This article is about the feature animation production arm of 20th Century Studios. For the television animation division of 20th Century Studios, see 20th Television Animation.
The studio has produced a total of 30 feature films (six films as Fox Family Films, three films from Fox Animation Studios, thirteen feature films from Blue Sky Studios, and eight original films), most of them being distributed by 20th Century Studios. Their first film was Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie and their first animated film was Anastasia, with the most recent release being Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever; its next film will be Ice Age 6, slated for release in 2026.
In May 1993, Fox agreed to a two-year first-look deal with Nickelodeon for family films.[7] 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.[8] 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.[9]
History
1994–1998: Formation and early years
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.[7] Fox senior vice president of production Chris Meledandri was transferred into the unit as executive vice president in March 1994 after having been hired the previous year.[10] The week of May 6, 1994, Fox Family announced the hiring of Don Bluth and Gary Goldman for a new $100 million animation studio[11] which began construction that year in Phoenix, Arizona. In three years, the animation studio would produce and release its first film, Anastasia.[4] In September 1994, Matoian was promoted by Rupert Murdoch to head up the Fox network.[12] Meledandri was selected to head up the unit in 1994.[13]
1997–2020: 20th Century Fox Animation, Fox Animation Studios and success with Blue Sky Studios
In August 1997, Fox's Los Angeles-based visual effects company, VIFX, acquired majority interest in Blue Sky Studios to form a new visual effects and animation company, temporarily renamed "Blue Sky/VIFX".[15] Blue Sky had previously did the character animation of MTV Films' first film Joe's Apartment. Following the studio's expansion, Blue Sky produced character animation for the films Alien Resurrection, A Simple Wish, Mouse Hunt, Star Trek: Insurrection and Fight Club.[16] VIFX was later sold to another VFX studio Rhythm and Hues Studios in March 1999.[17] According to Blue Sky founder Chris Wedge, Fox considered selling Blue Sky as well by 2000 due to financial difficulties in the visual effects industry in general.
Logo used as 20th Century Fox Animation from 1999 to 2020
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.[23]
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, ten days after Titan A.E. was released and six months before Adventures from the Book of Virtues aired its final episode. Fox Animation looked to produce films at Blue Sky and its Los Angeles headquarters.[24]
Chris Wedge, film producer Lori Forte, and Meledandri presented Fox with a script for a comedy feature film titled Ice Age.[25] Studio management pressured staff to sell their remaining shares and options to Fox on the promise of continued employment on feature-length films. The studio moved to White Plains NY and started production on Ice Age. As the film wrapped, Fox, having little faith in the film, feared that it might bomb at the box office, terminated half of the production staff, and tried unsuccessfully to find a buyer for the film and the studio.[citation needed] Instead, Ice Age, Blue Sky's first feature film, was released by Fox in conjunction with 20th Century Fox Animation on March 15, 2002, with financial success and critical acclaim, receiving a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 75th Academy Awards in 2003.[26]Ice Age would subsequently spawn a successful franchise and launch Blue Sky into producing feature films and into becoming a household name in feature animation.
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.[27] Morrision was making deal with outside producers like she approved a stop-motion adaptation of Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox.[28]
In September 2017, Locksmith Animation formed a multi-year production deal with 20th Century Fox, who would distribute Locksmith's films, with Locksmith aiming to release a film every 12–18 months. Fox Animation was later brought on to oversee the deal, which was to bolster Blue Sky's output and replace the loss of distributing DreamWorks Animation films, which are now owned and distributed by Universal Pictures.[29]
On October 30, 2017, Morrison was named president of a newly created 20th Century Fox division, Fox Family, which has a mandate similar to Fox Animation when it was called Fox Family Films.[30] 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.[31]
2019–present: Disney era, renaming and closure of Blue Sky Studios
On October 18, 2018, it was announced that Fox Animation would be added alongside 20th Century Fox to Walt Disney Studios following the Acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, 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.[32]
On March 21, 2019, Disney announced that Fox Animation (including Blue Sky Studios) would be integrated as new units within Walt Disney Studios, with Co-presidents Andrea Miloro and Robert Baird continuing to lead the studio and reporting directly to Alan Horn.[33] Miloro stepped down as co-president in late July 2019.[34] In August 2019, Walt Disney Animation Studios head Andrew Millstein was named co-president of Blue Sky for day-to-day operations alongside Baird, while Pixar Animation Studios president Jim Morris would also be taking on a supervisory role over Millstein.[2] With the Disney takeover, the Locksmith deal left 20th Century Fox for Warner Bros. in October 2019, except for the first and now only film under the deal, Ron's Gone Wrong.[35]
On January 17, 2020, Disney dropped the "Fox" name from the two main film studio units acquired from 21st Century Fox—20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight Pictures.[38] Fox Animation took on its current name with its incorporation on January 28, 2020, to avoid confusion with Fox Corporation.[3]
On February 9, 2021, Disney announced that it was shutting down Blue Sky Studios in April 2021, the main unit of 20th Century Animation.[5][39] It closed on April 10, 2021.
In November 2024, during D23 in Brazil, it was officially announced that the studio would return to produce theatrical films starting with Ice Age 6 slated for December 18, 2026.[40][41]
Process
Unlike animation studios such as Pixar or Walt Disney Animation Studios, 20th Century Animation does not have an in-house animation style, but rather acts as a division and somewhat of a distribution label for animated films that are made under or acquired by 20th Century Studios. An example of this is with Fox Animation Studios and Blue Sky Studios' films; both of which were subsidiaries of the company. Another example of this is Fantastic Mr. Fox.[42][43] Additionally, Ron's Gone Wrong was the first and only film made under a deal between 20th Century and Locksmith Animation.[35]
However, the animation production of 20th Century Animation's films (except for Blue Sky Studios) is outsourced to other studios. For example, The Simpsons Movie was animated at Film Roman alongside AKOM and Rough Draft Studios, while Ron's Gone Wrong was animated by DNEG. The Book of Life was developed outside of 20th Century Animation at Reel FX, with the studio co-producing the film later on.[44]Diary of a Wimpy Kid and The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild were animated by Bardel Entertainment.
Fox Animation Studios (headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona) and Blue Sky Studios (headquartered in White Plains, New York and later Greenwich, Connecticut) animated their respective films internally, however Anastasia and Titan A.E. were outsourced to multiple animation studios, including Bardel Entertainment, Reality Check Studios, and Blue Sky,[45][46] when the latter of the three was still a VFX studio.
Both Fox Animation Studios and Blue Sky had their own unique animation style, with the former having the same animation style as Don Bluth.
From 1994 to 2000,[47][48] 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 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,[49] but their next feature, Titan A.E., was a large financial loss, losing $100 million for 20th Century Fox in 2000.[50] The lack of box office success, coupled with the rise of computer animation, led Fox to shut down the studios.[48]
From 1997 until 2021, Fox owned Blue Sky Studios, a computer animation company known for the Ice Age franchise.[51] Fox has had much more success with the studio, with the box office receipts of their films becoming competitive with the likes of Pixar and DreamWorks Animation. On March 21, 2019, Blue Sky Studios was integrated as a separate unit within Walt Disney Studios, yet they would continue to report to Fox Animation presidents Andrea Miloro and Robert Baird.[52][53] In February 2021, Disney had announced that Blue Sky would cease all operations and close sometime within April 2021, eventually shuttering on April 10, 2021.[5][39]
Co-productions and original films
Starting in 2007, 20th Century Animation occasionally produces its own films without Blue Sky Studios' involvement while also co-producing films from other studios. The company is not credited on these films like how they are with Blue Sky's films and Fox Animation Studios' Anastasia and Titan A.E. As of 2024, The Simpsons Movie remains their highest-grossing original film.
All films listed are produced and or distributed by 20th Century Studios unless noted otherwise.
^Lang, Brent (November 1, 2018). "How Chris Meledandri Became the Most Powerful Man in Animation". Variety. Archived from the original on November 8, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2019. While Meledandri might have been a late convert to the genre, his big break came in 1994, when he was tapped to head Fox's family division,...
^King, Susan (November 18, 1999). "Sidekick Bat Spreads His Wings in 'Bartok'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 19, 2018. Retrieved March 31, 2018. ...,says Chris Meledandri, president of 20th Century Fox Animation.
^A. Schechter, Pamela (1996). "TV's Fall Animation Lineup". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on November 19, 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
^"The 75th Academy Awards, 2003". Oscars.org. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. October 5, 2014. Archived from the original on April 17, 2018. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
^LaPorte, Nicole (January 30, 2007). "Fox's big toon-up". Variety. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
^Debruge, Peter (July 30, 2008). "Vanessa Morrison". Variety. Archived from the original on February 16, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
^Hipes, Patrick (March 21, 2019). "After Trying Day, Disney Sets Film Leadership Lineup". Deadline. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2019. Fox Animation (including Blue Sky Studios) will continue to be led by Co-Presidents Andrea Miloro and Robert Baird.
^Brody, Richard (November 2, 2009). "Wild, Wild Wes". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on March 7, 2014. Retrieved March 17, 2022. And doing it on the industrial scale required for a studio motion picture—this one is being produced by Twentieth Century Fox Animation—is a gigantic undertaking.
^Scheck, Franck (October 11, 2014). "'The Book of Life': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 13, 2014. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
