Sony Pictures Animation Inc.
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryAnimation
FoundedMay 9, 2002 (2002-05-09)
Headquarters
9050 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City, California
,
U.S.
Key people
Products
  • Feature films
  • Short films
  • Television series
OwnerSony
Number of employees
255 (2018)[2]
ParentSony Pictures Motion Picture Group
WebsiteOfficial website

Sony Pictures Animation Inc. is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and founded on May 9, 2002. Most of the studio's films are distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Releasing under their Columbia Pictures label, while all direct-to-video releases are released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

The first film produced by the studio, Open Season, was released on September 29, 2006, and their most recent film was Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on June 2, 2023; their upcoming slate of films includes Fixed and Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse on unspecified dates.

History

In 2001, Sony Pictures considered selling off its visual effects facility Sony Pictures Imageworks but after failing to find a suitable buyer, having been impressed with the CGI sequences of Stuart Little 2 and seeing the box office successes of DreamWorks Animation's Shrek and Disney/Pixar's Monsters, Inc., SPI was reconfigured to become an animation studio. Astro Boy, which had been in development at Sony since 1997 as a live-action film, was set to be SPI's first all-CGI film, but never made it to fruition.[3] On May 9, 2002, Sony Pictures Animation was established to develop characters, stories and movies with SPI taking over the digital production while maintaining its visual effects production.[4] Meanwhile, SPI produced two short films, the Academy Award-winning The ChubbChubbs! and Early Bloomer, as a result of testing its strengths and weaknesses in producing all-CGI animation.[5]

Logo used from 2006 to 2011

On its first anniversary on May 9, 2003, Sony Pictures Animation announced a full slate of animated projects in development: Open Season, an adaptation of a Celtic folk ballad Tam Lin, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Surf's Up, and a feature-length film version of The ChubbChubbs!.[6]

Logo used from 2011 to 2018

On May 27, 2014, it was announced that Netflix had acquired streaming rights to films produced by Sony Pictures Animation.[7]

On November 3, 2014, the studio collaborated with Frederator Studios' Cartoon Hangover on GO! Cartoons, an incubator series consisting of 12 short films, with at least one short film being developed into a series. The short films were funded by SPA, with the additional goal of attracting new talent for the studio.[8][9]

In June 2019, Sony Pictures Animation announced that they had launched an "International" division headed by Aron Warner at the 2019 Annecy International Animated Film Festival, with Wish Dragon set to be the division's first film. The same day, they also announced an "Alternative" division aimed at producing adult animated content, headed by Katie Baron and Kevin Noel. In addition to Tartakovsky's films Black Knight and Fixed, the division's TV shows are set to include The Boondocks, a reboot of the original TV series that originally aired on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block from 2005 to 2014; Superbago, a co-production with Stoopid Buddy Stoodios that was originally greenlit as a feature film; and Hungry Ghosts, a series based on the Dark Horse graphic novel by Anthony Bourdain and Joel Rose.[10] They had previously announced their plans to produce adult content at the 2017 Annecy festival.[11]

According to Kristine Belson, president of SPA, the studio produces films on a 1:1 development-to-production ratio, meaning that the studio puts films into development as much as it places films in production, unlike other animation studios.[11]

In April 2021, Disney and Sony Pictures reached a multi-year deal to let Sony's titles (such as films from the Spider-Man, Jumanji, Hotel Transylvania, Ghostbusters franchises, and other films made by Sony Pictures Animation, etc, and anime licensed by Funimation/Crunchyroll like Attack on Titan and Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works) to stream on Hulu and Disney+. A significant number of Sony titles began streaming on Disney+ starting in September 2022. It includes films from 2022 onwards.[12][13]

Projects

Sony Pictures Animation's first feature film was Open Season, released in September 2006, which became Sony's second-highest-grossing home entertainment film in 2007 and spawned three direct-to-video sequels. Its second feature film, Surf's Up was released in June 2007, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and won two Annie Awards. SPA's first 3D movie since the IMAX 3D release of Open Season, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, was released in September 2009 and was nominated for four Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature. The Smurfs (2011) was the studio's first CGI/live-action hybrid. SPA's parent company Sony Pictures had partnered in 2007 with Aardman Animations to finance, co-produce and distribute feature films.[14] Together, they produced two films: Arthur Christmas (2011), and The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (2012), the latter which was SPA's first stop-motion film. In 2012, SPA released Hotel Transylvania, which grossed over $350 million worldwide and launched a successful franchise with three sequels and a TV series. Two sequels were released in 2013: The Smurfs 2 and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.

SPA's latest releases are Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, an animated superhero film based on the Spider-Man comics and featuring the Miles Morales incarnation of the character, The Angry Birds Movie 2, the sequel to the 2016 film The Angry Birds Movie produced by Rovio Animation, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, a robot apocalypse/road trip film written and directed by Michael Rianda and Jeff Rowe while produced by longtime collaborators Phil Lord and Christopher Miller,[11][15] Wish Dragon, a co-production with Base FX, the musical film, Lin-Manuel Miranda's Vivo, which marks Sony Pictures Animation's first musical film, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the sequel to Into the Spider-Verse. SPA has since signed Genndy Tartakovsky to a long-term deal with the studio to develop and direct original films.[16]

Upcoming projects

As of December 2023, the studio is working on projects such as an R-rated comedy from Genndy Tartakovsky titled Fixed and Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, both of which will be released on unspecified dates. It has as well other projects in development, including an animated Ghostbusters spin-off film;[17][18] another Tartakovsky project titled Black Knight;[19] a musical comedy K-Pop: Demon Hunters;[20] Tao, a China-set science-fiction adventure film directed by The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part story artist Emily Dean,[21] Tut, an afro-futuristic coming-of-age story set in ancient Egypt directed by Hair Love creator Matthew A. Cherry,[22] and a project directed by Matt Braly.[23]

Process

In a similar fashion to Warner Bros. Pictures Animation and Paramount Animation, the studio outsources their films to other animation companies and visual effects studios, with the majority of their films being animated by sister company Sony Pictures Imageworks. Some films, such as Arthur Christmas and The Pirates! Band of Misfits were acquired by Sony Pictures Animation to be released under their banner while others, such as Goosebumps and Peter Rabbit, were made with no involvement from the studio.

Franchises

Sony Pictures Animation franchises
Titles Films Shorts Seasons Release dates
Open Season 4 1 1 2006–present
Surf's Up 2 0 0 2007–present
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 4 2 2009–2018
The Smurfs 3 2 0 2011–2017
Hotel Transylvania 4 3 2 2012–2022
Goosebumps 2 0 0 2015–2018
The Angry Birds Movie[lower-alpha 1] 2 5 0 2016–present
Peter Rabbit[lower-alpha 2] 2 1 0 2018–2021
Spider-Verse 2 2 0 2018–present

Filmography

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Sony Pictures Animation was not involved with the first film, but co-produced the sequel.
  2. ↑ Sony Pictures Animation was involved with the first film, but did not co-produce the sequel.

References

  1. ↑ "Kristine Belson Named New President of Sony Pictures Animation". The Hollywood Reporter. January 27, 2015. Retrieved January 27, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Sony Pictures Animation Promotes Pam Marsden to Head of Production". Variety. March 14, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  3. ↑ Brodesser, Claude (December 9, 2001). "Sony finds Rx for its f/x". Variety. Retrieved September 1, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment Establishes Feature Animation Unit; Animation Executives Sandra Rabins and Penney Finkelman Cox Named to Top Posts" (Press release). May 9, 2002. Archived from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
  5. ↑ Raugust, Karen (May 30, 2006). "The Value of Shorts". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved July 22, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Sony Pictures Animation Announces Projects for Directors Jill Culton, Anthony Stacchi, Roger Allers, Brenda Chapman and the Brizzi Brothers Cox Named to Top Posts" (Press release). May 9, 2003. Archived from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
  7. ↑ Szalai, Georg (May 27, 2014). "Netflix Gets Rights to Sony Animation Films". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  8. ↑ Milligan, Mercedes (November 3, 2014). "Sony Partners with Cartoon Hangover to Find New Talent". Animation Magazine. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  9. ↑ Milligan, Mercedes (November 7, 2017). "Sony Animation & Cartoon Hangover Launch 1st Incubator Film 'The Summoning'". Animation Magazine. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
  10. ↑ Hopewell, John (June 12, 2019). "Sony Pictures Animation Links to Tencent, Sets New 'Boondocks,' Tartakovsky Duo". Variety. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  11. 1 2 3 "Annecy: Kristine Belson on Sony Pictures Animation's upcoming slate". Variety Magazine. June 15, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
  12. ↑ Hayes, Dade (April 21, 2021). "Disney And Sony Reach Windows Deal That Can Sling 'Spider-Man' To Disney+ For First Time, Along With Reach Across Hulu, ABC, FX & More". Deadline. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
  13. ↑ Wit, Alex Dudok de (April 28, 2021). "Sony Films Will Head To Disney Platforms After Streaming On Netflix". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Gromit animators sign Sony deal". BBC News. April 2, 2007. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
  15. ↑ "Sony Pictures Animation". Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
  16. ↑ N'Duka, Amanda (July 25, 2018). "'Hotel Transylvania' Helmer Genndy Tartakovsky Sets New Projects At Sony Pictures Animation". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  17. ↑ Sneider, Jeff (October 1, 2015). "'Ghostbusters' Animated Movie in the Works at Sony Pictures Animation". The Wrap. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  18. ↑ Takao (August 7, 2017). "Ghostbusters: Ecto Force postponed for new film". ToonBarn. Archived from the original on August 10, 2017. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  19. ↑ N'Duka, Amanda (July 25, 2018). "'Hotel Transylvania' Helmer Genndy Tartakovsky Sets New Projects At Sony Pictures Animation". Deadline. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  20. ↑ Donnelly, Matt (March 8, 2021). "Animated Musical About Demon Hunting K-Pop Girl Group in the Works at Sony (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  21. ↑ Zahed, Ramin (June 20, 2019). "Emily Dean Making Feature Directorial Debut with Sony's 'Tao'". Animation Magazine. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  22. ↑ Donnelly, Matt (October 14, 2020). "Oscar Winner Matthew A. Cherry's Debut Feature 'Tut' in the Works at Sony Pictures Animation (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Sony Pictures Animation Developing Thai Fantasy-Adventure Pic from Matt Braly". December 14, 2023.
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