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SIP Animation (Formally known as Saban International Paris), was a French television production company. Disney owned a 49% minority stake in the studio from 2002 until its closure in 2009.

Connection with Disney

In 2001, The Walt Disney Company purchased Saban Entertainment during their $5.3 billion buyout of Fox Family Worldwide. This included the Saban International Paris studio, which would however split to become independent from Saban and Disney after Haim Saban left.

In 2002, The Walt Disney Company purchased a 49% minorty stake in the studio and on October 1 of that year Saban International Paris was renamed to SIP Animation as the studio could no longer use the Saban name. On the same day the studio announced they were creating a TV show adaptation of the Disney Italy comic book series W.I.T.C.H..

Under the SIP Animation name, the company continued to produce shows for Fox Kids Europe/Jetix Europe. All of the shows from SIP during this time period were distributed through Buena Vista International Television.

Throughout 2007 and 2008 SIP produced some products without any involvement with Jetix Europe or Disney, like television pilots and producing a short film for the German company Interfilm, titled Inukshuk. SIP were also working on the first ever French-Korean co-production with distributor M-Line, a feature film titled Princess Bari.

By 2009, SIP lay dormant and was subject to liquidation after Jetix Europe was purchased out by Disney the year prior, and one of their future projects was moved on to Bruno Bianchi's production company Ginkgo Animation which by 2011 had never came to fruitation. The studio was fully closed within 2012.

Works produced under Disney minority ownership

  • Gadget & the Gadgetinis (2002)
  • What's with Andy? (2003, Season 2 only, CineGroupe Co-Production)
  • The Tofus (2004, CineGroupe Co-Production)
  • W.I.T.C.H. (2004)
  • A.T.O.M. - Alpha Teens on Machines (2005)
  • Combo Niños (2008)

TV Pilots

  • Astaquana (2007)
  • Wesh Wesh Express (2008)
  • Ko-Bushi (2008)
  • The Jokers (2008)

Short Film

  • Inukshuk (2008)

Cancelled Projects

  • Welcome to Tinsellania (2002)
  • Sparkiz (2002)
  • ROBO (2002)
  • Princess Bari (2009, un-released feature film)
  • George & Me (2009, moved to Ginko Animation, then cancelled)

Fate and Subsequent ownership

After SIP’s closure in 2009, Jacqueline Tordjman went on to found Zagtoon, who would go on to produce the popular CGI animated series Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, which has aired on Disney Channel in various countries. Many former employees of SIP also now work for Zagtoon, including composers Alain Garcia and Noam Kaniel.

As of 2012, The Walt Disney Company France acts as a contact point for SIP and its former assets.[1] Most of SIP's programmes are currently owned by The Walt Disney Company with a few exceptions.

References

Wikipedia
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia page SIP Animation. 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.
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