Ellipse Animation

Ellipse Animation is a French entertainment group and animation production studio that is a subsidiary of media publishing and entertainment conglomerate Média-Participations whom brings together all of their animation production activities under one group and owns four animation production units (Dargaud Media, Dupuis Edition & Audiovisuel, Ellipsanime Productions) alongside their own in-house animation production studio Ellipse Studio based in both Paris and Angoulême. Across all their production labels, Ellipse Animation produced more than 1,982 animated series and films.

History

Ellipse Animation had its beginnings as a production name for Ellipse Programme's animation division until 2003 when Canal+ sold Ellipse to French media entertainment conglomerate Média-Participations under the latter's French-Belgian comic book publishing division Dargaud through its animation production division Dargaud Marina renaming it to Ellipsanime one year later in 2004.

In 1967 55 years before the launch of Ellipse Animation, French publishing house Dargaud began entering the animation production activities by launching its film division Dargaud Films with the release of their first movie ''Asterix the Gaul''. Subsequently, the company produced or co-produced several Asterix, Lucky Luke and Tintin feature films. Five years later in 1972, Dargaud announced that they've teamed up with American production and distributor United Artists to produce the movie ''Le Viager'' which was directed by Pierre Tchernia. Two years later in 1974, Dargaud announced that they had joined forces with René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo.

Ellipsanime Productions was originally founded in 1987 by Philippe Gildas and Robert Réa with Groupe Canal+ as ''Ellipse Programme'' who had created an animation production division three years later in 1990 called Ellipse Animation before merging Ellipse Programme's two other animation studios Alya Animation & Elma Animation and its production facility Studio Ellipse into its Ellipse Animation division seven years later in 1997.

In 1990 Claude Berther established animation and production company Marina Productions, however in June 1997, Média-Participations alongside its publishing house Dargaud acquired French animation and production company Marina Productions, the acquisition of Marina Productions had expanded Dargaud's animation output and Média-Participations' production activities with Marina Productions being placed under Dargaud's film & television production division Dargaud Films, marking Dargaud's first animation production subsidiary within Dargaud Films.

In January 2003 seven months before Dargaud acquired Ellipsanime, Studio Ellipse the in-house executive production facility of Ellipsanime would announced that it was being shut down by their parent Ellipsanime and had absorbed most of their studio's production activity including their storyboarding and 3-D rendering work under the main animation production company Ellipsanime. A month later in February of that same year, Ellipsanime's former parent company Canal+ Group through its production division StudioExpand announced that they were planning to seek a buyer for their animation studio Ellipsanime with Ellipsanime cutting down their annual series output.

In late-June 2004, Média-Participations expanded its audiovisual production activities when they brought out Belgian/French audiovisual production company Dupuis Audiovisuel alongside its parent publishing house Dupuis and its animation studio Belvision for €300 million. The acquisition of Dupuis Audiovisual and its parent Dupuis gave Média-Participations another animation production studio with Dupuis Audiovisuel's distribution business division Dupuis Distribution being folded into Dargaud Marina's distribution arm Dargaud Distribution as they distributed Dupuis Audiovisuel's production library and would distribute the latter's future television series.

On January 31, 2007 when Média-Participations announced the launch of their subsidiary dedicated to overseeing all of publishing and animation production acitivites called Mediatoon, Dargaud Media's international distribution division Dargaud Distribution who distributed Média-Participations' animated production catalogues was moved from Dargaud Media to Média-Participations' new subsidiary Mediatoon, giving Mediatoon their own international distribution division and had it renamed to Mediatoon Distribution with Marie-Pierre Moulinjeune leading the rebranded distribution division whilst continued handling distribution to Média-Participations' programming catalouge.

In January 2014 eight years before the launch of Ellipse Animation, Ellipsanime acquired the assets of French animation and production group MoonScoop which went into bankruptcy administration back in July 2013 with the Paris bankruptcy court approved the acquisition as Ellipsanime retaining two of MoonScoop's then-remaining employees and taken over MoonScoop's production library with Dargaud's international distribution division Mediatoon Distribution taking over MoonScoop's programming catalouge except their American division which was spliten.

Six months later in June of that year eight years before the launch of Ellipse Animation, Paris-based animation studio Ellipse Studio announced that they'd launched another French animation production studio that would bring all of Média Participations' animated productions under one studio based in Angoulême with the new animation studio being named Ellipse Studio Angoulême with Dargaud Media's CEO & president and former MoonScoop executive Maïa Tubiana heading the new Angoulême-based animation production studio as the Angoulême studio would animate Média Participations' future productions alongside its Paris-based studio Ellipse Studio.

In October 2017, Ellipsanime Productions and its parent Média-Participations announced that they had partnered with independent game publishing and digital entertainment company Ankama and established a joint venture 2D animation production studio based in Roubaix, Hauts-de-France named MadLab Animations to handle the two animation studios' own production services alongside Paris and Angoulême-based animation production studio Ellipse Studio for the former.

In December 2019 three years before Ellipse Animation was launched and following the departure of Média-Participations' previous CEO & president of its animation production companies and its Paris and Angoulême-based animation production studio Ellipse Studio Maïa Tubiana back in September of that same year, Média-Participations hired Caroline Duvochel as their new CEO of Média-Particiaptions' animation production activities namely Dargaud Media, French/Belgian audiovisuel production company Dupuis Edition & Audiovisuel, Ellipsanime Productions and its Paris and Angoulême-based in-house animation production studio Ellipse Studio.

In May 2021 one year before the launch of production brand Ellipse Animation, Média-Participations hired former Cyber Group Studios executive Caroline Audebert as their deputy head of Média-Participations' new division Média-Participations Development and Innovation which was being headed by Julien Papelier with Caroline Audebert overseeing Média-Participations's own animation production subsidiaries including Dargaud Media, French/Belgian audiovisuel production company Dupuis Edition & Audiovisuel and Ellipsanime Productions (plus their Roubaix-based joint venture animation studio Madlab Animations) alongside their Paris and Angoulême-based in-house animation production studio Ellipse Studio. Former Tele Images Productions & Zodiak Kids director of animation productions and former Watch Next Media studio director Jules Garcia became Ellipse Studio's newly created position of directors

In June 2022 Ellipse Animation returned as a whole brand when Média-Participations announced that they were bringing their French animation production labels (which were Dargaud Media, French/Belgian audiovisuel production company Dupuis Edition & Audiovisuel, Ellipsanime Productions (including Roubaix-based joint venture animation studio Madlab Animations)) along with their Paris and Angoulême-based in-house animation production studio Ellipse Studio under one umbrella group named Ellipse Animation during the annual Annecy International Animation Film Festival with Média-Participations's animation production labels became part of the new production company alongside Paris and Angoulême-based in-house animation production studio Ellipse Studio became Ellipse Animation's new animation studio division.

In January 2024, Ellipse Animation announced that they have acquired a majority stake in Milan-based Italian production company Studio Campedelli, expanding Ellipse Animation's production activities for the first time and their first expansion into the Italian animation production services with Studio Campedelli being placed under Ellipse Animation as their own subsidiary with Studio Campedelli CEOs Anne-Sophie Vanhollebeke and Valeria Brambilla continued leading the Italian animation studio under Ellipse Animation giving them an Italian animation production company outside of France. A week later in that same month following Ellipse Animation's acquisition of Studio Campedelli, Ellipse Animation announced that they've expanded their operations into webtoons by launching a production division dedicated to animated series based on digital comics and will sit under Ellipse Animation's own animation production studio Ellipse Studio Angoulême.

Production companies

Ellipse Animation is the umbrella production group that owns three production companies:
* Dupuis Edition & Audiovisuel; established in 1959 by Charles Dupuis as the animation division of Belgian publishing house Dupuis.
* Dargaud Media; founded in 1967 by French publishing house Dargaud. By the late-1990s it had brought two French animation production companies Marina Productions and Millésime Productions and their series joined Dargaud's programming catalogue.
* Ellipsanime Productions; founded in 1987 by journalist Philippe Gildas and Robert Réa, it was originally owned by Canal+ through its division Studio Expand before selling it to French publishing company Dargaud in 2003. It brought MoonScoop's production assets and its programming library in January 2014.
** MadLab Animations - A Roubaulx-based animation joint-venture production studio between Ellipsanime Productions and independent game publishing & entertainment company Ankama Animations, that handles some of Ellipse Animations' shows such as ''Kid Lucky''.

Filmography

Television

Film

Specials

References

External links

*

{{Animation industry in France

Mass media companies established in 2022
Television production companies of France
French animation studios