Universal Animation Studios
FormerlyUniversal Cartoon Studios (1990–2006)
TypeDivision
IndustryAnimation
PredecessorWalter Lantz Productions
Founded1990; 33 years ago (1990)[1]
SuccessorsLibrary:
Illumination
(theatrical releases)
DreamWorks Animation Television
(television production)
Headquarters
Number of locations
2
ProductsAnimated films
Animated television shows
OwnerNBCUniversal
(Comcast)
ParentUniversal Pictures

Universal Animation Studios (formerly known as Universal Cartoon Studios) is an American animation studio and a division of Universal Pictures, 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.

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.

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.[5]

History

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2021)

Universal Animation Studios was established in 1990 as Universal Cartoon Studios, the animation division of MCA Inc.[6] 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.[7][8]

In 2006, Universal Cartoon Studios was renamed to Universal Animation Studios.

Franchises

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–present 1 6
Charlotte's Web 2003 1 0
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
Curious George 2006–present 5 13

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.

Filmography

Feature films

Theatrical feature films

# Title Release date Co-production with
1 Curious George February 10, 2006 (2006-02-10) Imagine Entertainment
2 Woody Woodpecker[R] October 5, 2017 (2017-10-05) Universal 1440 Entertainment
R Not released theatrically in the United States

Direct-to-video/streaming feature films

Children's feature films
# Title Release date Co-production with
as Universal Cartoon Studios
1 The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure December 13, 1994 (1994-12-13) N/A
2 The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving December 12, 1995 (1995-12-12)
3 The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists December 10, 1996 (1996-12-10)
4 The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island December 9, 1997 (1997-12-09)
5 Hercules and Xena – The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus January 6, 1998 (1998-01-06) Renaissance Pictures
6 The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock December 1, 1998 (1998-12-01) N/A
7 Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein September 28, 1999 (1999-09-28) Bagdasarian Productions, LLC.
8 An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island February 15, 2000 (2000-02-15) N/A
9 An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster July 25, 2000 (2000-07-25)
10 Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman August 29, 2000 (2000-08-29) Bagdasarian Productions, LLC.
11 The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire December 5, 2000 (2000-12-05) N/A
12 The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze December 4, 2001 (2001-12-04)
13 Balto II: Wolf Quest February 19, 2002 (2002-02-19)
14 The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water December 10, 2002 (2002-12-10)
15 Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure March 18, 2003 (2003-03-18) Paramount Pictures
Nickelodeon Animation Studio
16 The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration December 2, 2003 (2003-12-02) N/A
17 Balto III: Wings of Change September 30, 2004 (2004-09-30)
18 The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses January 11, 2005 (2005-01-11)
19 The Adventures of Brer Rabbit March 21, 2006 (2006-03-21)
as Universal Animation Studios
20 The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers February 27, 2007 (2007-02-27) N/A
21 The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends November 27, 2007 (2007-11-27)
22 Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey![R] July 10, 2009 (2009-07-10) Imagine Entertainment
23 The Little Engine That Could March 22, 2011 (2011-03-22) Crest Animation Productions
24 Curious George 3: Back to the Jungle[9] June 23, 2015 (2015-06-23) Imagine Entertainment
Universal 1440 Entertainment
25 The Land Before Time XIV: Journey of the Brave[10] February 2, 2016 (February 2, 2016) Universal 1440 Entertainment
26 Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is You November 14, 2017 (2017-11-14) Universal 1440 Entertainment
Splash Entertainment
Telegael
Magic Carpet Productions
27 Curious George: Royal Monkey[11] September 10, 2019 (2019-09-10) Imagine Entertainment
Universal 1440 Entertainment
28 Curious George: Go West, Go Wild[P][12] September 8, 2020
29 Bobbleheads: The Movie December 8, 2020 Threshold Animation Studios
Universal 1440 Entertainment
30 Curious George: Cape Ahoy[P][13] September 30, 2021 Imagine Entertainment
Universal 1440 Entertainment
Adult animated short films
# Title Release date Co-production with
as Universal Cartoon Studios
1 Van Helsing: The London Assignment[A] May 11, 2004 (2004-05-11) N/A
2 The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury[A] June 15, 2004 (2004-06-15)
P Released on Peacock.
A Adult animated production.

Short films

Television series

# Title Creator(s) / Developer(s) Original run Network Co-production with
as Universal Cartoon Studios
1 Back to the Future Robert Zemeckis
Bob Gale
1991–1992 CBS Amblin Television
Zaloom/Mayfield Productions
BIG Pictures
2 Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories Shelley Duvall 1992–1993 Showtime Think Entertainment
3 Fievel's American Tails David Kirschner 1992 CBS Amblin Television
Nelvana
4 Exosquad Jeff Segal
Eric Lewald
Michael Edens
1993–1994 Syndication N/A
5 Problem Child Scott Alexander
Larry Karaszewski
USA Network D'Ocon Films Productions (season 1)
Lacewood Productions (season 2)
6 Monster Force Marv Wolfman 1994 Syndication Lacewood Productions
7 Beethoven N/A 1994–1995 CBS Northern Lights Entertainment
8 Earthworm Jim Doug TenNapel
Doug Langdale
1995–1996 Kids' WB Shiny Entertainment
9 The Savage Dragon Dean Stefan
Bob Forward
USA Network Lacewood Productions
(season 1)
Studio B Productions
(season 2)
P3 Entertainment
USA Studios
10 The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper Sherri Stoner
Deanna Oliver
1996–1998 Fox Kids Amblin Television
Harveytoons
11 Wing Commander Academy Michael Edens
Mark Edens
1996 USA Network N/A
12 Vor-Tech: Undercover Conversion Squad N/A Syndication Edition Dupuis France S.A.
Mediatoon
Lacewood Productions
13 The New Woody Woodpecker Show Bob Jacques
Kelly Armstrong
1999–2002 Fox Kids N/A
14 The Mummy: The Animated Series Thomas Pugsley
Greg Klein
2001–2003 Kids' WB Studios USA Television (season 1)
The Sommers Company
as Universal Animation Studios
16 Curious George Joe Fallon 2006–2022 PBS Kids (2006–2015)
Family Jr. (2018–2020)
Peacock (2020–2022)
Imagine Entertainment (seasons 1–9, 14–15)
WGBH Boston (seasons 1–12)
Universal 1440 Entertainment (seasons 10–15)
17 The Land Before Time Ford Riley 2007–2008 Cartoon Network Amblin Entertainment
18 Woody Woodpecker Alex Zamm 2018–present YouTube Universal Pictures International
Universal 1440 Entertainment
Splash Entertainment

Television specials

# Title Release date Network Co-production with
as Universal Cartoon Studios
1 A Wish for Wings That Work December 18, 1991 (December 18, 1991) CBS Amblin Television
as Universal Animation Studios
2 Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas November 25, 2009 (November 25, 2009) PBS Kids Imagine Entertainment
WGBH Boston
3 Curious George Swims Into Spring April 22, 2013 (April 22, 2013)
4 Curious George: A Halloween Boo Fest October 28, 2013 (October 28, 2013)
5 How Murray Saved Christmas December 5, 2014 (December 5, 2014) NBC Universal Television

Miscellaneous work

Cancelled projects

See also

References

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  2. ^ "Animation Production Companies". June 8, 2009. Retrieved May 12, 2020 – via Backstage.com.
  3. ^ Motion Picture Almanac. June 6, 2008. ISBN 9780900610806. Retrieved May 12, 2020 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ "2017 Studio List" (PDF). August 29, 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2020 – via Animationguild.org.
  5. ^ Rainey, James (23 August 2016). "NBCUniversal Sets New DreamWorks Animation Chain of Command".
  6. ^ "Orlando theme park features characters". The Orlando Sentinel. Orlando, Florida. July 19, 1991. p. 35. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  7. ^ "Future Has a Future". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. March 22, 1991. p. 480. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  8. ^ Boyar, Jay (September 6, 1991). "Short Subjects". The Orlando Sentinel. Orlando, Florida. p. 68. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  9. ^ "Curious George 3: Back to the Jungle". Universal Studios Entertainment. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  10. ^ "Rawr: Reba's Voice Will Be In The Next Land Before Time Movie". US99.5. August 18, 2015. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
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  12. ^ White, Peter (2020-09-03). "'Curious George: Go West, Go Wild' Film Heads To Peacock As Part Of Kids' Slate". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  13. ^ Nash, Anthony (2021-09-30). "Exclusive Curious George: Cape Ahoy Clip From Peacock's Animated Film". Comingsoon.net. Retrieved 2021-09-30.
  14. ^ Oscars (7 July 2015). "Short Film Winners: 1991 Oscars" – via YouTube.
  15. ^ "The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man (1999) - IMDb" – via www.imdb.com.
  16. ^ Pugh, Chris (June 1, 2016). "Escape from Jurassic Park – 1993 animated series detailed". JurassicOutpost.com. Archived from the original on July 6, 2016. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  17. ^ "'Jurassic' series?". The San Bernardino Sun. June 17, 1993. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
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  23. ^ Fahey, Mike (July 19, 2015). "Crash Bandicoot Could Have Had These Sweet Animated Cutscenes". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
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  25. ^ Finkelstein, Dan (July 20, 1997). "What's New". Dan's The Lost World Page. Archived from the original on June 3, 2000.
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  29. ^ "Interview With Tim Bradley". JPToys.com. March 1, 2008. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved June 25, 2015.