Curious Pictures (stylized as curious?ictures) was an American animation studio and multi-media company that was primarily based 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 ...

that produced

television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

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

, and

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...

s. The company is known for its flagship work such as the preschool television series '' A Little Curious'' for HBO, ''

Little Einsteins ''Little Einsteins'' is an American animated children's television series based on the Baby Einstein line of videos. It was produced by The Baby Einstein Company (which, at the time, was owned by Disney) and animated by Curious Pictures. The s ...

'' for

Playhouse Disney Playhouse Disney was a brand of programming blocks and international cable and satellite television channels that were owned by the Disney Channels Worldwide unit (now Disney Branded Television) of The Walt Disney Company's Disney–ABC Tel ...

, and ''

Team Umizoomi ''Team Umizoomi'' is an American live-action and computer-animated musical children's television series with an emphasis on mathematical concepts, such as counting, sequences, shapes, patterns, measurements, and equalities. Neither imperial no ...

'' 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 ...

. Other well-known works include ''

Sheep in the Big City ''Sheep in the Big City'' is an American animated television series created by Mo Willems for Cartoon Network, and the 9th of the network's Cartoon Cartoons. The series' pilot first premiered as part of Cartoon Network's "Cartoon Cartoon Summer" ...

'' and '' Codename: Kids Next Door'' for

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, ...

History

After working at Stowmar Enterprises, Steve Oakes and Peter Rosentheal co-founded Broadcast Arts in Washington, D.C. in 1981. One of the company's first assignment was a series of network IDs for

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

, which had set the standard for the network's irreverent humour. This success established the fledgling studio and brought them projects for

WPLJ WPLJ (95.5 FM) is a non-commercial Christian adult contemporary music radio station licensed to New York City. It is owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF) and broadcasts EMF's flagship programming service, K-Love. WPLJ's transmi ...

, Showtime,

Cinemax Cinemax is an American pay television, cable, and satellite television network owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Developed as a companion "maxi-pay" service complementing the offerings shown on parent ...

, ABC, and more. Broadcast Arts moved to

in 1985. Broadcast Arts produced hundreds of commercials, constantly weaving together multiple animation and special effects techniques for various projects, as well as the animation for the first season of ''

Pee-wee's Playhouse ''Pee-wee's Playhouse'' is an American television series starring Paul Reubens as the childlike Pee-wee Herman that ran from 1986 to 1990 on Saturday mornings on CBS, and airing in reruns until July 1991. The show was developed from Reubens's po ...

''. Broadcast Arts changed its name to Curious Pictures in 1993. Having worked together for several years, the team of five partners, Susan Holden, Steve Oakes, David Starr, Peter Rosentheal, and Richard Winkler, continued producing television commercials, with the intention of expanding to television programming, toy production, and other ventures. In 1994, the company expanded into a 25,000 square-foot studio in

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...

, fully equipping it with a cel and

computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images ( moving images), while computer animation re ...

department, a shooting stage with two motion control camera systems, a prop and model shop, and digital editing rooms. From 1995 to 1999, an office was maintained in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

to support the company's expansion into animated television series. In 1998, '' A Little Curious'' for HBO became the company's first half-hour series, followed soon after by another project, ''

'', for

. Other television animated prod included '' Codename: Kids Next Door'', created by

Mr. Warburton Thomas Edward "Tom" Warburton (born July 23, 1968), better known as Mr. Warburton, is an American animator, producer, writer, and character designer. He is best known for creating the animated television series '' Codename: Kids Next Door''. He ...

, for Cartoon Network, ''

'' for the

, and the last show is ''

'' for Nickelodeon.

Filmography

Television series

*''MaxTrax'' (bumpers; 1984) *''

The George Michael Sports Machine ''The George Michael Sports Machine'' is a syndicated, sports-related American television program which was launched in 1984. The show aired weekends, usually on Sunday nights, and originated from WRC-TV in Washington, D.C., one of NBC's owned and ...

'' (main titles; 1984) *''

'' (season 1 only; 1986) *'' The Off-Beats'' (1996–1999) *''

Elmo's World ''Elmo's World'' is a segment that is shown at the end of the long-running American children's television program ''Sesame Street'' which premiered on November 16th, 1998, as part of a broader structural change to the show. It originally lasted ...

'' (season 1 only; 1999) *'' A Little Curious'' (1999–2000) *''

The Cartoon Cartoon Show ''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 the ...

'' ("Prickles the Cactus" and "

") (2000) *''Sheep in the Big City'' (2000–2002) *'' Saturday TV Funhouse'' ("The Narrator That Ruined Christmas") (2001) *'' Cyberchase'' (original main character designs; 2002–present) *'' Hey Joel'' (2003) *'' Codename: Kids Next Door'' (2002–2008) *'' The Wrong Coast'' (2004) *''Sunday Pants'' ("Freshman Clowns") (2005) *''

'' (2005–2009) *''

Bored to Death ''Bored to Death'' is an American comedy series that ran on HBO from September 20, 2009, to November 28, 2011. The show was created by author Jonathan Ames, and stars Jason Schwartzman as a fictional Jonathan Ames—a writer based in Brooklyn, N ...

'' (main titles; 2009–2011) *''

'' (2010–2015) *''

NFL Rush Zone ''NFL Rush Zone'' is an American action-adventure animated television series. In the first season, the show centers on an 11-year-old football fan named Ish, who learns he must protect shards of a power source called "The Core", hidden at 32 NF ...

'' (2010–2011) *'' Eureka'' ("Do You See What I See") (2011) *'' A Day in the Life'' (opening animation; 2011)

Films and specials

*'' Star Trek: The Motion Picture'' (graphic display animation; 1979) *''I Go Pogo'' (1980) *''

Who's That Girl Who's That Girl? may refer to: Film and television * ''Who's That Girl'' (1987 film), an American film starring Madonna * ''Who's That Girl'', a Philippine film of 2011 * "Who's That Girl?", an episode of ''Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!'' Music * Who's Tha ...

'' (title sequence; 1987) *''Vandemonium Plus'' (1987) *''Norman's Corner'' (1987) *''Bite & Smile'' (1989) *''The Jackie Bison Show'' (1990) *''Smoke Alarm'' (1996) *'' An Off-Beats Valentine's'' (1999) *'' Cyberchase: The Poddleville Case'' (1999) *'' My Scene: Jammin' in Jamaica'' (2004) *'' My Scene: Masquerade Madness'' (2004) *'' My Scene Goes Hollywood: The Movie'' (2005) *''

PollyWorld ''PollyWorld'' is a 2006 animated comedy film from Universal Studios, based on the Polly Pocket toy franchise. It is the third Polly Pocket movie. It is preceded by ''Lunar Eclipse'' and '' 2 Cool at the Pocket Plaza''. This is the only feature- ...

'' (2006) *''

The Barbie Diaries ''The Barbie Diaries'' is a 2006 computer-animated motion capture teen drama film directed by Eric Fogel and written by Elise Allen and Laura McCreary which premiered on Nickelodeon on 30 April and on DVD on May 9. The 8th entry in the Barbie ...

'' (2006) *'' The Buddy Movie: Into The Planet'' (2006) *'' Codename: Kids Next Door: Operation Z.E.R.O.'' (2006) *'' Chicago 10'' (animation; 2007) *'' The Grim Adventures of the KND'' (co-produced with Cartoon Network Studios; 2007) *'' Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?'' (graphic design; 2008) *''

August August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...

'' (additional visual effects; 2008) *'' Codename: Kids Next Door: Operation: I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S.'' (2008) *''

The Love Guru ''The Love Guru'' is a 2008 American romantic comedy film directed by Marco Schnabel in his directorial debut, written and produced by Mike Myers, and starring Myers, Jessica Alba, Justin Timberlake, Romany Malco, Meagan Good, Verne Troyer, ...

'' (graphics and visual effects; 2008) *'' Black Swan'' (motion capture; 2010) *''

It's Kind of a Funny Story ''It's Kind of a Funny Story'' is a 2006 novel by American author Ned Vizzini. The book was inspired by Vizzini's own brief hospitalization for depression in November 2004. Ned Vizzini later died by suicide on December 19, 2013. The book recei ...

'' (visual effects; 2010)

Video games

* '' Rock Band'' (motion capture and animation; 2007) * '' Rock Band 2'' (motion capture and animation; 2008) * '' Grey's Anatomy: The Video Game'' (2009) * '' The Beatles: Rock Band'' (2009) * '' Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony'' (2009) * ''

Red Dead Redemption ''Red Dead Redemption'' is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games. A spiritual successor to 2004's '' Red Dead Revolver'', it is the second game in the '' Red Dead'' series. ''Red Dead Rede ...

'' (2010) * '' Green Day: Rock Band'' (2010) * ''

Dance Central ''Dance Central'' is a music rhythm game series developed by Harmonix, creators of the ''Guitar Hero'' and '' Rock Band'' franchises. Series Dance Central (2010) ''Dance Central'' was released exclusively for the Xbox 360 and was a launch tit ...

'' (2010) * '' Homefront'' (2011) * ''

Dance Central 2 ''Dance Central 2'' is a music rhythm game for the Xbox 360 and is the sequel to ''Dance Central''. It was released in October 2011. Plot Dr. Tan is monitoring the status of the area in The Airship, laughing while doing so. The player first me ...

'' (2011) * ''Leela'' (2011)

Shorts

Don't Answer Me "Don't Answer Me" is a 1984 song by the Alan Parsons Project from the album '' Ammonia Avenue''. It reached number 15 on the ''Billboard'' charts in the United States and was the final ''Billboard'' Top 20 hit for the group. It also reached numb ...

" (music video; 1984) *''Foil Man'' (assisting only; 1995) *'' The Louie and Louie Show'' (1996) *''Cartoon Network Shorties'' (1998) *''Life'' (special thanks; 1999) {{Authority control American animation studios Companies based in New York (state) Mass media companies established in 1978 Mass media companies disestablished in 2015 Defunct film and television production companies of the United States