Rough Draft Studios, Inc. is an American

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

production studio based in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

, with a sister studio Rough Draft Korea located in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. The studio was founded in

Van Nuys Van Nuys ( ) is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1 ...

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, ...

by Gregg Vanzo in 1991. Rough Draft Studios and its divisions have produced specials, commercials and direct-to-video work for companies such as Warner Bros. Animation,

Cartoon Network Studios Cartoon Network Studios Inc. (abbreviated as CNS or CN Studios) is an American animation studio owned by the Warner Bros. Television Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. The studio is the producti ...

20th Television Animation 20th Television Animation (formerly known as Fox Television Animation) is an American animation studio and production company that creates, develops, produces, publishes, and distributes primarily adult animated television series and specials. ...

MTV Animation MTV Animation is an American animation studio and the animation department of the television network MTV. The department's parent company is MTV Entertainment Studios, which is owned by Paramount Global. MTV Animation gained substantial popular ...

Film Roman Film Roman, LLC, is an American animation studio currently based in Woodland Hills, California and formerly in Burbank. It was previously owned by Starz Inc., which is now a division of Lionsgate, and currently by Waterman Entertainment, the p ...

, Disney Television Animation and Nickelodeon Animation Studio.

Founding

Rough Draft Studios was founded in a Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California garage by Gregg and Nikki Vanzo. While working on ''

The Ren & Stimpy Show ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', commonly referred to as simply ''Ren & Stimpy'', is an American animated Comedy film, comedy television series created by John Kricfalusi for Nickelodeon. The series follows the misadventures of Ren Höek, an emotion ...

'', Nikki approached John Kricfalusi, creator of ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', about taking the animation to Korea. Nikki founded and runs Rough Draft Korea.

Growth in business

After working on ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', many other shows requested the assistance of Rough Draft Korea in animation and ink & paint. In 1992, Rough Draft Studios had produced animation for its first feature film, '' FernGully: The Last Rainforest''. In the same year, the studio began producing animation for ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'' and then for ''

Beavis and Butt-Head ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated Animated sitcom, sitcom created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, Stupi ...

'' in 1993. Also in 1993, Gregg's brother Scott Vanzo was brought on board. Rough Draft Korea quickly built a strong portfolio in the animation business with shows like their first series produced outside of

'' The Maxx'' in 1995, which was nominated for an

Annie Award 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. Origina ...

. Claudia Katz, who had joined Rough Draft Studios in 1994 to produce ''The Maxx'', and Rich Moore, joining in 1995 after having worked with Gregg on ''The Simpsons'', completed the core of a Rough Draft Studios which would help "drive the cartoon boom of the late ‘90s". It was also in 1995 that Rough Draft Studios moved to Glendale, California, where they enjoyed further success.

Technology

Rough Draft Studios is known for its blending of 2-D with

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 ...

, or non-photorealistic rendering which it first used on ''The Maxx'' and further utilized with

Matt Groening Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is best known as the creator of the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Futurama'' (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2 ...

's projects like ''Futurama'', ''The Simpsons Movie'', a few episodes of ''The Simpsons'' after the film and ''Disenchantment''.

Filmography

Rough Draft Studios

Most projects produced by Rough Draft Studios, Inc. in Glendale,

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 ...

are also animated overseas by Rough Draft Korea Co., Ltd. in

TV series

Films/specials

Other

*''

'' - " Deep, Deep Trouble" music video (overseas animation provided by Anivision) *'' MADtv'' - '' Spy vs. Spy'' shorts *2003

Wendy's Wendy's International, LLC, is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (businessman), Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of D ...

"Go Wild" and Sprint “Duck Naked” commercials starring the

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

characters, promoting '' Looney Tunes: Back in Action'' * 59th Primetime Emmy Awards -

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan (given name), Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish language, Irish and Breton language, Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan language, Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. ...

and Stewie Griffin opening number *''

Gravity Falls ''Gravity Falls'' is an American Mystery fiction, mystery television comedy, comedy animated television series created by Alex Hirsch for Disney Channel and Disney XD. The series follows the adventures of Dipper Pines (Jason Ritter) and his twi ...

'' - " Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back The Falls" (ShackTron CG animation) *'' Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow'' *''

DuckTales DuckTales refers to: Film and television * ''DuckTales'' (1987 TV series), original TV series ** '' DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp'' * ''DuckTales'' (2017 TV series), reboot TV series Video games * ''DuckTales'' (video game) ...

'' - "Moonvasion!" (additional animation)

Rough Draft Korea

Rough Draft Korea, RDS' sister studio based in

, has produced animation for the following series, features and specials:

TV series

Films/specials

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Animation industry in South Korea 1991 establishments in California American companies established in 1991 American animation studios Companies based in Glendale, California Companies based in Seoul Entertainment companies of South Korea Entertainment companies of the United States Mass media companies established in 1991 Privately held companies based in California South Korean animation studios Adult animation studios