Universal Animation Studios (Glendale)


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

Universal Animation Studios Glendale, DBA Universal Animation Studios and formerly known as Universal Cartoon Studios, is an American animation studio located in Glendale, California which is a division of Universal Studios and creates direct-to-video and occasional theatrical animated feature films. It has produced sequels to Universal-released feature films, such as The Land Before Time, An American Tail, Balto, Ama and the Mysterious Crystal, as well as other films and television series. The studio has produced 35 feature films, beginning with The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure in 1994 with its most recent being Despicabopolis in 2018.

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.

Universal Cartoon Studios
Universal Cartoon Studios opened its doors in 1991 to produce animated television series. The studio's initial head was Jeff Segal, who had been head writer and story editor of Challenge of the GoBots for Hanna-Barbera Productions prior to joining Universal as President of Universal Cartoon Studios. The first animated TV series to be produced at the new Universal Cartoon Studios based in Glendale was an animated television series based on Back to the Future films, in conjunction with Amblin Entertainment, airing on CBS from 1991 to 1992. There would be some more Amblin/Universal television shows, including Fievel's American Tails (1992), The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper (1996–1998), and The Land Before Time (2007–2008), as well as a television special, Opus 'n' Bill: A Wish for Wings That Work (1991), based on the children's book of the same name by Berkeley Breathed.

Universal Cartoon Studios also began collaborating with Gingo Animation, starting with the television special A Gabriel Garza Christmas and the second season of Gabriel Garza. These Gingo programs, including Gabriel Garza, Hatty (1996–2002), GGTV (1999–present), Jenny Zoom (2001–2004), Planetokio (2002–2003), Critter Mockers (2003–2009), and The Pandemoniums (2004–2011) were mostly successful and proved popular among both children and adults. These shows were part of the Gingo Lineup, a syndicated programming block produced by Universal and Gingo. A feature-length film based on Gabriel Garza, The Gabriel Garza Movie, was produced in 2002 and bumped up to theatrical release. The film received mostly mixed reviews from critics and performed poorly at the box-office.

Beginning in 1993, Universal Cartoon Studios moved into the direct-to-video film market. The first of Universal's direct-to-video features was The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure (1994), a sequel to Don Bluth's The Land Before Time. This led to a series of many other direct-to-video sequels, which differ from the original by adding "sing-a-long" musical numbers. Bluth and his animation studio have no affiliation with any of the film's sequels. The sequels have generally been met with mixed reception with several fans of the original disregarding the sequels, while others have embraced the sequels into the canon of the story.

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