Reel FX Animation (Reel FX), formerly known as Reel FX Creative Studios and Reel FX Entertainment, is an American

computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating Film, moving images. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both still images and moving images, while computer animation refers to moving images. Virtu ...

and

visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated as VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action fo ...

studio based in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, with offices in Hollywood,

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 ...

, and

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. Known for its multiple projects on animated films/series and visual effects for live-action films. The studio primarily produces animated features, short films, and television series. Among them is the studio's first original animated feature film, ''

Free Birds ''Free Birds'' is a 2013 American animated Thanksgiving science fiction film, science fiction comedy film directed by Jimmy Hayward, who co-wrote the screenplay with the film's producer Scott Mosier. The film stars the voices of Owen Wilson, Wo ...

'', 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 The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in American cinema and television. Origi ...

. In 2020, Reel FX Animation teamed up with Warner Animation Group (now Warner Bros. Pictures Animation) on '' Scoob!''. In addition, the studio released '' Rumble'', a co-production with

Paramount Animation Paramount Animation is an American animation studio, serving as the animation division and label of Paramount Pictures, a subsidiary of Paramount Global. The division was founded on July 6, 2011, following the critical and commerical success of P ...

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 Nickelodeon Movies 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 its 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 ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

revealed Reel FX's connection to the 2012 feature film. In December 2010, Reel FX produced an untitled

3D film 3D films are motion pictures made to give an illusion of three-dimensional solidity, usually with the help of special glasses worn by viewers. 3D films were prominently featured in the 1950s in American cinema and later experienced a worldwide r ...

with producer

Andrew Adamson Andrew Ralph Adamson (born 1 December 1966) is a New Zealand film director, producer, screenwriter and animator. He is best known for directing the DreamWorks Animation, DreamWorks animated film ''Shrek'' (2001), which is based on the Shrek!, ...

and

Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; ) is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, Montreal, Saint-Michel, Montreal, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Jun ...

. In January 2012,

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

announced that it had acquired worldwide rights to the film, now titled '' Worlds Away'' directed by Adamson and executive-produced by

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker, who resides in New Zealand. He is a major figure in the post-New Hollywood era and often uses novel technologies with a Classical Hollywood cinema, classical filmmaking styl ...

. First called ''Turkeys in the early works'', and opened in 2013 under ''

'', the film was directed by

Jimmy Hayward James Hayward (born September 17, 1970) is a Canadian film director, screenwriter and animator. He has written screenplays for Columbia Pictures, Columbia, 20th Century Studios, 20th Century Fox, and Warner Bros., Warner Brothers. Biography A ...

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. 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 animated 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 Epic Games, Inc. is an American Video game developer, video game and software development, software developer and video game publisher, publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney (game developer), Tim Sween ...

’ Unreal Engine, the first animated series to be rendered entirely in a video game engine.

Filmography

Feature films

Original films

Animation and visual effects services

Television

Series

= Original series

= Animation services

Specials

* '' Jonah Sing-Along Songs and More!'' (2002; with Big Idea Productions) * '' Halloweentown High'' (2004) * '' Snow 2: Brain Freeze'' (2008) * '' Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas'' (2011; with 20th Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios)

Short films

* ''The Man in the Moon'' (1999) * ''

Aunt Fanny's Tour of Booty An aunt is a woman who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent. Aunts who are consanguineous, related by birth are Second-degree relative, second-degree relatives. Alternate terms include auntie or aunty. Aunt, auntie, an ...

'' (2005; co-animated with Blue Sky Studios) * '' Secrets of the Furious Five'' (2008; with

DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio, owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal as part of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios, Inc, Universal Stud ...

and Film Roman) * ''Live Music'' (2009) (co-produced with Mass Animation) * ''Looney Tunes'': (with Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Bros. Animation) ** Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner shorts: *** '' Rabid Rider'' (2010) *** '' Fur of Flying'' (2010) *** '' Coyote Falls'' (2010) *** ''Flash in the Pain'' (2014) ** '' I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat'' (2011) ** '' Daffy's Rhapsody'' (2012) * '' Pacific Rim: Jaeger Pilot'' (2014) * '' The Adventures of Chuy'' (2015) (co-production with 20th Century Fox Animation) * ''Son of Jaguar'' (2016) * '' Best Fiends'': ** ''Best Fiends: Boot Camp'' (2017) ** ''Best Fiends: Visit Minutia'' (2017) ** ''Best Fiends: Fort of Hard Knocks'' (2018) ** ''Best Fiends: Baby Slug's Big Day Out'' (2018) ** ''Best Fiends: Howie's Gift'' (2019) ** ''Best Fiends: Temper's Adventure'' (2019) ** ''Best Fiends: The Immortal Cockroach'' (2019) ** ''Best Fiends: The Fight Before Christmas'' (2019) ** ''Best Fiends: King Slug Industries'' (2020) * ''La Calesita'' (2022)

Theme park attractions

* '' The Simpsons Ride'' (2008; co-animated with Blur Studio) * '' Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem'' (2012)

Direct-to-video

* '' Barney Home Video'' (1996–2000) (visual effects) * '' G.I. Joe: Spy Troops'' (2003) * '' G.I. Joe: Valor vs. Venom'' (2004) * ''Action Man: X Missions – The Movie'' (2005) * ''Boz: Colors and Shapes'' (2006) * ''Boz: Friends and Helpers'' (2006) * ''Boz: Bananas, Bubbles and Busy Bodies'' (2006) * ''Boz: Adventures in Imagination'' (2006) * ''The Three Wise Men (formerly The Very First Noel)'' (2006) * ''Thank You God for B-O-Zs and 1-2-3s!'' (2007) * ''Start Singing with Boz'' (2008) * ''Boz: A WowieBozowee Christmas'' (2008) * '' Tales of the Black Freighter'' (2009)

Commercials

* Chuck E. Cheese's commercials from 2012 to 2015 (co-produced with Little Zoo Studio) * Free Birds - Dwight Howard * Cheetos Mix-ups - The Book Of Life *Book of Life Happy Meal -

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

* The Lego Batman Movie -

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

*UglyDolls - Happy Meal

Production logos

* Relativity Media (2009, 2013) * Warner Animation Group (2016, 2020; co-produced with DevaStudios) *

(2019; co-produced with ATK PLN)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reel FX Animation 1996 establishments in Texas Companies based in Dallas Companies based in Santa Monica, California American companies established in 1996 Mass media companies established in 1996 American animation studios Visual effects companies