Universal Animation Studios

Universal Animation Studios LLC, formerly known as Universal Cartoon Studios, is an American animation studio and a division of Universal 1440 Entertainment, an home entertainment division of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, which in turn owned by NBCUniversal, the entertainment division of Comcast. It has produced direct-to-video sequels to Universal-released feature films, such as ''The Land Before Time'' (1988), ''An American Tail'' (1986), '' Balto'' (1995), and ''Curious George'' (2006), as well as other films and television series.

The actual animation production is done overseas, usually by foreign animation studios such as AKOM, Wang Film Productions and Rough Draft Studios, while pre-production and post-production is United States–based. The television animation divisions of Universal and DreamWorks merged on August 23, 2016, after Universal completed its acquisition of DreamWorks Animation, who began producing a majority of Universal Pictures' family-friendly TV shows. The studio is one of Comcast's three animation studios, alongside the aforementioned DreamWorks and Illumination.

History

Universal Animation Studios was established in 1990 as Universal Cartoon Studios, the animation division of MCA Inc. It was originally a subsidiary of Universal Family Entertainment, which was headed by Jeff Segal. Its debut work was '' Back to the Future: The Animated Series'', which was announced on March 22, 1991, and premiered on CBS on September 14 the same year.

In 1996, the two groups Universal Family Entertainment and its subsidiary Universal Cartoon Studios were absorbed into MCA Television Entertainment.

In 2005, Universal Cartoon Studios was absorbed into Universal Studios Family Productions, and later on, it was renamed to Universal Animation Studios.

In 2007, Chris Meledandri founded Illumination with a deal was announced positioning Illumination as Universal's family entertainment arm, that would produce one to two films a year starting in 2010, while Universal Studios Family Productions acts as Universal Animation Studios' animation home-video arm. As part of the deal, Illumination retains creative control and Universal Pictures exclusively distributes the films.

In 2012, Universal Studios Family Productions rebranded as Universal 1440 Entertainment.

In 2016, Universal Pictures acquired DreamWorks Animation, making it one of the two official animation divisions of Universal Pictures, alongside Illumination.

Franchises

This is not including the original films of ''An American Tail'', ''The Land Before Time'' and '' Balto'' made by either Hanna-Barbera Productions, Sullivan Bluth Studios or Amblimation.

^1:The date reflects the first appearance of Woody Woodpecker in a production from Universal Cartoon Studios rather than the date when the character was originally created in 1940 by Walter Lantz Productions.

Filmography

Feature films

Theatrical feature films

:Combines live-action with animation.
:Not released theatrically in the United States

Direct-to-video/streaming feature films

=Children's feature films

=

=Adult animated short films

=

:Released on Peacock.
:Released on Netflix.
:Adult animated production.

Short films

* '' Fractured Fairy Tales: The Phox, the Box, & the Lox'' (1999) (theatrical release)

Television series

Television specials

Miscellaneous work

* ''63rd Academy Awards'' (1991) – animation for Woody Woodpecker presenting the award for Best Animated Short Film
* ''Kids WB!'' promos – Earthworm Jim segments.
* '' The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man'' (1999) – traditionally-animated introduction
* '' Dudley-Do Right’s RipSaw Falls'' (1999) – traditionally-animated queue video.

Cancelled projects

* '' Escape from Jurassic Park'', an animated TV series that takes place after the first ''Jurassic Park'' film, was confirmed to be in development and awaiting Steven Spielberg's approval in June 1993. The series would have centered on John Hammond's attempts to finish Jurassic Park and open it to the public, while InGen's corporate rival Biosyn is simultaneously planning to open their own dinosaur theme park in Brazil, which ultimately ends with their dinosaurs escaping into the jungles. Artist William Stout was hired to work on the series and subsequently made a trailer to demonstrate how the series would look, and how it would combine traditional animation with computer animation. The series required Spielberg's final approval before it could go into production. However, Spielberg had grown tired of the massive promotion and merchandise revolving around the film, and never watched the trailer. On July 13, 1993, Margaret Loesch, president of the Fox Children's Network, confirmed that discussions had been held with Spielberg about an animated version of the film. Loesch also said, "At least for now and in the foreseeable future, there will not be an animated ''Jurassic Park''. That's Steven Spielberg's decision, and we respect that decision."
* A pair of traditionally animated cutscenes were produced for the 1996 video game ''Crash Bandicoot'' to serve as the game's intro and outro, as well as act as source material for a potential animated series if the game was well-received and commercially successful. The hand-drawn cutscenes were dropped after Sony Computer Entertainment picked up ''Crash Bandicoot'' for publication, as Sony desired to push the PlayStation's 3D polygonal graphics. The cutscenes were uploaded to YouTube by producer David Siller in 2015.
* '' Jurassic Park: Chaos Effect'', an animated television series based on '' The Lost World: Jurassic Park'', was confirmed to be in development within the third part of a four-part comic adaptation of the film published by Topps Comics in July 1997. In November 1997, it was reported that the cartoon would be accompanied by ''Jurassic Park: Chaos Effect'', a series of dinosaur toys produced by Kenner and based on a premise that scientists had created dinosaur hybrids consisting of DNA from different creatures. That month, it was also reported that the cartoon could be ready by March 1998, as a mid-season replacement. The Chaos Effect toyline was released in June 1998, but the animated series was never produced, for unknown reasons.

See also

* Illumination
* DreamWorks Animation
** DreamWorks Animation Television
* List of Universal Pictures theatrical animated feature films
* List of unproduced Universal Pictures animated projects
* List of animation studios owned by NBCUniversal

References

{{Authority control

1990 establishments in California
American companies established in 1990
Mass media companies established in 1990
Universal Pictures subsidiaries
American animation studios
Television production companies of the United States
Companies based in Los Angeles County, California
Universal City, California
Adult animation studios