Multimedia Animation

Multimedia Animation (formerly known as Michael Wildshill Productions) was an American animation studio founded in 1982 by animator Michael Wildshill, who previously worked at Walt Disney Productions. The studio produced the television special Bright Christmas, the short films Lo and the Short Island and Gools, commercials and other work, and later negotiated with Paramount Pictures to make the animated feature The Master of Colors. After the release of the studio's second feature film The Workers, Wildshill severed his connection with Paramount and the studio was bought by media company Multimedia in 1988, where it was split into two teams: Multimedia Animation and the television animation unit Gingo Animation.

Wildshill was later drawn away from the studio when he was approached in early 1993 to set up a new animation studio for Universal. Multimedia Animation's films continued to suffer losses at the box office, and the studio was closed down in 1996 after the release of their final feature, Ghost Vision, which ended up being their highest-grossing film, following Multimedia's merger with Universal's then-parent company MCA Inc. Wildshill and much of the staff went on to head up Universal Feature Animation in Universal City, California to work on Ama and the Mysterious Crystal. As of 2020, Universal currently owns the rights to most of Multimedia Animation's back catalog.

Early founding / Wildshill and Paramount (1982–1988)
After leaving Walt Disney Productions in 1982 due to disagreements with the studio during the production of The Black Cauldron, animator Michael Wildshill established an independent animation studio called Michael Wildshill Productions and recruited some of the fellow CalArts graduates whom Wildshill worked with. Employees from Disney including The Black Cauldron producer Joe Hale also came to the studio. In its early days, the studio worked on short films such as Lo and the Short Island and Gools, the Christmas special Bright Christmas, the television series Muzy, undeveloped projects and commercials while seeking a suitable feature film project.

In mid-1983, Wildshill was approached by Paramount Pictures with an idea for a feature film about a teenage girl whose magical hair expresses her feelings, The Master of Colors. Wildshill wrote early story treatments, and production began a year later, with a release date originally set for Christmas 1985 before pushing back to July 1986, going head-to-head against Disney's newest release, The Great Mouse Detective. In addition to The Master of Colors, two further films were already well into development; The Workers since 1984 and Liche's Wish since late 1984. The studio also had another film in development, Elements of Light, which had began development in early 1985 alongside Liche's Wish and was originally intended to be released by Paramount. Due to production difficulties with that project, Wildshill had no choice but to leave Elements of Light ' s development to Bill Kroyer, a fellow animator of Wildshill, as they were unable to produce two films at the same time. Elements of Light was later solely produced by Kroyer Films with backing from Universal Pictures, a studio who would ultimately become Wildshill's most important partner in the later years, and released in September 1989. Meanwhile, Sammy and the Sing-Along Gang, the studio's first new straight-to-video series, debuted.

In November 1985, Wildshill and Paramount signed a $30 million deal to produce four animated feature films that were estimated to be completed during the next 12 years. Along with the deal their first project was announced, titled Hansel and Gretel. Intended to be based on the German fairy tale, it was put on hold two years later because of script issues.

In July 1986, The Master of Colors was released to generally positive reviews by critics, who praised the richness and fluidity of the animation, though some found the narrative unsatisfying. The Master of Colors returned only a modest box office performance, which was blamed on distributor Paramount's poor promotion, regionally staggered releases, and competition from The Great Mouse Detective. Meanwhile, Wildshill finally unveiled the newest series yet in its cycle, and the first in their successful long-time line of syndicated animated shows, The Spacebots. Airing from 1986 to 1989, the show's success led to Wildshill seeking to produce more animated series on their own in syndication.

The Workers was completed in late 1987, opening in November. The main animators consist of Geo G., Jay Mastori, Mala Miles, Terry Ward and Thalia Ward, who were one of the first major contributions in the film. The Workers performed poorly at the box office, grossing just $9.6 million. While its poor financial performance led the studio to declare bankruptcy in early 1988, the film performed better on home video in later that year, becoming a fast seller alongside other animated films released in the same month.

Right before the November 1987 release of The Workers, there were reports that due to creative differences Paramount and Wildshill would not be extending their contract. The deal was officially terminated in January 1988. Unofficial reasons for departure were weak performances of the last two movies, for which Paramount had to take writedowns.

Multimedia Animation (1988–1993)
On February 13, 1988, Michael Wildshill Productions was purchased by Multimedia, dividing into two new animation divisions oversaw by Wildshill: Multimedia Animation for feature animation and a television animation division of Multimedia Entertainment to produce high-quality Saturday morning cartoons for its announced animation-focused cable channel. Multimedia also invested a further $8 million to acquire the rights to partially completed film Liche's Wish with Multimedia Motion Pictures co-producing and co-financing. A condition of the investment was that Multimedia would have a close involvement in the management of Wildshill's financial operations, following reports of the studio's past mismanagement.

Multimedia launched the Gingo channel on September 10, 1988 with The Toon Hour, an animation showcase led by Wildshill, premiered and featured new creator-driven shorts developed for Gingo by Multimedia/Wildshill's in-house staff. Several new original animated series emerged from it, including Gabriel Garza, Ray Eilo, BJ and Wally, Metro Cone, and The Whackems.

In April 1989, Multimedia signed a three-year deal with Orion Pictures to finance, co-produce, and distribute animated feature films.

TriStar Pictures, who planned to distribute Liche's Wish, had already backed off in the wake of Michael Wildshill Productions' bankruptcy, doubtful that the picture would ever be completed. Universal Pictures stepped in to become the U.S. distributors for the film while Multimedia Motion Pictures Worldwide handled international distribution, planning to release it in November 1990 rather than its initially planned Christmas 1989 release. Directed by former Disney animator Audel LaRoque, Liche's Wish was a critical and commercial failure, grossing over $17 million, but was a great success when released on home video; accompanied by a $20 million advertising campaign, the video sold over three million copies in the first month alone, topping the charts and becoming one of the top-selling VHS releases of all time. This success helped Universal discover its potential in building an in-house feature animation division with support from Wildshill.

Shortly after the Multimedia buyout during the production of Liche's Wish, development work was already beginning on the studio's next feature. Early ideas for an adaptation of the Norwegian fairy tale East of the Sun and West of the Moon date back to the early 1980s at Don Bluth Productions, and was almost in production at the time, but was never produced due to a loss of financial backing. It was not until the late 1980s that Wildshill, a fellow rival of Don Bluth, revived the adaptation and East of the Sun and West of the Moon entered production in late 1988. Another film in development, The Three Princes and Their Beasts, began when Wildshill's younger sister Cynthia Marion expressed interest in writing the story treatment for an adaptation of the Lithuanian fairy tale, which eventually began production in 1989 for an initial release in 1991 from Orion Pictures.

Following complete work on Liche's Wish in 1990, Audel LaRoque began writing a film treatment that pays homage to Tales from the Crypt that LaRoque is a fan of. He immediately pitched it to Wildshill, also a Crypt fan, and the film, titled Ghost Vision, began production the following year. At the same time, Wildshill conceived early ideas for an animated adaptation of the William Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet as he wanted to make it as a suitable animated musical.

During production of East of the Sun and West of the Moon, the studio found itself in difficulties again. Orion Pictures, who was set to distribute the film worldwide alongside The Three Princes and Their Beasts, had also produced several major flops which ate up the studios' funds, leading Orion to sell East of the Sun and West of the Moon, while still in production, to Universal Pictures. In exchange, Universal would own the domestic rights, though the international rights to the film were retained by Orion. East of the Sun and West of the Moon was released in November 1992 and was a minor flop at the box office, grossing just $53 million, losing to its apparent competitor, Disney's Aladdin (which grossed over $504 million). However, much like Liche's Wish, the film performed better on home video.

As a result of Orion's bankruptcy in 1991, their next animated feature The Three Princes and Their Beasts was not released until May 1993. Despite receiving a mixed reception, The Three Princes and Their Beasts was a modest box office success, performing much better than Multimedia Animation's previous films by grossing $82 million.

Closure and the rise of Universal Feature Animation (1993–1996)

 * See also: Universal Animation

During the production of Romeo and Juliet in early 1993, Wildshill met with then-President of Universal's then-parent MCA Sid Sheinberg to discuss the creation of a feature animation division. While Wildshill wanted to remain at the Multimedia studio, arguing that because Universal effectively had a working animation studio already, Sheinberg wanted Wildshill to head up a new studio in Universal City, California instead. Universal had learned that Wildshill's Multimedia animation studio had a ten-year distribution contract with Columbia Pictures, meaning that they would have to give up their distribution fee to a competitor, and it was thus decided to shut down Multimedia Animation entirely instead of waiting for the Columbia contract to expire. Wildshill intended to remain in North Hollywood to complete work on Romeo and Juliet and Ghost Vision, but when he was forced to make changes to the film he left the studio and began working with Sheinberg and John Cohen to set up Universal Feature Animation. As a result, Cynthia Marion was named head of animation for Multimedia.

The studio's sixth feature film, Romeo and Juliet, was released in December 1994 by Universal after its initial distributor Columbia Pictures put the film in turnaround from its original autumn 1993 release. The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing over $186 million worldwide. Michael Wildshill wrote, produced and directed the film, but because he was busy working at the new Universal animation studio by the time Romeo and Juliet was in production, Cynthia Marion took full control for the rest of the film's production. Ghost Vision, the last project from Multimedia Animation, was set for release in late 1994 for distribution by Columbia Pictures, but due to production issues, it was moved back to October 1995 with Warner Bros. Pictures taking over the film's distribution rights, though Columbia retained its international rights under Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International. Upon its release, Ghost Vision grossed $324 million, becoming the highest-grossing film produced by Multimedia Animation.

After Multimedia was sold to MCA in 1996, operations at the Multimedia animation studio wound down. Many of the staff moved to the new Universal Feature Animation studio, and the studio closed its doors later the same year. Working at the new Universal City animation facility, Wildshill worked on Universal Feature Animation's first film, Ama and the Mysterious Crystal, which was released on December 19, 1997. The studio's most recent film, Imagimals 2, was released on September 18, 2020.

Short films

 * Bright Christmas (1982; TV short)
 * Lo and the Short Island (1983)
 * Gools (1984)
 * Tifi (1995)

Other
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Cancelled projects

 * The Little Mermaid - In late 1982, Michael Wildshill began work on an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Little Mermaid, which was closer to Andersen's story, notably in its preservation of the original and tragic ending. However, production was canceled in favor of The Master of Colors. Some of the film's concepts later went into Liche's Wish.
 * Hansel and Gretel - In November 1985, Michael Wildshill Productions announced they were developing a film adaptation of the German fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel, with Paramount Pictures. In May 1987, it was announced that they had postponed production on the film as they continued to rework the script. 25 years later, Paramount would release their own live-action adaptation, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters.
 * The Loathsome Dragon - In 1989, an animated feature film adaption of the children's book The Loathsome Dragon by David Wiesner and Kim Kahng was in the works at Multimedia Animation, but was canceled when Multimedia decided to make East of the Sun and West of the Moon as their next movie instead.
 * Arzach - In 1993, an adult animated film was in the works at Multimedia Animation that was based on the French Arzach comic book series by artist/author Jean 'Moebius' Giraud, which was originally published in the French sci-fi/fantasy comics magazine Métal Hurlant. However, its production was shut down after no news came and due to problems at Multimedia.
 * The Snowman - Around this time, Multimedia considered making a feature-length animated film adaptation of the children's picture book The Snowman by English author Raymond Briggs.
 * Tarzan of the Apes - In early 1994, Gabriel Garza writer Dianne Dixon was hired by Multimedia to write the screenplay for an animated film adaption of the story Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs, but it was canceled when Multimedia heard the news of Disney making an animated film adaption of Tarzan. After that, Multimedia Animation was folded into Universal Feature Animation.
 * Vixa and the Beast Hunters - This proposed concept was to be Multimedia's first computer-animated feature, but the film did not get beyond its planning stage. The canceled project was revealed 19 years after the film's conception.
 * Galaxy Melody - Took inspirations from Star Wars and Disney's Fantasia, this proposed CGI film was intended as a sci-fi comedy musical film, and to prove Multimedia's ability to create CGI films other than hand-drawn films. Multimedia spent six months on the project, developing several concept art and animation tests. However, most staff members, besides Michael Wildshill, were not passionate about the project, and thought it was "one-dimensional". As a result, Galaxy Melody was scrapped. According to Wildshill, Galaxy Melody is a lesson for Multimedia and its first failure.

Gallery
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Trivia
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