Zoetrope Feature Animation

Zoetrope Feature Animation is the feature animation subsidiary of the San Francisco-based American Zoetrope formed by Marco Coppola with a team of CalArts graduates in 1989. Initially signed a two-year feature pact with Paramount Pictures, its duties were transferred to Columbia Pictures in 1991, which remained until 1999 when the deal moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was defunct in 2001 due to the decline in traditional animation and competition from Disney, DreamWorks and Universal Animation.

History
Marco Coppola first met Francis Ford Coppola when he saw Don Bluth's animated film The Land Before Time and realized friend Steven Spielberg and George Lucas are executive producers. Zoetrope Studios hired the top staff from Walt Disney Feature Animation to start out its feature animation division in 1989, in order to began production for a 1992 release, a musical fairy tale Heckedy Peg, which is based on the picture book by Aubrey Wood.

The company went defunct in 2001. Some of the workers however moved to DKP Effects and Sony Pictures Animation.

More coming soon!

Cancelled projects

 * Twist in Disguise - In 1998, Michael J. Wilson wrote a treatment for Zoetrope about a detective in disguise. Coppola didn't like it, and the idea with some elements were reused for Upside Mystery.
 * The Mageborn Traitor - In 1995, Zoetrope bought out the rights to the Exiles trilogy and planned to adapt the books as a feature film. But it was scrapped.

Trivia
Coming soon!