Universal Animation Studios LLC[5] (formerly known as Universal Cartoon Studios) is an American animation studio and a division of Universal Pictures, which is a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast. It has produced direct-to-video sequels to Universal-released feature films, such as The Land Before Time, An American Tail, Balto, and Curious George, as well as other films and television series.
Formerly | Universal Cartoon Studios (1990–2005) |
---|---|
Company type | Division |
Industry | Animation |
Predecessor | Walter Lantz Productions |
Founded | 1990[1] |
Headquarters |
|
Number of locations | 2 |
Products | Animated films Animated television shows |
Parent | Universal Pictures |
The actual animation production is done overseas, usually by foreign animation studios like 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.[6]
Universal Animation Studios was established in 1990 as Universal Cartoon Studios, the animation division of MCA Inc.[7] It was originally a subsidiary of Universal Family Entertainment, which was headed by Jeff Segal.[8] 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.[9][10]
In 1996, the two groups Universal Family Entertainment and its subsidiary Universal Cartoon Studios were absorbed into MCA Television Entertainment.[11]
In 2005, Universal Cartoon Studios was absorbed into Universal Studios Family Productions, and later on, it was renamed to Universal Animation Studios.[12][13]
This is not including the original films of Charlotte's Web, An American Tail, The Land Before Time and Balto made by either Hanna-Barbera Productions, Sullivan Bluth Studios or Amblimation.
Titles | Release dates | Movies | TV Seasons |
---|---|---|---|
Woody Woodpecker | 1991–present1 | 2 | 6 |
An American Tail | 1986–1999 | 4 | 1 |
The Land Before Time | 1988–2016 | 14 | 2 |
Balto | 1995–2004 | 3 | 0 |
Alvin and the Chipmunks | 1999–2000 | 2 | 0 |
Charlotte's Web | 2003 | 1 | 0 |
Curious George | 2006–2022 | 6 | 15 |
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.
# | Title | Release date | Director | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Co-production with | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Story | Screenplay | ||||||
1 | Curious George | February 10, 2006 | Matthew O'Callaghan | Ken Kaufman Mike Werb |
Ken Kaufman | Ron Howard David Kirschner Jon Shapiro |
Imagine Entertainment |
2 | Woody Woodpecker[R][S] | October 5, 2017 | Alex Zamm | William Robertson Alex Zamm Daniel Altiere Steven Altiere |
William Robertson Alex Zamm |
Mike Elliott | Universal 1440 Entertainment |
# | Title | Release date | Co-production with | |
---|---|---|---|---|
as Universal Cartoon Studios | ||||
1 | Van Helsing: The London Assignment[A] | May 11, 2004 | N/A | |
2 | The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury[A] | June 15, 2004 |
# | Title | Release date | Network | Co-production with | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
as Universal Cartoon Studios | |||||
1 | A Wish for Wings That Work | December 18, 1991 | CBS | Amblin Television | |
as Universal Animation Studios | |||||
2 | Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas | November 25, 2009 | PBS Kids | Imagine Entertainment WGBH Boston | |
3 | Curious George Swings Into Spring | April 22, 2013 | |||
4 | Curious George: A Halloween Boo Fest | October 28, 2013 | |||
5 | How Murray Saved Christmas | December 5, 2014 | NBC | Universal Television |
First use 4-5-1991, in commerce 4-5-1991.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)