CBS Eye Animation Productions is an American

animation studio 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 ...

division of

CBS Studios CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount Television, as a renaming of the o ...

owned by

Paramount Global Paramount Global (doing business as Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned and operated by National Amusements (79.4%) and headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York. I ...

. The studio is closely associated with the ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' franchise with its first projects, '' Star Trek: Lower Decks'' and '' Star Trek: Prodigy.'' CBS reinstated it as an animation division in late 2018 before its re-merger with Viacom in 2019.

Background

In the 1950s, CBS began to invest further into television programs, creating many live shows as ''I Love Lucy'' and ''Captain Kangaroo''''.'' However, in 1955 CBS purchased

Terrytoons Terrytoons was an American animation studio in New Rochelle, New York, that produced animated cartoons for theatrical release from 1929 to 1973 (and briefly returned between 1987 and 1996 for television in name only). Terrytoons was founded by ...

from Paul Terry under

CBS Films CBS Films Inc. was an American film production and distribution company founded in 2007 as a subsidiary of CBS Corporation and was considered a mini-major studio up until 2019. CBS Films originally was planned to distribute, develop and prod ...

. After the deal's closure in 1956, CBS placed Terrytoons the management of UPA's

Gene Deitch Eugene Merril Deitch (August 8, 1924 – April 16, 2020) was an American illustrator, animator, comics artist, and film director who was based in Prague from the 1960s until his death in 2020. Deitch was known for creating animated cartoons ...

(which they'd already secured a contract with CBS). Deitch would soon produce animated ''Tom Terrific'' shorts for ''Captain Kangaroo'' in 1957. Terrytoons would continue animation under CBS until its closure in 1972 after the corporate spin-off of the original Viacom International. Despite the change of operations, CBS would continue to air many animated programs such Terrytoons (which they still owned) and

Hanna-Barbera Productions Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

within the 1970s and mid-1980s. Throughout the late 1980s and '90s, they acquired broadcasting rights to multiple series from different studios such as ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', ''Garfield and Friends'' (both now owned by parent company Paramount Global), ''Muppet Babies'' (now owned by

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

), as well serval toy-based shows. The network would continue with broadcast syndication cartoons from serval companies (such as

Nelvana Nelvana Enterprises, Inc. (; previously known as Nelvana Limited, sometimes known as Nelvana Animation and simply Nelvana or Nelvana Communications) is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment company owned by Corus Entertainment. Founded ...

) up until the late 1990s. In the 2000s, CBS (now merged with Westinghouse) switched to licensing more educational drive shows. Viacom had also acquired CBS as it agreed to air Nickelodeon/Nick Jr. on CBS until 2006 (after Viacom & CBS' split). CBS would later resume airing animated programs by launching

Cookie Jar TV Cookie Jar TV was an American children's programming block that aired on CBS, originally premiering on September 16, 2006, as the KOL Secret Slumber Party; the block was later rebranded as KEWLopolis ( ) on September 15, 2007, and then as Cookie ...

until 2013.

History

In late 2018, CBS Studios unveiled CBS Eye Animation Productions to produce animated content for CBS All Access (later

Paramount+ Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

). '' Star Trek: Lower Decks'' would become the first animated television series, followed by '' Star Trek: Prodigy'' (a co-production with sister studio

Nickelodeon Animation Studio Nickelodeon Animation Studio is an American animation studio owned by Paramount Global. It has created many original television programs for Nickelodeon, such as ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', ''The Fairly OddParents'', ''Rugrats'' and ''Avatar: The ...

). Initially, the studio would only create shows based on the ''Star Trek'' franchise but has invested in other shows such as ''

The Harper House ''The Harper House'' is an American adult animated streaming television series created by Brad Neely for Paramount+ and starring Rhea Seehorn, Jason Lee, Ryan Flynn, and Tatiana Maslany. The ten-episode series, premiered on September 16, 2021. A ...

'' and

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

's ''

Our Cartoon President ''Our Cartoon President'' is an American adult animated satirical television series that premiered on February 11, 2018 and ended on November 8, 2020, on Showtime. The series was created by Stephen Colbert, Chris Licht, Matt Lappin, Tim Luecke ...

'', as well as critically acclaimed live-action/animated news program, ''

Tooning Out the News ''Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News'' (often abbreviated as ''TOTN'') is an American live-action/animated satirical news television program created and executive produced by comedian and '' The Late Show'' host Stephen Colbert, Chris ...

''. On 29 September, 2022, the employees of CBS Eye Animation Productions formed a union with Animation Guild IATSE Local 839 to publicly submitting a letter for voluntary recognition.

List of CBS Eye Animation Studios productions

TV series

TV specials

Late Night Cartoons, Inc.

References

{{Authority control American animation studios American companies established in 2018 Entertainment companies established in 2018 2018 establishments in New York (state) Adult animation studios CBS Television Network Nickelodeon Animation studios owned by Paramount Global