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Twentieth Century Animation, Inc. (formerly Fox Family Films and Twentieth Century Fox Animation and stylized as 20th Century Animation) is an animation subsidiary of The Walt Disney Studios, a division of The Walt Disney Company. Originally formed in 1994 as a subsidiary of 20th Century Studios, the studio is located in Century City, Los Angeles, and is tasked with producing feature-length animated, stop motion, mixed media and digitally-produced films.
The first film produced by 20th Century Animation, Anastasia, was released on November 21, 1997. Its latest release was Princess Joanna and the Four Kingdoms on September 16, 2022, with their next scheduled release set to be The Teenagers Movie on December 2, 2022.
Background[]
Before 20th Century Fox started its animation division, Fox released its first eight animated films, such as Hugo the Hippo (1975), Wizards, Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure (1977), Fire and Ice (1983), FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992) with Interscope Communications, Once Upon a Forest (1993) and The Pagemaster (1994).
In May 1993, Fox agreed to a two-year first-look deal with Nickelodeon for family films. The deal would mostly include original material, though a Nickelodeon executive did not rule out the possibility of making films based on The Ren & Stimpy Show, Rugrats and Doug. However, no films came out of the deal due to the 1994 acquisition of Paramount Pictures by Nickelodeon's parent company, Viacom, and they would distribute the film projects instead.
History[]
The division initially started in February 1994 as Fox Family Films, as one of four film divisions of 20th Century Fox under executive John Matoian. The division was planned to produce six feature films a year as part of a plan to produce more films per year overall. Fox senior vice president of production Chris Meledandri was transferred into the unit as executive vice president in March 1994 after having being hired the previous year. The week of May 6, 1994, Fox Family announced the hiring of Don Bluth and Gary Goldman for a new $100 million animation studio which began construction that year in Phoenix, Arizona. In three years, the animation studio would produce and release its first film, Anastasia. In September 1994, Matoian was promoted by Rupert Murdoch to head up the Fox network. Meledandri was selected to head up the unit in 1994.
It produced live-action films such as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995), Dunston Checks In (1996) and Home Alone 3. By August 1997, Fox Family had decreased the number of live films. R.L. Stine agreed with Fox Family Films in January 1998 for a film adaptation of the Goosebumps book franchise with Tim Burton producing.
Fox Animation[]
Logo used as 20th Century Fox Animation.
In 1998, following the success of Anastasia, the division was renamed to Fox Animation Studios, refocusing on animated feature films, including stop-motion, mixed media and digital production. The division's live-action films in development at the time included Marvel Comics' Silver Surfer, the disaster film spoof Disaster Area, Fantastic Voyage and Goosebumps. Ever After (1998), a Cinderella adaptation, was the division's last live-action film. At this time, there were several animated films on the company's development slate: Dark Town with Henry Selick, Chris Columbus and Sam Hamm, Twentieth Toons, Santa Calls at Blue Sky, Thalia Ward (Alaina Gleen) projects, and Matt Groening (The Simpsons) projects, Steve Oedekerk and Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). The Phoenix studio at the time was producing Planet Ice (directed by Art Vitello), The Toonlympics, a live-action/animated hybrid film featuring the Twentieth Toons characters, a Sister Light, Sister Dark adaptation, and Anastasia producer/directors Don Bluth and Gary Goldman's then soon to be announced project. Chris Meledandri remained as the president of the division, which was known by 1999 as 20th Century Fox Animation.
20th Century Fox Animation vice president of physical production Chuck Richardson was sent in early December 1999 to Fox subsidiary Blue Sky Studios as general manager and senior vice president. Richardson was sent to prepare Blue Sky for feature animation production.
The Phoenix studio, which kept the Fox Animation Studios name, laid off 2/3 of its employee workforce in February 2000 before its closure in late June of that year. Fox Animation looked to produce films at Blue Sky and its Los Angeles headquarters. Animators at Blue Sky worked on projects based at the Blue Sky studio, but also assisted in Fox Animation projects based in the Century City Fox Animation studio.
In January 2007, Meledandri left for Universal Pictures to set up Illumination there with Vanessa Morrison as his replacement while answering to newly appointed 20th Century Fox Film Group vice-chairman Hutch Parker. Morrison moved from the live-action division where she handled family-children fare as senior vice president of production. Morrison was making deal with outside producers like she approved a Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox stop-motion adaptation.
In July 2016, Fox Animation Century City updated its studio logo, featuring Twentieth Toons' Felix Fox, starting with The Pixelators, which premiered on December 9, 2016.
In September 2017, Locksmith Animation formed a multi-year production deal with 20th Century Fox, who will distribute Locksmith's films, with Locksmith aiming to release a film every 12-18 months. The deal was to bolster Blue Sky's output and replace the lost of distributing DreamWorks Animation films, which are now owned and distributed by Universal Pictures.
On October 30, 2017, Morrison was named president of a newly created 20th Century Fox division, Fox Family, which as a mandate similar to this company when it was called Fox Family Films. Andrea Miloro and Robert Baird were named co-president of Fox Animation the same day and would also have direct oversight of Blue Sky and oversee the Locksmith Animation deal and grow Fox Animation with other partnerships and producer deals.
Disney era[]
On October 18, 2018, it was announced that 20th Century Fox Animation would be added alongside 20th Century Fox to the Walt Disney Studios following their acquisition, with co-presidents Andrea Miloro and Robert Baird retaining leadership while reporting to Walt Disney Studios Chairman, Alan Horn and Twentieth Century Fox vice chairman Emma Watts.
On March 20, 2019, Disney announced that the 20th Century Fox Animation label (including Blue Sky Studios) would be integrated as new units within the Walt Disney Studios with Co-Presidents Andrea Miloro and Robert Baird continuing to lead the studio reporting directly to Alan Horn. Miloro steps down as co-president in late July 2019. In August 2019, Walt Disney Animation Studios head Andrew Millstein was named as co-president of Blue Sky for day-to-day operations alongside Baird, while Pixar Animation Studios president Jim Morris would also be taking a supervisory role at the Century City studio over Millstein. With the Disney take over, the Locksmith deal left 20th Century Fox for Warner Bros. in October 2019 except for the first and only film under the deal, Ron's Gone Wrong.
On January 17, 2020, it was announced that the "Fox" name would be dropped from several of the Fox assets acquired by Disney, with 20th Century Fox Animation being renamed "20th Century Animation" on January 28.
On February 9, 2021, Disney announced that it was shutting down Blue Sky Studios, an unit of 20th Century Animation.
Process[]
In a similar fashion to other animation studios such as the Warner Animation Group, Sony Pictures Animation and Paramount Animation, the studio outsources their animated films to different animation and visual effects studios, with the majority of their films being animated in-house by the main 20th Century Animation headquarters in Century City, California and Blue Sky Studios in Greenwich, Connecticut. Some films, such as Fantastic Mr. Fox, Sunnie, and The Book of Life, were created outside of 20th Century Fox Animation, although they were released under the studio's label.
Filmography[]
Fox Family Films[]
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995)
- Dunston Checks In (1996)
- Home Alone 3 (1997)
- Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie (1997)
- Ever After (1998), a Cinderella adaptation, was the division's last live-action film
Fox Animation Studios[]
- Main article: Fox Animation Studios
From 1994–2000, Fox operated Fox Animation Studios, a traditional animation studio which was started to compete with Walt Disney Animation Studios, which was experiencing great success with their releases of films such as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. The Fox studio, however, was not as successful. Their first feature Anastasia made nearly $140 million at the worldwide box office on a $53 million budget in 1997, but their fourth feature, Titan A.E., was a large financial loss, losing $100 million for 20th Century Fox in 2000. The lack of box office success, coupled with the rise of computer animation, led Fox to shut down the Fox Animation Studios.
- Anastasia (1997)
- Sister Light, Sister Dark (1998)
- Toonlympics (1999)
- Bartok the Magnificent (1999) direct to video
- Titan A.E. (2000)
In-house films[]
- Main article: 20th Century Animation Century City
Since 2001, 20th Century Animation has been producing their own films in-house through their main Century City headquarters. On March 21, 2019, 20th Century Animation Century City was integrated as a separate unit within Walt Disney Studios, but they will still report to Fox Animation presidents Andrea Miloro and Robert Baird, CEO Stuart Snyder, and head of animation Tom Ruzicka.
The Century City studio has produced and released 22 feature films, numerous short films and television specials. Cool Spot: Spot Goes to Hollywood is the studio's highest-grossing film. Major feature films include:
| # | Title | Release date | Distributor | Budget | Gross | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mice Tales | November 21, 2001 | 20th Century Fox | $45 million | $201 million | 76% | 67 |
| 2 | History Island | April 16, 2004 | $65 million | $103 million | 52% | 50 | |
| 3 | Puppet Pals | June 30, 2006 | $90 million | $659 million | 88% | 76 | |
| 4 | Kate & Chris | September 28, 2007 | $80 million | $541 million | 61% | 56 | |
| 5 | Crystal | November 26, 2008 | $100 million | $505 million | 86% | 77 | |
| 6 | Puppet Pals 2 | April 16, 2010 | $105 million | $952 million | 79% | 71 | |
| 7 | Alaina Gleen | October 22, 2010 | $103 million | $551 million | 89% | 86 | |
| 8 | Crystal: Coming of Darkness | November 4, 2011 | $109 million | $657 million | 87% | 80 | |
| 9 | Little Lily | March 30, 2012 | $122 million | $252 million | 52% | 47 | |
| 10 | Puppet Pals 3 | February 8, 2013 | $116 million | $744 million | 43% | 41 | |
| 11 | Alaina Gleen 2 | September 13, 2013 | $119 million | $959 million | 77% | 70 | |
| 12 | Crystal: The Lost Realms | May 29, 2015 | $118 million | $890 million | 69% | 61 | |
| 13 | The Pixelators | December 9, 2016 | $155 million | $592 million | 53% | 51 | |
| 14 | Alaina Gleen: Imaginary Vacation | July 21, 2017 | $165 million | $891 million | 54% | 47 | |
| 15 | Cool Spot | June 1, 2018 | $150 million | $1.145 billion | 93% | 74 | |
| 16 | Puppet Pals Forever | September 21, 2018 | $200 million | $1.204 billion | 52% | 51 | |
| 17 | Crystal: The Rise of Darkness | September 13, 2019 | $175–200 million | $1.141 billion | 84% | 76 | |
| 18 | The Pixelators: Level Two | February 7, 2020 | $175 million | $822 million | 83% | 74 | |
| 19 | Alaina Gleen: World's Most Wanted | September 17, 2021 | 20th Century Studios | $175 million | $783 million | 77% | 72 |
| 20 | Cool Spot: Spot Goes to Hollywood | December 3, 2021 | $200 million | $1.664 billion | 96% | 77 | |
| 21 | Twentieth Toons: Quest for the Toon Temple | April 29, 2022 | $200 million | $1.057 billion | 77% | 60 | |
| 22 | Princess Joanna and the Four Kingdoms | September 16, 2022 | $200 million | $1.363 billion | 97% | 81 | |
| Upcoming | |||||||
| 23 | Hyper | March 31, 2023 | 20th Century Studios | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 24 | The Pixelators: Supercharged | September 29, 2023 | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | |
| 25 | Mechagirl | April 26, 2024 | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | |
| 26 | Kate & Chris 2 | November 22, 2024 | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | |
Blue Sky Studios[]
- Main article: Blue Sky Studios
From 1997 to 2021, Fox owns Blue Sky Studios, a computer animation company known for the Ice Age franchise. Fox has had much more success with this studio, and the box office receipts of their films are competitive with those of Pixar and DreamWorks. On March 21, 2019, Blue Sky Studios was integrated as a separate unit within Walt Disney Studios, but they will still report to Fox Animation presidents Andrea Miloro and Robert Baird. In February of 2021, Disney had announced that Blue Sky would cease all operations and close sometime within April 2021.
They have released sixteen feature films, numerous short films and television specials. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is the studio's highest-grossing film. Major feature films include:
| # | Title | Release date | Distributor | Budget | Gross | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ice Age | March 15, 2002 | 20th Century Fox | $59 million | $383 million | 77% | 60 |
| 2 | Robots | March 11, 2005 | $75 million | $260 million | 64% | 64 | |
| 3 | Ice Age: The Meltdown | March 31, 2006 | $80 million | $660 million | 57% | 58 | |
| 4 | Ant-N-Grasshopper | March 2, 2007 | $82 million | $187 million | 71% | 62 | |
| 5 | Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! | March 14, 2008 | $85 million | $297 million | 79% | 71 | |
| 6 | Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | July 1, 2009 | $90 million | $886 million | 46% | 50 | |
| 7 | George and Greg | June 10, 2010 | $89 million | $200 million | TBD | TBD | |
| 8 | Rio | April 15, 2011 | $90 million | $484 million | 72% | 63 | |
| 9 | Ice Age: Continental Drift | July 13, 2012 | $95 million | $877 million | 38% | 49 | |
| 10 | Epic | May 24, 2013 | $93 million | $268 million | 64% | 52 | |
| 11 | Rio 2 | April 11, 2014 | $103 million | $500 million | 46% | 49 | |
| 12 | The Peanuts Movie | November 6, 2015 | $99 million | $246 million | 87% | 67 | |
| 13 | Ice Age: Collision Course | July 22, 2016 | $105 million | $408 million | 17% | 34 | |
| 14 | Ferdinand | December 15, 2017 | $111 million | $296 million | 72% | 58 | |
| 15 | Kirby | December 25, 2018 | $100 million | $301 million | TBA | TBA | |
| 16 | Spies in Disguise | December 25, 2019 | $100 million | $171 million | 76% | 51 |
Co-productions/original films[]
| Title | Release date | Co-production with | Distributor | Budget | Gross | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Da Jammies | August 19, 1999 | Regency Enterprises
Fruit Bowl Productions |
20th Century Fox | $67 million | $980.9 million | 90% | 87 |
| Star Wars T.I.E. | December 8, 2000 | Industrial Light & Magic Lucasfilm |
$90 million | $372 million | 76% | 67 | |
| Jeremy Monroe: The Biggest Movie Ever | July 18, 2003 | Maldonado Studios | $50 million | $343 million | 91% | 88 | |
| The Alaina Gleen Movie | September 17, 2004 | Thalia Ward Productions Film Roman Rough Draft Feature Animation |
$65 million | $166 million | 46% | 41 | |
| Twentieth Toons: Tooned Out[S] | July 22, 2005 | Regency Enterprises | $70 million | $106 million | 54% | 51 | |
| The Simpsons Movie | July 27, 2007 | Gracie Films Film Roman Rough Draft Studios |
$75 million | $527 million | 88% | 80 | |
| Fantastic Mr. Fox | November 13, 2009 | American
Empirical Pictures |
$40 million | $46 million | 92% | 83 | |
| The Book of Life | October 17, 2014 | Reel FX | $50 million | $99 million | 82% | 67 | |
| Sunnie | October 13, 2017 | Frenzy Animation | $70 million | $347 million | 53% | 46 | |
| Daniel's Big Return | August 24, 2018 | Bento Box Entertainment Diet Cola Entertainment Fremantle North America TSG Entertainment Sidney Sheldon Productions |
20th Century Fox / Columbia Pictures | $140 million | $890.2 million | 96% | 63 |
| Jeremy Monroe: The Second Biggest Movie Ever[S] | July 10, 2020 | Maldonado Studios | 20th Century Studios | $80 million | $37 million | 68% | 58 |
| Sunnie 2 | October 2, 2020 | Frenzy Animation | $75 million | $144 million | 71% | 58 | |
| Daniel: Bigger, Badder, and Meaner | July 23, 2021 | Bento Box Entertainment Diet Cola Entertainment Fremantle North America TSG Entertainment Sidney Sheldon Productions |
20th Century Studios / Columbia Pictures | $200 million | $920.9 million | 90% | 63 |
| Ron's Gone Wrong | October 22, 2021 | TSG Entertainment Locksmith Animation DNEG Feature Animation |
20th Century Studios | TBA | $60.4 million | 80% | 65 |
| Diary of a Wimpy Kid | December 3, 2021 | Walt Disney Pictures Bardel Entertainment |
Disney+ | N/A | N/A | 73% | 50 |
| The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild | January 28, 2022 | N/A | N/A | 17% | 30 | ||
| The Bob's Burgers Movie | May 27, 2022 | Wilo Productions Bento Box Entertainment |
20th Century Studios | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| Upcoming | |||||||
| The Teenagers Movie | December 2, 2022 | Wild Wolf Entertainment TSG Entertainment Warner Bros. Animation |
20th Century Studios / Warner Bros. Pictures | $89 million | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again | 2022 | 21 Laps Entertainment 1492 Pictures Alibaba Pictures |
Disney+ | N/A | N/A | TBA | TBA |
| The Wyatts Forever | July 12, 2024 | Bento Box Entertainment Diet Cola Entertainment Fremantle North America TSG Entertainment Sidney Sheldon Productions |
20th Century Studios / Columbia Pictures | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
In development[]
| Title | Notes |
|---|---|
| Untitled ''Futurama'' film | Co-production with The Curiosity Company |
| Untitled seventh Ice Age film | |
| Untitled The Simpsons Movie sequel | Co-production with Gracie Films |
| Untitled third Rio film |
Other[]
- FernGully 2: The Magical Rescue (1998) Wild Brain and Wang Film Productions
- Monkeybone[S] (2001) (co-production by 1492 Pictures)
- Kung Pow: Enter the Fist[S] (2002) (co-production by O Entertainment)
- Isle of Dogs (2018) (Co-production by Studio Babelsberg, Indian Paintbrush, and American Empirical Pictures; distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures)
- SCombines live-action with animation.
Franchises[]
| Titles | Movies | Release years | TV Seasons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twentieth Toons | 6 | 1933–present | TBA |
| The Bad Life of Daniel | 7 | 1969-present | 49 |
| Harlem's Royalty | 13 | 1987-present | 8 |
| The Simpsons | 1 | 1989–present |
36 |
| Alaina Gleen | 5 | 1990–present | 15 |
| FernGully: The Last Rainforest | 2 | 1992–1998 | 0 |
| Jeremy Monroe | 2 | 1996–present | 25 |
| Anastasia | 2 | 1997–1999 | 0 |
| Da Jammies | 7 | 1999-present | 6 |
| Ice Age | 6 | 2002–present | 2 |
| Puppet Pals | 5 |
2006–present |
6 |
| Kate & Chris | 1 | 2007–present | 4 |
| Crystal | 4 | 2008–2019 | 0 |
| Rio | 2 | 2011–2014 | 0 |
| Little Lily | 1 | 2012–2016 | 3 |
| The Pixelators | 3 | 2016–present | 4 |
| Sunnie | 2 | 2017–2020 | 2 |
| Cool Spot | 2 | 2018–present | 3 |
See also[]
- List of 20th Century Studios theatrical animated features
- List of Disney theatrical animated features
- List of unproduced 20th Century Animation projects
- Disney Television Animation
- 20th Television Animation
- Walt Disney Animation Studios
- Pixar