An animation studio is a company producing animated media. The broadest such companies conceive of products to produce, own the physical equipment for production, employ operators for that equipment, and hold a major stake in the sales or rentals of the media produced. They also own rights over merchandising and creative rights for characters created/held by the company, much like authors holding copyrights . In some early cases, they also held patent rights over methods of animation used in certain studios that were used for boosting productivity. Overall, they are business concerns and can function as such in legal terms.
46-562: Sony Pictures Animation Inc. is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment 's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and founded on May 9, 2002. The studio is based in Culver City, California . Most of the studio's films are distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Releasing under their Columbia Pictures label, while direct-to-video releases are released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment . The studio has currently produced 28 feature films ,
92-487: A China-set science-fiction adventure film directed by The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part story artist Emily Dean, Tut , an afro-futuristic coming-of-age story set in ancient Egypt directed by Hair Love creator Matthew A. Cherry , an untitled project directed by Matt Braly , and an animated film adaptation based on the science fiction podcast Bubble (a co-production with Point Grey Pictures and Matt Tolmach Productions ). Animation studio The idea of
138-582: A co-production with Base FX , the musical film , Lin-Manuel Miranda 's Vivo , which marks Sony Pictures Animation's first musical film, Hotel Transylvania: Transformania , the fourth installment in the Hotel Transylvania franchise, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse , the sequel to Into the Spider-Verse . SPA has since signed Genndy Tartakovsky to a long-term deal with the studio to develop and direct original films. As of June 2024,
184-569: A full slate of animated projects in development: Open Season , an adaptation of a Celtic folk ballad Tam Lin , Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs , Surf's Up , and a feature-length film version of The ChubbChubbs! . On May 27, 2014, it was announced that Netflix had acquired streaming rights to films produced by Sony Pictures Animation. On November 3, 2014, the studio collaborated with Frederator Studios ' Cartoon Hangover on GO! Cartoons , an incubator series consisting of 12 short films, with at least one short film being developed into
230-511: A long time afterwards, as can be seen with their achievements . In 1941, Otto Messmer created the first animated television commercials for Botany Tie ads/weather reports. They were shown on NBC-TV in New York until 1949. This marked the first forays of animation designed for the smaller screen and was to be followed by the first animated series specifically made for television, Crusader Rabbit , in 1948. Its creator, Alex Anderson , had to create
276-598: A longer running manga or animated series. As the OAV market is not adapted to the rigors that are faced by television shows or feature films, they have been known to show gratuitous amounts of violence and/or pornography. Some OAV's have registered such strong acclaim that they have been remade as anime television series as well as theatrical releases. Since most new OVA's are derived from other animated media, many animation studios that have previously worked on animated series or movies, and adaptations of Japanese manga, have now entered
322-591: A multi-year deal to let Sony's titles (such as films from the Spider-Man , Jumanji , Hotel Transylvania , Ghostbusters franchises, and other films made by Sony Pictures Animation, etc, and anime licensed by Funimation / Crunchyroll like Attack on Titan and Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works ) to stream on Hulu and Disney+ . A significant number of Sony titles began streaming on Disney+ starting in September 2022. It includes films from 2022 onwards. In
368-506: A new animation studio, Studio Ghibli , which would be used for the personal works of Miyazaki and his close friend, Isao Takahata . Many of Ghibli's works have become Japan's top-grossing theatrical films, whether in live-action or animated form. The market for 'OAV's or ' Original Anime Video ' later the acronym would be better known as 'OVA' meaning 'Original video animation' as the term 'OAV' could often be misunderstood for 'Original Adult Video', began in 1984. These are often tended towards
414-567: A number of magazines, were called "scintillating slices of life in Manhattan's notorious Alphabet City . . . in a strong, sure style that never strains" by LA Weekly . His articles has appeared in magazines and newspapers including BlackBook , Bomb , Details , the Los Angeles Times , Marie Claire , New York , New York Newsday , The New York Times , and PAPER . He also established and co-edited (with Catherine Texier )
460-608: A series. The short films were funded by SPA, with the additional goal of attracting new talent for the studio. In June 2019, Sony Pictures Animation announced that they had launched an "International" division headed by Aron Warner at the 2019 Annecy International Animated Film Festival , with Wish Dragon set to be the division's first film. The same day, they also announced an "Alternative" division aimed at producing adult animated content, headed by Katie Baron and Kevin Noel. In addition to Tartakovsky's films Black Knight and Fixed ,
506-513: A similar fashion to Warner Bros. Pictures Animation and Paramount Animation , the studio outsources their films to other animation companies and visual effects studios, with the majority of their films being animated by sister company Sony Pictures Imageworks . Some films, such as Arthur Christmas and The Pirates! Band of Misfits were acquired by Sony Pictures Animation to be released under their banner while others, such as Goosebumps and Peter Rabbit , were made with no involvement from
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#1732872222868552-401: A studio dedicated to animating cartoons was spearheaded by Raoul Barré and his studio, Barré Studio , co-founded with Bill Nolan , beating out the studio created by J.R. Bray , Bray Productions , to the honor of the first studio dedicated to animation. Though beaten to the post of being the first studio, Bray's studio employee, Earl Hurd , came up with patents designed for mass-producing
598-499: A suitable buyer, having been impressed with the CGI sequences of Stuart Little 2 and seeing the box office successes of DreamWorks Animation 's Shrek and Disney / Pixar 's Monsters, Inc. , SPI was reconfigured to become an animation studio. Astro Boy , which had been in development at Sony since 1997 as a live-action film, was set to be SPI's first all-CGI film, but never made it to fruition. On May 9, 2002, Sony Pictures Animation
644-550: A very small core group. After being bought out or sold to other companies, they eventually consolidated with other studios and became larger. The drawback of this setup was that there was now a major thrust towards profitability with the management acting as a damper towards creativity of these studios, continuing even in today's scenario. Currently, the independent animation studios are looking to ensure artistic integrity by signing up with big animation studios on contracts that allow them to license out movies, without being directed by
690-547: Is an American novelist for Vertigo . His novels include The Blackest Bird (2007), Kill the Poor (1988), and Kill Kill Faster Faster (1988). He also authored the urban historical, New York Sawed in Half: An Urban Historical (2001), and was editor of a collection that included work by Anthony Bourdain , Mat Johnson , Franz Lidz , and Jerry Stahl , among others. Rose's 1980s short stories, which appeared in
736-576: Is dated around 1917, but it would take until 1956 for the Japanese animation industry to successfully adopt the studio format as used in the United States. In 1961, these productions began to be aired in the US. Toei Animation , formed in 1948, was the first Japanese animation studio of importance and saw the reduction of animators as independent anime artists. After the formation of Toei Animation Co. Ltd. in 1948,
782-601: Is subject to local intellectual property rights. The animators must also be aware of the contracts laws and labour laws prevalent in the jurisdiction to which the animation studio is subject to. There have been numerous legal battles fought over the copyright of famous franchises, such as Kung Fu Panda and SpongeBob SquarePants . This has come about as a result of the clause in Copyright contracts that states that an idea cannot be protected, only an actual piece of work can be said to be infringed upon. This means that though
828-460: The Lower East Side quarterly literary magazine Between C & D (1983–1990), and has written for several television shows, including Kojak and Miami Vice . Kill the Poor and Kill Kill Faster Faster were made into films in 2003 and 2008, respectively, and Rose participated in the screen adaptation of the latter. Kill Kill Faster Faster (2008) won Best International Feature at
874-580: The Spider-Man comics and featuring the Miles Morales incarnation of the character, The Angry Birds Movie 2 , the sequel to the 2016 film The Angry Birds Movie produced by Rovio Animation , The Mitchells vs. the Machines , a robot apocalypse/road trip film written and directed by Michael Rianda and Jeff Rowe while produced by longtime collaborators Phil Lord and Christopher Miller , Wish Dragon ,
920-560: The 2008 London Independent Film Festival , won Best Editing in a HD Feature Film and second place in Best High-Definition Feature at the 2008 HDFest, and won Best Independent Feature Film at 2008 Charity Erotic Awards. Rose has edited and co-authored graphic novels for DC Comics , including La Pacifica ( Paradox Press ), written with Amos Poe with art by Tayyar Ozkan, and Get Jiro! ( Vertigo Comics ), written with Anthony Bourdain with art by Langdon Foss. Get Jiro!
966-708: The Japanese studios churned out minor works of animation. But with the release of Toei's first theatrical feature, The Tale of the White Serpent released in October 1958, the animation industry in Japan came into the eye of the general public. The success of Alakazam the Great led to the finding of the artist Osamu Tezuka , who would go on to become the father of Japanese manga with his brand of modern, fast-paced fantasy storylines. He became influenced by Hanna-Barbera productions of
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#17328722228681012-459: The OVA market, looking to capitalize on the popularity of their flagship shows. Studios participating in such circumstances include Production I.G and Studio Deen . Although there are permanent/full-time positions in studios, most animators work on a contract basis. There are some animators that are considered to be in the core group of the studio, which can either be as a result of being there since
1058-463: The Westernized title of direct-to-video animations, the OVA market has spread to American animation houses. Their popularity has resulted in animated adaptations of comic characters ranging from Hellboy , Green Lantern and Avengers . Television shows such as Family Guy and Futurama also released direct-to-video animations. DC Comics have continually released their own animated movies for
1104-477: The animators may have forwarded ideas to the animation studios about certain characters and plots, these ideas alone cannot be protected and can lead to studios profiting on individual animator's ideas. However, this has not stopped many independent artists from filing claims to characters produced by different studios. Due to the wide range of animation techniques and styles, many animation studios typically specialize in certain types. Traditional animation employs
1150-547: The bigger studios. Examples of such co-operation are the joint ventures between DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures and that of Blue Sky Studios and 20th Century Studios . On August 22, 2016, Comcast's NBCUniversal acquired DreamWorks Animation , appointing Meledandri oversee Comcast's Universal Animation/DreamWorks/Illumination, Disney's Disney Animation/Pixar/20th Century Animation, & Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Animation/Warner Bros. Pictures Animation. The first known example of Japanese animation, also called anime ,
1196-458: The division's TV shows are set to include Superbago , a co-production with Stoopid Buddy Stoodios that was originally greenlit as a feature film; and Hungry Ghosts , a series based on the Dark Horse graphic novel by Anthony Bourdain and Joel Rose . They had previously announced their plans to produce adult content at the 2017 Annecy festival. In April 2021, Disney and Sony Pictures reached
1242-565: The first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature . Since then, Disney / Pixar have produced the most number of movies either to win or be nominated for the award. Though the term "direct-to-video" carries negative connotations in the North American and European markets, direct-to-video animation has seen a rise, as a concept, in the Western markets. With many comic characters receiving their versions of OVA 's, original video animations , under
1288-566: The first Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film . This period, from the 1920s to the 1950s or sometimes considered from 1911 to the death of Walt Disney in 1966, is commonly known as the Golden Age of American Animation as it included the growth of Disney, as well as the rise of Warner Bros. Cartoons and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio as prominent animation studios. Disney continued to lead in technical prowess among studios for
1334-540: The first one being Open Season , which was released on September 29, 2006, and the most recent being Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse , which was release on June 2, 2023; their upcoming slate of films includes K-Pop: Demon Hunters in Fall 2025, Goat on February 13, 2026 and Fixed and Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse on unspecified dates. In 2001, Sony Pictures considered selling off its visual effects facility Sony Pictures Imageworks but after failing to find
1380-414: The home video market, while not tending to the television or theatrical audience as such. They refer to those movies that are launched as direct-to-video releases and not meant to be released in theatres. Video productions can run from half an hour productions to well over two hours. They require that premise or story be original in order to be counted as an OVA, though sometimes, the story can be derived from
1426-421: The inception of the company or being talented recruits from other animation studios. These are the more secure positions in an animation studio, though the studio might have policies concerning the possible tenure of animators. Since studios can hire animators on a work for hire basis nowadays, many artists do not retain rights over their creations, unlike some of the early animators. The extent of these copyrights
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1472-575: The late 1950s and made Japan's first made for television animation studio, Mushi Productions . The success of the studios' first show in 1963, Astro Boy , was so immense that there were 3 other television animation studios by the end of the year and Toei had opened their own made for television division. The greatest difference between Japanese studios and North American studios was the difference in adult-themed material to make way in Japan. Tezuka's thought that animation should not be restricted to kids alone has brought about many studios that are employed in
1518-440: The latter which was SPA's first and currently only stop-motion film. In 2012, SPA released Hotel Transylvania , which grossed over $ 350 million worldwide and launched a successful franchise with three sequels and a TV series . Two sequels were released in 2013: The Smurfs 2 and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 . SPA's latest releases are Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse , an animated superhero film based on
1564-532: The output for the studio. As Hurd did not file for these patents under his own name but handed them to Bray, they would go on to form the Bray-Hurd Patent Company and sold these techniques for royalties to other animation studios of the time. The biggest name in animation studios during this early time was Disney Brothers Animation Studio (now known as Walt Disney Animation Studios ), co-founded by Walt and Roy O. Disney . Started on October 16, 1923,
1610-548: The production of adult-themed adaptations of classic stories such as Heidi ( Heidi, Girl of the Alps ), One Thousand and One Nights and The Diary of a Young Girl and many more. In the 1980s, animation studios were led back to their theatrical roots due to the success of Hayao Miyazaki 's film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind , which led publishing house Tokuma Shoten to finance
1656-548: The resulting frames are played back. Notable studios specializing in this style of animation include Aardman Animations , Laika and ShadowMachine . 3D animation is the newest of the animation techniques, using the assistance of computers and software, such as Houdini , to create 3D models that are then manipulated and rendered to create movement. Notable studios include Pixar Animation Studios , Sony Pictures Imageworks , Blue Sky Studios , Illumination , DNEG and Marza Animation Planet . Joel Rose Joel Rose
1702-417: The sole purpose of sale in the direct-to-video market. With growing worries about piracy, direct to video animation might become more popular in the near future. With the growth of animation as an industry, the trends of ownership of studios have gradually changed with time. Current studios such as Warner Bros. and early ones such as Fleischer Studios , started life as small, independent studios, being run by
1748-448: The studio 'Television Arts Productions' specifically for the purpose of creating this series as his old studio, Terrytoons , refused to make a series for television. Since Crusader Rabbit, however, many studios have seen this as a profitable enterprise and many have entered the made for television market since, with Joseph Barbera and William Hanna refining the production process for television animation on their show Ruff and Reddy . It
1794-460: The studio is working on projects such as a musical comedy K-Pop: Demon Hunters in 2025, a sports film from Stephen Curry and Erick Peyton of Unanimous Media titled Goat on February 13, 2026, and Fixed and Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse , both of which will be released on unspecified dates, as well other projects in development, including an animated Ghostbusters spin-off film, another Tartakovsky project titled Black Knight , Tao ,
1840-497: The studio went on to make its first animated short, Steamboat Willie in 1928, to much critical success, though the real breakthrough was in 1937, when the studio was able to produce a full-length animated feature film i.e. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs , which laid the foundation for other studios to try to make full-length movies. In 1932 Flowers and Trees , a production by Walt Disney Productions and United Artists , won
1886-511: The studio. According to Kristine Belson , president of SPA, the studio produces films on a 1:1 development-to-production ratio, meaning that the studio puts films into development as much as it places films in production, unlike other animation studios. Sony Pictures Animation's first feature film was Open Season , released in September 2006, which became Sony's second-highest-grossing home entertainment film in 2007 and spawned three direct-to-video sequels . Its second feature film, Surf's Up
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1932-513: The use of hand-drawn frames, and is used in the world of cartoons, movies and anime. Notable studios that specialize in this style include Studio Ghibli , Cartoon Saloon , Nickelodeon Animation Studio , Disney Television Animation , 20th Television Animation , Warner Bros. Animation , Cartoon Network Studios , Titmouse , Ufotable , Studio Chizu and CoMix Wave Films . Stop-motion animation uses objects that are incrementally moved and photographed in order to create an illusion of movement when
1978-729: Was a #1 New York Times Bestseller . A prequel to Get Jiro! , Get Jiro! Blood and Sushi was published in October 2015. Blood and Sushi was also a New York Times Bestseller. In 2018 Rose and Bourdain collaborated on the graphic novel Hungry Ghosts ( Dark Horse Comics / Berger Books ), based on the Edo period samurai game Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai (100 Candles) with cover art by Paul Pope and interior work featuring Vanesa Del Rey, Sebastian Cabrol, Francesco Francavilla, Irene Koh, Leonardo Manco, Alberto Ponticelli, and Mateus Santolouco. Rose's novels have been translated into 12 languages. Rose married Linda Bowler when they were both very young. He
2024-479: Was established to develop characters, stories and movies with SPI taking over the digital production while maintaining its visual effects production. Meanwhile, SPI produced two short films, the Academy Award -winning The ChubbChubbs! and Early Bloomer , as a result of testing its strengths and weaknesses in producing all-CGI animation. On its first anniversary on May 9, 2003, Sony Pictures Animation announced
2070-459: Was in 1958 that The Huckleberry Hound Show claimed the title of being the first all-new half-hour cartoon show. This, along with their previous success with the series Tom and Jerry , elevated their animation studio, H.B. Enterprises (later Hanna-Barbera Productions ), to dominate the North American television animation market during the latter half of the 20th century. In 2002, Shrek , produced by DreamWorks and Pacific Data Images won
2116-750: Was released in June 2007, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature , and won two Annie Awards. SPA's first 3D movie since the IMAX 3D release of Open Season , Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs , was released in September 2009 and was nominated for four Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature. The Smurfs (2011) was the studio's first CGI/live-action hybrid. SPA's parent company Sony Pictures had partnered in 2007 with Aardman Animations to finance, co-produce and distribute feature films. Together, they produced two films: Arthur Christmas (2011), and The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (2012),
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