Soup2Nuts (sometimes referred to as Soup2Nuts Studios, and formerly part of Tom Snyder Productions) was 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 ...

founded by

Tom Snyder Thomas James Snyder (May 12, 1936 – July 29, 2007) was an American television personality, news anchor, and radio personality best known for his late night talk shows '' Tomorrow'', on the NBC television network in the 1970s and 1980s, and '' ...

. The studio is known for its animated comedy series, its use of

Squigglevision Squigglevision is a method of computer animation in which the outlines of shapes are made to wiggle and undulate, emulating the effect of sketchily hand-drawn animation. Tom Snyder of Tom Snyder Productions invented the technique, which his anim ...

, a technique of

animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

that reuses frames to make the animation look more kinetic, and for its style of

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

voice acting Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

History

Tom Snyder, a teacher at Shady Hill School, began designing computer programs in the 1970s to enhance his 4th to 8th grade classes' learning environments. In 1980, Jere Dykema, the parent of one of Snyder's Shady Hill students, gave Snyder $30,000 to establish Computer Learning Connection (later renamed Tom Snyder Productions) for a 30% equity stake. Dykema also loaned CLC $100,000, which they paid back. Tom Snyder Productions created and produced its first TV show, ''

Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist ''Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist'' is an American adult animated sitcom that ran on Comedy Central from May 28, 1995 to February 13, 2002. The series starred the voice talents of Jonathan Katz, H. Jon Benjamin, and Laura Silverman. The show w ...

'' in 1995 for

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

. On February 23, 1996, the company announced it would be acquired by

Torstar Corporation Torstar Corporation is a Canadian mass media company which primarily publishes daily and community newspapers. In addition to the ''Toronto Star'', its flagship and namesake, Torstar also publishes daily newspapers in Hamilton, Peterborough, Ni ...

for more than $10 million. Torstar would provide Tom Snyder with additional cash to expand its education and television operations. Later, the company created and produced ''Home Movies'' which aired originally on

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...

, but after cancellation, continued on

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...

and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...

. In 2001, Snyder's television division was renamed Soup2Nuts, named after the company's involvement in the production of programs from beginning to end. Soup2Nuts also produced shorts, book adaptations, commercials, and interactive online series. Tom Snyder Productions and Soup2Nuts were purchased by

Scholastic Corporation Scholastic Corporation () is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, parents, and children. Products are distributed via retail and on ...

on December 21, 2001.

WGBH WGBH may refer to: * WGBH Educational Foundation, based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States ** WGBH (FM), a public radio station at Boston, Massachusetts on 89.7 MHz owned by the WGBH Educational Foundation ** WGBH-TV WGBH-TV (channel 2), ...

originally commissioned Soup2Nuts to provide animation services for their children's series

Peep and the Big Wide World ''Peep and the Big Wide World'' (''PATBWW'') is an animated children's television series created by Danish-Canadian animator Kaj Pindal. It revolves around the lives of Peep, Chirp, and Quack, as viewers discover, investigate, and explore the w ...

in 2003 but for unknown reasons, animation duties were given to 9 Story Enterainment instead. In 2006, Soup2Nuts began work on ''

WordGirl ''WordGirl'' (stylized as ''W✪RD GIRL'') is an American children's Flash animated superhero television series produced by the Soup2Nuts animation unit of Scholastic Entertainment for PBS Kids. The series began as a series of shorts entitled ' ...

'', A PBS Kids series produced by Scholastic. It had won numerous national awards including Best Direction for an Animated Children's Program and Outstanding Writing in Animation. On March 13, 2015,

Scholastic Inc. Scholastic Corporation () is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, parents, and children. Products are distributed via retail and on ...

announced they were closing the studio. According to Kyle Good, the senior vice president of corporate communications for Scholastic, the decision was made to shut down Soup2Nuts as part of an overall restructuring of the parent company. Good commented, "We are restructuring that part of the business closer to our core businesses which are children's publishing and education. We have other options to continue television programming." Scholastic had cut the number of employees to just nine people earlier in 2015. ''

Astroblast! ''Astroblast!'' is an American children's animated television series created by Bob Kolar for Sprout. The show is co-produced by Scholastic Media, Soup2Nuts and debuted on Sprout on July 12, 2014. It began airing on NBC Kids, the Saturday m ...

'' was Soup2Nuts' final production. Scholastic closed Tom Snyder Productions on December 31, 2015; the company's ''

FASTT Math FASTT Math (acronym for ''Fluency and Automaticity through Systematic Teaching Technology'') is a mathematic educational software developed and released by Scholastic Corporation in 2005. Design The software comes in two variations one which is us ...

'' product was acquired by

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults. The company is based in the Financial Dist ...

Productions

Video games

*''

Personk ''Personk'' is a 1978 video game, and the debut work of Tom Snyder, who would later release many educational series under Tom Snyder Productions. Development Snyder is an educator and video game developer. Snyder, who had a master's degree in tea ...

'' (1978) *''

The Search Series ''The Search Series'' is a five-game series of educational video games by Tom Snyder Productions and published by McGraw-Hill Education in 1980. It runs on either Apple II or TRS-80 Models I and III. Development In the late 1970s, Snyder had ...

'' (1980) *''

Snooper Troops ''Snooper Troops'' is a series of two 1982 adventure/educational video games developed by Spinnaker Software and published by Computer Learning Connection. They were released for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64 and DOS. The first case ...

: Case #1: The Granite Point Ghost'' (1982) *''

: Case #2: The Case of the Disappearing Dolphin'' (1982) *'' In Search of the Most Amazing Thing'' (1983) *''

Agent USA ''Agent USA'' is a 1984 adventure game designed to teach children spelling, US geography, time zones, and state capitals. It was developed by Tom Snyder Productions and published by Scholastic Corporation, Scholastic for the Apple II series, Appl ...

'' (1984) *'' American Challenge: A Sailing Simulation'' (1986) *''

Sub Mission Soup2Nuts (sometimes referred to as Soup2Nuts Studios, and formerly part of Tom Snyder Productions) was an American animation studio founded by Tom Snyder. The studio is known for its animated comedy series, its use of Squigglevision, a techniqu ...

'' (1986) *''Gamma Force in Pit of a Thousand Screams'' (1988) *''Lane Mastodon vs. the Blubbermen'' (1988) *'' Decisions, Decisions'' (1988) *''ZorkQuest: Assault on Egreth Castle'' (1988) *''ZorkQuest: The Crystal of Doom'' (1989) *'' Fizz & Martina'' (1992) *'' Math Mysteries'' (2000) *'' Science Seekers'' (2000)

Animation

References

External links

Official website
* {{Animation industry in the United States 1980 establishments in Massachusetts 2015 disestablishments in Massachusetts American animation studios American companies disestablished in 2015 American companies established in 1980 Defunct companies based in Massachusetts Defunct film and television production companies of the United States Entertainment companies based in Massachusetts Mass media companies disestablished in 2015 Mass media companies established in 1980 Scholastic Corporation Squigglevision