Universal Animation Studios (formerly Universal Cartoon Studios or Universal Feature Animation or also referred to as Universal Animation) is an American animation studio that is a division of Universal Pictures, a subsidiary of Comcast through its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Founded in 1987, it specializes in animated productions for feature films, short films, and television series for Universal, and has primarily focused upon the production of television and feature animation of other properties, notably including those direct-to-video sequels to other Universal-released feature films such as The Land Before Time, Paint!, Greenwoods, An American Tail, and Balto. It is the successor to Walter Lantz Productions, the studio which produced Woody Woodpecker and other Walter Lantz cartoon shorts from 1929 to 1972.
Currently, Universal Animation Studios continues to produce films using both traditional animation and computer-generated imagery (CGI).
Background
The Universal Cartoon Studios logo from 1991 to 1997, featuring a cartoon airplane as their mascot
The original Walter Lantz Productions cartoon studio was closed down by Universal Studios in 1972 due to the rising costs and declining returns of short subject production. However, before Universal restarted its animation division in 1991, Universal released its first nine animated films, such as The Love Tales: A Romeo and Juliet Story (1973), Paint! (1977), My Own Pet (1979), The Adventures of the Housemaid (1982), Greenwoods, and An American Tail (1986).
After the huge success of Greenwoods and An American Tail, Universal moved into feature animation and established its own feature animated department called Universal Feature Animation to produce theatrically released animated feature films. At the time when Universal Feature Animation was founded in 1987, Universal Cartoon Studios opened its doors to produce animated feature films and television series for Universal. In 1988, the studio's first feature film, The Land Before Time (1988). The studios produced an animated television series based on Back to the Future films airing on CBS from 1991 to 1992.
From 1989–1997, Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment operated Amblimation, a traditional animation studio which was started to compete with Walt Disney Animation Studios, which was experiencing great success at the time with films such as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. The Amblimation studio, however, was not as successful for Universal, but the studio was successful for Paramount. Their first feature An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, a sequel to 1986's An American Tail, made $40 million at the worldwide box office in 1991, but their next feature, We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story, was a box office bomb, only grossed $9.3 million in the United States in 1993, while their third and final feature Balto grossed $11 million worldwide and was overshadowed by the success of the competing Disney/Pixar film Toy Story in 1995. Amblimation was shut down in 1997 and some of its staff went on to join Paramount Feature Animation and DreamWorks Animation, respectively.
Universal Animation Studios logo, used in 2006.
In 2006, the studio Universal Cartoon Studios and Universal Feature Animation to Universal Animation Studios.
In September 2012, Universal named former Walt Disney Feature Animation president Peter Schneider the new president of Universal Animation Studios; however, in January 2013, Schneider resigned for personal reasons. In September 2013, Universal named another former Disney Animation president David Stainton as the president of the studio.
In October 2015, Universal named former Cartoon Network president Stuart Snyder as the executive vice president of the studio.
On April 28, 2016, NBCUniversal announced its intent to acquire competing studio DreamWorks Animation for $3.8 billion, making DreamWorks Animation a sister studio to Universal Animation Studios and Illumination Entertainment; the acquisition was later completed on August 22, 2016. On that same day, the television animation divisions of Universal and DreamWorks merged, but Universal Animation Studios was resurrected as a separate entity.
Process
In a similar manner to JeremyWorks Studios, Sony Pictures Animation, Warner Animation Group, and Paramount Animation, Universal Animation Studios relies on other animation studios and VFX companies to provide the animation on their films. This includes Project Firefly (Curious George), Saerom Animation (The Endless Friendship), JeremyWorks Studios (Cartoon World: The Movie 2, The Journey to Adventures, Lost in Island), and Reel FX Creative Studios (Tinny!).
Additionally, for some productions such as direct-to-video films, the actual animation production is done overseas, usually by either Wang Film Productions or Rough Draft Studios, while pre-production and post-production is United States-based.
Filmography
Feature films
Released films
| Title | Release date | Co-production with | Animation service(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Land Before Time | November 18, 1988 | Amblin Entertainment | Sullivan Bluth Studios Ireland Ltd. |
| 2 | Goldilocks and Red Riding Hood | December 8, 1989 | N/A | Main faculties
Sweatbox Animation |
| 3 | The Secret Dreams | September 12, 1990 | Main faculties
Wang Film Productions A. Film Production A/S | |
| 4 | An American Tail: Fievel Goes West | November 22, 1991 | Amblin Entertainment | Amblimation |
| 5 | Cartoon World: The Movie | August 21, 1992 | JeremyWorks Studios | JeremyWorks Studios
Wang Film Productions |
| 6 | We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story | November 24, 1993 | Amblin Entertainment
Amblimation |
Amblimation
Lightbox Animation |
| 7 | The Royal Kingdom | December 2, 1994 | N/A | Main faculties
Sweatbox Animation Lightbox Animation |
| 8 | Balto | December 22, 1995 | Amblin Entertainment
Amblimation |
Amblimation |
| 9 | Cartoon World: The Movie 2 | December 23, 1997 | JeremyWorks Studios | Main faculties
JeremyWorks Studios Wang Film Productions TMS Entertainment |
| 10 | Paint! 2 | July 10, 1998 | JeremyWorks Studios | JeremyWorks Studios
Saerom Animation Wang Film Productions Fil-Cartoons |
| 11 | What About Judy & Lucy? | October 15, 1999 | N/A | Main faculties
Wang Film Productions |
| 12 | Seeds Time! | March 17, 2000 | Main faculties | |
| 13 | Cats | April 20, 2001 | Main faculties | |
| 14 | The Adventures of Blake & Blainley | March 1, 2002 | ClearWorld Entertainment | ClearWorld Entertainment |
| 15 | Time Travel Releashed | June 14, 2002 | JeremyWorks Studios | Main faculties
JeremyWorks Studios Yowza! Animation |
| 16 | Going Races | July 18, 2003 | N/A | Main faculties
Wang Film Productions |
| 17 | The Twisted Tales of Classic | September 2, 2005 | ClearWorld Entertainment | ClearWorld Entertainment |
| 18 | Curious George | February 10, 2006 | Imagine Entertainment | Main faculties
Project Firefly Mercury Filmworks |
| 19 | The Teen Gang Movie | July 15, 2006 | ClearWorld Entertainment | ClearWorld Entertainment |
| 20 | The Tale of Despereaux | December 19, 2008 | Relativity Media | Framestore Feature Animation |
| 21 | Hotel Motel | August 5, 2011 | N/A | Reel FX Creative Studios |
| 22 | A Princess Life | September 21, 2012 | ||
| 23 | Little Match Girl | March 8, 2013 | Main faculties
Yowza! Animation
| |
| 24 | The Story of Fairy Tales | September 19, 2014 | Sony Pictures Imageworks | |
| 25 | Girl vs. Boy Scouts | March 6, 2015 | ||
| 26 | Judy & Lucy | September 6, 2017 | Perfect World Pictures | Mikros Image (London and Paris) |
| 27 | Freedom Trio | September 21, 2018 | Main faculties | |
| 28 | Magical Palace of Dreams | March 8, 2019 | Sony Pictures Imageworks |
Upcoming films
| # | Title | Release date | Co-production with | Animation service(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | The Jungle Family | February 28, 2020 | N/A | Sony Pictures Imageworks |
| 30 | Untitled films | May 14, 2021 | TBA | |
| 31 | November 12, 2021 |
Films in development
| Title |
|---|
| Judy & Lucy 2 |
| We Met Sarah |
| Spiders from Space |
Direct-to-video feature films
| # | Title | Release date | Co-production with | Animation service(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure | December 13, 1994 | N/A | Wang Film Productions |
| 2 | The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving | December 12, 1995 | ||
| 3 | The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists | December 10, 1996 | ||
| 4 | The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island | December 9, 1997 | ||
| 5 | Hercules and Xena – The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus | January 6, 1998 | Renaissance Pictures | N/A |
| 6 | Emily, Ravi, and Julia: The Big Picture Show | July 8, 1998 | JeremyWorks Studios | |
| 7 | The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock | December 1, 1998 | N/A | Wang Film Productions |
| 8 | Greenwoods II | March 16, 1999 | Valentina Animation | |
| 9 | Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein | September 28, 1999 | Bagdasarian Productions, LLC. | N/A |
| 10 | An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island | February 15, 2000 | N/A | Wang Film Productions |
| 12 | An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster | July 25, 2000 | ||
| 13 | Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman | August 29, 2000 | Bagdasarian Productions, LLC. | N/A |
| 14 | The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire | December 5, 2000 | N/A | Wang Film Productions |
| 15 | The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze | December 4, 2001 | N/A | Wang Film Productions |
| 16 | Balto II: Wolf Quest | February 19, 2002 | ||
| 17 | Natalia's Story 2: The Second Chapter | May 16, 2002 | Paramount Pictures | |
| 18 | Judy & Lucy 2: Double Trouble | October 15, 2002 | N/A | |
| 19 | The Royal Kingdom: The Adventures Return | November 13, 2002 | ||
| 20 | The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water | December 10, 2002 | ||
| 21 | Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure | March 18, 2003 | Paramount Pictures | |
| 22 | The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration | December 2, 2003 | N/A | |
| 23 | Van Helsing: The London Assignment | May 11, 2004 | N/A | N/A |
| 24 | Wild Racer: Drive to Win | November 26, 2004 | JeremySoft Animation | Wang Film Productions |
| 25 | The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses | January 11, 2005 | N/A | |
| 26 | Balto III: Wings of Change | February 1, 2005 | ||
| 27 | Natalia's Story: In Search of the Horn | June 7, 2005 | Paramount Pictures | |
| 28 | The Royal Kingdom: Search of the Quest | November 15, 2005 | N/A | |
| 29 | Judy & Lucy: The Mystery Begin | December 13, 2005 | ||
| 30 | The Adventures of Brer Rabbit | March 21, 2006 | ||
| 31 | The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers | February 27, 2007 | N/A | |
| 32 | The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends | November 27, 2007 | N/A | Wang Film Productions |
| 33 | Judy & Lucy: The Untold Story | December 16, 2008 | ||
| 34 | Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey! | March 2, 2010 | Imagine Entertainment | Toon City Animation |
| 35 | The Little Engine That CouldR | March 22, 2011 | Crest Animation Productions | |
| 36 | Paint!: Color Forever | February 10, 2013 | JeremyWorks Studios | JeremyWorks Studios
Bardel Entertainment Wang Film Productions Yowza! Animation |
| 37 | Curious George 3: Back to the Jungle | June 23, 2015 | Imagine Entertainment | Toon City Animation |
| 38 | The Land Before Time: Journey of the Brave | February 2, 2016 | Universal 1440 Entertainment | N/A |
| 39 | Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is YouR | November 14, 2017 | Universal 1440 Entertainment
Telegael Magic Carpet Productions |
Splash Entertainment |
| 40 | Woody WoodpeckerS | February 6, 2018 | Universal 1440 Entertainment | N/A |
| 41 | Emily, Ravi, and Julia: World Tour Madness | May 10, 2018 | Universal 1440 Entertainment | Toon City Animation |
RNot produced, but released by Universal Animation Studios under its label.
SCombines live-action with animation.
Television specials
| # | Title | Release date | Co-production with | Animation service(s) | Network | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Wish for Wings That Work | December 18, 1991 | Amblin Television | N/A | CBS | |
| 2 | Emily, Ravi, and Julia: Christmas Eve | December 24, 1994 | JeremyWorks Studios | JeremyWorks Studios
Rough Draft Studios |
USA Network | |
| 3 | Paint!: Christmas Carol | November 25, 2000 | JeremyWorks Studios
Wang Film Productions |
Fox Kids | ||
| 4 | Judy & Lucy: The Greatest Winter Wonderland | December 19, 2003 | N/A | Wang Film Productions | Kids' WB | |
| 5 | Emily, Ravi, and Julia: Friendship Never End | March 10, 2005 | JeremyWorks Studios | JeremyWorks Studios
Rough Draft Studios |
||
| 6 | Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas | November 25, 2009 | Imagine Entertainment | PBS Kids | ||
| 7 | How Murray Saved Christmas | December 5, 2014 | N/A | Rough Draft Studios | NBC | |
| 8 | Emily, Ravi, and Julia: Grown Up! | June 19, 2015 | JeremyWorks Studios | JeremyWorks Studios
Toon City Animation |
Cartoon Network | |
| 9 | Paint!: The Rise of Darker | October 30, 2015 | JeremyWorks Studios
Bardel Entertainment Wang Film Productions Yowza! Animation |
|||
| 10 | Tales of the Kids | July 17, 2018 | Warner Bros. Animation
JeremyWorks Studios |
JeremyWorks Studios
Toon City Animation Bardel Entertainment Wang Film Productions Yowza! Animation |
JWToons | |
| 11 | Natalia & Fievel | May 18, 2019 | Paramount Television Animation | Paramount Animation
Wang Film Productions |
Netflix | First Universal/Paramount crossover special, featuring characters and elements from both Natalia's Story and An American Tail. |
Short films
| # | Title | Release date | Co-production with | Animation service(s) | Release with | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emily, Ravil, and Julia | November 22, 1991 | JeremyWorks Studios | Wang Film Productions | An American Tail: Fievel Goes West | Theatrical release |
| 2 | Fractured Fairy Tales: The Phox, the Box, & the Lox | August 27, 1999 | Jay Ward Productions | Character Builders | Dudley Do-Right | |
| 3 | Dial "L" for Lauren | January 10, 2006 | ClearWorld Entertainment | ClearWorld Entertainment | The Twisted Tales of Classic | Home video release |
| 4 | Judy & Lucy: Lucy Who? | February 10, 2006 | N/A | Wang Film Productions | Curious George | Theatrical release |
| 5 | Who Done It Again | December 5, 2006 | ClearWorld Entertainment | ClearWorld Entertainment | The Teen Gang Movie | Home video release |
| 4 | Animals Nights | August 5, 2011 | N/A | Reel FX Creative Studios | Hotel Motel | Theatrical release |
| 5 | How to Learn to be A Princess | January 8, 2012 | A Princess Life | Home video release | ||
| 6 | 5 Scouts Stories | July 7, 2015 | Sony Pictures Imageworks | Girl vs. Boy Scouts | ||
| 7 | Ravi's Big Day Off | November 17, 2017 | JeremyWorks Studios | JeremyWorks Studios
Toon City Animation |
The 78M Movie | Theatrical release |
| 8 | Rainy Waiting | January 9, 2018 | N/A | Mikros Image (London and Paris) | Judy & Lucy | Home video release |
| 9 | One Big Secret | |||||
| 10 | Judy's Biggest Idea | |||||
| 11 | First Snow of the Day | September 21, 2018 | Freedom Trio | Theatrical release | ||
| 12 | Blueness & Redness | June 7, 2019 | Main faculties | The Secret Life of Pets 2 |
Television series
| # | Title | Premiere date | End date | Network | Co-production with |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Back to the Future: The Animated Series | September 14, 1991 | December 26, 1992 | CBS | Amblin Television |
| 2 | Avery the Warrior | November 16, 1991 | October 14, 1995 | Amblin Television
Amblimation | |
| 3 | Goldilocks and Red Riding Hood | March 14, 1992 | May 18, 1996 | CBS (1992–1994)
USA Network (1994–1996) |
N/A |
| 4 | Fievel's American Tails | September 12, 1992 | December 5, 1992 | CBS | Amblin Television
Amblimation |
| 5 | Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories | 1992 | 1993 | Showtime | N/A |
| 6 | Emily, Ravil, and Julia | April 10, 1993 | June 18, 2005 | Fox Kids (1993–1995)
JeremyWorld (1995–2003) JeremyWorks Channel (2003–2005) |
JeremyWorks Studios |
| 7 | Family Dog | June 23, 1993 | July 28, 1993 | CBS | Amblin Television Tim Burton Productions Nelvana |
| 8 | Exosquad | September 11, 1993 | November 3, 1994 | Syndication | N/A |
| 9 | Problem Child | October 31, 1993 | December 4, 1994 | USA Network | Imagine Television |
| 10 | Monster Force | Fall 1994 | Syndication | N/A | |
| 11 | Beethoven | September 10, 1994 | December 3, 1994 | CBS | Northern Lights Entertainment |
| 12 | Earthworm Jim | September 9, 1995 | December 13, 1996 | Kids' WB | Shiny Entertainment |
| 13 | Savage Dragon | September 21, 1995 | December 21, 1996 | USA Network | N/A |
| 14 | The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper | February 24, 1996 | October 17, 1998 | Fox Kids | Amblin Television |
| 15 | Wing Commander Academy | September 21, 1996 | December 21, 1996 | USA Network | N/A |
| 16 | Vor-Tech: Undercover Conversion Squad | 1996 | Syndication | ||
| 17 | Paint!: The Series | September 19, 1998 | November 11, 2000 | JeremyWorld | JeremyWorks Studios |
| 18 | The New Woody Woodpecker Show | May 8, 1999 | March 28, 2002 | Fox Kids | N/A |
| 19 | Judy & Lucy | April 15, 2000 | February 18, 2006 | Kids' WB | |
| 20 | The Mummy: The Animated Series | September 29, 2001 | June 7, 2003 | ||
| 21 | Curious George | September 4, 2006 | April 1, 2015 | PBS Kids | Imagine Television |
| 22 | The Land Before Time | March 5, 2007 | January 21, 2008 | Cartoon Network Universal Kids (USA) YTV (Canada) |
Amblin Television |
| 23 | Hotel Motel: The New Era | June 10, 2013 | April 9, 2016 | Cartoon Network | N/A |
| 24 | A Princess Life | February 14, 2014 | August 4, 2017 | Netflix | |
| 25 | Paint!: The Chronicles of Ashley | November 14, 2014 | present | Cartoon Network (2014-2017)
JWToons (2017-present) |
Universal 1440 Entertainment
JeremyWorks Studios |
| 26 | Emily, Ravil, and Julia | January 6, 2017 | JWToons | ||
| 27 | Avery the Warrior: The Returning | May 20, 2017 | Netflix | JeremySoft Animation
Amblin Animation | |
| 28 | Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Adventures | March 10, 2018 | JWToons | Activision Blizzard Studios | |
| 29 | Judy & Lucy: The Series | June 16, 2018 | Universal Kids | Universal 1440 Entertainment | |
| 30 | An American Tail: The New Beginning | October 6, 2018 | Universal 1440 Entertainment | ||
| 31 | Woody Woodpecker | December 3, 2018 | YouTube | Universal 1440 Entertainment
Splash Entertainment | |
| 32 | Spyro: Reignited Journey | June 15, 2019 | JWToons | Activision Blizzard Studios | |
| 33 | Jem and the Holograms | September 7, 2019 | JeremyNow! | JeremyWorks Studios | |
Miscellaneous work
- 63rd Academy Awards (1991) - animation for Woody Woodpecker presenting the award for Best Animated Short Film
- The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man (1999) - traditionally-animated introduction
- Paramount & Universal: The Ultimate Battle (2018) - traditionally-animated cutscenes
Franchises
| Title | Release date |
|---|---|
| The Love Tales: A Romeo and Juliet Story | 1973–2005 |
| Paint! | 1977–present |
| An American Tail | 1986–1999 |
| The Land Before Time | 1988–2016 |
| Emily, Ravi, and Julia | 1991–present |
| Balto | 1995–2005 |
| Judy & Lucy | 1999–present |
| Natalia's Story | 1996–2005 |
| Curious George | 2006–2015 |
Accolades
Coming soon!
Gallery
Coming soon!
Trivia
Comming soon!
See also
- Illumination Entertainment
- DreamWorks Animation
- Universal Interactive Studios
- Paramount Animation
- Sony Pictures Animation
- JeremyWorks Studios
- Nickelodeon Movies