Universal Animation


 * This article is about the main feature animation division of Universal Pictures. For the animation studio that maintains both the Universal City and Glendale studios, see Universal Animation Studios.

Universal Animation is an American animation studio that is the in-house feature animation division of Universal Pictures, itself a division of Comcast through its wholly-owned subsidiary NBCUniversal, and is based at the Universal Studios Lot in Universal City, California. Established on May 8, 1993 by Michael Wildshill and alumni of Multimedia Animation, the division was formerly known as Universal Feature Animation before being renamed to Universal Animation Studios in 2008, and was shortened in 2018 to its current name.

Universal Animation has produced 20 feature films; its first film Ama and the Mysterious Crystal was released on December 19, 1997 and its latest release was Imagimals 2 on September 18, 2020 with their next release release being Computeropolis: Webcation on June 30, 2021. Four of the studio's films — Paradoria 2 (2019), Computeropolis: The Deep Web (2018), Paradoria (2015), and Imagimals (2017) — are among the highest-grossing films of all time, and ten of its films are among the highest-grossing animated films of all time, with Paradoria 2 being the all-time highest.

Early founding (1993–2000)
During the production of Romeo and Juliet from Multimedia's feature animation department Multimedia Animation in early 1993, animator Michael Wildshill met with MCA president Sid Sheinberg to discuss the creation of a feature animation division for Universal Pictures, an offer that Wildshill immediately accepted. That same year, Universal and several other Hollywood studios moved into feature animation following the success of Disney animated features. Universal Feature Animation was officially established on May 8, 1993 to produce theatrical animated films to compete with Disney. John Cohen was brought in to head the new division as president, which was set up in a building on the Universal Studios lot. To build the talent base, Wildshill brought over artists from Multimedia Animation, while Cohen recruited some of the staff from Walt Disney Feature Animation and Amblimation.

Some of Multimedia Animation's artists in North Hollywood came to Universal Feature Animation in 1994, when their last feature was in production, with the rest doing so in the following year when Multimedia's assets were sold to MCA in early 1996. In October 1994, Universal Feature Animation announced a full slate of animated projects in development: The Sisters and the Crystal of Jewels, Dusk & Dawn (in collaboration with Amblimation), an adaptation of T. H. White's Mistress Masham's Repose, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, Cats (also in collaboration with Amblimation), and Oceanic.

Following MCA's purchase of Multimedia in 1996, the latter company's CGI division, Multimedia Digital Images, was renamed Universal Digital Images as the computer-graphics division of Universal Feature Animation.

The first of Universal's animated features was Ama and the Mysterious Crystal (1997), which starred the voices of Christina Ricci, Jason Biggs, Jodi Benson, Hank Azaria, Patrick Stewart, and Jennifer Aniston. Directed by Michael Wildshill, it received positive reviews from critics and was a success at the box office, grossing over $324 million worldwide and establishing Universal as one of Disney's first major competitors in feature animation. Animation production for Ama was primarily done at the new Universal feature animation studio, although much of the work was outsourced to animation studios around the world.

In 1999, its next film, Paint World (1999), was released to critical and financial success, grossing over $182 million worldwide and also winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song ("What I'll Do for the World"), tied with "You'll Be in My Heart" from Disney's Tarzan. The following year, the third animated feature from Universal Feature Animation, Mistress Masham's Repose (2000), received a positive reception from critics and audiences. However, the film underperformed at the box office, only grossing $96 million worldwide which forced a writedown of $57.3 million for Universal. It was accompanied in theaters by the Academy Award-winning CGI animated short Aero, produced by the Universal Digital Images division as a result of testing its strengths and weaknesses in producing all-CGI animation.

John Cohen's departure (2001–2003)
Just after Mistress Masham's Repose ' s December 2000 release, it was announced that Feature Animation president John Cohen would be resigning from the studio, before moving on to become VP production at 20th Century Fox Animation, while Tom Ruzicka has been named president of Universal Feature Animation. In April 2001, Universal announced Roy Kobayashi and Melissa Hester had been named Co-Heads of Production at Feature Animation.

Michael Wildshill and the Universal Animation team assisted with the animation and story development of Going Francisco (2001), which originally started as a solo Universal Feature Animation-produced project. Going Francisco was eventually produced under the Gingo Movies label and directed by Funky Fu! Pop Star Fighter creator Arlo-Avocha Vernon, with Universal Digital Images providing the CGI animated sequences. Released in June 2001 in theaters with the new Woody Woodpecker short Construction Royale, Going Francisco opened to a mixed reception but a commercial success, grossing $218 million worldwide against a budget of $54 million.

In July 2001, Universal Feature Animation announced a slate of CGI animated feature films in development to be produced by its Digital Images division as a result of the successes of Aero and Going Francisco; these films included Computeropolis, an adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Snow Queen, Mobo, Greenwoods, Nerd Boy, and a feature-length film version of Aero.

The studio's next film, Magina, released in September 2003, underwent production difficulties and received mixed reviews from critics and under-performed at the box office which led to a growing perception that hand-drawn animation was becoming outdated and falling out of fashion in favor of the increasing popularity of computer animation.

Moving to computer animation (2003–2008)
After the box office failure of Magina, Universal laid off most of the employees at the Feature Animation studio, downsizing it to one unit and beginning plans to move into fully computer-animated features. A handful of employees were offered positions for computer animation. Subsequently, on October 9, 2003, Universal Feature Animation officially announced they were becoming a fully CGI studio, now with a staff of 460 people, and began selling off all of its traditional animation equipment. In addition, the Universal Digital Images division was also closed and later merged with Universal Feature Animation.

In 2004, Universal released its first fully computer-animated feature film Computeropolis to critical and commercial success. It grossed $587 million worldwide, becoming the third highest-grossing film of 2004. Computeropolis established Universal as the fourth studio after Pixar, DreamWorks Animation, and Blue Sky Studios to have launched a successful CGI franchise.

In April 2005, Universal announced that it would be creating Computeropolis: A Technical Ride, a 3-D ride at Universal Parks & Resorts locations in Orlando, Hollywood, Sentosa, and Osaka. The ride officially opened on June 11, 2006 in Orlando, in Hollywood on March 15, 2008, in Sentosa on March 18, 2010, and in Osaka on March 4, 2011.

In July 2006, the studio released its second computer-animated film Me & Mobo, which had been in active development since 1999, to mixed reviews from critics. However, it was a box office success, earning $486 million worldwide. The studio's next feature and first sequel Computeropolis 2 opened in 2007. It earned over $853 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing animated film of the year and breaking a record as the most profitable film from Universal Animation.

Reorganization, renaming (2008–2015)
In January 2008, Universal renamed its Feature Animation unit as Universal Animation Studios and merged its direct-to-video and television animation unit with the feature animation. Animators at Universal City worked on projects based at the Universal City studio, but also assisted in projects based in the Glendale UAS studio. Two months later, Universal announced a deal with up-and-coming animation studio Illumination Entertainment, positioning it as NBCUniversal's family entertainment arm within its feature animation group consisting of Universal Animation, with Wildshill overseeing Illumination as Head of Animation. This meant that Universal would be able to release as many as three animated films in a year divided between the two studios. Many felt that this decision was made to help Universal to establish itself as a competitor to Disney's feature animation group, which consists of Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Wildshill later explained that, after the merger, to maintain the studios' separate identities and cultures (notwithstanding the fact of common ownership and common senior management), he and the Universal Animation executives "drew a hard line" that each studio was solely responsible for its own projects and would not be allowed to borrow personnel from or lend tasks out to the other; the rule ensured that each studio would maintain "local ownership" of projects and could "be proud of its own work". Thus, for example, when Universal Animation had issues with Nepola's Odyssey (2011) and Illumination with The Lorax (2012), "nobody bailed them out", and each studio was required "to solve the problem on [their] own", even when they knew there were personnel at the other studio who, theoretically, could have helped.

In July 2008, Universal Animation released its eighth feature Swapped, a CGI animated comedy that follows a young girl who uses a brain switching helmet to swap bodies in order to ditch her human life. The film opened to a much bigger than expected $43 million opening, and ended up with $376 million worldwide. Woo La La, the studio's ninth feature film, was released in 2009 and became a significant critical and commercial success, earning $532 million worldwide. The following year, Computeropolis 3, the third installment in the Computeropolis franchise, was released. The film was a box office success, earning over $783 million worldwide. However, unlike the first two Computeropolis films, Computeropolis 3 was not well-received critically. In January 2010, Melissa Hester stepped down from her position as co-head of production of Universal Animation Studios.

After Computeropolis 3, Nepola's Odyssey, directed by Gabriel Garza and Zina Supermoon creator Geo G., followed in 2011 to critical acclaim and commercial success and was nominated for several accolades; it earned $445 million in worldwide box office revenue. In September 2012, Universal named former Walt Disney Feature Animation president Peter Schneider the new president of Universal Animation and Illumination; however, in January 2013, Schneider resigned for personal reasons. The studio's next feature was Quest, released in December 2012 with mostly positive reviews from critics and grossed $426 million worldwide.

In September 2013, Universal named David Stainton, another former Disney Animation president, as the president of the Universal Animation and Illumination divisions. In December 2013, the studio released Luna & Zak, directed by Mark Dindal, to positive reviews and earned over $624 million worldwide, becoming a box office hit. Universal Animation's fourteenth film Nepola's Odyssey II, a sequel to the studio's 2011 film Nepola's Odyssey, opened in theaters in 2014, earning over $554 million worldwide, but received mixed reviews.

In October 2015, Universal named former Cartoon Network president Stuart Snyder as the executive vice president of the Universal Feature Animation Group.

Paradoria, a CGI musical film inspired by George MacDonald's fairy tale "The Light Princess", was released in December 2015 to widespread acclaim and became a blockbuster hit. Directed by Steve Samono and Gary Hall with songs by Alan Menken, Cinco Paul and Marc Shaiman, it was the first Universal animated film to earn over $1 billion in worldwide box office revenue. It also received two Academy Award nominations.

Current years (2016–present)
On April 28, 2016, NBCUniversal announced its intent to acquire competing studio DreamWorks Animation for $3.8 billion, making DreamWorks a sister studio to Universal Animation and Illumination Entertainment; the acquisition was later completed on August 22, 2016.

The studio's next film Imagimals, a Geo G.-directed animated film set in the world of imaginary creatures, was released in March 2017. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, it was the second Universal Animation film to cross the $1 billion mark in worldwide box office revenue. Lix, a musical comedy animated film directed by Amy McNeill which marks Universal Animation's first film to be directed by a woman, was released in December 2017 and was another commercial and critical success for the studio, grossing over $800 million worldwide and receiving two Academy Award nominations.

In June 2018, the studio, now renamed again as just Universal Animation, released the fourth installment in the Computeropolis franchise, Computeropolis: The Deep Web. The film became the third film to earn $1 billion for the studio.

The studio's next feature film was the sequel Paradoria 2, released in November 2019. The film grossed over $1 billion worldwide and received two Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song. According to Universal (who does not consіder the 2019 The Lion King remake to be an anіmated fіlm), Paradoria 2 is the hіghest-grossing anіmated fіlm of all tіme even after surpassing that film's box office total.

The studio's current film Imagimals 2 was theatrically released first in Canada in September 2020 with a December 2020 release internationally on Netflix and a March 2021 release in the United States in theaters and on Peacock simultaneously due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, and grossed $52.3 million worldwide with a $200 million budget.

Upcoming releases
As of May 2021, Universal Animation is currently working on Computeropolis: Webcation set for June 30, 2021 in the UK and September 17 in the US and Mechagirl set for December 21, 2022, with two more films whose titles have not been announced set for release on December 20, 2023 and December 25, 2024. Other Universal Animation films in development include a film adaptation of the video game Oxenfree written and directed by Frans Vischer, an original film about a leopard gecko written and directed by John France, an adaptation of the webcomic Makeshift Miracle by Jim Zub, and an animated Woody Woodpecker film written and directed by Michael Wildshill.

Feature films

 * Further information: List of Universal Animation films

Trivia

 * Universal Animation is often described by fans as the Universal counterpart of Walt Disney Animation Studios while Illumination is described as the Universal counterpart of Pixar.
 * Starting with Computeropolis: The Deep Web in 2018, the word "studios" was removed from the logo, making the company known simply as Universal Animation.