Reel FX Animation

Reel FX Animation (Reel FX), formerly known as Reel FX Creative Studios, is an American computer animation studio with studios in Dallas, Texas, Hollywood, California, and Montreal, Quebec.

Reel FX Animation
FormerlyReel Magic (1993–95)
Reel FX Creative Studios (1995–2020)
Reel FX Animation (2020–2023)
TypePrivate
IndustryAnimated feature films
Television series
PredecessorDNA Productions
Founded1993 (1993)
Headquarters717 North Harwood Street
Floor 27,
Dallas, Texas
,
United States
Number of locations
1575 N. Gower St
Suite 380 Hollywood, California, United States
1751 Richardson St
Suite 5400 Montreal, Quebec
Key people
Steve O'Brien (CEO, Chairman)
Donna Henry (President)
Chuck Peil (EVP/Partnerships)
David Parrish (SVP/Animation)
Joanna Ferguson (SVP, Feature Production)
Emmanuel Laurent (SVP, Real-Time Production)
Lucas Koppel (Director, Development)
Number of employees
350 (2013)[1]
DivisionsReel FX Animation
Reel FX Originals
ATKPLN
Flight School Studio
Websitewww.reelfx.com

The studio primarily produces animated features, short films, and television series. Among them is the studio's first original animated feature film, Free Birds, released in 2013. A year later, The Book of Life was released. The film received several nominations, including Best Animated Feature Nominations from the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice Awards, Producers Guild Awards and Annie Awards.[2] In 2020, Reel FX Animation teamed up with Warner Animation Group on Scoob!. In addition, the studio released Rumble, a co-production with Paramount Animation and Back to the Outback with Netflix Animation, both in 2021. Most recently, Reel FX teamed up again with Netflix Animation to create The Monkey King in 2023.

The studio’s upcoming slate of films includes The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants with Paramount Animation and a film titled Diya with Good Karma Productions.

History

Reel FX Animation was founded in 1993 as Reel Magic in Fort Worth, Texas. The studio was the sixth to purchase an Autodesk Flame system. In 1995, the company moved to Dallas and changed its name to Reel FX Creative Studios. Reel FX purchased West End Post, and in 1999, moved to the White Swan building in the West End. In 2005, the studio moved their headquarters east a couple of miles to Deep Ellum. The company opened a second location in Pasadena, California, and in 2008 merged with VFX-studio Radium and opened a studio in Santa Monica.

In 2017, Reel FX opened its first studio outside the United States in Montreal Canada. The studio would eventually add artists in Toronto and Vancouver as well.

Films and releases

In 1999, the studio produced its first short film, The Man In The Moon. Based on William Joyce’s Guardians of Childhood and co-directed by Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg. The short film became the first Reel FX Original (now called Inventions), and in 2007, was optioned to Dreamworks Animation where it ultimately became Rise of the Guardians, directed by Peter Ramsey. In October 2012, The Hollywood Reporter revealed Reel FX's connection to the 2012 feature film.[3][4]

In December 2010, Reel FX produced an untitled 3D film with producer Andrew Adamson and Cirque du Soleil.[5] In January 2012, Paramount Pictures announced that it had acquired worldwide rights to the film, now titled Worlds Away directed by Adamson and executive-produced by James Cameron.[6]

First called Turkeys,[7] and opened in 2013 under Free Birds, the film was directed by Jimmy Hayward and starred Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson, and Amy Poehler. Its release landed Reel FX’s CEO Steve O’Brien the front page of D CEO Magazine in their May-June edition of that year.[8]

Following the release of The Book of Life, Reel FX assisted on Rock Dog (Summit Entertainment, Huayi Brothers) and UglyDolls (STX Entertainment) while developing its next feature. Released in 2021, Rumble is based on Rob Harrell’s graphic novel Monster on the Hill and adapted for the screen by Matt Lieberman and Etan Cohen. In 2022, Reel FX released the original series Super Giant Robot Brothers!, with Netflix Animation. Directed by Mark Andrews (Brave), the episodic series was created using a custom-built real-time production pipeline with Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, the first animated series to be rendered entirely in a video game engine.[9][10]

Filmography

As production company
Title Release date Co-production with Distributor Directors
Free Birds November 1, 2013 Relativity Media Relativity Media Jimmy Hayward
The Book of Life October 17, 2014 20th Century Fox Animation
Chatrone[11]		 20th Century Fox Jorge R. Gutierrez
Rumble December 15, 2021 Paramount Animation
WWE Studios
Walden Media
New Republic Pictures		 Paramount+ Hamish Grieve
Lizzie McGuire February 14, 2025 Walt Disney Pictures
LuckyChap Entertainment		 Walt Disney Studios
Motion Pictures		 Jeff Fowler

Animation services/visual effects
Title Release date Production companies Distributor Directors
Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams August 7, 2002 Troublemaker Studios Dimension Films Robert Rodriguez
The Wild April 14, 2006 Walt Disney Pictures
Hoytyboy Pictures
Sir Zip Productions
Contrafilm		 Buena Vista Pictures Distribution Steve Williams
Everyone's Hero September 15, 2006 IDT Entertainment 20th Century Fox Christopher Reeve
Colin Brady
Daniel St. Pierre
Open Season 2 January 27, 2009 Sony Pictures Animation Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Matthew O'Callaghan
Todd Wilderman
Open Season 3 January 25, 2011 Cody Cameron
Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away December 21, 2012 Cirque du Soleil
Strange Weather Films
Cameron Pace Group		 Paramount Pictures Andrew Adamson
Rock Dog February 24, 2017 Huayi Brothers Summit Entertainment Ash Brannon
UglyDolls May 3, 2019 STX Family
Alibaba Pictures
Troublemaker Studios
Original Force		 STX Entertainment Kelly Asbury
Scoob! May 15, 2020[12][13] Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Animation Group[12]		 Warner Bros. Pictures Tony Cervone
Back to the Outback December 10, 2021[14] Netflix Animation
Weed Road Pictures[15]		 Netflix Clare Knight
Harry Cripps
The Monkey King August 18, 2023 Netflix Animation
Pearl Studio
Star Overseas
Tangent Animation[16]		 Anthony Stacchi
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants[17] December 19, 2025[18][19] Paramount Animation
Nickelodeon Movies
United Plankton Pictures		 Paramount Pictures Derek Drymon
Diya TBA Good Karma Productions[20] TBA Nitya Mehra
As production company
Title Years Co-production with Network Creator
Super Giant Robot Brothers[21] 2022-present Netflix Animation
Assemblage Entertainment		 Netflix Víctor Maldonado
Alfredo Torres
Lulu and the Help You Crew TBA Cake Entertainment[22] TBA Annie Mumolo
Animation services
Title Years Co-production with Network Creator
No Activity (season 4)[note 1][23] 2021 Funny or Die
Gary Sanchez Productions
Jungle Entertainment
Flight School Studio
CBS Studios		 Paramount+ Trent O'Donnell

Specials

Short films

Theme park attractions

Direct-to-video

Production logos

Note
  1. Hi

References
  1. Mallory, Michael (October 12, 2013). "Get Ready for a Real Turkey Feast!". Animation Magazine. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  2. "Book of Life from Dallas Scores Golden Globe Nomination". Dallas Morning News. December 11, 2014. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  3. McCarthy, Todd (October 11, 2012). "Rise of the Guardians: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
  4. CEC Entertainment, Inc. (May 20, 2014). "Chuck E. Cheese's Introduces Oculus Rift for Birthday Parties in Select Markets" (Press release). Reuters. Archived from the original on September 8, 2014. Retrieved September 8, 2014.
  5. Fleming, Mike (December 7, 2010). "Andrew Adamson, James Cameron team with Cirque du Soleil on 3D Feature". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 14, 2011.
  6. Fleming, Mike (February 10, 2012). "Paramount Acquires Worldwide Rights To Andrew Adamson And James Cameron's Cirque Du Soleil 3D Feature". Deadline Hollywood.
  7. Beck, Jerry (October 25, 2012). ""Turkeys" get Greenlit at Reel FX". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
  8. "D CEO May-June 2013". D Magazine. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
  9. Fleming, Ryan (June 14, 2022). "'Super Giant Robot Brothers!': Watch Exclusive First Look Trailer For Reel FX 's Ani Series For Netflix". Deadline. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
  10. https://www.animationscoop.com/official-trailer-reel-fx-rock-dog/
  11. (uncredited)Scheck, Franck (October 11, 2014). "'The Book of Life': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  12. Kroll, Justin (October 15, 2018). "'Tom and Jerry,' 'Scooby-Doo' Movies Land Top Talent at Warner Animation Group (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
  13. Kit, Borys (March 1, 2019). "Will Forte, Gina Rodriguez and Tracy Morgan to Star in Animated Scooby-Doo Movie (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  14. Milligan, Mercedes (November 30, 2020). "Netflix Heads Down Under with 'Back to the Outback' Movie in 2021". Animation Magazine. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  15. Wiseman, Andreas (November 30, 2020). "Netflix Lines Up Animated Movie 'Back To The Outback' With Isla Fisher, Tim Minchin, Eric Bana, Guy Pearce & Keith Urban". Deadline. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  16. Robinson, Jacob (May 17, 2023). "'The Monkey King': Coming to Netflix in August 2023 and What We Know So Far". What's on Netflix. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  17. Reel FX Animation [@wearereelfx] (April 17, 2023). "AHOY! Reel FX Animation's newest project is the upcoming SpongeBob Squarepants movie! And we're looking for Montreal-based Modeling and Rigging Artists to join us in Bikini Bottom. 🏖" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  18. Brian Welk (April 27, 2023). "Paramount Gets Animated with CinemaCon Presentation". IndieWire. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
  19. D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 23, 2023). "'Mission: Impossible 8' Jumps To 2025; 'A Quiet Place: Day One' Goes To Summer In 2024 Theatrical Shake-Up Due To Actors Strike". Deadline. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  20. Grobar, Matt (June 6, 2022). "'The Big Bang Theory's Kunal Nayyar Boards Animated Feature 'Diya' From Reel FX Originals As EP; Nitya Mehra To Direct". Deadline. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  21. "Netflix Announces Three New Animated Comedy Series for Kids from Renowned and First-Time Creators". Netflix Media Center (Press release). Retrieved June 22, 2021.
  22. Zahed, Ramin (May 24, 2023). "Cake Announces New Preschool Show Developed with Reel FX and 'Bridesmaids' Writers". Animation Magazine. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  23. Reel FX (October 29, 2020). "Congratulations @flightschoolHQ for helping pivot CBS's live action comedy series, @NoActivityCBS, to animation for this coming season. Reel FX Animation is proud and excited to dish out an assist on this project". Twitter.
  24. Qidong, Zhang (November 23, 2012). "Animation studio sees role for China". China Daily. Retrieved November 24, 2012.
  25. Gilchrist, Todd (September 28, 2005). "Robots". IGN. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  26. Foster, Dave (August 24, 2005). "Robots (R2) in September - Menus added". The Digital Fix. Archived from the original on March 6, 2014. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  27. Desowitz, Bill (July 30, 2010). "O'Callaghan Talks Coyote Falls". Animation World Network. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
  28. "Looney Tunes "Daffy's Rhapsody"". Reel FX. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
  29. Hopewell, John (June 9, 2014). "Studios, France, Emerging Industries Energize Annecy". Variety. Retrieved June 24, 2014. Closing ceremony, featuring Official Selection award announcements and Warner Bros.' 3D short "A Flash in the Pain"
  30. "Reel FX Live from Annecy!". Reel FX. June 11, 2014. Archived from the original on June 24, 2014. Retrieved June 24, 2014. Peil wrapped up the presentation with the 6th installment in the series of Looney Tunes shorts "Flash in the Pain".
  31. Boot Camp - A Best Fiends Animation
  32. Visit Minutia - A Best Fiends Animation
  33. Fort of Hard Knocks - A Best Fiends Animation
  34. Baby Slug's Big Day Out - A Best Fiends Animation
  35. Howie's Gift - A Best Fiends Animation
  36. Temper's Adventure - A Best Fiends Animation
  37. The Immortal Cockroach - A Best Fiends Animation
  38. The Fight Before Christmas - A Best Fiends Animation
  39. King Slug Industries - A Best Fiends Animation
  40. Reel FX (July 2, 2012). "It's Time For Minion Mayhem at Universal Orlando". Reel FX. Archived from the original on September 15, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  41. "Meet Star Skipper, Paramount Animation's Magical New Trademark Logo Character". Variety. September 19, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
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