Marvel Productions Ltd., later known as New World Animation, was an American

production company A production company, production house or production studio is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television show, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video ...

owned by the

Fox Entertainment Group The Fox Entertainment Group (FEG) was an American entertainment company specialized in film studio, filmed entertainment owned by 21st Century Fox. Following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, the group's assets were dispersed to va ...

subsidiary of

News Corporation The original incarnation of News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp. and also variously known as News Corporation Limited) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media corporation founded and controlled by media mogul Ru ...

which was founded in 1981 as the television and film studio subsidiary of the

Marvel Entertainment Group Marvel Entertainment, LLC (formerly Marvel Entertainment, Inc. and Marvel Enterprises, Inc.) was an American entertainment company founded in June 1998 and based in New York City, formed by the merger of Marvel Entertainment Group and Toy Biz ...

, based in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. It later became a subsidiary of New World Entertainment and eventually of News Corporation. The company as Marvel Productions produced animated television series, films and television specials such as ''

Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends ''Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends'' is a 1981–1983 American animated television series produced by Marvel Productions, considered to be a crossover series connected to the 1981 ''Spider-Man'' series. The show stars already-established Marve ...

'', ''

The Incredible Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of '' The Incredible Hulk'' (May 1962). In his comic book ...

'', '' My Little Pony: The Movie'', '' The Transformers: The Movie'', and '' G.I. Joe: The Movie'' as well as ''

The Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...

'' and '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'' television series. Most of Marvel Productions/New World Animation's non-Hasbro-related back catalog is currently owned by

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

History

DePatie–Freleng Enterprises (1963–1981)

The company began in 1963 as DFE Films, and was sold to

Cadence Industries Cadence Industries Corporation, formerly known as Perfect Film & Chemical Corporation, was an American conglomerate owned by Martin S. Ackerman. From 1968 through 1986, Cadence Industries was the parent company of Marvel Comics Group (formerl ...

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

Group's owner, in 1981 after DFE founder and company executive

Friz Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (; August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, Film director, director, Film producer, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons ...

departed the company to return to his former job at

Warner Bros. Animation Warner Bros. Animation Inc. (abbreviated as WBA) is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Group, a division of Warner Bros., which is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery and serves as the animation divis ...

. Freleng's business partner and DFE co-founder

David H. DePatie David Hudson DePatie (; December 24, 1929 – September 23, 2021) was an American film and television producer who was the last and longest-lived executive in charge of the original Warner Bros. Cartoons studio. He also formed DePatie–Freleng ...

continued to work for the company under the Marvel banner for several years until his retirement.

Marvel Productions (1981–1993)

Marvel Productions opened its Los Angeles studio in 1981. In 1984,

Margaret Loesch Margaret Ann Loesch (, ) is an American television executive and producer. She is the former President and CEO of Discovery Communications and Hasbro Inc's joint venture television network Hub Network. She stepped down from her position in 2014. ...

joined Marvel Productions as president and chief executive officer. Marvel Comics Group, owned by Cadence Industries Corporation since 1968, was sold to

New World Pictures New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment, New World Communications Group, Inc., and New World International) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia com ...

in 1986 along with Marvel Productions and incorporated as Marvel Entertainment Group. With New World having cash flow problems, MEG was sold in January 1989 to

Andrews Group MacAndrews & Forbes Incorporated is an American diversified holding company wholly owned by billionaire investor Ronald Perelman. Current investments include leading participants across a wide range of industries, from cosmetics and entertainme ...

, a MacAndrews and Forbes subsidiary, owned by

Ronald Perelman Ronald Owen Perelman (; born January 1, 1943) is an American banker, businessman, investor, and philanthropist. MacAndrews & Forbes Incorporated, his company, has invested in companies with interests in groceries, cigars, licorice, makeup, ca ...

. However, New World kept Marvel Productions and merged it with its own television business. MP moved their offices from Van Nuys to West Los Angeles in May 1989. New World's problems continued, which led them to also be acquired by the Andrews Group within the year. Loesch left for

Fox Kids Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized in all caps) was an American children's programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally a j ...

in 1990. In December 1992, New World formed New World Family Filmworks and New World Action Animation, headed by Marvel Productions president

Rick Ungar Richard "Rick" Ungar (; born November 4, 1950) is an American film producer and radio host. He is the host of ''The Rick Ungar Show'', a two hour political and news commentary radio show. Ungar is also the editor-in-chief of The Daily Centrist w ...

, to produce $20 million worth of family entertainment programming.

New World Animation (1993–1996)

Marvel Productions was renamed New World Animation in November 1993. In 1994, Marvel and New World established

Marvel Films Marvel Studios, LLC, formerly known as Marvel Films, is an American film and television production company. Marvel Studios is the creator of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), a media franchise and shared universe of films and television ser ...

including Marvel Films Animation. New World Animation (''

''),

Saban Entertainment BVS Entertainment, Inc., previously known as Saban Productions, Saban Entertainment and Saban International, is a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company. Founded on April 24, 1980, as a music production company by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, it ...

(''

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...

''), and Marvel Films Animation (''

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

''), each produced a Marvel series for television.

Tom Tataranowicz Thomas Tataranowicz () is an American cartoon animator, storyboard artist, producer and director. Career His first credit was ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe''. He then went onto Marvel Productions / New World Animation where he was ...

was in charge of both Marvel Films Animation and New World Animation during this period.

News Corporation subsidiary (1996)

acquired New World Entertainment, along with New World Animation and Marvel Films Animation for $2.5 billion in August 1996. At the same time, Saban Entertainment secured the rights from Marvel Entertainment Group for ''

Captain America Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely C ...

'', '' Daredevil'', and ''

Silver Surfer The Silver Surfer is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character also appears in a number of movies, television, and video game adaptations. The character was created by Jack Kirby and first a ...

'', and additional characters to be developed into four series and 52 episodes over the next seven years. Fox Children's Productions and Saban Entertainment merged to form

Fox Kids Worldwide ABC Family Worldwide is a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company that operates American basic cable channel Freeform (previously known as ''ABC Family'') and manages the programming libraries of BVS E ...

, a holding company and joint venture, in November 1996, while Fox retained ownership of New World Animation.

Postscript

In July 2001, Fox Family Worldwide and its assets, including the Marvel Productions library and Saban Entertainment, were purchased by

for $5.2 billion. After getting its 2002 profit participation statements for the Marvel Productions library, Marvel Enterprises sued The Walt Disney Company over royalties in August 2004 after Disney would not open their books. This was followed by a November 2004 suit which claimed that the purchase of Fox Family did not transfer the shows' copyrights to Disney as the purchase was done without Marvel's approval. As part of both suits, Marvel claimed library income concealment and failure to exploit the characters. On August 31, 2009, Disney acquired

Marvel Entertainment Marvel Entertainment, LLC (formerly Marvel Entertainment, Inc. and Marvel Enterprises, Inc.) was an American entertainment company founded in June 1998 and based in New York City, formed by the merger of #Marvel Entertainment Group, Marvel Ente ...

for $4 billion, reunifying the Marvel Productions library and Marvel Entertainment under the same corporate banner. After Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox on March 20, 2019, the Marvel Productions and Fox Kids/Saban Entertainment libraries reunited with the New World Animation library.

Filmography

Animated series

* ''Stealth Warriors''

TV specials

Except for ''Fraggle Rock'', the rights to series based on Jim Henson properties are now held by

The Muppets Studio The Muppets Studio, LLC is an American entertainment production company and subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, that owns and produces media content for The Muppets franchise. The division was previously formed as The Muppets Holding Company, ...

, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company. All programs based on

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...

properties were co-productions with Sunbow Productions. These programs are now owned by Hasbro through its entertainment unit.

Theatrical and DTV films

Film titles

* ''

Trail of the Pink Panther ''Trail of the Pink Panther'' is a 1982 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and starring Peter Sellers. It is the seventh film in ''The Pink Panther'' series, the first film in the series following Sellers' death and also the last in which he ...

'' (1982) (inherited from

DePatie–Freleng Enterprises DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, Inc. (also known as Mirisch-Geoffrey-DePatie-Freleng Productions when involved with the Mirisch brothers and Geoffrey Productions, and DFE Films) was an American animation studio founded by former Warner Bros. Car ...

) * ''

Curse of the Pink Panther ''Curse of the Pink Panther'' is a 1983 comedy film and a continuation of ''The Pink Panther'' series of films created by Blake Edwards in the early 1960s. The film was one of two produced concurrently following the death of the series' star Pe ...

'' (1983) (inherited from DePatie–Freleng Enterprises)

TV pilots

Executives

– president and chief executive officer (1980–1984) *

– president and chief executive officer (1984–1990) *

– president and chief executive officer (1991–August 1995) *

Lee Gunther Lee Gunther (May 30, 1935 – August 25, 1998) was a co-founder of Marvel Productions and a film editor (which, in animation parlance, means sound effects editor) on more than 85 animated shorts in all. Career Starting at Warner Bros. in the ...

– senior vice president, production (1986) *

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...

– vice president, creative affairs (1986) * Michael Wahl – vice president, business affairs (1986) * Peter Knepper – vice president and chief financial officer (1986) * Hank Sarovan – vice president (1986)

References

External links

* {{Animation industry in the United States 1981 establishments in California 1996 disestablishments in California American companies established in 1981 American companies disestablished in 1996 American animation studios Companies based in Los Angeles Defunct film and television production companies of the United States Marvel Comics animation Marvel Entertainment Mass media companies disestablished in 1996 Mass media companies established in 1981