Powerhouse Animation Studios, Inc. 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 o ...

based in Austin,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. It was founded in April 2001 with a subsidiary called Powerhouse Animation LLC, established in summer of 2014. The company develops and produces traditional

2D animation Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until computer animation. Proc ...

motion comics A motion comic (or animated comic) is a form of animation combining elements of print comic books and animation. Individual panels are expanded into a full shot while sound effects, voice acting, and animation are added to the original artwork. Tex ...

, motion graphics, art assets, digital paint, illustration for television series, motion pictures, video game cinemas, commercials, advertising campaigns, educational properties, and entertainment companies.

History

Headquartered in Austin, TX, Powerhouse Animation was founded on April 1, 2001, as a privately held animation service studio by Frank Gabriel, Brad Graeber, and Bruce Tinnin. Powerhouse Animation's name is partially inspired by Raymond Scott's song " Powerhouse," which was often placed in scores that Carl Stalling wrote for

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

shorts and has been featured in numerous animated cartoons. Powerhouse's motto is: "To better humanity through the miracle of traditional animation and space-age multimedia technology; promote truth, justice, and capitalism through cartoons." In the fall of 2014, Powerhouse Animation Studios, Inc. opened its first satellite office in Burbank, CA. Powerhouse Animation LLC, a division of parent company Powerhouse, joined The Animation Guild and became a Signatory of

IATSE The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada, known as simply the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE or ...

(International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees) in May 2015. In 2021, Powerhouse signed a

first-look deal A first-look deal is any contract containing a clause granting, usually for a fee or other consideration that covers a specified period of time, a pre-emption right, right of first refusal, or right of first offer (also called a right of first neg ...

with

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 fi ...

to produce new animated shows for them.

Projects

In 2002, Powerhouse produced the short "Heroes" which parodied the film ''

Clerks A clerk is someone who works in an office. A retail clerk works in a store. Office holder Clerk(s) may also refer to a person who holds an office, most commonly in a local unit of government, or a court. *Barristers' clerk, a manager and adminis ...

'' as well as

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

characters. After seeing the short,

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film '' Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, ...

, the director of ''Clerks'', contacted the firm to produce an unfinished commercial from ''

Dogma Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Isla ...

''. After producing the short, Smith hired Powerhouse to create an arcade machine that featured a custom video game. The game was given as a

wrap party Wrap, as used in the phrase "That's a wrap" has been used by directors since the early days of the film industry to signal the end of filming. Since the 1920s, filmmakers have been using this phrase when principal photography is concluded and the ...

present, to

Ben Affleck Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Volpi Cup. Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS education ...

and Jennifer Lopez for their work on '' Jersey Girl''. In the game, the main character is Lopez trying to rescue Affleck from an unknown villain and a band of ninjas. The player fights several bosses including a robotic

Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Ameri ...

and finally Smith himself. In 2003, the firm created a 35mm test for a feature film based on '' Clerks: The Animated Series'' for Smith. They animated '' Clerks: The Lost Scene'' which was included on the ''Clerks X: 10th Anniversary'' DVD. As writer-director Smith explains in the introduction to the scene on the DVD, it had originally been written for ''Clerks'', but was not filmed due to budgetary restraints. The short was named the "best bonus feature of 2004" by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. In 2004, they animated the "Mr. Mom" video for the band Lonestar. In 2008, they worked with

Hothead Games Hothead Games Inc. is an independent Canadian video game developer based in Vancouver. History The studio was founded in 2006 by Steve Bocska, Vlad Ceraldi and Joel DeYoung, all three of which were formerly employed by Radical Entertainment. ...

to produce mini-games and cinemas for the video game '' Penny Arcade: On the Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness''. In 2010, they created in-game animation and cinemas for the game '' RISK: Factions'' produced by

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...

and

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of K ...

. The firm produces animated versions of many syndicated comic strips including ''

Dilbert ''Dilbert'' is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Scott Adams, first published on April 16, 1989. It is known for its satirical office humor about a white-collar, micromanaged office with engineer Dilbert as the title charact ...

'', '' Pearls before Swine'', ''

Cul de Sac A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac (, from French for 'bag-bottom'), no through road or no exit road, is a street with only one inlet or outlet. The term "dead end" is understood in all varieties of English, but the official terminology ...

'', ''

Lio Vanda Maria Ribeiro Furtado Tavares de Vasconcelos (born 17 June 1962), known professionally as Lio, is a Portuguese-Belgian singer and actress who was a pop icon in France and Belgium during the 1980s. Life and career Vanda Maria Ribeiro Furt ...

'', '' Pooch Café'' and ''

Over the Hedge ''Over the Hedge'' is an American syndicated comic strip, written by Michael Fry, and drawn by T. Lewis. It tells the story of a raccoon, a turtle, a squirrel, and their friends, who come to terms with their woodlands being taken over, by su ...

'' produced by RingTales. Powerhouse has animated over 300 ''Dilbert'' shorts. It has produced animated content for educational companies including TED-Ed, Brain Chase, Compass Learning, Ignite! Learning and the National Fire Protection Association. It produces animated content for websites, podcasts and other internet companies including several segments of the "B.S. Report Animated Archives" and "Jalen Rose Story Time" for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

's ''

Grantland ''Grantland'' was a sports and pop-culture blog owned and operated by ESPN. The blog was started in 2011 by veteran writer and sports journalist Bill Simmons, who remained as editor-in-chief until May 2015. ''Grantland'' was named after famed e ...

'', and episodes of Kevin Smith's ''Spoilers'' series for

SModcast ''SModcast'' is a podcast featuring filmmaker Kevin Smith. The show was initially co-hosted with Smith's long-time producing partner Scott Mosier, although over the years, Mosier's appearances have been sporadic with a series of guest hosts tak ...

and Hulu. It has created animated video games cinematics for AAA console titles and

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

games such as ''

Mortal Kombat X ''Mortal Kombat X'' is a 2015 fighting video game developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is the tenth main installment in the ''Mortal Kom ...

'', ''

Epic Mickey ''Epic Mickey'' is a 2010 platform game for the Wii developed by Junction Point Studios and published by Disney Interactive Studios, except in Japan, where it was published by Nintendo. The game focuses on Mickey Mouse, who accidentally damag ...

'' and '' Epic Mickey 2'', ''

DC Universe Online ''DC Universe Online'' (''DCUO'') is a free-to-play action combat massively multiplayer online game set in the fictional universe of DC Comics. Developed by Dimensional Ink Games and co-published by Daybreak Game Company and WB Games, the game w ...

'', '' Darksiders 2'', ''

Starhawk Starhawk (born Miriam Simos on June 17, 1951) is an American feminist and author. She is known as a theorist of feminist Neopaganism and ecofeminism. In 2013, she was listed in Watkins' ''Mind Body Spirit'' magazine as one of the 100 Most Spir ...

'', ''

The Banner Saga ''The Banner Saga'' is a tactical role-playing video game developed by Stoic Studio and published by Versus Evil. It was released for personal computers and mobile phones in 2014, for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2016 and for Nintendo Switch in ...

'', '' W.A.R.P.'', '' Avengers Initiative'', ''

Grey Goo Gray goo (also spelled as grey goo) is a hypothetical global catastrophic scenario involving molecular nanotechnology in which out-of-control self-replicating machines consume all biomass on Earth while building many more of themselves, a sce ...

'', ''Disney's Hidden Worlds'', '' Man of Steel'' and others. In November 2013, Powerhouse worked with

Disney Interactive Disney Interactive is an American video game and internet company that oversaw various websites and interactive media owned by The Walt Disney Company. History 1995–1996: Formation and beginnings In December 1994, Disney announced that it wa ...

and

Disney Television Animation Disney Television Animation (DTVA), formerly known as Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation Group and Walt Disney Television Animation, is the television animation production arm of Disney Branded Television, a sub-division of the Disney G ...

with collaboration by language instruction company

Rosetta Stone The Rosetta Stone is a stele composed of granodiorite inscribed with three versions of a decree issued in Memphis, Egypt, in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle texts are in Ancien ...

to create a nine-episode season of '' It's a Small World: The Animated Series'', Based on the Disney Parks attraction, ''

It's a Small World "It's a Small World" is a water-based boat ride located in the Fantasyland area at various Disney theme parks worldwide, including Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California; Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida; Tokyo D ...

''. Powerhouse has produced animated advertising content for brands such as

Old Spice Old Spice is an American brand of male grooming products encompassing aftershaves, deodorants and antiperspirants, shampoos, body washes, and soaps. It is manufactured by Procter & Gamble. Old Spice was launched as Early American Old Spice by W ...

IAMS Iams () is an American brand of dog food and cat food manufactured by Spectrum Brands in Europe and Mars, Incorporated worldwide. The food is formulated for the puppy/kitten, adult and mature stages of life. Iams products are developed by nutr ...

, Disney Parks,

Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...

, Metlife,

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

Oreo Oreo () (stylized as OREO) is a brand of sandwich cookie consisting of two biscuits or cookie pieces with a sweet creme filling. It was introduced by Nabisco on March 6, 1912, and through a series of corporate acquisitions, mergers and split ...

, Mountain Dew, Ruffles,

GoDaddy.com GoDaddy Inc. is an American publicly traded Internet domain registrar and web hosting company headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, and incorporated in Delaware. , GoDaddy has more than 21 million customers and over 6,600 employees worldwide. The co ...

and many others. In 2015, they worked with Weiden + Kennedy to animate a segment for a Weight Watchers ad called "All You Can Eat" that aired during

Super Bowl XLIX Super Bowl XLIX was an American football game played to determine the champions of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2014 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots defeated the National Football Conf ...

. Powerhouse has produced animated music videos for

Lizzo Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo, is an American singer, rapper, and flutist. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas with her family when she was 10 years old. After college she ...

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart The Pains of Being Pure at Heart were an American indie pop band from New York City, formed in 2007. The band centered around founding member and principal songwriter Kip Berman (vocals, guitar). In the band's final iteration, Berman was joined ...

, Wale ft. French Montana,

A Sound of Thunder "A Sound of Thunder" is a science fiction short story by American writer Ray Bradbury, first published in ''Collier's'' magazine in the June 28, 1952, issue and later in Bradbury's collection '' The Golden Apples of the Sun'' in 1953. P ...

and Lonestar. The firm also develops original IPs and has optioned a series to a toy company. In 2015, the company wrote, created, designed and voiced a short series for Awesomeness/ DreamWorksTV called ''Advice Times with Grandpa Theo'' that can be seen on DreamWorksTV's

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 ...

page. In 2017, the firm worked on numerous cutscenes featured in the action-adventure game '' Agents of Mayhem''. From 2017 to 2021, Powerhouse Animation Studios worked on the

animated series, '' Castlevania'', written by

Warren Ellis Warren Girard Ellis (born 16 February 1968) is a British comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of several original comics series, including ''Transmetropolitan'' (1997–2002), ''Global Frequency'' ( ...

; produced by

Frederator Studios 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 Augu ...

and

Adi Shankar Aditya Shankar (born January 8, 1985) is an Indian-American film producer, screenwriter, film director, television program creator, television showrunner, and occasional actor. He is best known for ''Dredd'', '' Castlevania'', and his " Boot ...

. ''Castlevania'' aired July 7, 2017 on

. Powerhouse work on a

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

-based

anime-influenced animation Anime-influenced animation refers to non-Japanese works of animation that are similar to or inspired by anime. Generally, the term ''anime'' refers to a style of animation originating from Japan. As Japanese anime became increasingly popular, Wes ...

series titled ''

Blood of Zeus ''Blood of Zeus'', formerly known as ''Gods & Heroes'', is an American adult animated fantasy action streaming television series created and written by Charley and Vlas Parlapanides for Netflix. Produced by Powerhouse Animation Studios with the a ...

'' released on Netflix in March 2019. In August 2019, it was announced Powerhouse would be working on '' Masters of the Universe: Revelation'' for

. It will serve as a sequel series to the original ''

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' is an American animated television series produced by Filmation based on Mattel's toy line ''Masters of the Universe''. The show, often referred to as simply ''He-Man'', was one of the most popular anim ...

''. In late October 2019, "Heaven's Forest" was announced and will be set in an Indo-futuristic world, inspired from the Indian epic

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

. In late June 2021, the studio signed a first look deal with Netflix. On October 2, 2021, the studio worked with

OfflineTV OfflineTV is an online social entertainment group of content creators based in Los Angeles, California. They produce a wide range of content, from prank videos to vlogs to the housemates playing games together. The group maintains a large fol ...

to create an animated music video called "Break Out". On October 5, 2021, Powerhouse Animation worked with Sega to release a launch trailer for '' Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania''. On October 11, 2022, Mark Phillips of RDCWorld1 announced that their new animated show, Dark Lights, is being animated by Powerhouse Animation. On November 1, 2022, the ''

Sonic Frontiers is a 2022 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. As Sonic, the player explores the Starfall Islands to collect the Chaos Emeralds, after Sonic and his friends are separated when falling through a wormhole. ''Frontiers'' i ...

'' promotional short "Sonic Frontiers Prologue: Divergence" was released, featuring animation by Powerhouse Animation.

Commercials

* Disney Parks *

* Cartoon Network *

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 ...

* Disney Channel *

Disney Junior Disney Junior is an American pay television network owned by the Walt Disney Television (part of Disney General Entertainment Content) unit of The Walt Disney Company through Disney Branded Television. Aimed mainly at children two to seven y ...

* Metlife * Mountain Dew *

Qubo Qubo ( ; stylized as qubo) was an American television network for children between the ages of 5 and 14. Owned by Ion Media, it consisted of a 24-hour free-to-air television network often mentioned as the "Qubo channel" (available as a digital ...

Riddlin' Kids Riddlin' Kids (sometimes referred to as RK) was an American pop punk band from Austin, Texas, United States, and was made up of Clint Baker (vocals/guitar), Dustin Stroud (guitar/vocals), Mark Johnson (bass), and Dave Keel (drums). History 1999 ...

* Ruffles *

Disney Cruise Line Disney Cruise Line is a cruise line operation that is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The company was incorporated in 1996 as Magical Cruise Company Limited, through the first vessel, ''Disney Magic'' and is domiciled in London, Englan ...

Royal Caribbean International Royal Caribbean International (RCI), also formerly known as Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), is a cruise line brand founded in 1968 in Norway and organised as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group since 1997. Based in Miami, Flo ...

Carnival Cruise Line Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line with headquarters in Doral, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Its logo is a funnel shaped like a whale's tail, with a red, white, and blue color scheme. This ...

Video games

*'' Penny Arcade: On the Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness'' (2008–2013) *'' RISK: Factions'' (2010) *''

'' (2010) *''

'' (2011) *'' W.A.R.P.'' (2012) *''

'' (2012) *''

Darksiders II ''Darksiders II'' is an action role-playing hack and slash action-adventure video game developed by Vigil Games and published by THQ. It is the sequel to '' Darksiders'' and was released in August 2012 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xb ...

'' (2012) *'' Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two'' (2012) *''Disney's Hidden Worlds'' (2013) *''Dead Island: Retro Revenge'' (2016) *'' A King's Tale: Final Fantasy XV'' (2016) *''

'' (2014–2018) *'' Avengers Initiative'' (2014) *''

'' (2015) *''

'' (2015) *'' Agents of Mayhem'' (2017) *'' Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania'' (2021) *'' Sonic Origins'' (2022)

TV series

Adult animation

* '' Castlevania'' (2017–2021) * '' Seis Manos'' (2019) * ''

'' (2020–present) * '' Masters of the Universe: Revelation'' (2021–present)

Kids & family

* '' It's a Small World: The Animated Series'' (2013-2014) * ''Henry Danger Motion Comic'' (2015) * '' OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes'' (2017–2019) * ''

The Adventures of Kid Danger ''The Adventures of Kid Danger'' is an American animated comedy television series created by Dan Schneider that aired on Nickelodeon from January 15 to June 14, 2018. The series is based on ''Henry Danger'' and details the animated adventures o ...

'' (2018) * '' Epithet Erased'' (2019) * '' Santiago of the Seas'' (2020–present)

Upcoming

*''Heaven's Forest'' (TBA) * ''Skull Island'' (TBA) * ''Tomb Raider'' (TBA) * ''Castlevania: Nocturne'' (TBA)

Films

*''Jasper'' shorts (2010–2012) *'' QT8: The First Eight'' (2019; animated segments)

References

External links

* http://www.powerhouseanimation.com * https://www.videojeeves.com/ {{Animation industry in the United States American animation studios Companies based in Austin, Texas American companies established in 2001 Mass media companies established in 2001 2001 establishments in Texas