Frederator Studios is an American animation

television production A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

studio which is a division of Frederator Networks, Inc. It was founded by Fred Seibert in 1997 with its first series launching in 1998. (Seibert resigned from Frederator in August 2020 after 22 years and on February 23, 2021 announced a new cartoon production company, FredFilms.) The studio focuses primarily on artists who write their own shorts, series, and movies. Their slogan is "Original Cartoons since 1998." The studio has locations in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where Frederator Digital is based, and

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, who ...

History

1983–2012

Before Frederator, in 1983, Fred Seibert founded Fred/Alan, Inc. in New York City with his college friend Alan Goodman; in 1988, Fred/Alan partnered with Albie Hecht in Chauncey Street Productions to produce television programs for Nickelodeon, MTV, A&E, and CBS. The Fred/Alan firm closed down in 1992. Seibert became the president of

Hanna-Barbera 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 ...

Cartoons in 1992, and created ''

What a Cartoon! ''What a Cartoon!'' (later known as ''The What a Cartoon! Show'' and ''The Cartoon Cartoon Show'') is an American animated anthology series created by Fred Seibert for Cartoon Network. The shorts were produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions; by ...

'', a showcase consisting of 48 shorts that aired on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

. In 1996, when Time Warner merged with Turner Broadcasting (owner of Hanna-Barbera), he left the studio. Frederator Incorporated was formed on January 6, 1997 (its first cartoons were released in 1998), and was housed at a temporary location of the

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: ...

, in

North Hollywood, California North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The Nor ...

. Frederator's debut production was the cartoon short incubator, a television series called '' Oh Yeah! Cartoons'', which later

Slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such ...

second series: ''

The Fairly OddParents ''The Fairly OddParents'' is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. The series follows the adventures of Timmy Turner, a 10-year-old boy with two fairy godparents named Cosmo and Wanda who grant him ...

'' (their first original series), as well ''

ChalkZone ''ChalkZone'' is an American animated television series created by Bill Burnett and Larry Huber for Nickelodeon. The series follows Rudy Tabootie, an elementary school student who discovers a box of magic chalk that allows him to draw portals ...

'', and '' My Life as a Teenage Robot'', in addition to 51 original short cartoons by a group of creators including the first films by creators like Butch Hartman, Rob Renzetti, Tim Biskup, Larry Huber, Pat Ventura,

Seth MacFarlane Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, comedian, and singer. He is the creator and star of the television series '' Family Guy'' (since 1999) and '' The Orville'' (since 2017), and co-creat ...

, and Carlos Ramos. ''Oh Yeah! Cartoons'' was based on Seibert's ''

'' series of shorts from Hanna-Barbera Cartoons and

, which brought Hanna-Barbera its first hit series in 10 years, ''

Dexter's Laboratory ''Dexter's Laboratory'' is an American animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. It follows Dexter, a short, enthusiastic boy-genius with a hi ...

'', ''

Johnny Bravo ''Johnny Bravo'' is an American animated comedy television series created by Van Partible for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. It is the second of the network's Cartoon Cartoons, which aired fr ...

'', ''

Cow and Chicken ''Cow and Chicken'' is an American animated comedy television series created by David Feiss for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. It is the third of the network's Cartoon Cartoons. It follows the ...

'', '' I Am Weasel'', ''

The Powerpuff Girls ''The Powerpuff Girls'' is an American superhero animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera (later Cartoon Network Studios) for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Telev ...

'', and '' Courage the Cowardly Dog''. Frederator has produced a total of 16 television series, and over 200 miniseries, including webisodes. , the company was in a producing partnership with

Sony Pictures Entertainment Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...

, and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

. In 2002, Frederator created a joint venture for preschoolers named Bolder Media with producer Susan Miller's Mixed Media Group, Inc. and produced their first preschool series created by Bob Boyle for Nick Jr., '' Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!''. Frederator Studios created a

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

and competition '' The Nicktoons Film Festival'' (now known as the ''Nicktoons Network Animation Festival'') for the

Nicktoons Network Nicktoons (formerly Nicktoons Network) is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Media Networks. The channel is geared towards children aged 7 to 11, and broadcasts reruns of original animated series from sister network Nickelo ...

, which debuted October 24, 2004. In 2004,

David Karp David Karp (born July 6, 1986) is an American webmaster, entrepreneur, and blogger, best known as the founder and former CEO of the short-form blogging platform Tumblr. Karp began his career, without having received a high school diploma, as ...

interned at Frederator Studios at its first

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

location, and built their first blogging platform. In 2007, he launched

Tumblr Tumblr (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to ...

from a rented desk at Frederator Studios'

Park Avenue South Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington A ...

offices, with chief engineer Marco Arment. Seibert was one of Tumblr's first bloggers. On November 1, 2005, Frederator launched what it called "the first cartoon podcast."Welcome.
''Channel Frederator Blog''. October 25, 2005. Named Channel Frederator by

(who also structured and edited the initial episodes), this weekly animation network features submitted films from around the world, and quickly became one of the top video podcasts on Apple Inc.'s

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

. In quick succession, The Wubbcast was launched for pre-schoolers in January 2006, and ''ReFrederator'' featuring vintage public domain cartoons in April 2006. Channel Frederator became the model for Seibert's media company Next New Networks and reaches almost 4,000,000 video views monthly. On June 25, 2007 ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' article announced the studio had formed

Frederator Films Frederator Studios is an American animation television production studio which is a division of Frederator Networks, Inc. It was founded by Fred Seibert in 1997 with its first series launching in 1998. (Seibert resigned from Frederator in Augus ...

, dedicated to creating animated feature films budgeted under $20 million.McNary, Dave
Toon trio starts Frederator
''Variety''. Mon, Jun. 25, 2007. Frederator's first feature is set up at

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

, co-produced with J. J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions. They have also set up their first two animated features in a first look production arrangement for

Sony Pictures Animation 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's films are distributed worldwide by So ...

. The studio produced its first original internet cartoons with independent animator Dan Meth. ''The Meth Minute 39'' launched on September 5, 2007, featuring 39 of Meth's original character shorts. (The first cartoon was "Internet People," a video on the viral video sites

and MySpaceTV that featured some popular

Internet meme An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...

s and internet people.) A spin-off, ''Nite Fite'', debuted in October 2008. These series have totaled over 35,000,000 video views to date. '' Random! Cartoons'', the latest Frederator series of short cartoon series, began airing on Nicktoons in 2009; it spawned two TV series, '' Fanboy & Chum Chum'' and ''

Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...

'' (the first Frederator production not for

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

and the first and only series made for

), as well as the web series, '' Bravest Warriors''.

2012–present

Frederator Studios became a division of parent Frederator Networks when founder Fred Seibert announced the company's new YouTube funded channel and adult production label,

Cartoon Hangover Cartoon Hangover is a Frederator internet television channel and adult animation division, part of the YouTube Original Channel Initiative, launched in February 2012. Frederator produced two animated series exclusively for the Internet: '' Brave ...

in February 2012 and 18 months later started the Channel Frederator Network, a multi-channel network(MCN) dedicated to helping individual YouTube animation creators distribute and monetize their owned and operated channels. At launch, Frederator produced three animated series for Cartoon Hangover: '' Bravest Warriors'', created by

Pendleton Ward Ward Taylor Pendleton Johnston (born September 23, 1982), known professionally as Pendleton Ward or simply Pen Ward, is an American animator, screenwriter, producer, director, and voice actor who has worked for Cartoon Network Studios, Frederat ...

; '' SuperFuckers'', created by James Kochalka; and '' Too Cool! Cartoons'', an incubator featuring content from different animators. ''Bravest Warriors'' premiered on November 8, 2012 and ''SuperFuckers'' premiered on November 30, 2012. In July 2013 as part of ''Too Cool! Cartoons'' Cartoon Hangover premiered the first part of the 10-minute short film, '' Bee and PuppyCat'' created by Natasha Allegri. Due to its popularity, in November 2013 Frederator launched a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

to fund a first season of the series, which was successful and raised $872,133 toward more episodes of the show. The project was the most funded animation and web series Kickstarter at the conclusion, and the fourth most-funded Film/Video project. In 2013, Frederator launched a digital-only ebook company, Frederator Books. Frederator Books published its first title, "The Lieography of Babe Ruth" in March 2013. In 2014, Frederator announced the launch of The Channel Frederator Network, a Multi Channel Network (MCN) of independently owned animation channels on YouTube. Since its start, Channel Frederator Network has generated more than one billion views, and averages more than 30 million views a month, across its network of more than 200 channels. Some of its leading channels are FilmCow (just over 1 million subscribers),

(over 1 million subscribers), and ''

Simon's Cat ''Simon's Cat'' is a British animated web cartoon and book series written by Simon Tofield. It features a hungry cat who uses various tactics to get his owner to feed him. In January 2009, it was announced that ''Simon's Cat'' would be publi ...

'' (over 2,800,000 subscribers), which is

's #2 animated channel. Once part of the network, Frederator handles all advertising and distribution for its channels on YouTube, promoting the show and its licensed merchandise. As of 2016, Mexican animation studio Ánima Estudios and Frederator Studios have launched a new

network, called Átomo Network, focusing on Spanish-language content. In December 2016, Wow Unlimited Media, Inc. acquired Frederator Networks. In August 2020, it was announced Fred Seibert would resign as CEO of Frederator Studios and Michael Hirsh would take over.

Productions

Television series

For

: * '' Oh Yeah! Cartoons'' (1998–2001) (co-produced with

) * ''

'' (2001–2017) (co-produced with Nickelodeon Animation Studio and

Billionfold Inc. Elmer Earl "Butch" Hartman IV (born January 10, 1965) is an American animator, director, producer, writer, and voice actor. He is most known for creating the Nickelodeon series ''The Fairly OddParents'', '' Danny Phantom'', ''T.U.F.F. Puppy'', ...

for seasons 6–10) * ''

'' (2002–2008) (co-produced with Nickelodeon Animation Studio) * '' My Life as a Teenage Robot'' (2003–2009) (co-produced with Nickelodeon Animation Studio) * '' Fanboy & Chum Chum'' (2009–2014) (co-produced with Nickelodeon Animation Studio) For Nick Jr.: * '' Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!'' (2006–2010) (co-produced with

Film Roman Film Roman, LLC is an American independent animation studio currently based in Woodland Hills, California and formerly in Burbank. It was previously owned by Starz Inc., which is now a division of Lionsgate, and later by Waterman Entertainm ...

and Starz Media; produced under Bolder Media) For Nicktoons: * ''

Nicktoons Film Festival The Nicktoons Film Festival (also known as the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival) was an annual event that was created by producer Fred Seibert and produced for its first three years by his Frederator Studios. The festival featured a selectio ...

'' (2004–2009) (co-produced with Nickelodeon Animation Studio) * '' Random! Cartoons'' (2008–2009) (co-produced with Nickelodeon Animation Studio) * '' Ape Escape'' (2009) (co-produced with Hawaii Film Partners, Project 51 Productions and Showcase Entertainment) For

: *''

'' (2010–2018) (co-produced with

Cartoon Network Studios Cartoon Network Studios is an American animation studio owned by the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. The studio is the production arm of Cartoon Network, and started operating ...

) For

Teletoon Teletoon (stylized as TELETOON) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Teletoon Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. Its name is a portmanteau of "television" and "cartoon". The channel primarily broadcasts an ...

: *'' Bravest Warriors'' (2017–2018) (co-produced with

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 ...

) For

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

: *''

Castlevania ''Castlevania'' (), known in Japan as is a gothic horror action-adventure video game series and media franchise about Dracula, created and developed by Konami. It has been released on various platforms, from early systems to modern consoles, ...

'' (2017–2021) (co-produced with

Powerhouse Animation Studios Powerhouse Animation Studios, Inc. is an American animation studio based in Austin, Texas. It was founded in April 2001 with a subsidiary called Powerhouse Animation LLC, established in summer of 2014. The company develops and produces traditiona ...

, Shankar Animation and Project 51 Productions) *'' Bee and PuppyCat: Lazy in Space'' (2022–present) (co-produced with OLM, Inc.) For

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Ne ...

: *'' Adventure Time: Distant Lands'' (2020–2021) (co-produced with Cartoon Network Studios) *'' Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake'' (TBA) (co-produced with Cartoon Network Studios)

Online series

Channel Frederator: * ''The Meth Minute 39'' (September 5, 2007) * ''Cartoon Conspiracy'' (April 24, 2014)

: * '' Bravest Warriors'' (November 8, 2012) * '' SuperFuckers'' (November 30, 2012) * '' Too Cool! Cartoons'' (April 4, 2013) * '' Bee and PuppyCat'' (November 6, 2014) * '' GO! Cartoons'' (November 7, 2017)

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

: * ''

Costume Quest ''Costume Quest'' is a party-based role-playing video game developed by Double Fine Productions and published by THQ on October 19, 2010. In the game, the player controls a child who is trick-or-treating with their twin on Halloween night when th ...

'' (2019)

''Too Cool! Cartoons''

* ''Our New Electrical Morals'' created by Mike Rosenthal (April 4, 2013) * ''Rocket Dog'' created by Mel Roach (May 2, 2013) * ''Ace Discovery'' created by Tom Gran and Martin Woolley (May 30, 2013) * '' Bee and PuppyCat'' (Part 1 July 11, 2013, Part 2 August 7, 2013) * ''Doctor Lollipop'' created by Kelly Martin (September 12, 2013) * ''Chainsaw Richard'' created by Chris Reineman (July 17, 2014) * '' Dead End'' (June 26, 2014) * ''Manly'' created by Jesse Moynihan and Justin Moynihan (July 31, 2014) * ''SpaceBear'' created by Andy Helms (August 14, 2014) * ''Blackford Manor'' created by Jiwook Kim (August 28, 2014)

''GO! Cartoons''

'' GO! Cartoons'' premiered on November 7, 2017. Frederator is partnering with

for the series. * ''The Summoning'' created by Elyse Castro (November 7, 2017) * ''Boots'': created by Alison & David Cowles (November 21, 2017) * ''City Dwellers'': created by Grant Kolton (December 5, 2017) * ''Rachel and Her Grandfather Control the Island'': created by Jonni Phillips (December 19, 2017) * ''Nebulous'': created by Brent Sievers (January 2, 2018) * ''Welcome to Doozy'': created by Kate Tsang & Jennifer Cho Suhr (January 16, 2018) * ''Both Brothers'': created by Juris Lisovs (January 30, 2018) * ''The Bagheads'': created by D.R. Beitzel (February 13, 2018) * ''Tyler & Co.'': created by Gabe Janisz (February 27, 2018) * ''Kid Arthur'': created by Joel Veitch & David Shute (March 13, 2018) * ''Thrashin’ USA'': created by Rory Panagotopulos (March 27, 2018) * ''Pottyhorse'': created by Damien Barchowsky & Jeff Drake (April 17, 2018)

Television films

* '' Globehunters: An Around the World in 80 Days Adventure'' (2002, produced in 2000, co-production with

) * '' The Electric Piper'' (2003, produced in 2000) * ''Abra-Catastrophe!'' (2003) * ''Channel Chasers'' (2004) * '' The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour'' (2004/2006, co-production with O Entertainment and DNA Productions, the crossover three-part special with '' The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius'') * '' Schools Out!: The Musical'' (2005) * '' Escape from Cluster Prime'' (2005) * '' Wubbzy's Big Movie!'' (2008) * ''

Wubb Idol ''Wubb Idol'' is an American animated musical comedy television special based on this animated series ''Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!''; it is the series' second film overall, after 2008's '' Wubbzy's Big Movie!'', and consists of the episodes "Wubb Girlz Rul ...

'' (2009) * '' Wishology'' (2009) * '' A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner!'' (2011, co-production with Billionfold, Inc. and Pacific Bay Entertainment) * ''

A Fairly Odd Christmas ''A Fairly Odd Christmas'' (also known as ''A Fairly Odd Movie 2'') is a 2012 live-action/animated Christmas comedy television film. It is the sequel to the 2011 live-action TV film '' A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner!'' and the second ...

'' (2012, co-production with Billionfold, Inc. and Pacific Bay Entertainment) * ''

A Fairly Odd Summer ''A Fairly Odd Summer'' (also known as ''A Fairly Odd Movie 3'' or ''A Fairly Odd Paradise'') is a 2014 live-action/animated comedy television film. It is the sequel to '' A Fairly Odd Christmas'' and was released on August 2, 2014. It is the t ...

'' (2014, co-production with Billionfold, Inc. and Pacific Bay Entertainment)

References

External links

*
Frederator @ IMDB
* "Fred Seibert foresees 'next golden age of animation' on Internet

interview (2013) * "The Story of Kids TV Mastermind Fred Seibert: Cultivating a whole new generation of weird in animation
Adweek
interview (2013) {{Animation industry in the United States American animation studios Adult animation studios Television production companies of the United States Entertainment companies based in New York City American companies established in 1997 Entertainment companies established in 1997 Mass media companies established in 1997 Wow Unlimited Media 2016 mergers and acquisitions