired |
| Lucasfilm Animation | 2012 | Acquired |
| 20th Century Fox Animation | 2019 | Acquired |
| Blue Sky Studios | 2019 | Acquired |
Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida[]
Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida, a division of Walt Disney Feature Animation, opened in 1989 with 40 employees. Its offices were in the Disney-MGM Studios complex of theme parks and visitors were allowed to tour the studio to observe animators at work. On October 7, 1992, the Florida unit was incorporated. On April 22, 1998, Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida moved to a new $70 million facility at the Disney's Hollywood Studios. In January 2003, Disney initiated a reorganization of its theatrical and animation units to improve resource usage and continued focus on new characters and franchise development. Additional, Feature Animation was transferred to The Walt Disney Studios. On January 12, 2004, Disney shut down Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida. The Orlando studio was partially turned into a walk-through attraction. The rest of the studio was converted into theme park management offices.
- Projects
- "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" for The Lion King
- Mulan
- Lilo & Stitch
- Brother Bear
- three Roger Rabbit short features:
- Tummy Trouble (1989)
- Roller Coaster Rabbit (1990)
- Trail Mix-Up (1993)
- John Henry (2000) short
Disneytoon Studios[]
- Main article: Disneytoon Studios
Disneytoon Studios, formerly Disney Movietoons, was an American animation studio owned by The Walt Disney Company, responsible for producing direct-to-video and occasional theatrical films for Disney Animation Studios, a part of The Walt Disney Studios.
Disney Circle 7 Animation[]
Circle 7 Animation, or Disney Circle 7 Animation, was a short-lived division of Walt Disney Feature Animation specializing in computer generated imagery (CGI) animation and was originally going to work on making sequels to the Disney-owned Pixar properties, leading rivals and animators to derisively nickname the division "Pixaren't". The company released no movies during its tenure.
Overseas animation studios[]
Three overseas animation studios (Australia, Japan and Canada) were set up for the company's animated television series. But as Direct-to-video increased in importance, the overseas studios moved to making feature films.
Disney Animation Australia[]
Disney Animation Australia (DAA), also Disneytoon Studios Australia, was a Disney animation studio located in Sydney, Australia.
DAA was started in 1988 at the former Hanna-Barbera overseas studio in St. Leonards, Sydney. Initially, Animation Australia worked on various television shows including Winnie the Pooh, Darkwing Duck, Goof Troop, Aladdin, Timon and Pumbaa, and Duck Daze. As staffing increased, the studio moved to Castlereagh Street.
Disney began producing Direct-to-video sequels of its Feature Animation productions, the first of which was the Aladdin sequel The Return of Jafar. When Aladdin was selected as a possible candidate as an animated TV series (before the film's release), as with many animated series, the first three episodes were one multi-part story which Disney used as a potential ‘family movie special’ for the Friday night before the series’ premiere. With work handed out to the Australia animation studio, the opening story was instead greenlit for a direct-to-video release. Thus with "Jafar" and its success, the direct-to-video unit started. Then a second sequel, Aladdin and the King of Thieves, assign work to both the Australia and Japanese animation units.
Australia was assigned additional film sequels: The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, An Extremely Goofy Movie and Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure. The company's first feature film was Return to Neverland in 2002 grossing over $100 million worldwide at the box office. In 2005, the studio produced three animated movies: Tarzan 2, Lilo and Stitch 2 and Bambi 2.
Disney Animation Australia was closed in mid-2006 after finishing Brother Bear II and Cinderella III.
- Productions
- The Lion King II
- The Jungle Book II
- The Lady and the Tramp II
- Brother Bear II
- Aladdin II
- Peter Pan II
- Tarzan II
- Lilo and Stitch II
- Bambi II
- Cinderella III
Disney Animation Canada[]
Walt Disney Animation Canada, Inc. (WDAC) was a Canadian animation production company and subsidiary of Disney Television Animation.
Walt Disney Animation Canada was opened in January 1996 to tap Canada's animator pool and produce Direct-to-video. Industry Canada rules were dispensed by the Canadian Government with a multi-year commitment from Disney for the company.
WDAC produced in 1997 Beauty and the Beast: Enchanted Christmas then worked with Australia and Japan subcontractors on Pocahontas II: Journey to the New World. In fall 1999, Animation Canada stopped work on Peter and Jane, a Peter Pan sequel original designed as its first theatrical release but was changed to a video release. In Spring 2000, due to weak financial performance, Animation Canada was closed. With Canada's closure, Peter and Jane was to be restarted in Australia and Japan.
Disney Animation France[]
Walt Disney Animation France, original Brizzi Films, was an animation company based in France that operated from 1986 to 2003.
Brizzi Films was founded by Paul & Gaëtan Brizzi in 1986 France. Brizzi worked on Babar in 1986 for Nelvana. In 1989, Brizzi brothers sold the company to Disney Television Animation. The brothers continued on as general managers under the company's new name, Walt Disney Animation, France S.A. In 1994, the Brizzi brothers transferred to Walt Disney Feature Animation. In Summer 2003, Disney Animation France was closed.
Disney Animation Japan[]
Disney Animation Japan (DAJ), officially Walt Disney Animation (Japan) Inc., was an animation production subsidiary of Disney Television Animation, a component of The Walt Disney Company.
The Japanese studio was set up for the company's animated television series in 1989. But as Direct-to-video increased in importance, the overseas studios moved to making feature films.
DAJ worked on The Tigger Movie (2000). In 2003, the company released the Piglet's Big Movie for Disneytoon Studios and 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure. In September 2003, Disney announced the closure of the company with the in production Pooh's Heffalump Movie to be its final release when finished in 2004.
DAJ was closed in June 2004 with 30 employees expected to be transferred to one of the two Disney's remaining animation units. With the closure of the Japanese studio, its remaining work for Disneytoon Studios was split between its US and Australia animation units. Employees not transferred decided to launch a new company, The Answer Studio.
Jumbo Pictures[]
Jumbo Pictures was a New York based animation studio founded by Jim Jinkins and David Campbell in 1991 to produce the Doug series and sold to The Walt Disney Company in 1996.
- Library
- TV shows
- Doug
- Disney's Doug
- Allegra's Window
- 101 Dalmatians: The Series
- PB&J Otter
- Movies
Pixar[]
- Main article: Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios, or simply Pixar (stylized PIXAR), is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio is best known for its CGI-animated feature films created with PhotoRealistic RenderMan, its own implementation of the industry-standard RenderMan image-rendering application programming interface used to generate high-quality images. Pixar began in 1979 as the Graphics Group, part of the computer division of Lucasfilm before its spin-out as a corporation in 1986 with funding by Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs, who became its majority shareholder. The Walt Disney Company bought Pixar in 2006 at a valuation of $7.4 billion, a transaction which made Jobs Disney's largest shareholder.
Dream Quest Images[]
Dream Quest Images (DQI), later The Secret Lab, was an American special effects company that operated from 1980 to 2001.
Dream Quest was founded in a Santa Monica, California garage in 1979. The co-founders were Hoyt Yeatman, Scott Squires, Rocco Gioffre, Fred Iguchi, Tom Hollister, and Bob Hollister. Initial they did piecemeal work on Escape from New York, E.T., and One From the Heart, The company then moved to Culver City. DQ Films, the company's television commercial production division, remained in Santa Monica. In 1987, DQI model-making operations moved into a Simi Valley industrial park with the most of the company following them to Simi Valley later. The Abyss and Total Recall special effects works each earned the company an Oscars Award.
The Walt Disney Company purchased the company in April 1996 and had the company moved to Burbank, California. DQI was purchased to replace Buena Vista Visual Effects.
The Secret Lab[]
In October 1999, Dream Quest Images merged with Walt Disney Feature Animation computer-graphics operation to form The Secret Lab. The Lab made only one computer animated film, Dinosaur released in 2000. After Dinosaur, the Lab and Disney Feature Animation started working on Wildlife, which was cancelled in September 2000.
The Lab was being passed over for Disney work and a general decrease in special effects work led to the unit being closed. The Lab's last work was for the Spyglass Entertainment film, Reign of Fire and the Castle Rock Entertainment/Warner Bros. comedy Kangaroo Jack.
[]
Disney purchased Fox Kids Worldwide/Fox Family Worldwide on October 24, 2001 for the Fox Family Channel and also received ownership of several animation units including Saban Entertainment Inc. and Saban International N.V.
The Saban library included the acquired all-original and Marvel Comics-based DFE Films/Marvel Productions and Marvel Films Animation/New World Animation libraries. Saban also departed Saban International Paris in 2001 with the purchase of Fox Family Worldwide, which was followed by The Walt Disney Company taking a 49% minority stake in the company and a name change to SIP Animation on October 1, 2002.
Fox Family, Saban Entertainment, Saban International N.V. and Saban International Services were renamed ABC Family, BVS Entertainment, BVS International N.V. and BVS International Services respectively after the rebranding. The Fox Kids brand remained in Europe and Latin America under license until being rebranded to Jetix between 2004-2005 as part of a worldwide rebranding. Jetix Animation Concepts, was a brand used by Walt Disney Television Animation for animation co-produced by and for Jetix by the American partner, Disney Cable Group, from 2004 to 2009.
- BVS Entertainment, Inc.
- BVS International, N.V.
- BVS International Services, Inc.
- Sensation Animation - dubbing for the second half of Digimon Tamers and Digimon Frontier.
- SIP Animation (formerly Saban International Paris) - 49% minority stake owned by Disney.
- Jetix Europe (formerly called Fox Kids Europe) - 75.7% ownership stake owned by Disney, full ownership afterwards in 2008. Currently dormant.
External links[]
- Jumbo Pictures
- Sensation Animation
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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia page Disney Animation Studios. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. Text from Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. |